You're going to need a car in SoCal. There's simply no way to get from point A to point B conveniently. Cabs aren't cheap. You may want to look into some rent controlled communities and settle in with a few people and buy yourself a car. I know Santa Monica used to have rent control areas (I'm not sure if it's still true today). Regardless, it's a pricey city. But then again, if you're bidding for LAX as a domicile, you should already have some bank to roll with the other players.