Hermosa11 referred to Redondo Beach which is south of Santa Monica. I would say it's about 20 mins. drive south of Santa Monica without traffic. Santa Monica is about a 30 mins. drive to Universal Studios, also without traffic. I have to caution you that L.A. traffic during the week is pretty bad not only during rush hours but also in between. Redondo Beach is south of LAX and when I was commuting from Orange County to the Santa Monica area along the 405 fwy., I always ran into traffic just north of the airport. Even during non-rush hour periods. Hermosa11 described driving from Redondo to DL. If they did that drive in the morning, they were driving against rush hour traffic. You would be going with it driving to US a good deal of the way. If you stay in Santa Monica, I would not leave for US any earlier than 9:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. I also wouldn't return until after 7:00 p.m. if you weren't planning on returning before 2:00 p.m.
That said, Hermosa11 is right, the South Bay area which is where Redondo, Hermosa and Manhattan beach are located are beautiful. Santa Monica is considered part of the Westside of the L.A. area and is more urban and more densely populated. It, too, is a great area. There are a number of homeless who hang out on the cliffs just above the beach but probably no more than you might find in any other urban area. Third Street promonade comes alive at night on the weekends with lots of people walking around. There's lots of fun energy and street entertainers on the weekends.
