move to LA - are we nuts?
 

My husband and I are considering moving to LA. We want to live near ocean/mts. and LA seems to have the best job prospects for us. <BR> <BR>We live in Atlanta right now, and figure if we're going to deal with smog and traffic, why not live near the beach? We've also considered Seattle, Portland, etc. but I don't think I can handle the chilly, rainy winters. <BR> <BR>All you los angeles lovers and haters out there, please tell me what you think. <BR> <BR>Thanks for your help!

Moving to L.A. is fine. You're nuts to live in Atlanta!

I love LA, I lived there about 15 years and still miss it. If you can afford the housing to live in an area you want, that's the big thing, although everything else is pretty reasonable. I lived near the beach most of the time and that really is the best thing for several reasons, not just because you like the beach -- it makes the weather about 10 degrees cooler in the summer (I did not even have AC in Santa Monica and no one I knew did) and makes for much less smog. In fact, the smog never bothered me as I lived and worked in Santa Monica most of the time; I did dislike looking at it hanging on the horizon, unfortunately, and if you live or work elsewhere, it's a problem. Traffic is bad but, frankly, it wasn't as bad as where I live now (Wash DC), and traffic is getting to be bad in any big city in US, that's true -- one advantage to bad traffic in LA is that since the weather is so much better, it's not as dangerous driving and you don't get traffic problems from that (like you do here, geez, two drops of rain and traffic screeches to a halt); also, Los Angelenos are generally better and more polite drivers than here. LA is a great location for the ocean/mts as you said, if you've got good job prospects, I'd move there instead of Seattle. Also, LA has a wide diversity of people (race, occupation, incomes, you name it) in comparison to many other cities, that's what I like a lot about it.

Well I am pretty biased because we own a home in Hollywood and absolutely LOVE it!! Been in So. Cal for 32 years and don't want to live any where else. <BR> <BR>Despite the crazy economy LA is in the midst of a houseing shortage, so cheap rents in desireable areas are not easy to come by. Check out www.westsiderentals.com for some idea of whats out there. (You can do a free search without joining and paying a fee) <BR>Frankly L.A is sooo spread out that your best bet is to buy a Thomas Street Guide, and start cruising neighborhoods until you find one you like. Generally the further west the more expensive. <BR>Also, it would be worth your time to ask if the place you move into is DWP or Edison power... it can make a substantial difference in your power bill. DWP.. as we are in Hollywood owns their power plants..didn't deregulate and is quite reasonable. <BR>Los Angeles is a terrific, diverse city. The weather is great, there are times in the year when you can lay out on a sunny beach in the morning then drive to Big Bear lake at night and go snow skiing. <BR>Welcome to LA.

Can I be honest here? LA and southern Ca use to be great, I really enjoyed the diversity of the city but recently it has become to hispanic. Stop- keep reading, I am not a racist, I like hispanic people, but as a white man I feel like I am a visitor to another country in LA. Now in most areas of the city, english is a second language. <BR> <BR>It is tough being an ethic minority. I know what hispanics felt like 20 years ago in LA, now we (whites) are the minority in southern CA. <BR> <BR>There has been a significant white flight out of southern CA. <BR> <BR>If in doubt, look at the 2000 census. <BR> <BR>Please no racist redneck flames. <BR> <BR>I would alo miss the low cost of living and all the trees in Atlanta. It is a beautiful area!

Dear not politically correct... read your own census... diversity is coming to your town USA. All ethnicities are moving everywhere... so if you are trying to find "white only" land... good luck. <BR>Actually Los Angeles is so spread out and each neighborhood has a very distinctive character. Where we live in the base of the Hollywood Hills on the border of West Hollywood, live primarily artists, actors, musicians and a huge amount of Eastern European immigrants. In my building we have Russians, Hungarians, French, Canadians, Germans, Armenians, mostly and like 3 Spanish families. Of course if you travel to East LA you will find wonderful communities of Latinos.. Koreans, Thai Town and China Town. Gardena has a lot of Asian people. Really I can't understand the above, and I don't mean to flame you.. but whew! Unless you are Native American, we are all in the same boat IMHO.

Southern CA use to be nice but now it is nothing but a endless line of strip shopping centers. Sure there are nice areas but it will cost you. Beverly Hills, beautiful, Santa Barbara, beautiful, but $$$. <BR> <BR>The typical person who lives in LA must commute for miles and miles on incredibly busy roads past brown hills and dusty scrubby trees, if you want to live in an afforbable home. <BR> <BR>If you want to live near the beach it will cost you, even in a small 1930s home of 1200 square feet. Maybe 4 times what a similar house will cost in Atlanta. <BR> <BR>Thumbs down on LA unless you are rich.

cg, <BR> <BR>Both the advocates and detractors make valid points. As an LA native, I would book a trip here, and go around with a real estate agent to see what you can afford. You might find that a one-bedroom apartment in Santa Monica costs the same as a 3 bedroom house in the San Fernando valley. Then you have to decide if you can make the sacrifice of space vs. commute. Also, keep in mind that the beach areas can be quite foggy most of the year. For this reason I prefer to live a bit inland. Good luck.

LA was paradise in the 1940's and 1950's. Not anymore. <BR>Smog, commutes, cost, genericization, "me-first" attitude, eroding tax base...well, I won't continue. That's just my vote. <BR>Atlanta certainly has its downsides as well. <BR>Then again, so does everyplace. <BR> <BR>When you find the perfect place to live, cg, let me know OK? I want to move there too.

I love to visit the LA area. So much to do & see, & for the ocean (although I like to go to the east coast for the ocean also), & to visit relatives. & there are a number of things that are different, than here in the midwest, to whet my appetite. But that is all I would like it for, just to visit. I honestly believe that I could not live there, my opinion for me. Smog & traffic aside, I don't think I could get used to the atitudes, culture, & to what I perceive as a somewhat fakey & glittery characterization. I quess I am somewhat sceptical, & this can happen anywhere, but 1 minute somebody out there can be hugging you & 1 hour later have a lawsuit against you. <BR>But since there are millions living there, the area must have many good qualities also.

Thanks for your replies, everyone! <BR> <BR>Christina & Thyra, you've confirmed my idea that LA might be a great place to live. And to all the detractors - you've confirmed my decision that we're not going to buy a house right away! We're DINKs (so far) and so less space/more money is not so much of a problem. Plus it makes it easier to ditch out if we can't stand it (since LA seems to be a love/hate kind of place). <BR> <BR>Beach in the morning and skiing in the afternoon? I can live with that...

Born and raised in LA, but lived in SF and NY for various periods of time. As long as I live in a big city, I will stay in LA. It has the big city problems, but it has the big city advantages. <BR> <BR>But, unlike SF or NY, life is better here. You can have a house for a reasonable amount. There are hundreds are areas outside of BEverly Hills or similar areas, with moderate (true by big city prices) houses, condos, or apartments. For the price of a railroad flat in NY or SF, you can have 3 times the space in a place much nicer than a walk-up flat. <BR> <BR>The weather is moderate. Four mild seasons, that you may not notice at first, but will come to appreciate if you can handle subtle changes. <BR> <BR>

I can certainly understand that, as DINKS, you might want to have a good time in LA. I surely had a good time in SF before my husband and I started a family, and I don't regret it at all. <BR> <BR>But once you decide to start a family, living in a place like LA or SF is a horror. Public schools are dreadful, so you have to budget a bunch of after-tax money for good private schools, and sweat the competition to get in. This can easily be $12,000 annually per child (plus summer camp). It is like putting a $1,000 check into their lunchbox each month multiplied by the number of kids you have. You have to pony up this money in pre-school to reserve your slot in kindergarten. Your day care is hideously expensive, your commute is long (so you can wake up with the kids or put them to bed, but not both), your taxes are high, your mortgage is high, you are supposed to save for college . . . . <BR> <BR>Get the picture? For us, staying in SF was just not worth it. Yes, move to LA if you like, but structure your lives so that you can pack up and move when and if the stork comes.

We lived in Pasadena for 6 years before moving to the Bay area. Came originally from Chicago lakefront suburb. My favorite place so far was Pasadena. It's a fairly large, diverse city within easy drive of the beach and mountains. Yes, it's smoggier, but the smog never bothered us. It's warmer in the summer, but I've always lived with A/C. I loved it and even think of possibly retiring down there---at least somewhere in southern California. Don't buy immediately, you can rent in various areas and get to know the whole LA basin. I don't think you'll have too great "sticker shock" coming from Atlanta. Good luck.

I too am an LA native living in Washington DC. Traffic in LA is an exaggerated urban legend. It took me 10-15 minutes to get to downtown LA. The trick is to get a Thomas guide and study, study study - that way you'll know how to get from A to B without the freeway in case there is an accident or other problem. Before I moved here, I paid $400 for a studio apt. in a middle class, safe neighborhood with a good school system and responsive police department (independant city out of the City of LA). if you decide to have kids, LA isn't a bad place at all. I'm surely better for it.

I was born in San Fran but then moved to San Diego County. Relocated to Riverside county southeast of LA a few years ago. I don't even consider LA or San Diego big cities. Just a bunch of sky scapers and a traffic jam. If hubby could get a job with the security he has here not to mention similar pay I would be out of this state in a New York Minute. Happily, with the money we would save just in taxes and so called bonds and melo roos we could afford to come back and visit often. The quailty of life just isn't what it used to be in this state. I have lived here my whole life and feel like I am held hostage.

Melanie, Where in the world is life the same or better than it was 10 years ago? I wish you godspeed if you think you'll be better in New York than you are in California!

Gosh, Seamus, I can think of lots of places I've visited which I think are better now than 10 years ago. Most of them are smaller cities, though, not over 1 million. <BR>If your point is that most large cities are sacrificing quality due to traffic, smog, cost, crime and declining schools, I think I'd agree in general. <BR>But many cities smaller than this are shining brighter each year. A trade off, to be sure.

Kindly define "DINK." Thanks!

Double Income No Kids

Relatives lived in Agoura Hills and enjoyed it but the commute to jobs in LA proper was grueling. However, Agoura Hills was pretty and the drive along Kanaan Road to Malibu and then a short hop north to Zuma beach were great (sorry if I spelled the street and beach wrong, don't have a soCal map handy).

I lived in LA for eight years and I agree you don't have to spend your life in traffic if you work it out right. I lived and worked in Santa Monica for a number of years and I was one mile from the office. I could walk if I woke up earlier ;-) but my drive was five minutes. <BR> <BR>In my opinion it's worth paying more for rent and living closer to the ocean. The rent doesn't have to be outrageous. I can understand why Monique feels held hostage. Riverside is nowhere I'd ever want to live. Landlocked, smoggy, incredible traffic and cookie-cutter housing. Don't be tempted by cheaper housing way out east of the city because you will pay in hours sitting in your car every day. <BR> <BR>I should warn you too that many people undergo a bit of culture shock when they first move to LA. I noticed it in myself and everyone else I met who had just moved there. It is "city living", tense, fast paced and has an undesirable underbelly. You will acclimate but give yourself six months before you decide whether you love it or hate it. <BR> <BR>I also concur that the schools are not great in Los Angeles and that is the reason we eventually moved, but Los Angeles is a great place to be a DINK. The weather, the beaches, museums, restaurants, entertainment, all good reasons to live there. I lived in Santa Monica, West LA, Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach and would recommend them all. Have fun!

I grew up in LA lo these many years ago and every time I go back (couple of times a year) I marvel at how places we formerly regarded as deep boonies now sprout their own city halls, neighborhood watches, and Fatburger stands. <BR> <BR>It's ironic to me - the spin on LA for years has been that it lacks community, because the population is so mobile and that the freeways destroyed neighborhood identity and encouraged isolation behind suburban walls and tinted car windows. But now I think that's changing. People are discovering their own communities, largely because the region's prosperity and population growth have made long-distance driving less and less feasible. Used to be that people living in one part of the region would hop in the car to go to the shopping center 20 or even 30 miles away, bypassing their local merchants in the process. Well, no more. That former 20 minute drive is now an hour, and not worth it. The same thing goes for job and housing location. My dad commuted from central Orange County to Santa Monica for years, but only a loony few would do that now. Another friend still lives in Agoura Hills and commutes to downtown LA, but he only does it because he goes to work at 5 AM; he's learned several useful languages off tapes in the process. <BR> <BR>So neighborhoods are being rediscovered, communities being built, people are becoming "locals." It's a good thing. <BR> <BR>The other good thing that never left is the variety and joy that comes from this awesome collection of smart and diverse people and cultures. It was Dr. Johnson who said when you're tired of London you're tired of life. Well, welcome to LA, Dr. J.

You cant say it enough that L.A is a collection of "state of minds" You can reinvent yourself by moving there and you can reinvent yourself just by moving across town into a different area. The poster who mentioned that it does have a fast pace of life is correct. Although many people view it as "laid back", it is very rare you can stop to smell the roses unless you are disciplined. After over 10 years there I moved because I wanted to live where things close on Sunday, and where I could sleep without fear of being awoken by my house shaking off its foundation.