Should I move to LA?

[Ellen Forradalom]

It's purely hypothetical at this point.

[GOPisEvil]

1. I would, given the chance.

I like SoCal a lot.

[ALago1]

2. Do it! I'm doing so next month

Do you have any valid reason holding you back? If not, follow your desire!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. My dear Alago1!

Which part of LA are you moving into?

I'm out by LAX......on the Santa Monica Bay...... :hi:

[ALago1]

Well...

Once I get to LA I'm going to be staying with a buddy of mine who already has a place out there. I believe he's living around the Studio City area. From there I'm open to looking into any area in or around LA for an apartment. Any suggestions??

[huskerlaw]

11. Ah, my part of the world!

Get here, get a feel for the city...decide what you're looking for from there.

[ALago1]

9. Well...

Once I get to LA I'm going to be staying with a buddy of mine who already has a place out there. I believe he's living around the Studio City area. From there I'm open to looking into any area in or around LA for an apartment. Any suggestions??

[DBoon]

26. Studio City is a nice area

lots to do there

[Shine]

3. Just make sure you've got a car.

Have you ever seen the movie "LA Story"? If not, you MUST rent it before you come out. Steve Martin movie. Very funny. Captures all the stereotypes of the LA scene.

Good luck and best wishes, from Santa Cruz!!
:hi:

[Ellen Forradalom]

13. I have my trusty steed

Cleopatra the Slum Goddess, the 88 Mercury Sable station wagon. She's a hand-me-down from Mom and running fine as ever.

[Shine]

16. Cool. Now go rent that movie and catch up with me later and let

me know what you thought of it. I still think of it, now and then. It was funny and touching.

:hi:

[radwriter0555]

28. I hope it has air conditioning... since it will take you at least 1/2 to

travel 6 miles, in GOOD traffic.

I had THE BEST mechanic in LA... Jim Matson. He won awards he was so decent, good, and honest.

[Ellen Forradalom]

32. GIVE ME HIS CARD

My A/C compressor got cut out to fix something else...oh well.

[Ally McLesbian]

43. Good...

Just don't be surprised when those snobs in BMWs and Hummers treat you like a scum.

Pretty soon you'll want/get one too... This is Los Angeles, where you are what you drive!

[ronnykmarshall]

51. and I'm proud to be a

[driver8]

Really?? I've never noticed that. I drive a 2000 Camry and have

never had the urge to get a BMW...ok, once I did, but the feelings quickly passed.

I would love to get a low mileage mid-80's Toyota Land Cruiser. Anyone got one for sale?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. You absolutely should!

There's a very large (and growing) group of DU'ers here!

Plus the winters are much less severe than in Chicago.....

Come on out! :hi:

[Ellen Forradalom]

15. If I do

I expect a very warm DU welcome!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

18. And you will have one!

Just check with huskerlaw! I give one AWESOME dinner party!

And there are cool meetups too!

:loveya: :hug:

[huskerlaw]

25. She does!

Nothing beats a CAPeggy Welcome to CA dinner party!

Oh, and did we mention it was 75 degrees here today? ;)

[ALago1]

39. Oh! I'm so wanting a welcome party now!!

:)

[Redneck Socialist]

5. No

but then I'd say that about most any large city, so I'm probably not the most unbiased observer.

[Ellen Forradalom]

38. Some folks are not city folks

I'm a lifelong Chicagoan, so I'm inured to city life.

[Maddy McCall]

6. Sure! There are lots of homes available on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain

:)

[Ellen Forradalom]

37. Talkin' about a different LA

but thanks for offering me a "fixer-upper."

[kwassa]

46. The LA Lakers: there are no lakes in Los Angeles.

Just a couple of man-made reservoirs. Check out "Lake Hollywood". Nice scenic walk.

I lived there 17 years, and still miss it.

[driver8]

66. I used to live by Lake Hollywood -- I loved walking and running

around the lake. Very peaceful and relaxing.

kwassa, what part of LA did you live in??

[Zambero]

69. La Brea Tar Pits is a natural (albeit sludgy) pond

And Long Beach has the Colorado Lagoon. Silver Lake is also cool. The two shallow lakes in McArthur Park are polluted, smell bad, and are best avoided however.

[KamaAina]

49. That's the La. I am, somewhat astonishingly, considering.

I shall be speaking tomorrow with a representative of a well-known activist agency there. I hardly have an idea why I even went for this, other than perhaps to be present at the (re)birth of something truly special...

Obviously the lake shore isn't gonna cut it for my transit-dependent self. It's the Sliver on the River or bust!

[Ellen Forradalom]

59. Let's wish each other luck

I have a third phone interview with the company tomorrow.

Aloha and best of luck, KamaAina!

[huskerlaw]

8. Absolutely!

I just moved to LA about 3.5 months ago, and I LOVE IT.

Honestly, couldn't be happier with my decision. If you have questions about what to expect, feel free to PM me.

[Ellen Forradalom]

12. Very complicated decision for me

but the thought of a big change appeals to me, too.

[huskerlaw]

14. I can understand that

I moved here from bumblefrick Nebraska. Huuuuge change, and like I said before, I honestly couldn't be happier.

[Floogeldy]

10. Why?

I moved to LA, once.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

17. And you should never have left, my dear Floog!

Just think if you still lived here, you'd probably have met me by now!

:loveya: :hug:

[Floogeldy]

21. Waaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!

That would have been the greatest. LA still tugs at my heart, as you.

[XemaSab]

19. Not if you're expecting to have a lawn

:P

[Flaxbee]

20. just curious ... did you ever go to that interview in South Carolina?

what did you think (I'm guessing you weren't bowled over...)

I spent three years in grad school in LA (Westwood and Brentwood) and then another year and a half working there before I moved to NYC (I now live in western NC). I'm a SoCal girl, born and bred, and miss LA (well, I miss what SoCal USED to be before it became paved from San Diego to Santa Barbara, the ocean to the desert with roads and hideous track-housing). I miss the orange groves, and the valleys and mountains where I used to go horseback riding - now they're golf courses and crappy houses. 35 years ago SoCal still had its wild places.

But it can be fun, depending on where you move to/where you live and what you can afford. Though I think I'd move to San Diego or Santa Barbara first - if there were jobs available.

[Ellen Forradalom]

33. Well,

no place is what it was. Chicago is losing its gritty, city-of-big-shoulders charm, too.

I wasn't bowled over by SC, and they weren't bowled over by me. We'll see how this interviewing process goes.

[leftofthedial]

22. why?

what's there for you?

[Fox Mulder]

23. If given the chance, I'd move to LA.

If you want to, you should, if you get the chance. Of course, the decision is entirely your's.

[Ellen Forradalom]

36. all depends

if I get the Big Job.

[driver8]

24. I don't think you would like it here...

Too much traffic
People aren't very friendly
Smog
Weather isn't that great
Not much to do here
Very expensive

I'm just kidding...we would love to have you!!

[Ally McLesbian]

44. Add to that list

Orange County
La Mirada
Diamond Bar
Antelope Valley
Any place with Korean or Vietnamese signs

(Republican hellholes, all of the above)

Stick to proven Democratic zones, and you'll be fine.

[DBoon]

27. No, there are too many Mexicans here

Yes, too many Mexican restaurants will cause you to gain weight very quickly. With all the regional specialties you will be sampling, you will never be your slender self again

[Ellen Forradalom]

35. Same could be said for Chicago

were that one's point of view. Chicago is an ethnic-restaurant capital. I can exercise restraint in any setting.

[DBoon]

40. too many damn foreigners period

makes it impossible to stay on a diet.

Ah, for the days when all you had was bad traditional American food, easy to avoid

[Ally McLesbian]

42. It's partly ethnic restaurants...

... and partly the Los Angeles car culture, where the only ones who walk are the bums who are too poor to buy even a $500 junk car.

You are what you drive, really, in Los Angeles. Probably the only place where BMW drivers are considered progressive - and Volvo drivers conservative.

[DBoon]

50. but you don't have to drive an expensive car

as long as you drive a distinctive car with style

A meticulously kept up 1967 VW bug, for example

[Ally McLesbian]

53. That too...

Just remember that American cars carry a lot less weight in SoCal than elsewhere, because both domestic and foreign automakers employ people in SoCal equally - in design studios.

In fact, only Pat Buchanan supporting diehards seem to like domestics in some places. I'm Asian, and I get odd looks because one of my cars is a four-door American car (Ford Contour) instead of some generic Japanese or Korean car (which ALL other Asians drive... if they aren't driving Mercedes or BMW that is).

[Nailzberg]

29. Go for it.

I moved 18 months ago, and am finally getting used to living in LA.

I'm from Chicago, so it's not like I moved to the big city from nowhere-ville. I only moved because I was a political operative back home, but wanted to get into the TV biz, so it was a must move situation for me.

I guess it really depends on what and where you are leaving.

[Ellen Forradalom]

31. I'm in Chicago also.

I may be going out for an interview for a job if I don't tank the third phone interview.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

30. Sure, I guess.

You can have my place. I'll be moving in six months, anyway. :hi:

[Ellen Forradalom]

34. Where ya live?

I would be looking in either west LA or out in Ventura County.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

52. Glendale.

[driver8]

63. Ventura County?? I know it's nice out there, but if you are going

to move to Los Angeles, at least live in LA County!!

[Ally McLesbian]

41. One tip...

Do NOT, absolutely do NOT, move to Orange County, La Mirada, Diamond Bar, or any place where Republicans predominate.

Keep your options to downtown, WeHo, West LA, and places like that.

And if you want immigrant neighborhoods, good luck. Chances are, they are Republicans too - definitely if the signs are in Korean.

[Ellen Forradalom]

45. Thanks for the tip

I'll look at West LA.

The gig is in Ventura County.

Where's an area that predominately Dem and ok for kids? Any tips on schools?

[Tikki]

47. Hey, if your job is in Ventura County then...

...move to Ventura County. We welcome you here... We are split east/west here....don't live in Simi Valley,
Actually, any areas west of the 101 are liberal enough. Closer to the ocean is more expensive.

Almost every community here has opportunity to get involved with important issues that
liberals, progressives care about...


It is beautiful outside today...low 70's...and just a little windy.


Tikki

[KitchenWitch]

67. Just a question

How do we expect to turn places like Orange County blue, if we are discouraging progressive democratic folks from moving there?

My family and I will likely be moving to Orange County within the next 2 years (my husband will be working in Orange County, so it does not make sense to live in LA county...due to the commutes.) I fully intend to remain a democrat, and a progressive, even if I am in the minority.

In fact, we currently live in a red area of Minnesota.

[Ally McLesbian]

68. Turning the ENTIRE county blue won't be possible

However, we can target competitive districts and turn them just blue enough to tip the scale.

There is red, and there is RED. I know that short of evicting everybody and starting over from scratch, my place (Diamond Bar) will never turn blue.

But there are more hopeful places out there. The Pasadena-Arcadia area (my last home) used to be red, but it's slowly turning a bit blue.

[KitchenWitch]

70. I get that

I am not going to be deterred from moving there because it is mostly red, though. I will find like minded people...

[graywarrior]

48. My best friend just moved there.

She really really digs it.

[Throd]

55. I just left

I lived there for the last twenty years. It is a great place for 20-something hipsters. Once you get older and have a few kids it isn't as nifty.

[Throd]

56. I just left

I lived there for the last twenty years. It is a great place for 20-something hipsters. Once you get older and have a few kids it isn't as nifty.

[Throd]

57. I just left

I lived there for the last twenty years. It is a great place for 20-something hipsters. Once you get older and have a few kids it isn't as nifty.

[Ellen Forradalom]

58. I'm older and have a kid

Looks like Ventura County for me.

[driver8]

62. Throd...didn't you just leave California?? I thought that I read

it somewhere.

Just kidding...welcome to DU!! :hi:

[Rabrrrrrr]

54. Los Angeles, or Louisiana?

[Ellen Forradalom]

60. City of Angels

[Ellen Forradalom]

61. Where are NSMA and ZombyWoof?

I want their considered opinions!

[GOPisEvil]

64. You know they'll tell you to get your ass out there.

:D

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

65. Sure...fucking move here

Thai food...warm weather..a little rain here and there...no trains so you gotta deal with traffic but I would take traffic, smog, earthquakes, high rent and anything else BAD about this place just to live here...we have many nice areas that are indeed affordable...loads of wonderful places to go...mountains, beaches, deserts, countryside, some of the best fucking wine in the world and really good weed...move your ass here...why even ask? :D

[Merrick]

71. We're full

but we'll let you know of any future vacancies as they become available.

Just kidding. Sure, move on out. That is, if you can handle the weather. I dont think it got much over 65 degrees today.

[trof]

72. Lower Alabama?

Sure, go for it.
;-)