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Dear Dave. Hard to help because LA is a big place. Is the property near Compton or the Simi Valley? Is it located in an enclave or within three miles of a Mexican barrio?

Here's a good rule of thumb. Land prices will continue to rise in California until the population is controlled (immigration control) or the liberals legislate redisritibution of land wealth ( rent control, low rent housing, etc.).

The questions you really need to ask yourself involve quality of life. The rest is just money.

To answer some of the questions:

Woodland Hills is in the west side of the San Fernando Valley, near Thousand Oaks. Topanga Canyon is south of Woodland Hills, between Malibu and Pacific Palisades.
Topanga Canyon is a hilly area known for the beauty of the scenery and the uniqueness of the homes and people. It's an area filled with 60s dropouts. It has a very warm, hospitable appealing character. When I had a flat tire on the main drag, people stopped and helped me out. The views from most Topanga homes, even entry level ones, are stunning.
Woodland Hills is an "edge city" with a huge and thriving businesses district called Warner Center. South of Ventura Blvd, there is a very nice hilly area that has many similarities to Topanga Canyon. It is there that I'm looking.
The areas I'm considering investing in have virtually no recent immigrants. In Woodland Hills, two bedroom apartments rent for $1,500 a month and up. In Topanga Canyon, there are no apartments. Guest houses rent for over $900 a month.
In both places, entry level houses are $399k+, even on busy streets. So I am looking at the cheapest houses in the market.
I make decent money in LA. I have excellent work skills but horrible networking and self-marketing skills. To establish myself elsewhere would be horribly difficult. So I'm inclined to say that I pretty much have to stay here.
By the same token, I work in Woodland Hills. Moving far from Woodland Hills would mean I would have a torturous commute. I've tried that and it's not for me :-(.
I could move to a cheaper part of town. I would prefer not to, but I could. My intuitive sense is that if I went to an area like Canoga Park, the risk of reduction in home values would be significantly higher. Even Canoga Park, dismal as it is, has an average home price over $350k. My feeling is that I'd rather pay $450k for a home in an area I know will stay nice.

Many thanks for your thoughts so far; keep 'em coming!