I AM MOVING TO LOS ANGELES

What about me? And Lowie?

Ohai Prenn! So you're going to be in L.A. come August? Fun! Also Amy? Fun...maybe.

I think we should form a superhero team. Lowbacca can be the evil scientist we have to face every week.

 

If it all possible, try for a town home. No people above & below, which is a real plus. However, if you can only get an apartment, I would recommend a unit on the very top floor.

Viva Los Angeles!

 

Yeah I'm looking for a studio apartment, nothing fancy. I honestly don't care if it's a tiny box. I just don't want roomates, because I need to get work done and in the past all my roomates have been horrendous.

 

North Hollywood (which is here in The Valley) can be a good option, as the Red Line subway begins there, thus it's quick access to where you need to be in Hollywood. Don't know anything about the prices, though. There's a big apartment complex adjacent to the subway station, but I think it looks expensive.

Viva Los Angeles!

 

Rent for studios and 1 BRs tend to be proportionately more expensive and you get less quality for the $ out here. You can get better quality by sharing a two or three BRs with 2 or 3 people. Your share of the rent will be much cheaper than getting your own studio or 1 BR and you'll probably live in a nicer place to boot.

 

I've found a lot of studios/bachelors in the 600-800 range, granted they're probably crappy quality but I'm far, far from rich and just need something to survive through school in. After doing crappy dorms with roaches, I think I'll be set. The shared apartments that I've found in the area that I need it to be in have all seemed to average out to be 900-1000 per person.

Also, I just plain can't stand having any more roomates, and people pooping in the shower and me having to clean everything up after everyone else, and them making noise and getting drunk and hogging the bathroom for hours on end, or them eating my food or taking up all the space in the fridge, or them not paying rent on time. Too much of a hassle.

 

You have a problem with crapping in the shower? Nazi.

 

Another way to save money if you don't want roommates is to live on the street. You might get the occasional drifter coming into your turf, but if you can make a good shank or even get your hands on a firearm(which would still be cheaper than renting) they should be no problem.

 

It's not so much needing a nice building as just needing to be able to step outside your door. You can maybe find studios for 650-800 but they will probably either be far away from downtown areas (Pasadena, Calabassas) or they'll be in bad parts of town.

Check out Westside Rentals. That might be helpful.


It also kind of depends on where you're going to be working or going to school, how much you'll be using your car, or whether you'd hope to take the subway at all.

-sj loves kevin spacey

 

Many thanks - I haven't tried that site yet.

 

It's one a lot of people use locally. Could be helpful. I agree that NoHo is ok (lol porn stars), as well as maybe Studio City, Los Feliz or Silverlake (lol hipsters), Fairfax (lol ultra Orthodox Jews), Miracle Mile (lol art museums), or Santa Monica.

-sj loves kevin spacey

 

Los Feliz and Santa Monica are good areas to live. The only bad part about Santa Monica is that it's on the other side of everything. You have to either take the freeway or go through Beverly Hills just to get to Hollywood or Burbank. I don't much like the traffic near Miracle Mile, but the area is very nice. Los Feliz! My favorite place in LA, lived there for years, very quaint and quiet. Love Los Feliz, and the rents in Los Feliz are not too super expensive for good living in a safe area.


Lowbacca writes:
I think it's decently ironic that Universal City not only isn't a city in its own right, but isn't part of any city.

It's not a city in it's own right, but not elusive, it's understood that Universal Studios Hollywood is actually a part of Hollywood. Universal City is more of an attraction area anyway, probably to bring in the dollars around that area; like city walk, outside of the theme park with the movie theater, and a nice surrounding area too.


Solojones:
But none of that's the point. I was just making a half-joking remark about the fact that three of the major studios are located either in Burbank or right next to it, so your remark about it being impossible to shoot there was terribly ironic.

Yeah it is pretty ironic. All of LA is ironic. Though I believe the major studios were already settled around that area before the airport was actually built. The military built the airport for military aircraft during world war II, then it was changed to a civilian airport if I'm correct.

 

SLG. I will be watching your scenario play out very carefully

because i will do the same thing in some years sithlordgunray.

 

I hate to break it to you, guys, but it kind of sucks here. The Mecca of car culture, most things in most areas too spread out for a comfortable walking distance; unfriendly infrastructure toward pedestrians and bicyclists (i.e., lack of adequate sidewalks and bikelanes in many areas); public transportation is laughable compared to places such as NYC, highly underfunded and overburdened; overrun by corporate America; politics either dominated by entitled, self-serving quasi-liberals or (in most non-LA areas of the LA metro) Klan-level conservatives who froth at the mouth at the prospect of immigrants, Muslims, blacks and gays; higher unemployment than the national average; high cost of living; the rich non-Hollywood types who sit in their beach mansions and plan their next hundred-million dollars; earthquakes happen frequently enough to scare most outsiders.

Really, even the post-secondary educational opportunities have worsened due to tuition hikes (private schools constantly raise tuition so it also applies to them). Only thing good here is the weather.



Lived in southern California all my life. I'll be accepting my position on the tourism board.

 

Yeah, I don't really like it either, but I think most of the people here who've moved/are moving to LA are doing so because of entertainment industry related things. And then there's Prenn who's the idiot wanting to help people or something stupid like that.


-sj loves kevin spacey

 

I guess I'm one of the few people living out here who actually enjoys doing so. Corporate America is everywhere, so that's not an exclusive L.A./SoCal thing. Yeah, the politics stink (particularly with the L.A. City government), but again, that happens in a lot of places. Sure public transit isn't what it is in a lot of cities, but it really isn't that bad, and I use public transit 4-5 days a week, and when I go to Laker games. I don't care much about the bike issue. Of course there's the problem with gangs, the homeless situation (L.A. is #1 in the country on that), and pollution. However, the weather is beyond awesome year round, there's a plethora of food options, tons of natural beauty, and historic/special sports franchises (if one cares for sports, as I do). L.A. isn't for everyone, but it really isn't the end of the world/decency to live here.

Viva Los Angeles!

 

Of course, LA also has a huge number of independent movie theaters and a large number of music venues, so there's a flip side to the coin. I really like LA, but then, I also enjoy driving. And, the politics really is just dominated by one side for the LA area. And the earthquakes scare off some people, but I know of a LOT of people that moved here that were very excited to get their first major earthquake with Chino Hills. And frankly, I'd take earthquakes to floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc.

It's not a part of Hollywood anymore than the Los Angeles Angels are in Los Angeles. Anyway, the point of Universal City, I believe, is to not have to deal with the taxes of the city of LA.

 

I'm not going to lie, but whenever we get a quake out here, there's a certain feeling of adrenaline/excitement that goes through me during the actual shaking. It's been like that my whole life..............not scared in the least over the actual event, it's the possible aftermath that gets me scared.

Viva Los Angeles!

 

Hmmmm well. I don't much care about politics or rich people or the rest of the stuff you listed, DG. I applied to schools all over, and I really really really wanted to go to Orlando for one, but the best of the ones I applied to was in LA, and I desperately need a decent job when graduating. So that's pretty much all I'm there for. I'll probably end up working there too afterwards, because I'll be in the entertainment field and won't have much of a choice (and holy crap, the debt I'll have). I don't really have a list of "wants" for moving, all I'm interested in is going to school, doing the homework, and kicking some butt at it. The city I'm in isn't going to matter because I'm so broke that I won't be able to do anything anyways.


The only thing I'm concerned with, which is necessary, is not being able to drive. It's going to be a big inconvenience at first, but I'm sure with a bit of planning ahead I can manage the PT. I just realized that without driving I would be saving myself such an incredible amount of money that I wouldn't have to go more in debt with.

 

In the case of not having a car... yeah if your school is anywhere near a subway line, then I would try to live somewhere near one as well. Which isn't many places. The buses in LA are awful. Tunick might say otherwise, but don't believe him. They have to sit in the same traffic as everyone else but also stop all the time. They're very often late.
Subway map

-sj loves kevin spacey

 

Is the subway safe to use very late at night? I'll be out of class at 11pm some nights.

 

I personally have never used the subway since when I lived in LA it didn't extend out to Fairfax, but my impression is that it's relatively safe. Without a car, your other option is to take a bus anyway and I would feel safer on a subway than a bus. At least there are cops in some of the subway areas. I believe the subway runs from 4:30am-1am or so.

-sj loves kevin spacey

 

Hoorah! Thank you.

 

Yeah, I've never actually heard of anyone liking LA. It's just a means to an end.