Exploring the Vibrant Charm of Culver City: A Hidden Gem in Los Angeles
Los Angeles is spread wide across mountains and flats of Southern California. When looking closely you can find many historic, artsy and vacation spots on its impressive map. But there is one particular spot located in the very middle of LA that carries all of them in one place. This place is Culver City.
Harry Culver, the founder of Culver City, first attempted to institute it in 1913, but final approvals didn’t come in until 1917. At the same time the area was booming with first film production studios and developing nightlife near Washington Boulevard. For a long time Culver was home to Goldwyn Mayer Studios. Large shopping centers and financial offices followed in the next decades. Early Culver City ads read “All roads lead to Culver City”. And this saying still stands as Sony Studios takes center stage in the city’s attractions, surrounded by thriving art scenes, numerous cuisines presented in the area and many more favorite places making it aunique mix of the urban and the suburban living.
The 2020 Census revealed that Culver City has over 40 thousand residents. They represent young professionals that strive for great work and life balance and enjoy bright night life at their footsteps. Families make it their top choice for highly rated, most diverse schools in the city and well developed infrastructure. Culver residents enjoy splendid cultural life, easy access to stores and main necessities, like banks, and its prime centered location between Downtown Los Angeles, beaches and LAX. If you come around, put Museum of Jurassic Technology and the Kirk Douglass Theater on your must visit list. The unusual collection of exhibits and objects of the first and unparallel art and premier events of the latter are worth your time. Aside from its rich historic and cultural heritage and modern existence, Culver City is attractive by its numerous open spaces, parks and green areas. Culver City Park, for instance, provides great opportunities for sports and hiking with a view. Ballona Creek, a centerpiece of the city’s geographic sights, offers a scenic bicycle route all the way to the ocean. Baldwin Hills Park is famed for its stairs leading to the top of the hill with scenic views. Kenneth Hahn park is a great recreational area for fun and active outdoor activities with family and friends. In recent years Culver has undergone many changes, reconstructions and started new developmental projects.
Adding a Metro Line access through the town made it even more accessible along with having quick access to major freeways that hug the City from the north and the west. Culver City also has its own bus line that runs as far as Marina del Rey, Westwood Village and Inglewood. In addition to everything mentioned above, Culver City real estate has boomed and added over 146% of appreciation in price in the past ten years. The City has a few different pockets in its real estate market that have attractive prices and features like some of the most desirable places in Los Angeles.
First area worth mentioning is Carlson Park, specifically the spot between Overland avenue and Jasmine street. Homes here range from $1.4M to $4.5M with a median at around $2M. In the past year prices went down by about 29% making it more competitive and desirable. Most attractive feature of real estate here is large lot sizes that average at about 6200 square feet. Carlson Park, centered in the middle of this area of town, feels more like a private park for its residents as it is hidden away from the busy Downtown Culver City just a few minutes away. Listings that go on the market usually sell within an average of 42 days with most valuable homes trending at 3% above market for an average of 21 days. Another notable area for homebuyers to check out would be Sunkiss Park, that shows a range of single family homes that will fit a need for a small or large family looking to find anywhere from
1200 to 3000 square feet of space to live in. Variety does not end with home sizes but is also reflected in a distinct range of architectural styles showing older American Craftsman and Colonial buildings next to Modern and Contemporary ones. Median home price here for an average three bed three bath is about $1.4M. Prices dropped just under 9% since last year and compared to neighboring Santa Monica, Venice and Westwood Village, this area offers a huge price cut for just a 10 minute drive. There is also a great market of condos in Culver City with a median price around $900K for an average two bed two bath apartment. You must note, however, that most condos for sale were built around the 1970s and there aren’t many new spaces for sale. Most of the new apartment complexes coming up around town are up for rent. Such price in addition to wide tree lined streets with distinct family vibe and lots of available parking is really hard to beat.
There is one part of Culver City that deserves special attention. It is the sub-neighborhood called Palms, originally The Palms. It got its unique name from 5000 palm trees planted around 800 miles of roads in town. After Los Angeles annexed this area in 1915, most of the trees were lost. There are no official borders of Palms, and technically it is Culver City, but it’s geographically located north of Venice boulevard and east of I-405 freeway. Most of the maps contour Palms&northern lines along Palms boulevard west of Overland avenue and all the way up to I-10 on the east hand of it, stretching out a little across I-10 to hit its eastern border by Cattaraugus avenue. Being one of the most diverse neighborhoods in Los Angeles, it is also one with the highest density of population. This was achieved through the city’s policy of demolishing old single family homes and turning them into apartment complexes after WWII. And while 92% of Palms’ population are renters, its real estate market is showing some interesting trends. Despite prices going down from somewhat insignificantly to more sensible points in the rest of Culver City,
Palms’ median price for an average home went up by almost 7% and is ranking at around $1.2M. The low price tag in the area is at $800K. Stats show that the time that property spends on the market has almost doubled since last year and is around 64 days. Another important factor: according to Redfin, 44% of homes here sell above listed price. Palms has great walkability scores, great public schools and accessible public transportation, so keep this tiny spot on the Los Angeles map on your radar if you are looking to invest soon. In our opinion, the most underrated area in Culver City is the spot up on the hill east of Overland avenue that offers the most secluded lifestyle and some of the best views in Los Angeles. This neighborhood was built around the 1950s and was meant as space for wealthier families providing larger homes than the average Los Angeles house at the time.
Many of the homes here are still in their original state but more major renovations are coming into this Culver pocket as well. Due to its limited space, homes sell really fast and usually above market price in this area. To conclude, we want to mention that Culver City is fast becoming an ultra luxury area keeping its deep historic roots alive, offering plenty of hotels and hospitality places and new apartment buildings coming up all around town. Such distinct traits also attracted Apple, HBO and Amazon Studios to choose Culver City for their offices which will open new opportunities for many other businesses and bring this area real estate to new highs. If you are looking for a comfortable, well established area for living with great outdoors and spacious affordable homes, Culver City is definitely a place to put on your list.