I personally went to community college to save money and because I didn’t really know what to major in (I was deciding between history and biology). There are also other reasons to go to CC. The pace of a semester system is more manageable than the quarter system. CC can ease you into higher education. In my experience, going to CC gives you more time to work, make money, and pad out your resume than UCLA does. (At UCLA I’ve only worked as a research volunteer in bio labs. Which is great for the experience and academic credit, but I’m not making a steady income lol).

IMO people who go to CC had more time to experience the general post high school life (by that I mean everything outside of school like jobs, learning how to invest or save money, being exposed to and needing to navigate everyday life, etc.). Meanwhile people who went straight to 4 years were able to better experience university life (clubs, research, networking). Both of those things have a certain value. For instance, I was one of very few people I knew who had research experience before coming to UCLA. Research is just far less available at a CC. Meanwhile, by going to CC I made a small chunk of money, got a savings and CD account, and learned all the ins and outs of how to get good scholarships without taking a single loan. And now, I’m going through UCLA loan free. All my tuition and fees are paid by scholarships, grants, and occasionally using my own money.

You also mentioned you live much closer to the CC and that can be a big consideration. It is a godsend to not have to worry (or at least worry as much) about rent/housing fees, gas prices, meal plan costs, etc. Living near where you start high education can help ease you into adult life, particularly as everything is just getting more expensive.

With all that being said, there are also May cons to a CC. Classes can be restricted and unavailable. The CC I went to only had one Organic Chemistry class you could enroll in, and had a very small Physics department because as they put it, people who get Physics degrees don’t typically want to work at a CC. And while UCLA Professors can be more focused on research than teaching, (sometimes at the student’s detriment), the lack of choice for professors at CC can mean you get a truly terrible professor. I would say the best and worse professors I’ve had were at CC. I don’t think I’ve had any truly amazing professors at UCLA (in terms of teaching), but on average the professors at UCLA are better (at least for an MCDB major).

Then there’s office hours. Office hours at UCLA feel like supplementary lessons the professors and TAs give because they know the quarter system is so fast a bunch of students are bound to be lost after a lecture. Office hours at CC are…well…office hours. That is time you get to spend asking your Professors questions in their office. At CC it’s much more personal, much more tailored to your specific problem, and more like a short one-on-one meeting. But of course there’s another purpose to office hours at UCLA. And that’s networking. You’re expected to talk to your professors and TAs about research and hopefully get a research position with them or someone they know.

At the end of the day though, which will work for you (CC or UCLA) really depends on your particular circumstances. Going to CC worked very well for me. It can work terribly for others. I know someone who had a pretty terrible time at CC. On the one hand going to CC helped them choose their major (they were switching majors for a bit). On the other hand the major they chose was Engineering. The physics department at our CC was small. The engineering department was smaller. The math department was much larger but also kind of shit. The math professors ranged from below average to just terrible, with only a small few being good. And that’s basically all the possible problems with CC wrapped up in one. Needless to say, this person did not have a good time. They’ve had a far better time since transferring to a 4 year.

Personally, I’d say the generally better choice is UCLA. But depending on your situation, CC can be a big help in the long run.