Cozy, Cute and Quaint: Adventures in NoHo Apartment Hunting

“Cozy one-bedroom!” “Comfy apartment!” “In the NoHo Arts District!” After apartment-hunting for well over a month, I found these promising headlines are pretty open to interpretation. Since my husband and I love the walkability dog-friendliness of our neighborhood, we’re looking to stay in the Arts District area. But those “near NoHo” lines are the ones giving us the most grief.

There's nothing wrong with our current abode – We love our location and our apartment manager is the best. But after assessing our budget, we thought it would be a good idea to live more within our means and perhaps start saving for a rainy day fund.

I’d always relied on Craigslist as my trusty (and free) apartment listing guide as my current place and the one before it are both Craigslist finds. Since settling into our current apartment two years ago, I’d forgotten apartment managers’ favorite keywords when trying to lure in prospective tenants. 

To some managers, “close to NoHo” might just be a block or two away from Lankershim and Magnolia, the hub of the NoHo Arts District. To others, it’s two miles north near Victory and Vineland. Curious about the boundaries of the NoHo Arts District, I called Nancy Bianconi, the editor of NoHoArtsDistrict.com.

“We have this issue a lot,” she told me. Most people can agree the Arts District falls in the area within Tujunga Avenue, Burbank Boulevard, Cahuenga Boulevard and Camarillo Street, said Bianconi, but “everyone has a different interpretation.” When the Community Redevelopment Agency created the district in 1992, their boundaries were set differently, she said. But as the area grew, Bianconi said it was important to allow the arts community to flourish.

“We have theaters that are one doorfront away from Camarillo,” she said, but that doesn’t mean they’re not part of the Arts District. “I don’t like to have boundaries, and most artists don’t,” said Bianconi, and if someone is within five or six blocks of the lines, they’ll still consider them part of the district.

There are also those apartments that are technically within the area, but are not exactly the most ideal late-night dog-walking spot. South of Magnolia Boulevard are pedestrian-friendly vintage shops, restaurants and theaters, but start heading north and you can also meet some extremely friendly characters with their own sidewalk theatrics. 

Then there are the M.C.A.'s: the Most Common Adjectives: Bright! Airy! Cozy! Quaint! Super-comfy! Lively! All of which tend to translate to: “This apartment is about 400 square feet, but don’t worry, it’s got lots of windows so it looks much bigger.”

Moving is always a matter of timing: there’s always that one perfect apartment, but it never seems to be there when you need it. To complicate matters even worse, we’ve got two pets, prefer hardwood floors, and have a specific price in mind, all of which considerably dwindles down our options.

We’ve given in and purchased a Westside Rentals account, despite the many negative reviews on Yelp and other rating Web sites. And perhaps we’ll have to re-think our preferences: Valley Village is still a great nearby option, and perhaps carpets aren’t so bad after all. So as the clock keeps ticking, I’ll just continue scrolling through apartment listings and watch out for all the cute, quaint and comfy places not far from NoHo.