I am moving into the Valley area in January (getting an apartment in Sherman Oaks or Studio City) and I don’t have a job yet. Right now I’m still living in Omaha, Nebraska, so I don’t know the ins and outs of LA traffic. I work in the finance world (commercial mortgage banking) and will probably find my job in downtown LA.
How bad would the commute from the Valley to downtown be? How long would it take? Do any of you do this? Is it so bad that I should just find a job somewhere else?
I’ve seen when the 101 into LA is stop-and-go, so I thought I’d see if any of you can give me a heads up.
Sherman Oaks to downtown Los Angeles, at the height of rush hour? Easily 60-90 minutes. You might be able to shave some time if you get off the 101 at Highland Boulevard (near the Hollywood Bowl), then drive surface streets to downtown (3rd is my favorite).
I used to do mid-Wilshire Los Angeles to Woodland Hills, which was roughly the same route in the opposite direction, and even going against the traffic, it took me an hour, easily.
Actually, you might be able to take mass transit for the route – the subway runs from Universal City to downtown L.A., and I believe there’s an express bus line that goes from Sherman Oaks to Universal City.