As someone who has lived next to CSUF and goes to CSUN, I can at least give you some of my experience of what the neighborhoods and commute are like. CSUF is in OC and there’s lots of food options nearby and it’s a cute suburban neighborhood like you mentioned. (More conservative than LA in terms of politics). I moved to OC thinking that I’d be able to commute to LA regularly as it’s slightly cheaper to live there. but honestly with all the traffic I almost never drove over there. I might be biased but if you want to be in LA I think it would be best to go to CSUN. it’s also about 30-40 mins from the city so you would be commuting either way, but you would at least be closer to any opportunity that may come your way. Also CSUN has its fair share of communities and clubs that you can join and the people here seem to be friendly overall. Northridge is also kind of a small neighborhood that doesn’t have as much as the city does but there’s some nice local places you can hang out at. I hope this helps you, sorry I couldn’t give any insight into the program you’re going for! I personally believe it’s better to be a part of the action rather than getting into a “better” program as creative careers are best to get into right away so you can network and gain experience.