Attending SPPD at University of Southern California (USC) this fall?

[pricklypear]

Hi all,

I noticed a couple of you on the final decisions thread said you will be attending USC this fall and I wanted to get a conversation going. Haven't seen too much about USC otherwise on the forum (can't search on USC for some reason, hence all my keywords in thread title).

Anyway, I am trying to figure out a good time to go look at apartments. What are other cyburbians doing? I thought I might go out to LA 6/19-22nd but some people were telling me that's too early and I should wait until July. Since orientation is 8/20, the ideal start date of a lease would be 8/15 but maybe that is hard to swing with the landlords out there.

Have you guys starting looking at classes? I just got the registration packet yesterday so going over the info now.

[Fang]

Hi pricklypear,

I'll be going to USC this fall also. Unfortunately, I'll be out of the country pretty much all summer until the 20th of August, so I'll miss orientation...I'll probably just search around on craigslist for places to share a room. However, it would be great to find some planning students on this forum to room with, as it's definitely less sketchy. PM me if interested!

[ru_geo]

Hi! Heading out to USC as well. Hopefully will finalize housing this week, registered for classes awhile ago, now onto the job search!

[ASchweickart]

YAY! GO TROJANS!

So excited to see USC planners connecting! I just graduated from the Master of Planning program at SPPD and I had an amazing experience. Great faculty, great staff, great fellow students, great internships, I loved it all. If you have any questions regarding course offerings, let me know!

In terms of places to live, my fellow grad students lived everywhere -- Santa Monica, Koreatown, Chinatown, Pasadena, Los Feliz, etc. I lived in Burbank because it was cheap and I had friends there, but the commute was sometimes a pain.

[pricklypear]

Hello ASchweickart,

Glad to hear you had a great experience at USC. I haven't seen many planners from USC on this board so it's nice to hear. The neighborhood around campus doesn't seem that great (not much to do besides campus) but I don't have a car, so I found a place on what I considered to be one of the nicer streets north of campus.

Are you job-hunting now or working already? What is that experience like? Thanks for posting.

[pricklypear]

just FYI if anyone is apt hunting without a car around USC.

From what I could gather, there are only three neighborhoods you can really easily live in and get to school if you don't have a car:

around USC (north is best if possible)
downtown
koreatown

this is what i heard from other people while I was hunting. There is a bus that goes down Vermont st. but i found this a little hard to coordinate (couldnt find suitable housing right on the bus route), so i think if you have limited time to find a place, stick to those 3 neighborhoods. Otherwise, you will prob want to take the bus yourself from the apt to check the route before signing a lease. also i found the rental prices around campus to be pretty inflated (lot of demand from students).

Can anyone else confirm this?

[nerdieboy]

just FYI if anyone is apt hunting without a car around USC.

From what I could gather, there are only three neighborhoods you can really easily live in and get to school if you don't have a car:

around USC (north is best if possible)
downtown
koreatown

this is what i heard from other people while I was hunting. There is a bus that goes down Vermont st. but i found this a little hard to coordinate (couldnt find suitable housing right on the bus route), so i think if you have limited time to find a place, stick to those 3 neighborhoods. Otherwise, you will prob want to take the bus yourself from the apt to check the route before signing a lease. also i found the rental prices around campus to be pretty inflated (lot of demand from students).

Can anyone else confirm this?

I think you made the right decision. I'm apartment hunting myself and like you, I've found that the housing close to campus is a bit expensive, but the area looks to be a lot safer than I expected it to be. I've looked at a place in Koreatown, but the parking situation was horrific - I don't understand why they don't have permit only parking. Without a car, it's possible to take the Vermont bus down to campus - unfortunately, the traffic on Vermont is awful and there seems to be a large amount of property crime off of some streets.

Having a car, I'm looking at places close to Wilshire, west of Western - it seems a good middle-ground between budget/safety/convenience. Hope your place works out for you!

[pricklypear]

I think you made the right decision. I'm apartment hunting myself and like you, I've found that the housing close to campus is a bit expensive, but the area looks to be a lot safer than I expected it to be. I've looked at a place in Koreatown, but the parking situation was horrific - I don't understand why they don't have permit only parking. Without a car, it's possible to take the Vermont bus down to campus - unfortunately, the traffic on Vermont is awful and there seems to be a large amount of property crime off of some streets.

Having a car, I'm looking at places close to Wilshire, west of Western - it seems a good middle-ground between budget/safety/convenience. Hope your place works out for you!

Good luck with your apt hunt nerdieboy! i think i remember being over in that area on wilshire and it was pretty decent and not too far from campus.

are people going to the general orientation and the dept one? i will miss the general one but will be there in time for the SPPD one.

[ToPlanIsMyFuture]

To those of you who study planning at USC, how do you like the program?