advice/question from/to the Los Angeles area folk.

[StevenEngage]

I Live in the Central Valley (CA) and am seriously debating moving down to LA (or the general area, I consider the entire area to be LA)

I am at a point in my life where I feel stuck and have absolutely no where to grow/expand, mentally emotionally financially ect ect. I have always loved LA, the few times I have been there I did not want to leave, it just seems to feel better in general and I love large cities. Plus the driving roads down there.... Most people I know from here that leave go to the Bay area, san fran mostly....but I HATE San Fran.

My line of work is in Graphic Design & Layout (I work for a newspaper company, Layout Manager) and I feel there would be a substantially higher opportunity to move up in a larger city working for say something like the LA Times or one of the many Magazine companies based in LA. I am at the peak I can be for the company I work for and I can not see myself there much longer (been there for about 5 years) I consider it just 'job' at my pay rate and would like to have a good steady career, I am very ambitious and intelligent so I feel like I am just repeatedly walking into a brick wall right now.

I have been putting severe thought into this lately and have took into consideration my family and friends but feel that If I was to make the move this would be the time, If I wait any longer I feel I will just settle for my life and be stuck forever.


I am calling this my quarter life crisis haha, I am 25 and this is what I think about. albeit I have always been quite a bit more mature than average people my age, I grew up choosing to watch Seinfeld over cartoons lol.


I have tried looking around craiglist to get a general idea of rent for a small 1 bedroom but it is not the same as listings in the central valley, In the modesto area you can find everything from 400 bucks a month to 4k+, but in the LA area I only find fancy luxury condos for 1500 a month listed, which I would LOVE but I am more realistic than that hah.

My question is, what is the real rent like for average realistic apts? Any advice on this potential life resetting move from long time residents, and from a new resident if there are any reading this?

[86'd]

This may be better suited for the SoCal forum...

I live in the suburbs now but I have lived in the city (Los Feliz area) for a few years before that.

LA is very unique in terms of layout, generally speaking there's the westside, mid-wilshire, eastside and downtown.

Magazines are mostly located in Mid-Wilshire and on the Westside. I wouldn't apply for a job at the Times.

But you'll need to be connected to land even a GD assistant job. It's very competitive here, especially since a lot of magazines and newspapers are consolidating and moving towards the web.

Plus as you noticed rent is pretty high, so most likely you'd have a roommate(s) or can muster $700+ for a small studio. 4 years ago my wife and I paid $1600 for 450sq ft. 1BR. in Los Feliz but I haven't had to look up rents lately, though I'm sure its around there.

I guess the first thing to do would be to find a job, then ask yourself what kind of lifestyle you'd want; how close you are to nightlife; people your age etc...then once you know that you'd scour the neighborhoods you'd like and look at places or find a room for rent. i.e craigslist under "rooms and shares."

For your age Downtown is ..eh... and still kinda gritty. Silverlake is cool, but can be too hipsterish for some. Long Beach is a bit farther out but has a lot of stuff to do. Koreatown is OK (more affordable) but also kinda gritty in some areas.

Again you'd get a bit more responses in the Socal forum I'm sure...

[Lonewolf]

The range varies tremendously. On the average, expect to pay $300-500 more in LA for rent when compared to a similar unit in Central CA. You can get decent one bedroom places for $1,100 to $1,200 a month...you just have to look.

The key is to find something on the outskirts of LA County and just commute. Rent is significantly lower in the valleys (San Fernando and Inland Valley) and away from downtown. You have to stay away from the western portion of LA altogether. Orange County is mostly overpriced as well.

Even within certain cities there is a huge disparity in rent averages. Take Pasadena for example. Many people settle there and commute to LA, but there are two distinct sides to Pasadena...one that is posh and outrageously priced, and one that is much cheaper, but also a bit sketchy.

Best of luck!

[StevenEngage]

Originally Posted by 86'd

This may be better suited for the SoCal forum...

Sorry about that, the only socal part of this site I found was the Socal owners group and this is way too off topic to post in there lol.

Maybe a Mod can move this for me? or point me in the right direction with a link and I can repost.


Besides that ^, I appreciate both of your responses to far.

I do not specifically need to live in the main city area, I just want to be in the general area (circled below)




I am perfectly fine with the outskirts areas, commuting is not a big deal to me as I already commute an hour to work and hour home Monday through Friday. If I could avoid that long of a commute I would be much happier but can deal with it.

Any info on why I shouldn't apply at the times? are they struggling?

I figured the rent would be higher (just not ballisticlly high like the 1500+ stuff I kept finding on CL) But I also understand that the pay rate is generally higher correct?

Normally I would not disclose my income but just for the sake of the conversation I will say that I make under $2,000 a month after I am severely raped by taxes. If I was to go I plan to sell my new car and pay off all debts I have then buy an older car so I can start 100% clean (besides my amazing credit, should be somewhere between 750-770ish right now)

I would imagine I could pull a better pay rate in an area like SoCal, but assuming that I had the same pay as now under 1k would be a must for rent, I would prefer not to share a place with someone I do not already know and have to rely on them for my housing. Something in the 700-1000 range would probably be a good starting point (especially since it seems that small cheap places in the area have utilities included from what I have read, not sure if this is true or not, in the Central Valley it is unheard of to have anything more than water and sewer included in rent)

If I do decide to make the move I would definitely start applying to everywhere I can that has openings in my experienced areas way before I even looked for a place then probably stick it out at a cheapo hotel until I fond a place.

As far as nightlife and what I like to do I am a little different than most people my age, I do not drink (or smoke) so I do not go to bars/clubs ect. Honestly my main hobby and interest is cars & driving.

I have been to long beach recently actually, I liked it although i accidentally booked a hotel in the ghetto lol, but after about 5 min of driving it was extremely nice (assuming expensive also)


I have already started to prepare for this if I decide 100% on it, I sold my old 86 and am selling any toys/things I don't need to pay down my new car preparing to sell it, I was doing this anyways to get a fr-s or brz. my original plan was to move to a place in Modesto (cencal) with a friend of mine, sell my new car and get a fr-s/brz, but I am pretty sure he is going to back out and stay living with his parents (big Portuguese family so its normal for them to stay home until they are married basically haha). I currently live in a 5th wheel next to my parents house after a friend I had a place with in Modesto decided to move back home suddenly and I had no where to go & could not afford rent alone with my new car, I am going to go insane living in a 'box' next to my parents If I don't get out soon, plus I promised my grandparents the 5th wheel because their lanlord that they have rented from FOREVER (still pay 80s rent, aka 400 a month ) is selling the place soon and they can not afford modern rent on their social security. So all this combined is what made me think now would be the time for this, I figure if I am going to be broke paying rent alone here then I might as well do it somewhere I have always wanted to live and has substantially more opportunities for a career.

- Plus I feel like the chance to meet a nice girl and marry down the line is much higher there hah, I have had 1 (yes ONE) girlfriend here and I am sorry if anyone from CenCal reads this or takes offense but all the women here a just flat out Bi***es and Wh**es, I have not met a girl here that does not cheat on their significant other, i fear that may be all women but I have hope still HAHA (or maybe I am just Jaded, eh who knows) /rant

[ahausheer]

I live in Lake Forest (South of LA 45-60 min) and it is a great location, close enough to LA, close enough to OC beaches. Its the suburbs but there is still plenty for me to do. I hate LA so I am biased but you would have to kill me to live in that fake city.

[StevenEngage]

Haha, well compared to where I live i bet you would choose LA instantly.

What is the rent like in your area?

[86'd]

Places like the Times are still figuring themselves out, yet are stuck in the way they do things. I much rather work for a smaller bleeding edge company and be able to take risks and maybe have more responsibility than be a cog in a sinking ship.

It seems like you have it mostly figured out, but the area you mentioned is huge.

If you're not set on publishing or living in LA proper, then you have a lot more freedom and can be a lot more flexible in budget.

If you're planning on commuting, it just depends, again if you want to work in the city. On average it took me about an hour to commute from Anaheim to LA but I left a little earlier. On really bad days it took 2 hours. Average for most others at that distance I'd say 1h30min.

Personally, if I found a job in the city and was young and single; like downtown. I'd live somewhere like downtown Pasadena; ditch the car and take the gold line (light rail).

I just think right now until you know exactly where you're gong to be it's too difficult to be more specific.

Plus unless you have more interests, it will be pretty hard to find women....and no, I'm not talking about bars and all of that. They won't just be out there on the canyon roads. Just putting that out there.

[StevenEngage]

Ah, I see what you mean and agree, when I first started at the Newspaper Publisher I am at now they still looked like something out of the 60s and refused to change, I have managed to change much of that but the company is so small that it is mostly a waste, It will never be bigger than it is now unfortunately.

I actually would love to work for a car magazine of some sort honestly, magazines allow more creativity in the design and layout than newspapers allow. I believe motor trend is located in la lol. The times was also just kind of a name i tossed out, I would be happy working at a smaller publisher, something more local to outer areas would still hold better pay and opportunities than where i'm at now.

the idea of public transport is probably better in a large tight city but there is just no way I could not own a car, it would be like loosing a finger to me haha.

LAMO, I do like to do other stuff but my main passion is driving, a woman in the canyons is something we can all dream about though!