Brentwood vs North of Montana

It comes down to the school district and the yard. NOMA is Santa Monica-Malibu Unified, with Roosevelt or Franklin Elementary, Lincoln Middle and Samohi by address, and it's a walk to Montana Avenue and Palisades Park. Brentwood is LAUSD, with assignments that vary by address, and it has bigger lots on average but far more land in a Very High fire zone. Run your exact address with the district before you count on a school.

Brentwood, at the entry level. In late September 2026 Brentwood houses were listed from about $1.9 million and condos from about $389,000, while NOMA houses started around $3.9 million and condos around $775,000. The top ends were close: about $70 million in Brentwood and $69 million in NOMA.

No. North of Montana is in the City of Santa Monica, and Brentwood, in the City of Los Angeles, begins across 26th Street. The Brentwood Country Mart adds to the confusion: it's just across 26th from NOMA but has a Santa Monica mailing address.

Brentwood. Half its house lots are bigger than about 12,700 square feet, and around Mandeville Canyon they run roughly 17,000. In NOMA the standard lot is 50 by 150 feet, about 7,500 square feet, and half the house lots are bigger than about 8,700, though lots on the canyon-rim streets north of San Vicente are about twice that.

Brentwood. On CAL FIRE's 2025 map about 89% of its land is in the Very High zone, the 2019 Getty Fire destroyed 10 homes in its hills, and the 2025 Palisades Fire destroyed 23 structures on its western edge. In NOMA a little over half the land is in a fire zone of any level, with Very High along San Vicente and the canyon rim, and most blocks from Marguerita to Montana are outside the zones. Check the exact parcel either way.

Partly. The Alquist-Priolo fault zone the state mapped in 2018 covers about 30% of NOMA's house lots, mostly on the numbered streets between 12th and 25th. Sellers have to disclose it, and new construction in the zone may need a geologic investigation. To check a specific house, look it up on the state's EQ Zapp map or read its Natural Hazard Disclosure.

They're in different districts. NOMA is Santa Monica-Malibu Unified: Roosevelt Elementary for addresses on 14th Street and west, Franklin for 15th and east, then Lincoln Middle and Santa Monica High. Brentwood is LAUSD: every address I checked went to Paul Revere Charter Middle, while the elementary and high school varied by address. Boundaries change, so check yours with the district.

Yes, from the blocks near Ocean Avenue. Palisades Park runs along the bluff at NOMA's west end, the beach is below it, and the city-run Annenberg Community Beach House is on the sand at 415 PCH. From the 26th Street end it's a much longer walk, since NOMA runs all the way from Ocean Avenue to 26th.

In Brentwood, yes. Measure ULA is a City of Los Angeles tax. On sales closing after June 30, 2026, it's 4% of the whole price when a property sells for more than $5.4 million and 5.5% at $10.9 million or more, on top of the city's base rate of 0.45%. NOMA is in Santa Monica, which sets its own taxes, so ask escrow what the transfer tax on a NOMA sale will be before you run your numbers.

Mostly not to the rent, but eviction rules still apply. Under the state's Costa-Hawkins Act, houses and separately sold condos can usually be rented at market rates when the tenant moved in after January 1, 1996, while Santa Monica's just-cause eviction rules still cover them. Apartments in buildings from before April 10, 1979 are generally controlled, and that's nearly all of NOMA's roughly 1,250 apartment units.

Brentwood. The 405 runs along its whole eastern edge, LAX is about 12 miles from Brentwood Village, and Metro is building a D Line station at the VA on that side. NOMA is west of Brentwood, across 26th Street, so it's farther from the 405.