Moving to LA

[Head416]

Originally Posted by kaisen

One word:


Helicopter

Good idea. Who on here is willing to sponsor us?

[speeder]

Originally Posted by Head416

Her schedule will be pretty much M-F 8-5. The whole reason we're moving is to lower the commute, so I'm going to try pretty hard to get her at 30 min or less. She'll have homework/reading/papers - unless Milt you want to pitch in on the papers - so her commute time is more important than mine. This is all temporary (2-5 years) so our situation doesn't need to be perfect.

Looking for 10 minutes in the La Brea / Miracle Mile area it seems like 2 bathrooms and in-unit washer/dryer hookups are a lot harder to find without getting above $1,800. I've pretty much given up on finding a unit we'll like for $1,400 without driving further.

If you absolutely need 2 BRs, you are going to pay. I myself would immediately compromise on the space requirement and rent a storage locker for $100 a month if you really have a lot of furniture that is worth keeping, as opposed to selling and replacing later when you own a house. The location is so much more important than almost any other measurement in L.A., IMO. I would not have the life I have if I had to live somewhere that I don't like. And these long freeway commutes that people are talking about will absolutely destroy your life. Sacrifice the size of the apartment for the location. It's an absolute no-brainer. You can get a very large 1BR near CBS, (Beverly and Fairfax to LaBrea), for ~$1500 a month. Maybe even a 2BR for close to that. I have a friend who lives in a good building there, I'll ask him.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by look 171

Korean town or a little ways north of there is really another option. If you are going to do that, I would spend another 10 minutes and go to Los Feliz. Driving time to UCLA from K town and Los Feliz is about the same. Check these places out, you might just like the sea of people and cars 24/7 out in the west side. Another thing is parking. Watch out for that and factor it in. Because it will be a b#tch on the west side. You pay when you park, you pay dearly if you are not careful because that meter maid works too damn hard. Ask me how I know. There is a lot of waiting beside the daily parking lot that you will be driving through. The wait time for normally things ( beside the traffic) like restaurants, markets, even the Starbucks are much longer then usual due to the mass amount of people out there.

The commute from where I live in K-town and the commute from Los Feliz are NOT the same. Not even close. You really don't know the streets well enough to make those claims if that's what you think. From Los Feliz to UCLA, it's Sunset Blvd. all the way. There is no other way, except for the 101 to the 405. The so-called "northern route" through Hollywood and Franklin Ave. is tough during rush hour, to put it mildly. I have direct experience with this commute.

From where I live, (near the Wiltern theatre), you jump on a Metro Rapid red bus and read the paper or surf the web on your phone for ~20 minutes and you are on Wilshire and Westwood Blvd. Driving is not close either. I jump on 6th street anytime of the day and I'm going 40+ mph until it ends on San Vicente Blvd. From there, you either jump one block down to Wilshire and slog through Beverly Hills until you cross SM Blvd, where speeds pick up drastically through the Wilshire corridor to Westwood or go north on SV to SM Blvd. or Burton Way. It's the "southern route" through/past Hollywood, a HUGE difference if you really know the streets.

From CBS, it's neither. Beverly Blvd./SM/Wilshire or Sunset to UCLA. Driving or bus, it's a piece of cake. These Long Beach/Torrance/east of Hollywood suggestions are just whack. Someone doesn't know the streets.

[Head416]

Well, it's been a while now. I started working by LAX last Monday. We're looking at a house to rent, and I think we found the one. It's near Ladera Heights, but a little east. Which means it's kind of between a good area and a bad area. The several blocks right around it seem nice, we even drove through at midnight Friday night and everything was nice and quiet.

It's a 3 bed, 2 bath, plus a den, detached two-car garage, covered patio, and backyard... but we'll be paying $2,200. Quite a bit more than I was planning at first but we just don't want to cram into a little place. I'll be a few minutes from work but my wife will have a bit more of a drive. She'll be at UCLA two days a week and doesn't know yet where she'll be the other three, so there's only so much we can do.

I really appreciate all the advice. You guys woke me up to harsh realities of commute time and rent costs.

[Nostril Cheese]

uh. east of Ladera Heights is Inglewood/South Central, bro. Might want to rethink that one. You want to go west. Culver City, Palms, Del Rey.

[nostatic]

Inglewood isn't as bad as most people think (at least many parts of it). In fact it is seeing an influx of artists that have gotten priced out of Echo Park, Los Feliz, etc.

[douglas bray]

What was wrong with Upland? I know lots of people that drive from here to there (I'm in Alta Loma)

[speeder]

Originally Posted by douglas bray

What was wrong with Upland? I know lots of people that drive from here to there (I'm in Alta Loma)

Or Arizona! There are a lot of people here who like Arizona...

[slodave]

There are some vacancies in apts/TH's in my area - Encino as of late.

[nostatic]

a regular Encino to LAX commute?

[Ronbo]

Originally Posted by nostatic

a regular Encino to LAX commute?

I did the Tarzana to LAX for many years. It's all in the timing. If you can tailor your hours to start and end your work day early it's not so bad. The 405 at 4 am is wide open!

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by speeder

Or Arizona! There are a lot of people here who like Arizona...

Bakersfield! Houses are cheap! I kid my wife about moving there (hey, she likes country music).

[Jim Richards]

Originally Posted by Ronbo

The 405 at 4 am is wide open!

4am is obscene!

[Head416]

Again, I appreciate the input. The area seems okay to us, like I said we even checked it out at midnight on Friday. A long commute is not worth it to us, been there done that. I'm commuting from Upland for now - sometimes getting 90 minutes each way, sometimes longer. That just isn't something we want long term. The place we're looking at is closer to Ladera Heights than Inglewood. Although, I work in Inglewood now so it's starting to grow on me.

[Head416]

Oh, and my hours aren't too flexible, as I'm the west coast guy and they need me working 9-6 rather than at the same time as the east coast guys.

[Head416]

Another follow-up so you guys can have some closure (I'm sure this was keeping you up at night):

A week ago Sunday we moved into the house I posted about above. I call the area "near Ladera Heights". It's a nice little neighborhood of a bunch of old, well-maintained houses. It has bars on the windows (not a great sign, but it adds a comfort level - pretty common in most of the areas we've seen). The main crime for several blocks in any direction is vehicle smash and grabs. Hey, we're in LA now. We make sure not to leave anything in our cars that are on the street, and I've got a garage for the P-car. I also leveraged our move to LA as an excuse for a new shotgun I've been wanting to get, so there's always that bonus. I walk outside at night and feel fine about it.

I'm a Westsider now! I think. I'm still trying to figure that out. I work in Inglewood, and I think that might be South Bay. Not too sure.

[look 171]

what's the two big cross street? Be careful with that p car because they will know you have a p car and must have big bucks. when you say "those" areas, you have to keep that in mind. Please be careful out there and watch your back they're fooking animals.

[Head416]

Major streets are Slauson and La Brea. The garage access is from an alley with locked gates at both ends; only a handful of houses have a key.

I'm definitely "alert" these days.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Head416

I'm a Westsider now! I think. I'm still trying to figure that out. I work in Inglewood, and I think that might be South Bay. Not too sure.

Don't tell that to those in South Bay.

Sounds like a good place.

[Head416]

Yeah, I bet they wouldn't like that!

I had to go check Wikipedia:

The South Bay includes the Beach Cities (Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach), El Segundo, the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Inglewood, Hawthorne, Gardena, Carson, Lawndale, Harbor City, Torrance, Lomita, and San Pedro.