Affordable neighborhoods within half an hour of Century City

FYI, Glendale is probably at least an hour if you drive during rush hour. I recommend finding somewhere to live where you can commute on surface streets only - LA's freeways (especially the 10 and the 405) are best avoided during heavy traffic if at all possible.

There are also some excellent, inexpensive beach apartments if your timing is right in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playa_del_Rey,_Los_Angeles (we lived there for years and paid just over $2K/month for a two bed one bath with an amazing patio about 70 yards from the ocean). It's very ragtag, since it's basically the last bit of beach where non-millionaires can live in the city (although that is changing with development plans that keep getting stalled). It's a fun community--I miss the annual traditions, like the post-Labor Day all-neighborhood cleanup and the post-Christmas tree burn on the beach. Likewise, and right next door, is http://playavista.com/--it's only been built (like, all of it) in the last several years, and it's much more dense than the average stretch of LA. It has its own collection of shops, restaurants, and a sort of neighborhood gathering spot in the middle that also has a gym, pool, etc. It's pretty cool and has an amazing location right on lots of transit and transit corridors. Both are very near LAX, which you will freak out about for one day (omg plane noise every three minutes!) and then probably adjust to immediately. I worked out of a home office the entire time we lived there and never had a problem with it, since noise ordinances have windows double paned and so on. Otherwise seconding Del Rey, Culver City, Palms, Mar Vista, and environs.

My first thought was "Unicorn Acres." Because that's a tough one. Check out Glendale. My hipster cousin lives there. http://www.vueatmontrose.com/p/apartments/floor_plans_8999/glendale-ca-91208/vue-at-montrose-8999 has two Studio plans. Seems close to your price point. It's close to a municipal park and Old Town Glendale.

I live in a tiny area called http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Del_Rey,_Los_Angeles (not to be confused with Marina Del Rey). I have a gorgeous 1BR duplex for $1350. You could easily find a studio in your price range in this neck of the woods, and probably a tiny bit south heading towards the airport as well. I can get to the Westfield Century City in 15-25 minutes, traffic depending. Come on down!

keep in mind, how far and in which direction and time of day you can drive 30 minutes and travel X number of miles can be sort of a crazy theoretical math problem in the L.A. area. I'm much further south, and i'd say less than 10% of my office drives less than 30 min to get to work. i'm 2.5 miles away, and it takes 5-20 minutes depending on the magic of morning traffic.

You are getting ideas for some great areas to look at--my contribution is to remind you to be sure that parking is included!

Palms. Mar Vista. Culver City. West Hollywood is within 25 minutes if you have routes planned to avoid heavy traffic or street closures.

If I were you, I'd look in ktown and midcity. Midcity if you find ktown too dense. Midcity will be super residential. Ktown is lousy with studio apts. I have no idea what studio availability in midcity will be like other than friends say you can get a lot of space for the money. Traffic becomes increasingly assy the further you head west. Don't live west of Century City.

Actually, the west to east commute is fine. Most people are traveling east to west during normal morning commute times. Of course, the west side is much more expensive, so you're better off going east to K-town etc. for price, but the commute will be longer than 30 minutes. Going west from K-town in the morning and back east at night is a complete nightmare. Just don't be fooled by actual distance, check google maps for traffic during your travel times and use that to evaluate the commute time. Culver City or Palms would be ideal if you can get something in your price range. Playa del Rey and Playa Vista are also great ideas. Marina del Rey, Venice and Santa Monica are likely out of your price range. Westchester, just east of Playa del Rey is a less expensive area, but I think it's mainly single family homes. You may find something between Century City and Santa Monica (off Olympic or Pico) but it's not a particularly walkable or nice area.