OT: How Expensive is LA ?

[SlimShady83]

Come live in Sydney - Sydney **** expensive as hell and everything going up in prices except our paychecks

Need to marry a rich cougar

[PKABOOICU]

California in general is so expensive that over 30,000 people moved out of the state in 2019, and there are rumblings going on to decrease the Electoral Votes from 55 to 52, as they are determined by state population. Its bad out here.

Is that a typo? 30,000 out of a population of 39 million is needless to say irrelevant.

Yes its a type brother. I meant 300,000...Its quite the net loss to our economy. For 7 years in a row, California has seen the most residents move out to different states.
in 2019, 86,000 Californians moved to Texas, 70,000 to Arizona, and 55,000 for Washington, and so on.
in 2016-2017, a total of 137,598 people moved out.
Top 3 reasons? 1. Cost of Living 2. Taxes 3. Traffic

[chrismikayla]

Come live in Sydney - Sydney **** expensive as hell and everything going up in prices except our paychecks

Need to marry a rich cougar

Ha I'm sure Sydney is nice but I have a big fear of spiders and Australia has some scary looking and dangerous ones.

[chrismikayla]

California in general is so expensive that over 30,000 people moved out of the state in 2019, and there are rumblings going on to decrease the Electoral Votes from 55 to 52, as they are determined by state population. Its bad out here.

Is that a typo? 30,000 out of a population of 39 million is needless to say irrelevant.

Yes its a type brother. I meant 300,000...Its quite the net loss to our economy. For 7 years in a row, California has seen the most residents move out to different states.
in 2019, 86,000 Californians moved to Texas, 70,000 to Arizona, and 55,000 for Washington, and so on.
in 2016-2017, a total of 137,598 people moved out.
Top 3 reasons? 1. Cost of Living 2. Taxes 3. Traffic

Thanks I honestly didn't realize how expensive LA was until I heard from you guys here and did a little research yesterday. It seems a lot of working people are homeless there either through loss of housing or by choice because they have been priced out. It's interesting that even some people in the entertainment industry live out of modified cargo vans, etc. It's amazing that Venice Beach has very rich people and homeless people on the same street. It's even been an eye open for myself as far as dreams of moving there. I make pretty good here and can do multiple things in counseling, yet I may end up living in my van if I came out there without a solid plan and a lot of money saved up. I'll stick to Atlanta or move to Houston LOL. Oddly Houston has a lower cost of living than Atlanta.

[Frank Dux]

it’s probably a really bad idea. I’m guessing he has no savings and is probably unskilled in terms of employment.

His best bet is to come back home, work two jobs for the next year and move to a cheaper part of L.A. with a good amount of money in savings.

there’s just no way he’s going to be able to afford his own place in Venice or Santa Monica. I have friends that live in those areas and live a modest lifestyle in small apartments, oh yeah they also make six figures+.

I recently moved out of West Hollywood. I was working as a bartender and i did just ok. I loved my apartment, and neighborhood but it was a huge grind just to stay afloat. while i lived a fun life, i spent most days picking up extra shifts, worked a lot of 10-12 hour days so that i had money to buy clothes and eat out. I made $200-$300 a night in tips. in most cities that’s great, but in L.A. that didn’t stretch very far. Everyone else around me appeared to have way more money. there’s a lot of trust fund kids, as well as high earners in this city. Especially Venice and Santa Monica. Keep in mind that L.A is very competitive. He’s not going to be able to waltz into a bartending position (unless he’s incredibly lucky). Most likely he’ll have to start at the bottom somewhere making crap pay and he’ll have to bust his ass moving up.

definitely encourage your son to achieve his dream. But also educate him on the risks and costs of living in L.A. it’s going to be very hard for him to get ahead bumming around on couches with no savings and then maybe finding a minimum wage job. He’s setting himself up for failure and he might end up getting into some trouble because he’s young, broke and unprepared. Being poor in L.A. sucks, the best thing he can do is come back when he has a decent chuck in savings.

[Sushisensei26]

Come live in Sydney - Sydney **** expensive as hell and everything going up in prices except our paychecks

Need to marry a rich cougar

Ha I'm sure Sydney is nice but I have a big fear of spiders and Australia has some scary looking and dangerous ones.

I’ve lived in both Sydney and LA. Sydney is as expensive but very nice. Cost of living in LA is plain crazy now. We live in the South Bay, ok it’s close to the beach but we pay $2100 for a 2 bedroom apt and honestly it’s an old building. Nothing special. Add all the bills and high gas price and then the taxes soooo.... u get the picture.

I really don’t wanna crush someone’s dreams but your son’s plan is not gonna work out. Venice and SM areas. Forget about it. He should really really be careful about what he decides to do. Unless there some high paying job he isn’t telling u about. It’s really hard out there man. I’ve been through it. It’s bad.

[chrismikayla]

it’s probably a really bad idea. I’m guessing he has no savings and is probably unskilled in terms of employment.

His best bet is to come back home, work two jobs for the next year and move to a cheaper part of L.A. with a good amount of money in savings.

there’s just no way he’s going to be able to afford his own place in Venice or Santa Monica. I have friends that live in those areas and live a modest lifestyle in small apartments, oh yeah they also make six figures+.

I recently moved out of West Hollywood. I was working as a bartender and i did just ok. I loved my apartment, and neighborhood but it was a huge grind just to stay afloat. while i lived a fun life, i spent most days picking up extra shifts, worked a lot of 10-12 hour days so that i had money to buy clothes and eat out. I made $200-$300 a night in tips. in most cities that’s great, but in L.A. that didn’t stretch very far. Everyone else around me appeared to have way more money. there’s a lot of trust fund kids, as well as high earners in this city. Especially Venice and Santa Monica. Keep in mind that L.A is very competitive. He’s not going to be able to waltz into a bartending position (unless he’s incredibly lucky). Most likely he’ll have to start at the bottom somewhere making crap pay and he’ll have to bust his ass moving up.

definitely encourage your son to achieve his dream. But also educate him on the risks and costs of living in L.A. it’s going to be very hard for him to get ahead bumming around on couches with no savings and then maybe finding a minimum wage job. He’s setting himself up for failure and he might end up getting into some trouble because he’s young, broke and unprepared. Being poor in L.A. sucks, the best thing he can do is come back when he has a decent chuck in savings.

Thanks man we'll try but you know sometimes young adults don't listen LOL. Did you move to a cheaper part of LA? I heard people on a budget should consider the Inland Empire.

[snaquille oatmeal]

The inland empire loses the perks and charm of living in LA, might as well move to Arizona. Lol

[50CalClips]

I apologize mods if this has to be moved, however I felt people in this forum who live in the area could answer this question. My son is 21 and took a trip to Venice Beach. He met some people at the beach there and decided he liked it and wants to stay. He is crashing on sofas now but has plans to get a job and get his own place in Venice or Santa Monica. We live in Atlanta and I know ATL can't hold a candle to LA as far as major cities and attractions go, however we're worried he doesn't realize the difficulty of starting over there alone with only a HS diploma and very little work history. Are our worries justified?

This might serve as a guide...
Here's the Median Household Income by ZIP CODE in So Cal...

http://www.laalmanac.com/employment/em12c.php

[chrismikayla]

That’s an expensive area here in SoCal. I’m from the area your son is at but have lived in the OC for a while now, even here it’s starting to creep up in cost compared to renting prices from 8-10 years ago. Your son can go as cheap as he wants and maybe find a low quality studio, but it depends on his starting job out here.

Most guys I know that come here straight out of college from the Midwest or East Coast and make $50K to start, and usually get a roommate. Everyone is different tho, you can be as frugal as you want or as fancy as you want. if your son is savvy enough he can afford a place on his own, knowing you get what you pay for. A lot of people also recommend getting used furniture for cheap, via eBay or Craigslist.

This might serve as a guide...
Here's the Median Household Income by AREA CODE in So Cal...

http://www.laalmanac.com/employment/em12c.php

Thanks this is a good guide.

[50CalClips]

I think the city of Whittier is a cool spot. A good value, too. It's actually closer to the geographic center of the "Greater L.A. Area". It's closer to Orange County... it's just south of the San Gabriel Valley (the forgotten L.A. suburb)... about equal distance between the "Inland Empire" (the Riverside/San Bernardino suburn) to the east, and the San Fernando Valley in the northwest.

It's not "the hood." It's a bit white collar, a bit blue collar. I see it as a mini Pasadena.
Almost a "college town" vibe, considering it's right in the heart of a megalopolis.


http://maps.latimes.com/neighborhoods/neighborhood/whittier/

[politm]

As an outsider who doesn't know if he'll ever see the US this has been a great read.

[SlimShady83]

Come live in Sydney - Sydney **** expensive as hell and everything going up in prices except our paychecks

Need to marry a rich cougar

Ha I'm sure Sydney is nice but I have a big fear of spiders and Australia has some scary looking and dangerous ones.

lol spiders least your worry here - we have more then that some of the deadliest animals in the world live here - but unless you live in the country you have nothing too worry about

City is ok we just got your typical Cockroaches lolo