The best time to find apartment near USC is between
June and July. Most of apartments will start to be occupied
in the third week of July. Normally it is really hard to get
a nice apartment around USC since other USC students have
already booked most of them. Besides, there are still very
high competitions for a simple apartment.
From the map below, the best location to stay around
USC is on the north of the campus (north-south, between
Adam and Jefferson boulevard; east-west, between Vermont and
Figueroa street). The best housing deals are on Virgil, Hoover,
Ellendale, and Portland St. On Vermont and Adam junction there
is a fine American local supermarket "Ralphs".
Right across the Jefferson boulevard of USC, there is another
shopping place called "University
Village (UV)". It has KFC, Yoshinoya, International
Food Center, another supermarket, Bank of America, cheap photocopy
and gift shops. If possible, never choose south and east.
The blue building are belongs to USC housing which you can
apply (some for undergraduate some for graduate student).
The area in the red line is what you should first look. If
you couldn't find one, you may start with green line area.
In addition, most of these area are patrolled by USC public
safety. You could also try to lease shared houses that are
located on the west of the campus (between Vermont road and
Catalina st.)
If you can not get on campus housing what you should do is
when you arrive you should go to USC housing office to get
the list of the off-campus apartment and call those number
for availability. You might try Daily Trojan (USC's newspaper)
or bulletin board for apartment information. You might try
website http://www.conquest-usc.com
or http://www.Nupac.com,
they own housing properties around USC. In addition to that,
Office of International Services (OIS) website
also has tips on finding a place to live around here.
What most people do, they sublease apartment from
someone they know (by e-mail to anyone here
or thaiclub@usc.edu
or our webboard)
or if they don't know anyone, they will go to each apartment
and see the manager and see the room and sign the lease if
they like it. The lease term is around 6-12 months. Normally,
a studio cost around $450 - $600 per month and a one-bedroom
apartment costs around $650-850 per month. If you don't know
anyone who live in LA, you might consider to stay at hotel
nearby USC for couple of days until you find an apartment.
Housing for one is a harder to come by and/or not so economical...since
a one bedroom or studio could run $700 a month. There are
a lot of apartments and rental houses around campus that range
from probably $1,000 for 2 bedroom or more. The nice apartments
with gated parking garage is about $1,200+ for 2 bedroom.
Lots of Thai students share rooms, and some share houses.
There are several buses going from USC to Downtown LA and
what not. Then again, I wouldn't take the bus after the sun
goes down, really. Nor would I walk about alone late at night
either...not even if you're a guy. USC has classes all the
way to almost 10 pm so most times walking home from school
so late in the night isn't all that bad. But USC does offer
escort service (213) 740-4911 ... you can call them
and they'd either drive you home or send someone to walk with
you across campus.
You should bring your international driver license
with you, though now it's not required by California law (we
couldn't be too careful) for international people (if you
already got a driver license in Thailand), just in case that
you can not find apartment around campus. If you can not find
an apartment, you may begin to look at http://www.latime.com,
http://www.rent.net
or other websites for apartment rental information. You might
find an apartment which is located 3-4 miles of the campus.
It's a bit more costly but you'll be in a better, safer neighborhood.
Some neighborhoods I'd recommend are
Museum Row (La Brea)/Fairfax -- About
15 minutes west of campus. It's a great area to live...very
central. It's nice enough to go out and jog at dusk, but
I wouldn't go about alone after 9pm either (then again,
I wouldn't do that in a big city!) Closest good living area
to USC, Beverly Hills, and Hollywood...and not all that
far from Santa Monica either. A lot of apartment buildings
from the nice new ones like Park La Brea buildings, regular
mid size luxury apartments, to old historic buildings. Cost
for a 2 bedroom ranges from $1200-$2000. (Well, they've
just opened a new mall/theater complex called The
Grove. I'm not sure if the pricing have gone up or down
since.) I lived in this area for 4 years, and I loved it.
I was living alone in a tiny studio apartment in a historic
building for $500/month, parking a block away for $50/month.
On Hollywood Blvd, there is a Thai town, the center of Thai
supermarkets, restaurants, Thai VDO rental (So you could
watch all the Thai Lakorn you want) and bookstores. You
could even find a fresh Kanom+ Klok (in front of Bangluk
market) and Dokya bookstore here.
what's good: Nice area what's bad: Have to take bus, or drive
Westwood/West LA/Century City -- About
30 minutes+ away from campus. If you don't mind living among
the enemies (ucla students), Westwood is a good place to
be. Nice. Safe. And young. Some of my friends live out in
this area. You can find everything from really expensive
housing to dirt cheap. Just have to look and pick your area.
what's good: Nice area what's bad: Quite far from USC
Downtown -- From what I heard, Downtown
LA is close...but VERY expensive. And if you have a car,
I wouldn't suggest downtown anyway. To get the best out
of your money, try to find housing anywhere away from USC
campus.
what's good: Near USC, has Buses called
"Dash" Route F to USC for 25 cent. (100 cents
= $1) what's bad: Bad area, expensive rent, food
sucks
Santa Monica -- Some people who don't
care too much about the long drive and/or expenses, live
all the way out on the beach of Santa Monica/Marina Del
Rey.
what's good: Slick, chic, trendy, metropolitan,
very safe, a lot of Farang stuff what's bad: Expensive to live expensive
to eat, crowded, traffic, parking, a lot of Farang stuff
Alhambra -- In the familiar Asian territory
of Alhambra/San Gabriel, about 30-40 mins rush hour and
10-15 mins at night. Lots of great Chinese, Thai, Vietnam
restaurants and supermarket (The famous Chinese Ranch 99
Market, sells great quality and inexpensive products. You
may even buy a Squid Fish Source here).
what's good: Cheap foods, feel like living
in an Asian country, Asian supermarket and places to eat,
cheaper than Santa Monica what's bad: Your English will not gonna
improve as much as your Chinese. :-) Traffic can be bad
in the evening.
South Pasadena -- From USC, go 110-North
freeway.
what's good: Very quiet, lots of tree,
has more Farang than Alhambra what's bad: Feel like a place for your
retirement than your college life.
