Chicago guy coming to LA! Help pls!

Yes, Santa Clarita and TO are pretty far out and you will be going with the heavy traffic in the morning and night. Probably looking at over an hour to 90 min. I relocated from east coast many years ago and I am partial to the beach, which would be very convenient for Culver City. You could do Santa Monica, Marina Del Rey, Mar Vista, Playa Del Rey, Westchester, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa, Redondo. All would be 5-30 min away. Beach communities definitely tend to be on the pricier side and your space is a bit more limited but definitely lot's of road biking and tri training and a few MTB trails in PV. Short drive to Santa Monica mountains to do some fun single tracks.

I am not an expert in some of the Valley communities but there might be some towns a bit closer than Santa Clarita and TO that would work for you. Valley Village, Studio City, Woodland Hills. Keep in mind that the Valley does get pretty steamy in the summer 100+ is common.

Check out Westsiderentals.com. Feel free to PM me with any questions.

Awesome, thanks for the response! Appreciate it.

Do people ever ride to work out there? It's not uncommon here in Chicago and there's even email distro lists so people can coordinate times to commute in/out of the city together.

Wondering how it was out there or if it would be suicide on the roads out there.

Thanks again! Looking forward to the move!

I don't due to distance and logistics but will bring bike to work and ride in Griffith Park after. It's not a huge thing here since people love their cars but they are definitely some. In Culver City, you are adjacent to a pretty good river bike trail (Ballona Creek) that might give you some possibilities. If you ending up living anywhere on West Side of LA it would definitely be doable. But if over the hill in Valley, not sure it's practical. LA has become more and more bike friendly over the years. More dedicated bike lanes and 3 foot law have helped. Still a lot of crazy and distracted drivers. I tend to have at least one WTF moment with a car on any ride that I am on main streets, so just stay prepared for anything. Good luck with move.

You will want to live on the westside, South Bay or West Hollywood area. Maybe downtown, but if you want to be in an area close to all your training resources I would say West LA/ Santa Monica. You will be close to the ocean for swims, Santa Monica mts for trail running and mountain biking and some of the most beautiful scenery for runs.

TO and Santa Clarita are nice, less people, less expensive but after 2 months of commuting you will want to drive your car off a cliff.

Thanks for the responses! We picked a place in Encino and will be moving in a few weeks. If anyone is interested in showing a slow guy some local roads and trails (running or MTB) I would GREATLY appreciate it!!!