Be aware of flight paths around lax.

Thanks for the help! This gives me some direction to start looking online, until I can get out there in person.

Renting for a year is definitely a possibility, but I hate the through of moving twice. But that might be the best idea.

Honestly, El Segundo itself is nice. Start there!

I'm in Manhattan Beach. Cute town, but pricey - and lily-white.

Manhattan Beach is amazing, but I don't think $1.5 mil will get you much there.

Maybe after the Riots

My good friend moved from Nova to El Segundo a few years back (N Grumman).

They live in Rancho Palos Verdes and love it.

Originally it was going to be a 2 year thing but they are staying.

RPV (Rancho Palos Verdes, also called Palos Verdes)

Also, my friend's DH works in El Segundo and they live in Pacific Palisades. So that means that you could do PP, or Santa Monica, or Venice, or Marina del Rey. PP is family-oriented and I wouldn't recommend it for a someone without kids. Venice is quirky and Marina del Rey has a lot of condos. Santa Monica is vast with different areas for different needs. There is also Brentwood.

I agree with PP you should rent first, then explore. Don't dive in!

So if you want walking (and assuming no kids), look at the areas of Santa Monica around 3rd St. Promenade. We used to live just off 7th and Montana Ave. pre-kids and we could walk to both Montana (shops and restaurants) and 3rd St. Promenade (lots of shops and restaurants), and to the bluff there for a beautiful long walk looking at the ocean.

Good areas that are close are Marina Del Ray, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach.

Avoid Inglewood.

You are best renting to start - the LA coast is mostly rentals anyway. We lived in Santa Monica and something like 65% of the population rented.

The other advantage to renting is you get to know which areas you like and how far it really is to get to work.

Good luck it sounds like an amazing opportunity.

I was offered a new position that would be based in El Segundo. I'm not very familiar with the LA area, so what areas would be a reasonable commute (30-45 min) to El Segundo?

Budget is $1.5M, but I would be happy with a 2 bedroom condo or similar (but would adjust budget lower to account for condo fees). Schools are not an issue. I'm okay with doing some renovations over time, but it can't be a total fixer upper.


Requirements:

Safe neighborhood
Reasonable commute
Off street parking (driveway, garage, etc)
Minimum 2 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms

Like to have:
Some walkability- coffee shop/restaurants/grocery store
Bedroom not on ground floor