Claremont, CA

[Guest PI]

Anyone else out there going to CGU? I am looking for any advice about housing, good areas to live in, etc.

[mox]

CGU is on my short list of Ph.D programs, what program are you in?

[Guest PI]

I'm in religion. How about you?

Have visited the campus or do you know anything about the area? I have heard that Claremont is nice, but that the surrounding areas aren't so good.

[bittergrrl]

I did my undergrad at Scripps - albiet a few years ago, so some things have changed.

Claremont is great, but fairly expensive. "The Village" - as the quaint little shopping area is known - has some great restaurants, and some cute shops, but again fairly expensive. A lot of the houses near the colleges are owned by faculty, the colleges, or wealthy private citizens. Check then housing/apartment listings for the 91711 zip code to see what houses within walking distance are going for.

When I was there, I heard a few grad students complain about the grad student housing.....but they may have redone it since I graduated. There are good places to live around there - both affiliated with the colleges and private. I would say check north of Foothill. I had some friends who rented a single family home up there for fairly inexpensive.

There are areas nearby that are not great, but you aren't really going to encounter them unless you drive to them. Like most LA suburbs the area is sprawling, so as long as you know what to avoid - and it will become clear - you should be good.

Let me know if you have any specific questions and I'll try to answer them.

[Guest Guest]

Hey PI - I'm also accepted into the Religion program (MA) and the Philosophy MA program. I haven't decided if I'll attend as I have 2 other offers and still waiting on 2. I'm a little concerned about the schools reputation - do you have any info about that. I'm thinking of attending the Accepted Students Day if I can find cheap flights and hotel as I'm from the East Coast.

[Guest]

Thanks for the info, bittergrrl. Is it a good idea to check out surrounding communities for housing (such Pomona, Upland, etc.)? From what I have seen on the web there may be better housing prices in those areas.

As for whether you should attend Claremont, I think it depends on what you want to do. If you want teach philosophy in a philosophy department, obviously you should NOT attend this program. However, if you want to teach philosophy of religion in a religious studies program, then it may work for you. This will depend on your interests. As I see it, Claremont basically has two strengths in philosophy of religion----Wittgensteinianism and Process philosophy. I personally am very interested in Wittgenstein's thought on religion, and with DZ Phillips on the faculty, this is the ideal program for me. I would say if you have strong interests in one of these two areas, then CGU may be for you. The funding situation at CGU sucks. The only reason I think I am going to attend is for the opportunity to work with Phillips. Let me know if you have anyother questions about the religion department. By the way, have you recieved your admissions packet yet? I received a call telling me I was admitted, but have yet to receive the paperwork.

[Guest PI]

Sorry, that lost post was me.

[HMCgrad]

I also went to a claremont school (Harvey Mudd). I really enjoyed living in claremont. There certainly are some areas in claremont that have expensive housing, but you can find fairly reasonable apartments as well. While there are about 5000 undergrads in all the 5c's you won't really need to compete with them for housing as something like 98% choose to live on campus. There are some decent apartments just north of Harvey Mudd at xing of Foothill and Mills. I know some people who lived there and they really liked it. It is true that there are some areas around claremont that aren't very nice, but if you have a car there are definitely nice places to live that aren't right next to campus. Because it is not right in the middle of LA you can live in other areas and not have too much trouble with traffic. You probably don't want to live any farther west than Covina otherwise traffic on the 210 will be a pain but if you search around you can find something both nice and cheap.

As far as living in claremont goes, the on campus live at the claremont colleges tends to cater towards the undergrads that make up the majority of the population and other than visiting the village area there is very little to do in actual claremont. However, you are only 20-30 minutes away from Pasadena, which is a very nice town, and maybe 45 from downtown LA/Orange county. I know a few CGU students who suffer the traffic and actually live out in Pasadena, but it is expensive so that might not be the best choice financially.

I will try my best to answer any specific questions you have, I graduated recenly so I should be able to give you up-to-date info.

[Guest PI]

Thanks for the info HMCgrad. Very helpful.

Do you have any idea whether the grad housing for CGU is separate from the undergrad housing. Also, could you give me an idea of the average price of apartments (studio, 1 or 2 bedrooms) near campus. I have searched Craig's List, but there are not a lot of listings for Calremont right now.

[bittergrrl]

CGU housing is definitely separate from undergrad housing. Each campus has their own dorms.

I'm sure you've already seen it, but the CGU housing office has a good amount of information on finding a place through them and other sources in the area.

http://www.cgu.edu/pages/1156.asp

I can't really speak to rents, since I lived on-campus all four years.

[HMCgrad]

I also lived on campus for my whole undergrad, what I remember about friends living off campus is that studio/1 bedroom places are pretty expensive (basically as a student its difficult to live alone) but that 2 bedroom apts are reasonable (maybe 600/month per room) You might be able to pay less by living in a house with a group of people, I know some people who did that for the summer and paid something like $450-500 a month.

I found this link to listings for housing near the claremont colleges, I don't know how old it is or anything but it certainly is nice that someone else did all the work to put it together, it should help

http://iplace.claremont.edu/main/CurrentApartments.pdf

[Guest nytola]

I just got accepted to the MFA program at Claremont. I have a few questions for the people who went to a Claremont school:

Did you know anyone who lived in LA and commuted to the campus?

Is traffic to/from LA horrible?

Did anyone by chance use the photo/darkroom facilities at any of the colleges?

Also, any info you have on the MFA program in general would be great. I'm deciding between this school and few east coast schools.

[Guest guest]

Ironically, I go to school in LA (ucla), but my parents live in Claremont. If there isn't traffic, then the commute isn't too horrible. Maybe about 45 mins or so. However, traffic is generally always bad. Basically, if you're travelling between 7am to 10am or 2pm to 7pm there's gonna be traffic. I would recommend living in Pasadena because LA traffic is HORRENDOUS!!!!!! It may take about 2 hours or so. If I visit my parents, I will only go at night.

[HMCgrad]

Yeah, I agree with the above poster. So when you say live in LA it really depends on what you mean, LA is a huge metro area. If you don't want to spend hours and hours on the road DON'T live in downtown or anywhere west of it. I currently live in Pasadena and it takes me 25 minutes to get to the claremont colleges if there is no traffic, but during rush hour it can take much longer (longest i had was about 2 hours on a friday afternoon. I know some people who commute every day from Pasadena to claremont, but its not pleasent. The traffic situation gets progressively worse as you move west, so if you live in an area closer to claremont (such as Covina) you will be fine. Living anywhere near the coast is not advised as it will take forever to get to claremont anytime during the day.

As to the facilities and the program I cannot say, as an undergrad I never really learned anything about CGU. Sorry.

[bittergrrl]

I agree re: Pasadena. I think it has to do with the 10 freeway vs the 210 and what time you're headed out on the road.

I dated a guy who lived in Glendale (just west of Pasadena) my senior year and had no problem making it back to campus from there. Hardly any traffic at all - though I did try to avoid rush hour whenever possible.

[Guest nytola]

One more question: Would Silver Lake be totally unreasonable? My boyfriend will be working in downtown LA, so we are trying to find a halfway point.

Is it close enough to Pasadena to make the commute to Claremont feasible?

I'm hoping my schedule will be flexible enough to allow me to avoid the heaviest traffic times...but all of the driving will be an adjustment!

[HMCgrad]

Silverlake is very close to downtown and isn't much of a halfway point. Because it is north of downtown you would be able to avoid the downtown traffic by taking the 2 north to the 134/210 east, but it is still quite far from claremont in distance. Silverlake is also fairly expensive. I would say the best place might be pasadena or somewhere near it, only about 15 min from downtown and 25 from claremont (both times with no traffic) If you want to be closer to downtown try Glendale, or eagle rock (a little bit north of silverlake making it cheaper and easier to get to claremont by jumping on the 210 east)

[stofo]

I am going to CGU for the MFA program. My wife is going to Cal State Long Beach for the MFA program. So, we will be living near Long Beach and I will be commuting. I wont be going on 210, I'll be driving south of LA. What do you know about the traffic situation? How long will it take me to drive? Is this a reasonable commute or am I crazy? I'm planning on only driving early morning/late night. Any advice or info about GCU in general is also helpful!

[choidy87]

I am going to CGU for the MFA program. My wife is going to Cal State Long Beach for the MFA program. So, we will be living near Long Beach and I will be commuting. I wont be going on 210, I'll be driving south of LA. What do you know about the traffic situation? How long will it take me to drive? Is this a reasonable commute or am I crazy? I'm planning on only driving early morning/late night. Any advice or info about GCU in general is also helpful!

You're kinda crazy. As a proud Los Angeles native, I can honestly say that traffic isn't horrible when you use one or maybe two freeways as a commuter. However, you'd be driving through at least four or five different traffic patterns and that won't be pretty. My first year in grad school, I commuted 65 miles (1.5 hours) one way. It actually wasn't bad. I did really well because I spent all my free time in the library and was ahead in my coursework. Unfortunately, my workouts suffered a bit that second semester. I'm also single and there were lots of times when I burned the candle at both ends to have a social life and and an academic one. I can't imagine what married life would be, but I guess working people do that every day in every city.

I ended up moving closer to school because my eyes were so tired after long days that, as an excellent driver, I wasn't as alert on the freeway as I needed to be. I suggest living in Fullerton, Anaheim or maybe Placentia. Even Costa Mesa's a better idea than living in or around Long Beach. That way you and your wife can be (somewhat) in the middle of both schools.

Check out the evidence:

http://www.sigalert.com/Map.asp#lat=33.88486&lon=-118.09166&z=2

Also, grad school happens when it happens. The plan to drive only in the early morning/late night will quickly change. If it doesn't that means you're probably not spending any time with your spouse. You'll be probably be a T.A., working on projects, or going to events throughout the Southland. I think a central location is the best idea. If you look at a map, you're going to think Whittier or La Habra would make a great central location. Rethink that. Freeways don't run through those cities, so it takes about 20 minutes just to get to one. You don't want to add that surface street time to your commute, in my opinion.

Regardless, get a toll road transponder if you drive the 91. The cost benefit is worthwhile.

[ILuvPsych2013]

Hi everybody!

I was wondering if anyone has been through or knows anything about the Industrial/Organizational Psychology Ph.D program at CGU. Any feedback on the program, CGU, or Claremont in general? I am married with two small children, so I am looking for a place to live that is relatively inexpensive and safe. I am from the midwest, so obviously I am trying to determine whether we can even afford to live here. Any feedback is appreciated!

Thanks!

[Behavioral]

It's a bit late, but I grew up in a city close to Claremont (maybe 3 cities over). The area is cheap for the LA area (since you're now in the 909 and outside of the county), but compared to the Midwest, it's still pretty expensive.

Regarding safety, it's very safe. The city is really centered around the Claremont Colleges, which you can tell by its downtown being adjacent to campus.

[ILuvPsych2013]

It's a bit late, but I grew up in a city close to Claremont (maybe 3 cities over). The area is cheap for the LA area (since you're now in the 909 and outside of the county), but compared to the Midwest, it's still pretty expensive.

Regarding safety, it's very safe. The city is really centered around the Claremont Colleges, which you can tell by its downtown being adjacent to campus.

Thanks Behavioral! When you say "cheap for the LA area", can you give me anything more specific? I am from Nebraska, so I am really pretty clueless on what to expect-rent wise-out west. I would be looking for a typical 3 bed/2 bath house or apartment.

[sleepycat]

I went to Pitzer for two years and loved Claremont. I really liked the Village which is a small shopping district. I assume housing is really expensive in Claremont because it is a really nice area. The schools are located right at the border of Claremont and Upland. I wouldn't say the area is horrible, but it really isn't that bad. There is a mall and big box stores a few miles east in Upland. There are also two "luxury" apartment gated communities right at the border. It is a 15 minute walk to Pitzer and CGU is on the other side of the campus, so you might want to get a car. I don't know the specifics on cost, but I am sure they are reasonable for a grad student/family. They have 1-3 rooms, kitchen, all appliances included, a small gym, pool, and barbecue place. I know the 2 bedroom have two bathrooms. Also the small bedroom can hold two twin beds. One of the bathrooms is connected to the master bedroom and there is a walk-in closet.

The one I stayed at was College Park because there is a housing shortage on campus. All students, however, have to abide by College Park rules.

I also took a class at CGU as an undergraduate and know some of the religion faculty from CMC and can tell you they are wonderful professors to have.

Edited January 28, 2012 by sleepycat

[ILuvPsych2013]

Thanks for your help! Craigslist shows roughly $1500 for a 3 bedroom, which seems very reasonable for the area. I appreciate the feedback!

[Eternal Icicle]

I'm originally from Oregon and living in Claremont-- $1500-$200 is what you should expect for a three bedroom. Closer into Los Angeles studios go for $1000 and one-bedrooms for ~$1800, so thank goodness Claremont is removed from all that!

In addition to housing, gas prices tend to be much higher here. It's between $4.30-4.40 here right now (and always tends to be about $0.30 higher than where I'm from in Oregon). Food and whatnot is comparable and the area has a number of options. Vons (Safeway) and Trader Joes are within walking distance, while other stores like Sprouts (organic/healthy/great produce) and Target are just a bit farther.

It is a really great area! An oasis in the horrid cement desert of Los Angeles (but as an Oregonian I was born to hate Southern California).