Moving to Los Angeles-- General Advice... safety, where to live and such.

"Scarlett" wrote in message
m...
Hi!

My boyfriend and I will be moving to Los Angeles in a little over a
year. I want to find out everything about it before we move there,
this way we can make some good decisions about where we live and such.

Learn Spanish. Your hiring potential rises dramatically if you are
bi-lingual.

SD

Hi!

My boyfriend and I will be moving to Los Angeles in a little over a
year. I want to find out everything about it before we move there,
this way we can make some good decisions about where we live and such.

I guess what I want to find out is where to stay out of- specific
streets, neighborhoods, any places it is recommended we avoid. We also
want to know where the nice places are- we are going to be moving
there once we finish school and will become 'young professionals'
{shutters} and we want our LA experience to be wonderful.

One factor is that we would like to be within a short drive of USC-
School of Cinema and Television.

Any information is helpful- Thanks!

Your post has such a nice lilt about looking forward to moving to a nice
neighborhood....and then you qualified it as having to be near USC.
That's a rough neighborhood.

C'mon, girl, you can't have it both ways.

Bob McNabb

A lot depends on your budget, and whether you're planning to rent or buy.
You get more for your money the farther away from town you go, but if you
want to be "close in" and in a nice neighborhood, better have plenty of $$$.

"Scarlett" wrote in message
m...
Hi!

My boyfriend and I will be moving to Los Angeles in a little over a
year. I want to find out everything about it before we move there,
this way we can make some good decisions about where we live and such.

I guess what I want to find out is where to stay out of- specific
streets, neighborhoods, any places it is recommended we avoid. We also
want to know where the nice places are- we are going to be moving
there once we finish school and will become 'young professionals'
{shutters} and we want our LA experience to be wonderful.

One factor is that we would like to be within a short drive of USC-
School of Cinema and Television.

Any information is helpful- Thanks!

(Scarlett) wrote in message om...
Hi!

My boyfriend and I will be moving to Los Angeles in a little over a
year. I want to find out everything about it before we move there,
this way we can make some good decisions about where we live and such.

I guess what I want to find out is where to stay out of- specific
streets, neighborhoods, any places it is recommended we avoid. We also
want to know where the nice places are- we are going to be moving
there once we finish school and will become 'young professionals'
{shutters} and we want our LA experience to be wonderful.

One factor is that we would like to be within a short drive of USC-
School of Cinema and Television.

Any information is helpful- Thanks!

The beach cities are probably your best bet.

On 31 Jan 2004 09:22:00 -0800 (brenda) wrote:

(Scarlett) wrote in message om...
: Hi!

: My boyfriend and I will be moving to Los Angeles in a little over a
: year. I want to find out everything about it before we move there,
: this way we can make some good decisions about where we live and such.

: I guess what I want to find out is where to stay out of- specific
: streets, neighborhoods, any places it is recommended we avoid. We also
: want to know where the nice places are- we are going to be moving
: there once we finish school and will become 'young professionals'
: {shutters} and we want our LA experience to be wonderful.

: One factor is that we would like to be within a short drive of USC-
: School of Cinema and Television.

: Any information is helpful- Thanks!

:The beach cities are probably your best bet.

Forget about the "short drive" then (I am assuming that the Cinema school is
near the campus).

--
Binyamin Dissen
http://www.dissensoftware.com

In article ,
(Scarlett) wrote:

Hi!

My boyfriend and I will be moving to Los Angeles in a little over a
year. I want to find out everything about it before we move there,
this way we can make some good decisions about where we live and such.

I guess what I want to find out is where to stay out of- specific
streets, neighborhoods, any places it is recommended we avoid. We also
want to know where the nice places are- we are going to be moving
there once we finish school and will become 'young professionals'
{shutters} and we want our LA experience to be wonderful.

One factor is that we would like to be within a short drive of USC-
School of Cinema and Television.

This depends a lot on your budget. You might try contacting the housing
department at USC to see if they offer an apartment rental service. You
might even find that info on USC's web site.

"Scarlett" wrote in message
m...
Hi!

My boyfriend and I will be moving to Los Angeles in a little over a
year. I want to find out everything about it before we move there,
this way we can make some good decisions about where we live and such.

I guess what I want to find out is where to stay out of- specific
streets, neighborhoods, any places it is recommended we avoid. We also
want to know where the nice places are- we are going to be moving
there once we finish school and will become 'young professionals'
{shutters} and we want our LA experience to be wonderful.

One factor is that we would like to be within a short drive of USC-
School of Cinema and Television.

You'll find that your idea of a "short drive" becomes relative when you live
in Los Angeles. For most people living here, a 30-50 minute drive to work
or school is perfectly acceptable if it means they can live in a safe area
with affordable housing.

For relatively easy access to USC (you don't want to live in that area of
South Los Angeles), and rents within the just-getting-started budget range,
I would suggest either Los Feliz, Beachwood Canyon (Hollywood Hills), or
South Pasadena. Remember, rentals can be very expensive in LA. At this
point, you probably won't be able to afford the "nice places" you refer to
(Pacific Palisades, Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Marina Del Rey,
Manhattan Beach) unless you're sitting on a nice inheritance.

Before you move, I would recommend signing up with www.westsiderentals.com
or browsing the listings at www.craiglist.com. Westside rentals is a pay
service, but they have the nice photographs of the apartments and their
listings are extensive.

Purchase a map of Los Angeles and do your research. There are pockets of
good and bad areas everywhere -- far too many to mention. As a general
rule, avoid the area south of downtown along the 110 freeway corridor (South
Central), the area directly east of downtown (East LA), and the North East
San Fernando Valley (Pacoima, San Fernando, Sylmar).

"jdredd" wrote in message
...

You'll find that your idea of a "short drive" becomes relative when you
live
in Los Angeles. For most people living here, a 30-50 minute drive to work
or school is perfectly acceptable if it means they can live in a safe area
with affordable housing.

I should mention that a growing number of people (noteably those living in
the Inland Empire and the north desert) drive several hours to work in Los
Angeles just so they can afford a house in a decent neighborhood.

I recommend living in Downtown L.A. It's not cheap (a one bedroom
apartment or loft will run about $1300 - $1600 per month +) but it's
fairly close to USC, it's lively, and the most interesting area in the
city to live (in my opinion). Unfortunately the majority of L.A.
proper is suburban and thus boring. I don't agree that you have to
learn Spanish to make yourself more employable. But then, it all
depends on what type of work you do. If you work mostly retail, etc.
Spanish is a plus. If you are a professional, Spanish isn't
important.


(Scarlett) wrote in message om...
Hi!

My boyfriend and I will be moving to Los Angeles in a little over a
year. I want to find out everything about it before we move there,
this way we can make some good decisions about where we live and such.

I guess what I want to find out is where to stay out of- specific
streets, neighborhoods, any places it is recommended we avoid. We also
want to know where the nice places are- we are going to be moving
there once we finish school and will become 'young professionals'
{shutters} and we want our LA experience to be wonderful.

One factor is that we would like to be within a short drive of USC-
School of Cinema and Television.

Any information is helpful- Thanks!