SoCal relocation advice for our son. Thanks!

[Jim Richards]

Our son and his fiancé will soon be moving from North Carolina to SoCal, and I'd like to solicit your opinions on what areas are good (or bad) for them to initially settle into.

He's going to work in Newport Beach, and she's going to work near Santa Monica. They were thinking about finding an apartment in the Long Beach / Huntington Beach area, but they are open to changing that somewhat if there's a compelling reason.

What do you SoCal guys suggest? Thanks in advance for all your help.

[speeder]

The first problem is that the distance between Newport Beach and Santa Monica is HUGE, both in terms of actual distance and travel speed on available routes. It is the equivalent of NY to DC, if there was no train.

HB is not far from NB, but both are about 50 miles from SM as the crow flies, and at any normal commuting time it could be a several hour drive at stop and go speeds on some of the most congested freeways in the world. Newport is in OC and SM is in the northern part of LA county, LA county is massive.

I would say that one or the other needs to find a job near the first one if they want to live together. Santa Monica and the west side of L.A. have probably the worst congestion in SoCal right now, tied with the freeways leading out of LA and Long Beach harbors. You would be in the middle of both for this drive. Impossible. To put it in perspective, I don't generally take even short-term jobs on the west side of L.A. and I live maybe 5 miles away.

I'll PM you my cell #, I'd be happy to meet with them and show them around L.A. if they want.

[Jim Richards]

Thanks Denis. I just replied to your PM.

[nostatic]

ditto what Denis said on all fronts. I live in west LA a few minutes from Santa Monica and have a friend who lives in SM. I've also spent a lot of time driving all over this place and know some of the ins and outs. Feel free to call me and/or have them do it. If they are thinking about kids soon that introduced a whole 'nother thing into the equation.

[the]

Newport Beach to Santa Monica - that's 4 hours of round trip commute time per day.

One working in NB and the other in SM, that will not work long term, no matter where they live. Just isn't going to happen.

[nostatic]

you can make it work if you're working off hours - like *really* off hours. That drive is tolerable after 8 or 9pm, around noon, and that's about it. Unless you're on a motorcycle. Of course that introduces a bunch of other issues.

I looked into this as there was a possibility of me having to move to south OC and work in Marina del Rey. It isn't pretty but can be done. Far from an idea setup though.

[the]

It's just not a reasonable situation, long term. I guess if one works from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., it would make it a little easier. But I'm assuming that's not the case.

A young couple moving from North Carolina, thinking one is going to work in SM and one in NB, isn't going to work over the long term, IMO.

But for giving it the best shot, I'd say to live in the Torrance/South Bay area.

[Joe Bob]

Get as close to a freeway on ramp as possible....the South Bay has it's issues just getting the freaking 405. I used to live in Hermosa Beach....20 minutes just to the on ramp sometimes...

BTW, my brother in law owns the California Chicken Cafe in Santa Monica and Venice....other locations as well...but are owned by his frat brothers from SC.

Stop in and say hi....

[speeder]

It's just a commuting nightmare beyond what most people can imagine. Newport Beach is nearly half way to San Diego from L.A., those two locations are not even remotely in the same neck of the woods. Not in the same county.

One of those two jobs needs to change or they need to each live where they work and get together on weekends or something. One traffic accident anywhere near the LB freeways and that could be a 5 hour (1 way) drive, or should I say, sit in car. I know that I'm repeating myself, but it's not workable.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

My advice would be to avoid moving to SoCal entirely, but that's just me.

If they're dead-set on doing this, then their situation isn't too dissimilar from the one me & my wife had a few years ago. At the time, I was working out of Burbank and she out of Costa Mesa. Looking at the map, there's not a single area "in the middle" of those two on a straight line that I'd ever even consider living in. Long Beach was a sort of 2/3-1/3 compromise. It was about twice as long for me as for her, but it still represented the only real viable option of something acceptable that was sorta' centrally located. That said, I'd be happy to consult with them on what "good" parts of Long Beach are and what "bad" parts of Long Beach are. If they're not familiar, I strongly suggest they either do that (and get someone's guidance who lives here) or come out, spend a few days getting the feel for different areas before signing a lease anywhere. There's a lot of parts of this town that are street-by-street trashy versus decent. If you're unfamiliar, it's very easy to end up next door to a bunch of crackheads or a family of 15 Mexican illegals blasting mariachi music until 3 in the morning or party-animal UCLB college kids who love to party it up constantly.

To also echo what's been said, I'd suggest living close to the Santa Monica gig if possible. I commuted from Long Beach to Santa Monica for about a year and if I hadn't had my motorcycle, I'd likely have gone postal on someone. The 405 freeway is something best left completely avoided at all costs. I schit you not about this. If you depend on the 405 to get to work, you'll regret it. I used to go up the 710 to the 105 to LAX and then up Sepulveda. That circuitous route was actually considerably faster than the 405. It's that bad.

But seriously, if I were in their situation today, I simply wouldn't move here. As time goes on, I'm regretting more and more that I ever did. Way too many people, too much congestion, too many problems, too expensive. But maybe they'll have a different take on it.

[Jim Richards]

Thanks for the great (and scary) comments, guys! The Long Beach or Torrence/South Bay suggestions sound like they might be the least painful. I guess after they suffer a while, they'll make the appropriate employment decisions to achieve the level of pain they're willing to endure.

[nostatic]

not that Jeff is incredibly cranky or anything...

If you are young and energetic, this is a great place to live. There is no place like it anywhere else in the world. For good and bad reasons. But that is part of the gestalt.

[MRM]

I'm going to remember this post the next time someone asks me why I live and work in Minnesota. My wife and I had the same issue when we bought our first house here. But the commute times for us were 20 min and 10. I have about a 30-35 minute commute now, and that's the max I'll tolerate. I used to live only a few miles from my office. One summer morning I pulled the P Car out of the garage just as Band on the Run came on the radio, and it was just ending as I pulled into my ramp at work. I could still have that commute if I wanted. The winters are hard, but the summers are glorious and it's not too hard to live up here.

[speeder]

MRM, I love the twin cities and most of the state of MN., (as well as WI.), but I have to tell you that my life in Los Angeles bears no resemblence to what we are describing on this thread. I rarely leave an area of ~ 15 sq. miles and almost never sit in bad traffic. My car has not been started in 3 days, I've been working at home and biking and walking anywhere I need to go. The driving I do is mostly pretty fun and enjoyable, but with gas prices I am cutting down and switching to 2 wheels.

The commute being described here is worse than anything in Mpls., but maybe compares to living in Lakeville and working a 9-5 in Fridley or North Oaks. My life in L.A. is more akin to living in Kenwood and working in Uptown. (Or downtown).

[the]

Originally Posted by Jim Richards

Thanks for the great (and scary) comments, guys! The Long Beach or Torrence/South Bay suggestions sound like they might be the least painful. I guess after they suffer a while, they'll make the appropriate employment decisions to achieve the level of pain they're willing to endure.

Long Beach is still too far south. Long Beach to Santa Monica is just pure murder.

Torrance/South Bay to SM is better, but still very, very bad during anything near normal commute hours.

From Torrance, I'd rather have the commute to NB than to SM.

If they've never commuted in So Cal traffic, they are going to be in for a very rude surprise with those particular commutes (esp. the Santa Monica one). Because there is no way they can even begin to imagine how bad it is.

[Hugh R]

There is a trolley that goes from long beach to Union Station in downtown LA. Look into buses from there to SM. Ugh, both are dog meat drives.

[mikester]

Commuting Santa Monica to Huntington Beach will be 1.5 hours each way and you can bet on at least 2 days taking an additional 1.5 hours total per week.

I used to commute from Santa Monica to Anahiem which is about the same distance but a small detour towards the end (turn east instead of west for a few minutes).

Prior to that I lived in Huntington Beach and commuted almost to Santa Monica and that was just as bad.

All this working for the same employer - they moved their office right after I moved closer to them - it was painful.

I have worked very hard over the last 4 years to eliminate my commute entirely. Now I live and work in El Segundo.

It would be beneficial to both of them to adopt the same plan - they will save themselves lots of wasted time fighting to get to work and then fighting to get home. I would not recommend anyone move to LA - Ever.

The bus systems between while giving you an option to let someone else drive are not really any cheaper (if you already own the car) and don't save you a moment of time (they take hours longer).

[MRM]

Summer's finally come, Denis. You gotta come back for at least a weekend and I'll buy you a drink at the Minneapolis watering hole of your choice. Or if you prefer, stay the weekend at our Wisconsin lake home. 1,200 acres of clear water 90 minutes from my doorstep. Tell me some stories about your Dad, Peter Dorsey and Harry MacLaughlin and I'll dish on some of the suits Peter's had to defend. There's this limo, Peter and a young associate . . .

[the]

Originally Posted by Hugh R

There is a trolley that goes from long beach to Union Station in downtown LA. Look into buses from there to SM. Ugh, both are dog meat drives.

The trolly or train from LB to Union Station would be ok. Buses from there to SM is not doable, 5x per week, by any normal person.

[Hugh R]

I'd consider keeping a beater in downtown to drive to SM in the mornings, which wouldn't be too bad, but expensive to store anywhere near Union Station.