Moving to L.A. area later this year - Good neighborhoods/towns to live in?

[pure_mercury]

This is very heartening...

It's interesting to get people's takes on LA. It's pretty universally expected to trash LA whereas people look at you like if you say the same about NYC. I also think your POV will depend greatly on where you are from and where you're raised. Then again, Captain Chick was raised there and she pretty much says the same thing -- a couple times even in this thread.

I'm looking forward to the SoCal meet up (P_M maybe you should check it out?) to check out LA if I don't fly down earlier. And Toboggan Boy!!!! You should come to the NorCal (or SoCal) meet up. You can rant against hippies with Dissonance!

I am the odd East Coaster who would definitely rather live in L.A. than NYC (and it's not Philadelphia anti-New York bias; I like it up there a lot). Even without the entertainment industry leaning, I've always had an affinity for California. The whole first week I was there, I was telling people, "It's like it's a city designed for me!" I was loving it.

 

[swordpath]

Even without the entertainment industry leaning, I've always had an affinity for California. The whole first week I was there, I was telling people, "It's like it's a city designed for me!" I was loving it.

I feel kind of the same way but about the Bay Area.

 

[CzeCze]

You know that's funny. I really identify with being a Cali girl, more specifically NorCal, more specifically the particular direction of the bay I'm from

But...honestly, as an adult I don't really like living here. I've interned and lived in Berkeley and I've commuted to work in SF and thought of moving there after college -- but it just doesn't work for me. I'm not sure why. I used to really dislike the east coast (totally different vibes) but I've lived there so long I have east coast in me now And I like the compactness, buzz, and even grit of traditional east coast cities as opposed to more scenic CA sprawl.

Pure_Mercury, I've only visited Philly (I have a friend there and he mocks me for the fact I've eaten at Pat's and Geno's and numerous other places) but I like it. It's like a smaller, more landlocked and more affordable version of DC in some ways...

 

[EffEmDoubleyou]

Even without the entertainment industry leaning, I've always had an affinity for California. The whole first week I was there, I was telling people, "It's like it's a city designed for me!" I was loving it.

That's exactly how I felt about Vancouver. I will get a job that sends me back there again by hook or by crook. I'm actually exploring the possibility of working for NBC at the 2010 Olympics.

Pure_Mercury, I've only visited Philly (I have a friend there and he mocks me for the fact I've eaten at Pat's and Geno's and numerous other places) but I like it. It's like a smaller, more landlocked and more affordable version of DC in some ways...

I love Philly. I'm biased because I grew up there, but to me it's the perfect blend of big city and small town. Although it's huge, it feels very neighborhood-y, kind of like Chicago and to a lesser extent, Boston. And it's a very no-nonsense blue collar kind of place, which I blend in nicely with. If I had a complaint about it, it's that Philly is a very provincial place. It's not as worldly as other cities of comparable size.

 

[pure_mercury]

You know that's funny. I really identify with being a Cali girl, more specifically NorCal, more specifically the particular direction of the bay I'm from

But...honestly, as an adult I don't really like living here. I've interned and lived in Berkeley and I've commuted to work in SF and thought of moving there after college -- but it just doesn't work for me. I'm not sure why. I used to really dislike the east coast (totally different vibes) but I've lived there so long I have east coast in me now And I like the compactness, buzz, and even grit of traditional east coast cities as opposed to more scenic CA sprawl.

Pure_Mercury, I've only visited Philly (I have a friend there and he mocks me for the fact I've eaten at Pat's and Geno's and numerous other places) but I like it. It's like a smaller, more landlocked and more affordable version of DC in some ways...

Philadelphia is actually much larger geographically and in population than D.C. Philly is the 2nd largest city on the East Coast after New York.

 

[pure_mercury]

That's exactly how I felt about Vancouver. I will get a job that sends me back there again by hook or by crook. I'm actually exploring the possibility of working for NBC at the 2010 Olympics.



I love Philly. I'm biased because I grew up there, but to me it's the perfect blend of big city and small town. Although it's huge, it feels very neighborhood-y, kind of like Chicago and to a lesser extent, Boston. And it's a very no-nonsense blue collar kind of place, which I blend in nicely with. If I had a complaint about it, it's that Philly is a very provincial place. It's not as worldly as other cities of comparable size.

Oh, I plan on scoring tickets for hockey at the 2010 Games. No doubt about it. And the L.A. to Vancouver trip will be decadent and gorgeous.

 

[swordpath]

I guess the main beef I have with LA is that it's not aesthetically attractive in the least and that it's way overcrowded (traffic). As far as stuff to do and different avenues of arts and entertainment, I know it's abundant, so, in that regards LA isn't so bad.

 

[CzeCze]

Continuing the derail I would like SF better if it wasn't so grimy in a seaside kinda way and the weather didn't suck. The weather in SF is a deal breaker. You freeze your ass off in June and July and then suddenly the sun comes out for a few hours and you get sunburned. WTH.

Edit:

I mean, I don't mind a bit of dilapidation but if I'm gonna have griminess in a city I'd rather it have some glamour to it and be full-on urban, which I have to hand it o NYC, it does. Chicago has glamour and is urban but it's much less grimy from my visits there.

 

[Wolf]

How is the cooler/rainy season in SoCal? I know you guys get only about 15 inches of precipitation a year, which is about 1/3rd what Philly gets. Is it actually "rainy" the way I would think of it in the winter and early spring? I've only seen it rain twice in L.A., both times in May.

In Los Angeles, you can and do get monsoon type rains with some regularity. Rain so hard that you can't see the street across your postage-stamp-sized lawn, sometimes, and for days on end.

You tend to get more clouds there than you do down here, and it's hotter.

It's interesting to get people's takes on LA. It's pretty universally expected to trash LA whereas people look at you like if you say the same about NYC. I also think your POV will depend greatly on where you are from and where you're raised. Then again, Captain Chick was raised there and she pretty much says the same thing -- a couple times even in this thread.

NYC sucks, LA rocks. But, I really think where I moved to rocks more without having to broadcast it. Really, Los Angeles follows us in just about everything that is cool (particularly style, but we're also the base for board culture). LA just broadcasts it to the country once it makes it up there.

You know that's funny. I really identify with being a Cali girl, more specifically NorCal, more specifically the particular direction of the bay I'm from

They're all like that up there.

But...honestly, as an adult I don't really like living here. I've interned and lived in Berkeley and I've commuted to work in SF and thought of moving there after college -- but it just doesn't work for me. I'm not sure why. I used to really dislike the east coast (totally different vibes) but I've lived there so long I have east coast in me now And I like the compactness, buzz, and even grit of traditional east coast cities as opposed to more scenic CA sprawl.

I like the look of the Bay Area, but I'm not as keen on East Bay or the sunny southern sections. Way too busy for me, and it's as east coast as the west coast has to offer. It might as well be somewhere on that side of the country, and I'd never live there (east coast).

 

[skip]

In Los Angeles, you can and do get monsoon type rains with some regularity. Rain so hard that you can't see the street across your postage-stamp-sized lawn, sometimes, and for days on end.

Have you ever been in a monsoon, like the summer monsoons in southern Arizona, or in India? L.A. gets occasional rainstorms, not monsoons. They pass. It's no big deal although people tend to drive worse in the rain.

 

[pure_mercury]

What are the BEST and WORST things about living in L.A.? Lots of people think it's traffic, but I honestly find it harder to get across Philadelphia at 5 p.m. than I did getting home from West Hollywood to near Burbank in the afternoon.

 

[Wolf]

I guess they're El Nino and La Nina storms. In any case, you will get really heavy rain in Los Angeles that you don't tend to get in other parts of Southern California.

What are the BEST and WORST things about living in L.A.? Lots of people think it's traffic, but I honestly find it harder to get across Philadelphia at 5 p.m. than I did getting home from West Hollywood to near Burbank in the afternoon.

Traffic.

 

[pure_mercury]

I guess they're El Nino and La Nina storms. In any case, you will get really heavy rain in Los Angeles that you don't tend to get in other parts of Southern California.


Traffic.

Cost-of-living will get to me, I am sure. Fortunately, I can cook. What is particularly awesome, outside of weather, scenery, women, and work opportunities?

 

[EffEmDoubleyou]

Cost-of-living will get to me, I am sure. Fortunately, I can cook. What is particularly awesome, outside of weather, scenery, women, and work opportunities?

It's funny, I don't consider any of the four things you mentioned to be on the positive side of the ledger. Although I second Wolf that traffic is hands down the worst aspect of living here. When you start arranging your schedule around not being on the road between 3 and 7 PM, you know it's bad.

I would say the best things about living here all revolve around LA's status as a center of media and (pop) culture. The media choices and number of special experiences available here are excellent.

 

[pure_mercury]

It's funny, I don't consider any of the four things you mentioned to be on the positive side of the ledger. Although I second Wolf that traffic is hands down the worst aspect of living here. When you start arranging your schedule around not being on the road between 3 and 7 PM, you know it's bad.

I would say the best things about living here all revolve around LA's status as a center of media and (pop) culture. The media choices and number of special experiences available here are excellent.

I enjoyed June and July in L.A. way more than I enjoy them in Philly. And the women were, on average, amazing. There were a few of the fake-boob bimbo types, but just more attractive people around overall, and they are often single and out socializing.

 

[swordpath]

Continuing the derail I would like SF better if it wasn't so grimy in a seaside kinda way and the weather didn't suck. The weather in SF is a deal breaker. You freeze your ass off in June and July and then suddenly the sun comes out for a few hours and you get sunburned. WTH.

Edit:

I mean, I don't mind a bit of dilapidation but if I'm gonna have griminess in a city I'd rather it have some glamour to it and be full-on urban, which I have to hand it o NYC, it does. Chicago has glamour and is urban but it's much less grimy from my visits there.

I love the aspects that you hate.

I've got fisherman, dreary/gloomy port town sensibilities. I don't know where they came from really though.

 

[skip]

Traffic isn't that much of an issue. You keep your Thomas Bros. at hand and know when to get on and off the freeways and you're fine.

The worst thing is the inland air pollution.

The best thing is everything else.

 

[pure_mercury]

Traffic isn't that much of an issue. You keep your Thomas Bros. at hand and know when to get on and off the freeways and you're fine.

The worst thing is the inland air pollution.

The best thing is everything else.

I am getting a GPS before I leave. I am driving out there, first cross-country drive I will have taken.

 

[skip]

Oops - make the worst thing the illegals. Inland air pollution is second-worst.

 

[pure_mercury]

Oops - make the worst thing the illegals. Inland air pollution is second-worst.

I don't mind immigrants. Especially ones who make cheap burritos.