Anyone have experience living in Los Angeles and want to share?
April 12, 2018 10:58 AM Subscribe
We are thinking of moving back to LA after five years in the East coast and would love to know what the opinions are from folks. We know the real estate is crazy but what else do people want to say about it?
The traffic is worse and obviously the housing prices are much worse... but IMO most of the things that make LA awesome to me are better than ever. Diversity of people and cultures. Always things to do. Food scene has exploded. DTLA has changed so much. New Metro projects. The weather is of course nice but it has been noticeably hotter than before. But if you are trying to avoid winters this is most likely a plus, of course.
If you are able to tolerate the increased congestion (or don't have to commute much) and housing prices, come on back!
posted by xtine at 11:12 AM on April 12, 2018 [5 favorites]
If you are able to tolerate the increased congestion (or don't have to commute much) and housing prices, come on back!
posted by xtine at 11:12 AM on April 12, 2018 [5 favorites]
Food scene has exploded
Came in to say this. When I lived in LA six years ago, I'd go visit family in NYC and gorge my way through the diverse restaurant options there. Since moving to San Diego from LA six years ago, frequent visits (at 1-2x a month) have left me amazed at how diverse the food scene is in LA now - not just restaurants, but pop-ups, markets, stores, etc.
posted by Everydayville at 11:15 AM on April 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
Came in to say this. When I lived in LA six years ago, I'd go visit family in NYC and gorge my way through the diverse restaurant options there. Since moving to San Diego from LA six years ago, frequent visits (at 1-2x a month) have left me amazed at how diverse the food scene is in LA now - not just restaurants, but pop-ups, markets, stores, etc.
posted by Everydayville at 11:15 AM on April 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
I've lived here for four years, after three in San Diego and a previous life in DFW, and my feeling is generally that LA has pretty much everything you could ever think about wanting but you will probably have to drive at least 45 minutes minimum to get to it and park, but that's what podcasts are for. Also I do not think I could stay here if I didn't work remotely because commuting daily would kill me - I had a 25-mile commute in San Diego that ran 35-75 minutes depending on circumstances and that was still A Lot.
Housing costs are totally absurd, but within the generalized absurdity you can make some decisions about what your priorities are. I was reading What $2500 Rents In LA Right Now yesterday, and part of what $2500 rents in that case is proximity to hot spots. I spend just a little bit more than that on a suburban 3/2 house with a real yard and big patio, but not as many famous people eating extremely expensive meals nearby. I'm an extra 20-40 minutes from the cool places but otherwise all my daily needs are just as amply met as they would be in Silverlake or Santa Monica except that my places have parking lots that hold more than 7 cars and the geography within the Valley means I have a choice of 20 different routes to get from Point A to Point B as long as I'm not trying to get over the hills. I can take a free or dirt-cheap shuttle to Hollywood Bowl events, LAX, or the beach if I don't want to drive. I can drive either 6 minutes or about 20, depending on my destination, to the Metro station to get over the hills, if the logistics work out on the other end. (I may be forced to go into hiding now, as I think I'm supposed to tell you the Valley sucks and it's just full of sharks and and broken glass and definitely don't come here and jack up our rents any more.)
All that outdoor space means I spend my non-work time outside about 320 days a year, with the other 45 split between extreme enough heat, cold, wind, or rain that it's a bit icky out. I overwinter tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and herbs. There's almost no cuisine I can't be sitting down to eat in 20 minutes, or an hour if I have it delivered. I can go birdwatching in the middle of the city with friends, if I feel like leaving the house, because LA has amazing parks. Pretty much every kind of entertainment I could want is probably on offer this week, and there's no touring comedian or band or Broadway show that doesn't come here eventually. The cost of real estate does mean it's harder to find stuff like makerspaces or extremely low-budget theatre, but there still are some. More things are transient, like pop-up drive in movies, but stuff like that is happening all over the city all the time. This is the only LA I know, to me it feels like it's always been like this, but even over 4 years I'm noticing more impermanent but awesome features and opportunities rather than maybe the Revered Establishments that made up the popular culture landmarks here in the 40s-80s.
posted by Lyn Never at 12:13 PM on April 12, 2018 [10 favorites]
Housing costs are totally absurd, but within the generalized absurdity you can make some decisions about what your priorities are. I was reading What $2500 Rents In LA Right Now yesterday, and part of what $2500 rents in that case is proximity to hot spots. I spend just a little bit more than that on a suburban 3/2 house with a real yard and big patio, but not as many famous people eating extremely expensive meals nearby. I'm an extra 20-40 minutes from the cool places but otherwise all my daily needs are just as amply met as they would be in Silverlake or Santa Monica except that my places have parking lots that hold more than 7 cars and the geography within the Valley means I have a choice of 20 different routes to get from Point A to Point B as long as I'm not trying to get over the hills. I can take a free or dirt-cheap shuttle to Hollywood Bowl events, LAX, or the beach if I don't want to drive. I can drive either 6 minutes or about 20, depending on my destination, to the Metro station to get over the hills, if the logistics work out on the other end. (I may be forced to go into hiding now, as I think I'm supposed to tell you the Valley sucks and it's just full of sharks and and broken glass and definitely don't come here and jack up our rents any more.)
All that outdoor space means I spend my non-work time outside about 320 days a year, with the other 45 split between extreme enough heat, cold, wind, or rain that it's a bit icky out. I overwinter tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and herbs. There's almost no cuisine I can't be sitting down to eat in 20 minutes, or an hour if I have it delivered. I can go birdwatching in the middle of the city with friends, if I feel like leaving the house, because LA has amazing parks. Pretty much every kind of entertainment I could want is probably on offer this week, and there's no touring comedian or band or Broadway show that doesn't come here eventually. The cost of real estate does mean it's harder to find stuff like makerspaces or extremely low-budget theatre, but there still are some. More things are transient, like pop-up drive in movies, but stuff like that is happening all over the city all the time. This is the only LA I know, to me it feels like it's always been like this, but even over 4 years I'm noticing more impermanent but awesome features and opportunities rather than maybe the Revered Establishments that made up the popular culture landmarks here in the 40s-80s.
posted by Lyn Never at 12:13 PM on April 12, 2018 [10 favorites]
I had a whole thing typed out but felt it might not have been well targeted in terms of helping you develop criteria for your decision. If you care to, would you share why you left in the first place, and what has prompted you to start daydreaming about moving back? You might get less subjective answers that way.
posted by vignettist at 12:43 PM on April 12, 2018
posted by vignettist at 12:43 PM on April 12, 2018
I live in LA and am leaving for the midwest after 4 wonderful years. Nthing what other people said - INCREDIBLE food scene, they're building new train/light rail lines like crazy, lots of construction everywhere, amazing quality of life but awful, awful traffic everywhere.
posted by huskerdont at 1:56 PM on April 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by huskerdont at 1:56 PM on April 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
Yeah, this is an absurdly broad question. Can you narrow it down?
LA has absolutely everything that's great about the big cities of the world, and also everything that's awful too. Housing costs are absurd, weather's great but it's dry and getting drier, and hot but getting hotter. You have access to anthing you want -- whether we're talking art, culture, food, religion, ethnicity, religion, sports, that weird little hobby that you think nobody else does, an absurdly specific thing you want to purchase today, an opportunity to volunteer for any kind of helpful group, etc etc etc. It's literally all here. THere's really nothing you can't do, see or find here in some fashion. I could go on forever.
Are you wealthy? That makes things easier. Are you tied to a specific job in a specific location? Job location matters because yes, communiting times matter. We have an enormous public transportation system. It's just that the city is so freaking large, it may not help you. Or it can. Or you can live right by where you work. Or you can work from home, or work odd hours.
Do you have kids? We have the most outrageously expensive private schools. We have wonderful public schools, and terrible ones too. Magnets, charters, etc. If you're white, do you want your kids to grow up in a lily-white circle of friends/school/etc? You can make that happen. Want your kid to grow up in an amazing rainbow mix of every race & culture? That's easy.
But really what it boils down to is this: Do you want to eat a different taco every day of your life? The answer, obviously, is yes. Welcome to LA.
posted by BlahLaLa at 1:57 PM on April 12, 2018 [8 favorites]
LA has absolutely everything that's great about the big cities of the world, and also everything that's awful too. Housing costs are absurd, weather's great but it's dry and getting drier, and hot but getting hotter. You have access to anthing you want -- whether we're talking art, culture, food, religion, ethnicity, religion, sports, that weird little hobby that you think nobody else does, an absurdly specific thing you want to purchase today, an opportunity to volunteer for any kind of helpful group, etc etc etc. It's literally all here. THere's really nothing you can't do, see or find here in some fashion. I could go on forever.
Are you wealthy? That makes things easier. Are you tied to a specific job in a specific location? Job location matters because yes, communiting times matter. We have an enormous public transportation system. It's just that the city is so freaking large, it may not help you. Or it can. Or you can live right by where you work. Or you can work from home, or work odd hours.
Do you have kids? We have the most outrageously expensive private schools. We have wonderful public schools, and terrible ones too. Magnets, charters, etc. If you're white, do you want your kids to grow up in a lily-white circle of friends/school/etc? You can make that happen. Want your kid to grow up in an amazing rainbow mix of every race & culture? That's easy.
But really what it boils down to is this: Do you want to eat a different taco every day of your life? The answer, obviously, is yes. Welcome to LA.
posted by BlahLaLa at 1:57 PM on April 12, 2018 [8 favorites]
Reading these comments and feeling the love for LA makes me smile. When I tell people in San Diego that LA >>> SD for me personally, they are always surprised. I lived there for close to 20 years and have no time for people who think it's just Hollywood and beaches and yay let's go surfing before our next audition.
Also forgot to mention that the Silver Lake/ Echo Park area culturally feels similar to the east coast, and while it borders on some pretty iffy neighborhoods, there's a lot of gentrification happening. Investing in housing in those areas might prove worthwhile, although the ethics of taking advantage of gentrification is another issue entirely that you may or may not want to consider.
posted by Everydayville at 2:03 PM on April 12, 2018
Also forgot to mention that the Silver Lake/ Echo Park area culturally feels similar to the east coast, and while it borders on some pretty iffy neighborhoods, there's a lot of gentrification happening. Investing in housing in those areas might prove worthwhile, although the ethics of taking advantage of gentrification is another issue entirely that you may or may not want to consider.
posted by Everydayville at 2:03 PM on April 12, 2018
I'm from NYC, been in LA for 15 years, work in the food industry... I finally had really good bread at a restaurant last Saturday. Baby steps. Food tastes better on the East Coast -or- it's just been long enough I've forgotten. (I'm only half kidding. The food scene really has exploded here, tho.)
The traffic got really bad around January (worse than usual) and there's a ridiculous developer boom that happened without a lot of infrastructure planning. So, roads are narrow, electrical and water are getting old and need upgrading - should be fun over the next few years!
The good news is we have one of the largest economies in the world. The bad news is that income inequality is exponentially worse than it has ever ever been. So. Many. Homeless. It's unconscionable considering how much wealth resides in LA County. I'm appalled. You will be, too.
Erm. I have concerns about the new builds going up because I know of at least a few projects where historic geology reports on fault lines were conveniently found to be wrong, allowing large multistory live/work structures to go up. I know buildings can be designed to withstand major earthquakes, so I'm hoping for the best there.
Fire season is year round, pretty much.
I think if we can work out water and power needs into the future such that we are not depending on neighboring states, LA and California has a chance to really flourish despite the downsides.
Because of ongoing meth epidemics in surrounding areas, I don't go out into the wilderness or exploring very far inland alone like I used to.
All that said...
It's LA and it's fucking awesome! If you are OK foregoing decent bread, pickles, Italian delis, but especially bagels and pizza except for far flung sources... Join us! The weather is FINE!!
posted by jbenben at 2:39 PM on April 12, 2018
The traffic got really bad around January (worse than usual) and there's a ridiculous developer boom that happened without a lot of infrastructure planning. So, roads are narrow, electrical and water are getting old and need upgrading - should be fun over the next few years!
The good news is we have one of the largest economies in the world. The bad news is that income inequality is exponentially worse than it has ever ever been. So. Many. Homeless. It's unconscionable considering how much wealth resides in LA County. I'm appalled. You will be, too.
Erm. I have concerns about the new builds going up because I know of at least a few projects where historic geology reports on fault lines were conveniently found to be wrong, allowing large multistory live/work structures to go up. I know buildings can be designed to withstand major earthquakes, so I'm hoping for the best there.
Fire season is year round, pretty much.
I think if we can work out water and power needs into the future such that we are not depending on neighboring states, LA and California has a chance to really flourish despite the downsides.
Because of ongoing meth epidemics in surrounding areas, I don't go out into the wilderness or exploring very far inland alone like I used to.
All that said...
It's LA and it's fucking awesome! If you are OK foregoing decent bread, pickles, Italian delis, but especially bagels and pizza except for far flung sources... Join us! The weather is FINE!!
posted by jbenben at 2:39 PM on April 12, 2018
Agreed on everyone else's pros above. I guess I could wax poetic about LA, but for me it comes down to loving LA's diversity: diversity of people, diversity of neighborhoods, diversity of options, diversity of food, diversity of events, diversity of environments...
My one caveat is: your commute matters. Oh my god, does it matter. You will not believe the variation in quality of life that comes of having a daily commute of one hour or less versus more than one hour. I am currently at a total daily commute of about half an hour, and it's amazing. So much less stress, so much more energy.
I like LA just fine, but I hate the traffic, and find that it does limit my life. I'm never much willing to exit my West LA bubble because I am not a fan of the whole it takes 45 minutes to get anywhere outside your neighborhood thing. This is fine by me, because I love my West LA bubble. And admittedly, the expansion of the Metro (wooooo Expo line) has made things a lot better for getting around between West LA and downtown. It's so nice to just hop on the Metro to get downtown.
posted by yasaman at 3:02 PM on April 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
My one caveat is: your commute matters. Oh my god, does it matter. You will not believe the variation in quality of life that comes of having a daily commute of one hour or less versus more than one hour. I am currently at a total daily commute of about half an hour, and it's amazing. So much less stress, so much more energy.
I like LA just fine, but I hate the traffic, and find that it does limit my life. I'm never much willing to exit my West LA bubble because I am not a fan of the whole it takes 45 minutes to get anywhere outside your neighborhood thing. This is fine by me, because I love my West LA bubble. And admittedly, the expansion of the Metro (wooooo Expo line) has made things a lot better for getting around between West LA and downtown. It's so nice to just hop on the Metro to get downtown.
posted by yasaman at 3:02 PM on April 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
I don't live there anymore but visit fairly often. One thing that stands out to me is that climate change is noticeable now—heat waves are already more common and are going to become more so. I have considered moving back but am concerned about the impacts of future droughts/heat/fires. Bikeability and public transit have definitely improved since I lived there in the early 2000s. Re traffic, when I lived there, I happened to live in a walkable neighborhood on a subway line to my job, and it seems like that would be more possible now.
posted by pinochiette at 3:36 PM on April 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by pinochiette at 3:36 PM on April 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
I've lived in LA now for 23 years (from Houston, which was nicer, back then anyway.)
I'll second what Yasaman said, about staying in your neighborhood bubble. The west side (Santa Monica, West Los Angeles, Palms, Century City, Mar Vista, Rancho Park, Del Rey, Marina Del Rey, Westchester) is SO bad for traffic, that my 8 mile commute home from work takes 45-60 minutes if I leave before 7 pm. Various arteries, like the 405, are basically impossible to cross at certain times of day, because everybody is trying to get on the freeway, causing gridlock, which means I have to leave an hour early for a dinner 4 miles away. It's getting really really bad. The traffic problem can't really be overstated, for the west side anyway. And it will probably get worse, as more high density housing is added. Sure, there are trains. But there are no parking lots at the train stations I might want to use, so you better live and work within walking distance of a station. Or maybe take your bike on the train; not sure if that works.
So when we say, "if you have to work in a particular place, live near there", you really want to live like 2 miles from work, or less, if possible. Do some virtual Wazing to check proposed commutes you might have.
Neighborhoods that used to be sketchy are improving as the old timers die and the houses are fixed up, (on the West Side at least), but now we have a problem where you have a nice little $1.5 million, 1200 square foot bungalow on a 4000 sf lot, in a block filled with other nice little extremely expensive houses, but at the ends of the block on the larger streets you have (sorry but it's true) sketchy apartment buildings which never get revamped because of rent control, and in a lot of areas, crummy ugly little shopping strips that haven't been revamped since 1978. They have some charming stores in them, granted, but overall the vibe in a lot of areas is NOT CHARMING, at least compared to other places with expensive housing. There are now also a LOT of homeless people sprinkled in and around these neighborhoods, and a lot of hand wringing going on about what to do about that. Lots of gang tagging in these neighborhoods too. (I haven't heard anything about civilians having actual problems with gangs though, just the tagging, which I find offputting.) Parking is also extremely inadequate in a lot of places, both street parking and parking lot space). I tried to go into the Walgreens in Marina Del Rey at 7pm yesterday (a Wednesday, high traffic day), and every parking space was filled. It was gridlock in the lot with people waiting for spaces and people thinking they could avoid the backup at the nearby stop light by cutting through the lot, and once I aborted and escaped the lot, it took me three lights or so to even turn right into the busy street out front.
There are areas that have less of a problem, and lots of ways to avoid these problems, and types of people/circumstances/lifestyles who aren't bothered by the problems so much. But something like "Oh, let's head over to that fabulous new restaurant in Culver City after work" might be next to impossible, depending on where/when/how you work.
I guess where I'm going with this is you have to have a really good handle on where you'll work, what the nearby (extremely nearby) neighborhoods are like, and whether you can afford to live there.
Sorry to be a Debbie Downer but I think other people may have been being a bit too polite about it. :)
The good things they said are true though.
The weather is splendid! The restaurants are splendid! The job opportunities are (apparently) amazing. There is culture in excess, and every sort of people you could ever want to meet.
posted by bluesky78987 at 5:23 PM on April 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'll second what Yasaman said, about staying in your neighborhood bubble. The west side (Santa Monica, West Los Angeles, Palms, Century City, Mar Vista, Rancho Park, Del Rey, Marina Del Rey, Westchester) is SO bad for traffic, that my 8 mile commute home from work takes 45-60 minutes if I leave before 7 pm. Various arteries, like the 405, are basically impossible to cross at certain times of day, because everybody is trying to get on the freeway, causing gridlock, which means I have to leave an hour early for a dinner 4 miles away. It's getting really really bad. The traffic problem can't really be overstated, for the west side anyway. And it will probably get worse, as more high density housing is added. Sure, there are trains. But there are no parking lots at the train stations I might want to use, so you better live and work within walking distance of a station. Or maybe take your bike on the train; not sure if that works.
So when we say, "if you have to work in a particular place, live near there", you really want to live like 2 miles from work, or less, if possible. Do some virtual Wazing to check proposed commutes you might have.
Neighborhoods that used to be sketchy are improving as the old timers die and the houses are fixed up, (on the West Side at least), but now we have a problem where you have a nice little $1.5 million, 1200 square foot bungalow on a 4000 sf lot, in a block filled with other nice little extremely expensive houses, but at the ends of the block on the larger streets you have (sorry but it's true) sketchy apartment buildings which never get revamped because of rent control, and in a lot of areas, crummy ugly little shopping strips that haven't been revamped since 1978. They have some charming stores in them, granted, but overall the vibe in a lot of areas is NOT CHARMING, at least compared to other places with expensive housing. There are now also a LOT of homeless people sprinkled in and around these neighborhoods, and a lot of hand wringing going on about what to do about that. Lots of gang tagging in these neighborhoods too. (I haven't heard anything about civilians having actual problems with gangs though, just the tagging, which I find offputting.) Parking is also extremely inadequate in a lot of places, both street parking and parking lot space). I tried to go into the Walgreens in Marina Del Rey at 7pm yesterday (a Wednesday, high traffic day), and every parking space was filled. It was gridlock in the lot with people waiting for spaces and people thinking they could avoid the backup at the nearby stop light by cutting through the lot, and once I aborted and escaped the lot, it took me three lights or so to even turn right into the busy street out front.
There are areas that have less of a problem, and lots of ways to avoid these problems, and types of people/circumstances/lifestyles who aren't bothered by the problems so much. But something like "Oh, let's head over to that fabulous new restaurant in Culver City after work" might be next to impossible, depending on where/when/how you work.
I guess where I'm going with this is you have to have a really good handle on where you'll work, what the nearby (extremely nearby) neighborhoods are like, and whether you can afford to live there.
Sorry to be a Debbie Downer but I think other people may have been being a bit too polite about it. :)
The good things they said are true though.
The weather is splendid! The restaurants are splendid! The job opportunities are (apparently) amazing. There is culture in excess, and every sort of people you could ever want to meet.
posted by bluesky78987 at 5:23 PM on April 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
I lived in LA in the mid 90's and again since 2011. It's absolutely my favorite city in America and I wouldn't live in any other US city unless I had to.
The negatives --- housing prices (better than NYC or SF, worse than most other places). Although this varies a lot, usually people focus on the Westside/MidCity/Downtown, East LA is a lot cheaper for example.
Traffic --- again very regional. If you can manage to live near work and avoid commute times, it's not that bad (unless your goal is "I want to be able to go anywhere in LA anytime"). Most of the time you're going to be in your neighborhood, so thats the traffic that matters and its not all bad. But if you have a cross-city commute, it will not be great. Especially during rush hour. I have an 11 mile commute: I go in late (like 11 am) and it takes ~45 min. If I went during rush hour? 1.5 hrs minimum. Same at night, I get home in about 30-40 min at 9pm or later, but in the 5-7 (or even 8) range it would be 1-2 hours.
Homelessness -- this has really gotten out of hand recently, and while we approved a lot of money to deal with the problem I haven't seen any result from that yet.
The positives? Everything else, basically. Weather is obviously great. Flowers and green stuff all year. Infinite variety of things to do. Public transportation is improving, although not NYC quality yet (much less Europe/Asia level). Subway is building out but very slowly. Vast majority of days are sunny (the drought recently has meant this is even more true, but even a "wet" year has fairly little rain, and basically none in the summer/fall).
Neighborhoods vary a lot. I work on the Westside but hate the culture there, so I live Mid-City. This makes the commute worse but my home environment better, so thats the other kind of tradeoff. (Well, the Westside is also even more expensive, so you also get less space for more money there...)
posted by thefoxgod at 6:29 PM on April 12, 2018
The negatives --- housing prices (better than NYC or SF, worse than most other places). Although this varies a lot, usually people focus on the Westside/MidCity/Downtown, East LA is a lot cheaper for example.
Traffic --- again very regional. If you can manage to live near work and avoid commute times, it's not that bad (unless your goal is "I want to be able to go anywhere in LA anytime"). Most of the time you're going to be in your neighborhood, so thats the traffic that matters and its not all bad. But if you have a cross-city commute, it will not be great. Especially during rush hour. I have an 11 mile commute: I go in late (like 11 am) and it takes ~45 min. If I went during rush hour? 1.5 hrs minimum. Same at night, I get home in about 30-40 min at 9pm or later, but in the 5-7 (or even 8) range it would be 1-2 hours.
Homelessness -- this has really gotten out of hand recently, and while we approved a lot of money to deal with the problem I haven't seen any result from that yet.
The positives? Everything else, basically. Weather is obviously great. Flowers and green stuff all year. Infinite variety of things to do. Public transportation is improving, although not NYC quality yet (much less Europe/Asia level). Subway is building out but very slowly. Vast majority of days are sunny (the drought recently has meant this is even more true, but even a "wet" year has fairly little rain, and basically none in the summer/fall).
Neighborhoods vary a lot. I work on the Westside but hate the culture there, so I live Mid-City. This makes the commute worse but my home environment better, so thats the other kind of tradeoff. (Well, the Westside is also even more expensive, so you also get less space for more money there...)
posted by thefoxgod at 6:29 PM on April 12, 2018
We moved to East LA last year from the east coast. Everything everyone has said is true for us - also (at least in east la) we have found the people to be so incredibly friendly, outgoing and welcoming. I had heard that people here were snobbish or flaky but I have never seen such support. We have probably been here 6 months and I feel more rooted in community than I did after years on the east coast. Ymmv obviously but there are amazing people here.
posted by andreapandrea at 9:28 PM on April 12, 2018
posted by andreapandrea at 9:28 PM on April 12, 2018
I love LA! (We love it!)
I moved here from the DC Metro area almost 17 years ago. My husband is a native Angeleno from the east side. We live in the South Bay which is my favorite of all the areas in LA/LA County that I’ve lived.
I concur with everyone who says minimizing the work commute is key. We drive a lot to see friends and eat but we are great at finding the free/cheap parking.
posted by amapolaroja at 10:22 PM on April 12, 2018
I moved here from the DC Metro area almost 17 years ago. My husband is a native Angeleno from the east side. We live in the South Bay which is my favorite of all the areas in LA/LA County that I’ve lived.
I concur with everyone who says minimizing the work commute is key. We drive a lot to see friends and eat but we are great at finding the free/cheap parking.
posted by amapolaroja at 10:22 PM on April 12, 2018
I like my city, I hate my city, but most of all I love my city.
That said, I do not love:
- The traffic. Where other places have weather talk, our morning water cooler chat is for traffic postmortems. If you move back here, live close to work (or live close to a Metro line that you can take to work) - the traffic's gotten worse since you left. Personally I have a commute that's about half an hour, which I'm happy with. A lot of people can and do stand more, but I don't know anyone who drives more than an hour each way who isn't trying to either move or change jobs.
- The increasingly severe homeless problem. That said, while the city/region should be doing much more, I am certain that homelessness will continue to be a serious issue here unless the U.S. gets its shit together. As long as America is impoverished, there will be a very impoverished underbelly to Los Angeles, because this is where people can live outside without dying in the cold. Also, look at that map of states with a population lower than that of L.A. County, and you'll start to appreciate just how fucked we get by the federal system. Certainly, I'll never complain about a shitty county service again. Not making excuses, but California's urban areas are all so underfunded for the populations they serve. It makes any severe, widescale problem like homelessness that much harder to deal with.
I love:
- The ethnic diversity, which is perhaps reason number one that I won't leave this place. I love that I grew up alongside kids from so many different cultural backgrounds. I love that the diner around the corner is a Babelesque joy of language. I love that people here learn to cultivate nice smiles - because a smile jumps any language barrier.
- The food. If the cuisine exists, there is a place that makes it, often at an outrageously reasonable price. I live for dingy strip mall holes-in-the-wall that churn out secretly killer food. And the best pupusa I ever had came off an amateur street cart.
- The weather. I could do without the summer heat, but on the other hand you effectively never have to check the weather before going outside. Outdoor activities don't take a winter break. The light is stark and glaring and beautiful year-round.
- The landscape. We enjoy both mountain majesty and easy coastal access. I love that the Hills are smack in the middle of the diamond city lights. I love that I can easily drive to Malibu, Big Sur, the Sierra Nevada, or the desert. I love how fast you can slip into wild areas around here, whether it's a pocket of nature in the Hills or an underused trail in the San Gabriels.
- The culture. L.A. is lousy with museums and galleries and readings and especially concerts. I can't imagine living without this.
- The weirdness. L.A. is a weird place. Not "Keep Austin Weird" weird. It's secretly, surreally weird. Sometimes you forget and then sometimes you're bowled over with a precious sense of mystery. Certain artists really get this - Pynchon, Didion, Nathanael West, David Lynch. Even Raymond Chandler wasn't just letting the gimlets dream for him - there's nowhere his stories could be set except here. Maybe it's the many intensities of Angelene light. Maybe it's the mix, discussed a little above, of the urban and the wild. Maybe it's the city's deviously quixotic (contradiction intended) invention - willed into being by William Mulholland, grown on a stolen umbilical cord from the Owens Valley. (Our arrogant history lingers in all those thirsty, "classic" SoCal plants: oranges, roses, camellias, palm trees, birds of paradise, etc.) Maybe it's that we're always poised over disaster - temblors, fires, intense winds. Maybe it's the fact that this is both a romanticized "city of dreams" and a last chance for the desperate - the fact that there's no beyond from here, only a very cold ocean. Maybe it's the games this city plays with artifice: the pleasant discombobulation of seeing familiar places onscreen, or of watching a crew film a scene under Klieg lights in the dead of night, or of staring at the mountains when they get that flat dusty look which insinuates that it might all just be one big painted backdrop, man. Hell, maybe it's just that too many people took too many drugs in too many canyons over the course of too many years...
Maybe it's all of these things. Either way, there's a reason that the $cienos and the Theosophists and the Self-Realization Fellowship and the Manson family and the C.G. Jung institute and the JPL weirdos all liked it here. The Museum of Jurassic Technology is not about L.A. in particular, and yet it is the city's truest museum.
And I, y'know, dig all that. I even hella dig our city flag (underrated!). Feel free to come home - Our Lady of the Angels welcomes back all strays.
Tl;dr L.A. is weird and it tastes good.
posted by desert outpost at 1:36 AM on April 13, 2018 [3 favorites]
That said, I do not love:
- The traffic. Where other places have weather talk, our morning water cooler chat is for traffic postmortems. If you move back here, live close to work (or live close to a Metro line that you can take to work) - the traffic's gotten worse since you left. Personally I have a commute that's about half an hour, which I'm happy with. A lot of people can and do stand more, but I don't know anyone who drives more than an hour each way who isn't trying to either move or change jobs.
- The increasingly severe homeless problem. That said, while the city/region should be doing much more, I am certain that homelessness will continue to be a serious issue here unless the U.S. gets its shit together. As long as America is impoverished, there will be a very impoverished underbelly to Los Angeles, because this is where people can live outside without dying in the cold. Also, look at that map of states with a population lower than that of L.A. County, and you'll start to appreciate just how fucked we get by the federal system. Certainly, I'll never complain about a shitty county service again. Not making excuses, but California's urban areas are all so underfunded for the populations they serve. It makes any severe, widescale problem like homelessness that much harder to deal with.
I love:
- The ethnic diversity, which is perhaps reason number one that I won't leave this place. I love that I grew up alongside kids from so many different cultural backgrounds. I love that the diner around the corner is a Babelesque joy of language. I love that people here learn to cultivate nice smiles - because a smile jumps any language barrier.
- The food. If the cuisine exists, there is a place that makes it, often at an outrageously reasonable price. I live for dingy strip mall holes-in-the-wall that churn out secretly killer food. And the best pupusa I ever had came off an amateur street cart.
- The weather. I could do without the summer heat, but on the other hand you effectively never have to check the weather before going outside. Outdoor activities don't take a winter break. The light is stark and glaring and beautiful year-round.
- The landscape. We enjoy both mountain majesty and easy coastal access. I love that the Hills are smack in the middle of the diamond city lights. I love that I can easily drive to Malibu, Big Sur, the Sierra Nevada, or the desert. I love how fast you can slip into wild areas around here, whether it's a pocket of nature in the Hills or an underused trail in the San Gabriels.
- The culture. L.A. is lousy with museums and galleries and readings and especially concerts. I can't imagine living without this.
- The weirdness. L.A. is a weird place. Not "Keep Austin Weird" weird. It's secretly, surreally weird. Sometimes you forget and then sometimes you're bowled over with a precious sense of mystery. Certain artists really get this - Pynchon, Didion, Nathanael West, David Lynch. Even Raymond Chandler wasn't just letting the gimlets dream for him - there's nowhere his stories could be set except here. Maybe it's the many intensities of Angelene light. Maybe it's the mix, discussed a little above, of the urban and the wild. Maybe it's the city's deviously quixotic (contradiction intended) invention - willed into being by William Mulholland, grown on a stolen umbilical cord from the Owens Valley. (Our arrogant history lingers in all those thirsty, "classic" SoCal plants: oranges, roses, camellias, palm trees, birds of paradise, etc.) Maybe it's that we're always poised over disaster - temblors, fires, intense winds. Maybe it's the fact that this is both a romanticized "city of dreams" and a last chance for the desperate - the fact that there's no beyond from here, only a very cold ocean. Maybe it's the games this city plays with artifice: the pleasant discombobulation of seeing familiar places onscreen, or of watching a crew film a scene under Klieg lights in the dead of night, or of staring at the mountains when they get that flat dusty look which insinuates that it might all just be one big painted backdrop, man. Hell, maybe it's just that too many people took too many drugs in too many canyons over the course of too many years...
Maybe it's all of these things. Either way, there's a reason that the $cienos and the Theosophists and the Self-Realization Fellowship and the Manson family and the C.G. Jung institute and the JPL weirdos all liked it here. The Museum of Jurassic Technology is not about L.A. in particular, and yet it is the city's truest museum.
And I, y'know, dig all that. I even hella dig our city flag (underrated!). Feel free to come home - Our Lady of the Angels welcomes back all strays.
Tl;dr L.A. is weird and it tastes good.
posted by desert outpost at 1:36 AM on April 13, 2018 [3 favorites]
The housing situation is insane. I've lived in LA all of my life, save six years in Portland, and rents/home prices are the thing that makes me think about leaving on a regular basis.
LA has always had a good food scene, but it definitely has been especially fun lately.
Traffic is worse than it used to be but not that much worse unless you're trying to commute long distances. (Like between LA and OC, or the beach cities and the Valley.) Don't do that. Metro's expanded light rail system is nice, but it's limited reach means you have to get lucky with housing and work (or build your life around it) to be able to rely on it. It's still fun for going out without driving.
Air quality has noticeably improved.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:12 AM on April 13, 2018
LA has always had a good food scene, but it definitely has been especially fun lately.
Traffic is worse than it used to be but not that much worse unless you're trying to commute long distances. (Like between LA and OC, or the beach cities and the Valley.) Don't do that. Metro's expanded light rail system is nice, but it's limited reach means you have to get lucky with housing and work (or build your life around it) to be able to rely on it. It's still fun for going out without driving.
Air quality has noticeably improved.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:12 AM on April 13, 2018
Response by poster: Thank you all for your input. I know LA like the back of my hand having lived there for ten years and visit every year since then ( left 5 years ago) and the reason we left was the housing costs. We had a small two bed/ one bath in Mar vista ( always lived on the West side) for 3600 and now it’s 5000!! This is for rent and you can hear Venice Blvd all day in the back yard. We would not ever be able to buy anything and we really wanted to own our home.
Fast forward - we moved to Ct. where I grew up and bought a house with 3 acres of land in a town out of a movie set for less than 400k and after three winters couldn’t take it anymore. So we moved to North Catilona. We live in a hip, diverse area - Durham - with a fast growing and cool food scene. I commute ten minutes to work and there is minor traffic. The highlight here is the people are amazing. They are from all over the world and many from Ca. And very down to earth and friendly.
As a private chef, I miss LA for the amazing food, farmers markets and ethnicity everywhere and the beauty of the ocean and mountains.
I go there often for work, many private clients there. So for now we can’t imagine paying the high rents, dealing with the traffic and hustling like a m- f to get the bills paid. I have fantasies of moving back as there is nothing like it. But I was just there and sadly going from Mar Vista to Santa Monica now takes twice as long as it used to.. can’t handle it.
Yes, if you can stay in your hood it’s all good. But then you actually can’t enjoy all the city has to offer as you can’t get there and back.
I have answered my own question and will need to be satisfied with visiting once a year. Thank you all!
posted by privatechef at 4:33 PM on May 12, 2018
Fast forward - we moved to Ct. where I grew up and bought a house with 3 acres of land in a town out of a movie set for less than 400k and after three winters couldn’t take it anymore. So we moved to North Catilona. We live in a hip, diverse area - Durham - with a fast growing and cool food scene. I commute ten minutes to work and there is minor traffic. The highlight here is the people are amazing. They are from all over the world and many from Ca. And very down to earth and friendly.
As a private chef, I miss LA for the amazing food, farmers markets and ethnicity everywhere and the beauty of the ocean and mountains.
I go there often for work, many private clients there. So for now we can’t imagine paying the high rents, dealing with the traffic and hustling like a m- f to get the bills paid. I have fantasies of moving back as there is nothing like it. But I was just there and sadly going from Mar Vista to Santa Monica now takes twice as long as it used to.. can’t handle it.
Yes, if you can stay in your hood it’s all good. But then you actually can’t enjoy all the city has to offer as you can’t get there and back.
I have answered my own question and will need to be satisfied with visiting once a year. Thank you all!
posted by privatechef at 4:33 PM on May 12, 2018
We should do a meet up! I'd definitely be interested in checking out new places (or old places) with someone who cooks for a living.
To get from Mar Vista to SM quickly you take some combination of Palms/Grandview/Rose. The expo line is great but isn't grade separated at some very busy crossings. These days it's better to stay off the big streets. Fountain is good in Hollywood. Waze gives really bad advice in LA.
I feel like Nancy Silverton was heavily subtweeted itt. Campanile/LBB opened in '89. No bread? And no respect for Langers, Nate and Als, Art's etc? Or Bay Cities and Guidi Marcello? At any rate, there's an Eataly now.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:53 PM on May 14, 2018
To get from Mar Vista to SM quickly you take some combination of Palms/Grandview/Rose. The expo line is great but isn't grade separated at some very busy crossings. These days it's better to stay off the big streets. Fountain is good in Hollywood. Waze gives really bad advice in LA.
I feel like Nancy Silverton was heavily subtweeted itt. Campanile/LBB opened in '89. No bread? And no respect for Langers, Nate and Als, Art's etc? Or Bay Cities and Guidi Marcello? At any rate, there's an Eataly now.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:53 PM on May 14, 2018
Also, Airport to 23rd to Cloverfield is good for as long as the airport survives. If that's your usual area. And Westwood etc to Culver is all about Cheviot Hills: Manning, Club Dr into Castle Heights and Cattaraugus, etc.
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:02 PM on May 14, 2018
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:02 PM on May 14, 2018
Response by poster: yes lets do a meetup - whomever that was who posted that!
posted by privatechef at 12:53 PM on November 2, 2018
posted by privatechef at 12:53 PM on November 2, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:06 AM on April 12, 2018 [1 favorite]