How is the "Quality of Life" in and around L.A. ? (Los Angeles: to rent, condo)

[Charles]

Originally Posted by cynwldkat

Like I said..I lived in the Los Angeles area for 35 years. The last few years it was not uncommon for the summer temperatures to reach way over 100. Infact for a couple of days/weeks it was around 110/112. I was there, I know. Course that was in the San Fernando Valley and the Inland Empire. But L.A. was nearly as hot. It was miserable. I can't say I remember so many hot, humid days as I have experienced in the last few years.

I remember as a kid growing up near Saticoy and Fallbrook in the valley (1960s) that it seemed to cool off quicker at night. One reason it seems hotter lately is the concrete and asphalt hold the heat into the evening. There was more agricultural and grazing land, pastures, and fields in the west valley back in the 1960s.

Below, the intersection of Victory and Canoga (lined with pepper trees from left to right in about center of the photo) looking west 1963. No Warner Center. Topanga Plaza under construction, only the May Company building looks erected. The building on the left in the foreground is now Home Depot.

[cynwldkat]

Great picture!! The memories! Boy has it changed.....You are 100% right about the concrete jungle!

[prim2007]

Okay, the responses on quality of life in Los Angeles are really scary. I'm currently considering a promotional job offer with my company to move to L.A. In all honesty, I'd be looking at only a few years to gain the valuable experience from this unique job opportunity. I'm single with no kids and would be making $150K. Can I reasonably live a decent life on this salary especially if I would like to live in the city, maybe buy a small condo in a gated community so I live close to work. Your responses could make the difference on whether I accept.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by prim2007

Okay, the responses on quality of life in Los Angeles are really scary. I'm currently considering a promotional job offer with my company to move to L.A. In all honesty, I'd be looking at only a few years to gain the valuable experience from this unique job opportunity. I'm single with no kids and would be making $150K. Can I reasonably live a decent life on this salary especially if I would like to live in the city, maybe buy a small condo in a gated community so I live close to work. Your responses could make the difference on whether I accept.

Being single with no kids, you'll do fine on $150k especially if you rent. With the down turn in real estate, I don't think I'd want to buy if I were only going to be here short term.

[cynwldkat]

You sound like the type of person that would do fine in L.A. You would be making enough $$ to live in a decent area and at the same time gain that much needed valuable experience. You are single with no children. As I posted in another thread....L.A. is a good place for a young, ambitious person to make some great $$ and in your situation gain experience. I don't hate L.A. I hate seeing it what is happening to it. It is so much different then what I remember it use to be many years ago. Many young aspiring people do quite well in L.A.

[JerZ]

I agree with the others that with your salary, as a single person you should do fine in LA. Someone else had posted here some time ago about wanting to go to school in the area, and should he make the move. I had advised him to go for it because now, being single and not having anyone else to support, and having much less "stuff" to move from place to place, etc., would definitely be the time to "try it out".

When I met my husband seven years ago, he was living in Sherman Oaks for considerably, and I do mean considerably less than what you're making now. He did just fine. He wasn't driving a poshmobile and wearing Gucci or anything but he certainly was supporting himself and having fun. But he did luck out and manage to get into a place that was crazy, sick cheap. I think his apartment was $675 or $700 or something like that? He had gotten in several years prior to that and for whatever reason, his complex had semi-fixed rates, meaning when the rent did go up it was very nominal. (Then when new people came in, their rent started at a much higher rate.) On his salary he did get out, have drinks, see a show here and there and did just fine.

It's when children come into the picture, or even when you just start out on a serious relationship, that the problems could start. Having another person to consider changes everything. When kids come into the picture you have to consider their safety; schools...and when you start getting older you need to wonder where on earth the money is going to come from for a downpayment on a seven hundred thousand dollar "starter" home. So if you want to try this, now is definitely the time. If you don't like it so much, you can always move, and if you do love it, you can start working on a way to figure out how you're going to finance your future for the long haul.

[vegaspilgrim]

Originally Posted by JerZ

I agree with the others that with your salary, as a single person you should do fine in LA. Someone else had posted here some time ago about wanting to go to school in the area, and should he make the move. I had advised him to go for it because now, being single and not having anyone else to support, and having much less "stuff" to move from place to place, etc., would definitely be the time to "try it out".

Even though I'm the same person who just the other day compared LA to Phoenix on this thread, showing how ridiculous the value is you get for your money, there's a possibility I could still end up living in LA for a couple of years down the road-- for the same exact reasons JerZ states. I'm young and I'll be starting off my career, and there are SO many companies in LA and OC in the industry I want to go into. I agree-- if there ever is a good time to try LA-- or NYC-- or any other big, expensive city, it's when you are young and single.

[kleigh]

I haved lived in So Cal all of my life. I grew up in Yorba Linda, then went to college in San Diego where I started my career, my husband and I have just recently moved here to Playa Vista ( Marina Del Rey area) If I were you, I would move to Orange County or out of state. To me California is not what it used to be. We are actually looking to move to Dallas, Texas. I know, the weather can suck, but the quality of life would be a huge improvement

[TheRealAngelion]

Originally Posted by prim2007

Okay, the responses on quality of life in Los Angeles are really scary.

That's partially because most of the people on here are not single and earning $150K. You will do just fine. Life in LA for the haves and have nots is very different. Those who are affluent and successful tend to like a LA more because they can afford to have a better quality of life and take advantage of all of the amenities the city has to offer.

[kleigh]

Originally Posted by TheRealAngelion

That's partially because most of the people on here are not single and earning $150K. You will do just fine. Life in LA for the haves and have nots is very different. Those who are affluent and successful tend to like a LA more because they can afford to have a better quality of life and take advantage of all of the amenities the city has to offer.

You are right about one thing......I am not single, but my husband and I make alomost 200k, and paying $900k for a decent condo that is centrally located so we do not have to commute to work is just wrong. We live in a beach area with mostly condos, so trying to find a decent house in our area under $1.1 million is not easy. We both have family in the Dallas area and have stayed there many times. The people that live there are overall much more friendly and inviting. Like I said before..........California is NOT what it used to be.

If we move and don't like it, we can always come back. I would not come back to L.A. though.