where in L.A. would you move to?

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dlombard

Member
I'm relocating to L.A. from NYC and hoping for some helpful feedback other than DON'T DO IT! So if you guys have any good suggestions, or more to the point, helpful warnings, please lay 'em down.

I'm a 40 year old writer, performer, film maker, who wants to live in a cheap centrally located area... do I even want to consider downtown L.A.?
 
Pick up a nice foreclosure in Beverly Hills for 40 cents on the dollar then laugh your ass off in 3 years.
 
downtown is looking better everyday. everything is lofts down there for the most part.

as for what's centrally located... I live in the fairfax district just south of hollywood and just north of the farmer's market. i don't know your budget, i pay $1700 for a one bedroom but have been there for five years so a new tenant would probably be paying $2000 for the same thing. but from here you're right in the middle of everything, but close to nothing. LA is spread waaaaay out.

also, i don't know that cheap and centrally located go together unless you're looking for a studio with a hot plate.
 
my sister just moved and she lives on Fairfax and pays around $1100. (one bedroom)
so I guess it depends where you live.
the advise for looking for location is Parking.
there are plety of cheap rooms but the parking is one of the issues
 
well yes, fairfax ave stretches from west hollywood to the 10 fwy. however, the fairfax district is a specific neighborhood. near Canter's deli. and Fairfax High.
 
Depends partly where you work. I'd be more concerned about finding a place in my price range than where, exactly, it might be. Your preference also matters. If I could live not in LA but go there sometimes for work I'd much rather deal with the travel than the city itself... so not downtown. But that's just because I don't like the city. Other people do.
 
I think it depends on what type of area you want to live in...and what your plans are.

1. Do you want the beach, city (downtown) or suburb type living (house vs apartment)?
2. Your goals for performing. Theater? Daily auditions? Stand-up?
3. Filmmaker - working on sets at a studio versus working on location.
4. Will you be working outside of the industry while you pursue the industry jobs? Or are you strictly going after the business with all guns blazing?

So give us a few more clues as to what your plans are and maybe we can help you out.
 
Thanks a lot guys, I really appreciate the responses.

ChipG- I would consider buying ... know any ridiculous deals?

Zak & ryvac- Sounds like South Hollywood would work for me too. I would be happiest under $1500 since my goal is to find a landing pad and then shake things up in a year once I get the lay of the land. So it might be nice to spend a freshman year in the thick of it. That's one of my regrets about living in NYC, I've never lived in Manhattan, but rather fell into an amazing deal in Astoria Queens (short skip into the city and really cheap). I do wish I had put some time in on the lower east side but I'm too old for it now.

Kess- I don't care too much for the beach since, as you can probably imagine me being from NYC , I don't tend to get a lot of sun. More importantly, I hope to be auditioning often enough to warrant a close proximity to production companies / studios. Hopeful thinking.

I've been getting some good feedback about Los Feliz and Silver Lake. Anyone got a line on those spots?
 
dlombard said:
Thanks a lot guys, I really appreciate the responses.

ChipG- I would consider buying ... know any ridiculous deals?
Click to expand...

They are everywhere if you know where to look. My sister has lived out there for a long time and sent me the info for a place in Manhatan Beach (foreclosure) it sold 4 years ago for $2.3 million, the bank has been asking $900k and has not had one offer, it's a crazy good time to buy. I know it sounds expensive but it's about what a studio apartment cost where you live now.

If you can swing a deal like that you'll be glad you did in 3 years.
 
The problem with buying a 900K property is the difficulty in getting "jumbo" loans. Which is why expensive properties are very difficult to sell right now. Plus you need like 20 percent down and spotless credit. That's 180K cash and nobody I know has that. Wow, if I had that cash, I wouldn't be putting into a house ;).

Too old for the lower east side? Whats it become - a place for college kids? Put on some leather pants and you'll be in :).

If you looking for cheap rents, try the Valley. It gets hot, hot, hot! My big beef about LA is that I often have to do crew work in the blazing sun all day like a construction worker.
 
Come over to Santa Monica, there are rentals all over the place so you can negotiate, you could probably negotiate all over LA, so why not live near the beach? Almost every single building complex here has a for-rent sign.
 
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Yep rental deals are every where, there is a business that rents vacant homes that are for sale in the LA area really cheap, you live in the home and furnish it with your stuff until it sells. The only drawback is you have to move when the home sells but the service will move you into another vacant home that is being sold. Some of the homes have been on the market for over a year. Most of them are $1 + million homes with rent starting at $2500 a month.

Just thought it might be something you should check into to save you some money and get a nice place.

I don't remember the name of the company but I'm sure you can find several of them on google.
 
Silverlake is conveniently located with regard to Burbank (Warner, Universal, Disney, Quixote) and Hollywood (Sunset-Gower, Prospect, The Lot, Quixote 2), is for the most part a very nice neighborhood, clubs, eateries, walking/hiking, near Griffith Park. You can find studios, guest houses and some apartments in your price range with diligent searching.

There are some relatively inexpensive 1-bedroom apartments to be had around Fairfax (around $1700-$2K/month around the corner from Cantor's Deli...) if you don't mind a very slightly dodgier neighborhood.
 
Don't do it!

Hey, I've been in the LA area since 1997, from New York (and Boston) before that. Still far from used to the place! So from that point of view:

1) "Downtown" LA is not what a New Yorker would expect. Downtown LA is kinda like east midtown Manhattan with nothing else around it.... that is, pretty much office workers by day, totally dead at night.... not a place you'd walk around and see anything remotely interesting. A little better with Disney Hall (and I guess the Staples Center) - but certainly NOT what you'd expect, and not worth living in EXCEPT that it's a good place to drive to other places from.

2) If you like the idea of a place where you can walk around and see other people walking around (e.g., a New Yorky-kinda place), Old Town Pasadena, Santa Monica, West Hollywood... just a few parts of a few places... otherwise, be prepared to drive everywhere and for everything.

3) Remember when talking to people: travel times refer to driving, on a good day. "Three minutes from the beach" is by car at 75 MPH.

4) There's often a tradeoff between where you want to live and where you need to drive to. As I said, the downtown area (especially the cheaper parts) is a pretty sucky place to live, but is central and you don't have horrible traffic when going somewhere else. Other places are nicer to live in, but you'll often be spending an extra hour or two a day sitting in traffic. So: try to optimize the balance...
 
Since '97 and still not settled in...?

Got here in '90 and don't particularly want to live anywhere else in the US, now...
 
I moved here August 1997 and i'm starting to get the itch to live elsewhere.... like "New Zealand elsewhere".
 
thanks for sticking with this thread guys.

Ullanta-

thanks for the heads up on downtown, sounds more urban than urbane. also what I gather from friends in the industry is that the further west (santa monica) you go, the further you are from the ny transplants....for better or worse.

So here's the other thing I'ev got on my mind .... what time of year makes the best sense to go.


I'm planning on a december move since I have a networking thing happening on the 18th. is this a good time to be there and get settled in or should I just scope the land on the 18th and then come back mid-late janurary? Or should I go in november?
 
That's all within what passes for LA's rainy season, so it doesn't make much difference. Choose a time based upon the most appealing lease, maybe.
 
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