Info about LA and surrounding area

MoGrAdY · Post #1 » by **MoGrAdY** » Sun Apr 11, 2010 4:34 pm

Hey guys, Im really thinking about moving to LA or a nearby suburb but have never been to Cali before. Was wondering if you guys could give me an idea of what the area is like, is it a good place to live and rasie a family and such? As much info as possible would be appreciated, thanks in advance guys!

iamworthy · Post #2 » by **iamworthy** » Sun Apr 11, 2010 4:53 pm

Orange County has the whole package. Nice area, good schools for kids, and very nice homes. Its just gonna cost you.

H00PDREAMS · Post #3 » by **H00PDREAMS** » Sun Apr 11, 2010 5:59 pm

I second that. Orange County! I currently live in western Kentucky and we are looking to move back this summer. I grew up in south central and spent a lot of my adult life in the Glendale area. So if not Orange County then you may want to check Santa Barbara County. If SB is too far Pasadena, Glendale, and Santa Clara are nice. Stay away from the city which includes Hollywood down going south, and From Gardena going north. I don't mean to offend anyone that lives in those area just my opinion.

Check out Zwillo.com and HGTV's Front Door site.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa/los-angeles
http://www.zillow.com/
http://www.frontdoor.com/

LA Titletown · Post #4 » by **LA Titletown** » Sun Apr 11, 2010 6:39 pm

MoGrAdY wrote:Hey guys, Im really thinking about moving to LA or a nearby suburb but have never been to Cali before. Was wondering if you guys could give me an idea of what the area is like, is it a good place to live and rasie a family and such? As much info as possible would be appreciated, thanks in advance guys!

Hope you make lots of money. SoCal aint cheap.

DEEP3CL · Post #5 » by **DEEP3CL** » Sun Apr 11, 2010 7:21 pm

Really it depends on where you want to live, the South Bay is also a great area....Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach. Santa Monica is also great, make this decision based on where your job is located. Because traffic will kick that ass on any day of the week.

H00PDREAMS · Post #6 » by **H00PDREAMS** » Sun Apr 11, 2010 7:40 pm

one way to get around traffic is to live where you work. I cant stress the importance of this as a way to avoid traffic. LA public tansport is crappy at best. So if you moving from lets say Chicago, NYC, Miami, San Antonio St. Louis Etc. dont expect to survive on bus and train alone.
Also LAUSD schools get a lot of bad rap. I am a college grad and product of it and so is my sister she went to school with Paul Pierce and my sister is a doctor now and well Paul plays for the C's. So we all turned out great.

Live where you work if at possible!

MoGrAdY · Post #7 » by **MoGrAdY** » Sun Apr 11, 2010 7:57 pm

Thanks for all the advice so far guys. Ive noticed the SoCal area in general is very exspensive, are there areas where Apartments/Condos an such are cheaper yet are still close to the big city without being dumps or in bad areas? Again thanks guys.

laduane1 · Post #8 » by **laduane1** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 1:35 am

Got money, you will find a nice place. If not. 400,000 will get you a track home and not in the best of places.

H00PDREAMS · Post #9 » by **H00PDREAMS** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 2:01 am

Ok here we go first thing first. Economy is bad even worse in SoCal if youre rich disregard this comment: Get your job situation first. Once you find out where youre working you can then determine where you can afford to live. If you live in the city go for west los angeles or west hollywood areas. Any areas in glendale, pasadena, san fernando, burbank, torrance, hermosa, redondo beach. In those areas you can find nice areas and not over pay for a condo or small home. Also try places like eagle rock older homes nice and cheap and La canada not to far from LA maybe 40 minutes. If you look you can find a great deal. Keep in mind cheap in SoCal is still expensive in Louisville, KY or Richmond, VA. But also remember your salary will put you on level for in the west coast economy. You must let go the money value from where you are unless you moving from NY, Connecticut, or Chicago IL should be cheaper or the same. I am going through the same thing but I'm going back to Cali so I kinda know what I am getting myself into. Don't get me wrong this is the best time if ever to move to SoCal! Because homes are alot cheaper than they have been in ages and that means people like me can buy a home there in a great place. Thats THE main motivation behind my move back home. There goes the neighborhood lol!

MoGrAdY · Post #10 » by **MoGrAdY** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 2:30 am

Thanks a ton H00PDREAMS you have been amazingly helpful!

Mamba Venom · Post #11 » by **Mamba Venom** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 4:07 am

There are sooooooooooo many small towns around LA.

I've lived in Long Beach, Pasadena and a few other areas. I really liked Pasadena.

Sofa King · Post #12 » by **Sofa King** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 12:23 pm

I lived in Orange County. Anaheim, Garden Grove, Wet-min-tha, it's aight. Living in West LA, Hollywood, Pasadena, Alhambra just seemed a whole lot funnier for me than the OC.

Iamabeasttt · Post #13 » by **Iamabeasttt** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 10:42 pm

head out to the valley. Northridge, Granada hills, porter ranch, encino, studio city. Burbank and glendale aren't bad places either.

daddyfivestar · Post #14 » by **daddyfivestar** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 11:02 pm

Just have a car. You can live anywhere, work anywhere, and get to anywhere (albeit with traffic) on the SoCal freeways.

H00PDREAMS · Post #15 » by **H00PDREAMS** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 2:11 am

Man when I lived in Glendale I hardly ever ventured to Los Angeles city. Unless I had a Laker game to attend, a concert, or some other crazy official business like paying a parking ticket. I never crossed those hills I absolutely loved it man. Nothing is wrong with the valley people just be chillin'. Learn some spanish tagolog , and a little bit of russian Armenian and you will be a hardcore native. If you move to oc get a long board. If you live in west LA get a nice pair of sneaks and hit the courts and bring your a game everyday. If you move up to valley get a nice fuel economy ride with an AC and pick up a snowboard cos the mountains aren't too far away.

I would study site zwillo big time. Also if you got little ones tagging along you may want to check out the ratings of local schools and colleges. I found that if you live in an area with nice schools, usually means low crime and pricier homes. They have sites to check school ratings, just google that and see what you find. Right now my mom says areas like Lancaster, CA

about an 1hr from Hollywood area have newly built track homes that they can't give away! Simply because the area is pretty remote and no one can afford them. So just investigate and look around. When you know more about your move I am sure the people here can give you more info.

kobeaki · Post #16 » by **kobeaki** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 2:05 pm

MoGrAdY wrote:Thanks for all the advice so far guys. Ive noticed the SoCal area in general is very exspensive, are there areas where Apartments/Condos an such are cheaper yet are still close to the big city without being dumps or in bad areas? Again thanks guys.

i grew up in the "inland empire" well in upland/claremont actually about 35 miles east of l.a. proper..great examples of suburbia...40 mins to the mountains(snow) 40 mins to the surf 40 minutes to the middle of nowhere in the desert and 40 minutes to l.a. as well as 30 minutes to disneyland...a hell of alot cheaper than l.a./pasadena/westside/southbay etc, not as cool, but great for families.

kobeaki · Post #17 » by **kobeaki** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 2:08 pm

Sofa King wrote:I lived in Orange County. Anaheim, Garden Grove, Wet-min-tha, it's aight. Living in West LA, Hollywood, Pasadena, Alhambra just seemed a whole lot funnier for me than the OC.

my dad lived in the oc, i did too for a few years, i didnt really like it, very very republican, so if thats an issue stay away from there...great beaches though...

H00PDREAMS · Post #18 » by **H00PDREAMS** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 3:30 pm

Oh yeah OC is very conservative. You would think, hey it surf city usa right?! Everyone is laid back and smokin' out. NOPE! Yeah maybe smoke out but the vote GOP like all the time! Allt he DEMs ae in LA and all the independents are up in bakersfield and lancaster. Also FYI. If you yourself are ultra conservative you may want to avoid. South Long Beach (beautiful area affordable old homes) West Hollywood/ South West LA area (warm neighborhood, trendy, nice condos) and Van Nuys. These are all very gay friendly neighborhoods but also some of the coolest places in LA to visit and live. Once again no offense just keeping it real.

@kobeaki - I was thinking of moving to UPland we thought it might be just out of the way enough and not too far from LA. But I am looking for government work. FED, DoD, or Civilian Military work. I don't think theres much out there besides the random reserve units and getting in those are like hard as heck. So I have been looking at mostly Navy instillations that are mostly coastal or up north like ventura and Santa Barbara County. We want to live where we work...

MoGrAdY · Post #19 » by **MoGrAdY** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 9:04 pm

Thanks for the help guys, Upland sounds very interesting. Going to check it out a bit, again thanks guys!

kobeaki · Post #20 » by **kobeaki** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 2:40 pm

No problem man, Claremont is right next to upland, it has 7small near ivyleague colleges their, a really cool downtown area, with a great records store! It's a cool place... Again not as "cool" as the more l.a. Proper spots but near everything relatively and cheaper, quiet. Both of the aformentioned citys have tons of trees