Hi everyone! Me and a few friends will be grad students at USC next year, and we're trying to figure out the best neighborhood/area for us to live in.

A bit about us/what we're hoping for:

• We're all Americans, but we've all spent the past 1-4 years living in the Greater London area. As a result, even though we all grew up in a very car-centric environment, we've all gotten really used to walkability and public transport – none of us have a car here, and we basically live on the London Tube. We're definitely realistic with our expectations when it comes to both of those things in LA – I'm actually from the Bay Area, so I know specifically how Californian public transport/walkability tends to be, and we'll all be bringing our cars. That being said, we would really love to stay away from driving for small local things (i.e. groceries, etc.) as much as possible – we're looking to see if there are any neighborhoods/areas that have a more pedestrian culture, if that makes sense? Things like being able to walk to the nearest grocery store/corner shop, have public transport somewhat available nearby, etc. Happy to elaborate on this/anything else on this post!
• Safety is a huge focus for us. We're all young women in our early to mid-twenties, so we're pretty conscious of safety concerns in general. We're mainly looking at safety when it comes to walking at night time, public transportation, general area, traveling to USC, car break-ins, etc. One of us is a woman of color as well, and while we don't really anticipate that being a big deal at all, we thought we'd mention it anyway. Out of everything, I'd say safety is our #1 consideration – we don't expect to live in a bubble or anything, and we're well aware of how to take care of ourselves in a big city, but it's still important for us to keep in mind in our housing search.
• We'd love to live in an area with a similar population to us – students, young professionals, etc. Basically an area that has a more happening vibe, rather than pure suburbia that feels like it shuts down by 8pm.
• We're happy to be slightly further from USC if it means it checks the other boxes re: safety, walkability, socializing, etc., but we also do want to be mindful of not having *too* long of a commute, if possible.
• Our budget is fairly flexible – ideally, we'd prefer to go $1500/month per person for rent, but we're all willing to go up to $2000 (so somewhere between $4500-6000/month for a 3-bedroom).