Re: LA Neighborhoods
What kullervo said about LA is all right on, but for the one little fact that she doesn't seem to like LA.
And what everyone else has said about LA is also right on... but I was wondering more about where you are in life, not just where you are in your writing career.
Sometimes a radical life change is a good thing, a really good thing. And if you're young enough and don't have too many job ties to one place, then I say go for it. You might never have the opportunity again, and you don't want to live with regret... you don't want to worship at The Church of "If Only"... If only I had moved to LA before the kids were in school... If only I had movied to LA before my hub got that great job... If only I had been in LA when that agent called that last minute meeting...
When I moved out here many moons ago from the east coast I only had a list of names of friends-of-friends to cold call, I knew absolutely no one. I quit a dream job to come here for no job. It was very hard, but it was the best thing I ever did. I was very aware that I didn't want to worship at that church.
As to neighborhoods out here, everyone has already given you alot of suggestions. I'd suggest going to the AAA and getting some local street maps so you can get an idea of LA and it's sprawl. I'd also suggest reading the LATimes online for more local news and the classifieds. Get to know where you want to live. Costs for property and rentals are way over the national average. In just 8 yrs our westside house has almost quadrupled in value. That's almost obscene.
IMHO being near the beach is the only way to go. The weather is 10-20 degrees cooler in the summer and 10-20 degrees hotter in the winter, which means I turn the heat on maybe twice a year and we don't even need an air conditioner. That's a big cost savings with the price of the non-renewable energy we use to heat and cool our houses going up and up. The cost of living in LA is high, there's no way around that. But there are still some neighberhoods that can still be affordable. Public schools here, in general, suck, but there are some options you can research when you get here (like magnet schools, for one example).
You, of course, need to do yr research before moving here, but I say if it's a dream of yours do it now, don't wait, don't allow yourself to live with regret.
What kullervo said about LA is all right on, but for the one little fact that she doesn't seem to like LA.
And what everyone else has said about LA is also right on... but I was wondering more about where you are in life, not just where you are in your writing career.
Sometimes a radical life change is a good thing, a really good thing. And if you're young enough and don't have too many job ties to one place, then I say go for it. You might never have the opportunity again, and you don't want to live with regret... you don't want to worship at The Church of "If Only"... If only I had moved to LA before the kids were in school... If only I had movied to LA before my hub got that great job... If only I had been in LA when that agent called that last minute meeting...
When I moved out here many moons ago from the east coast I only had a list of names of friends-of-friends to cold call, I knew absolutely no one. I quit a dream job to come here for no job. It was very hard, but it was the best thing I ever did. I was very aware that I didn't want to worship at that church.
As to neighborhoods out here, everyone has already given you alot of suggestions. I'd suggest going to the AAA and getting some local street maps so you can get an idea of LA and it's sprawl. I'd also suggest reading the LATimes online for more local news and the classifieds. Get to know where you want to live. Costs for property and rentals are way over the national average. In just 8 yrs our westside house has almost quadrupled in value. That's almost obscene.
IMHO being near the beach is the only way to go. The weather is 10-20 degrees cooler in the summer and 10-20 degrees hotter in the winter, which means I turn the heat on maybe twice a year and we don't even need an air conditioner. That's a big cost savings with the price of the non-renewable energy we use to heat and cool our houses going up and up. The cost of living in LA is high, there's no way around that. But there are still some neighberhoods that can still be affordable. Public schools here, in general, suck, but there are some options you can research when you get here (like magnet schools, for one example).
You, of course, need to do yr research before moving here, but I say if it's a dream of yours do it now, don't wait, don't allow yourself to live with regret.
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