Looking To Move To L.A. To Work In Entertainment Industry (Los Angeles: fit in, apartments)

[Eric La Vida]

Hello All,

My name is Eric Thomas and I am from Hartford, Connecticut. I currently live out here while I am finishing up my bachelor of arts degree in Performing Arts Management at the Hartt School of Music (Univ. of Hartford). At the insistence of the people close to me, I have begun to look around the country for an appropriate place to settle as I begin my professional career in the entertainment industry.

Naturally when anybody thinks entertainment business, they think Los Angeles (even here in the shadow of NYC). I am confident in my prospects for acquiring a good position in the business so I am not worried about that. What does concern me is where in the L.A. metro would I live??

If anybody could advise me on a suitable town/city/neighborhood in Los Angeles based on the following criteria I would be extremely grateful. Feel free to respond to this thread or to send me a private message. Thank you all so much!!

Needs:

1 BR or studio apartment around $1,000 monthly rent (slightly higher is okay if it buys safety)

Safe neighborhood with low blatant criminality (street gangs, robbers, shoot-outs, drug corners). I grew up in Hartford, Conn. so I am streetwise and capable of navigating the average neighborhood, however I would prefer not to live in a shooting gallery. My girlfriend will be making the move with me and I want to be somewhere where she can go out to her car or walk down the street without having to carry a gun.

Good transportation options to get around the region. L.A. freeway traffic is the stuff of horrible legend here on the East Coast. Is it really that bad? Is it worth having a car, or are there good public transportation options? Access to L.A. city-proper, Hollywood, Santa Monica, etc is key as most jobs in the industry I am seeing are listed in these areas.

Neighborhood with a little character would be nice. My New England instincts compel me to reject subdivisions and strip malls, however I will accept a sterile landscape if it means safety.

Schools are unimportant to me at this point (no children).

If you need any more information just ask. Thank you!!!


-Eric Thomas-

[yamota]

good luck with that

[seain dublin]

I think you need to visit LA first. From your post it doesn't sound like you have.

How do you and your girlfriend plan on supporting yourselves in CA while you try and get into the entertainment industry?

While there is more mass transit, LA is still a car town.

Culver City would be a good location if you wanted to be close to the studios.

But where you end up living would be based on where you where you're working.

The Oakwood Apts might be a place you can stay. They're furnished apts. that business people and those who try and get into the entertainment industry stay in.

I would also suggest a year's worth of living expenses. If you're serious about this you couldn't be coming at a worse time job wise.

[MattClyde]

I would look for homes in Glendale/Burbank area. Also closer to I-405 there is culver city and the floor of beverly hills should have some good apartments.

[Troof]

{grabs popcorn}

[Eric La Vida]

Thank you to those who attempted to be helpful in this thread. We are actually planning to spend a week at the Westin Bonaventure in late august this summer to try out the town and see how we like it.

I will look into Culver City, Glendale, Burbank, Beverly Hills and the Oakwood Apts and respond with further questions. I also took a look at Bellflower, Long Beach and Lakewood however some of those neighborhoods looked a little dicey on Google StreetView.

As for supporting myself, I will not be relocating prior to taking a job out there (and relocation expenses will be taken care of by the employer). I am not going to L.A. to go job hunting as I can do that online. Some examples of open positions I have seen this week that are appropriate for my education and level of experience include Supervisor of Residuals at AFTRA, Tour Coordinator for Coast 2 Coast Entertainment and Event Marketing Supervisor for the Queen Mary in Long Beach.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Eric La Vida

What does concern me is where in the L.A. metro would I live??

We can't tell you too much until we know where your job will be.

[Social Democrat]

Check out Silverlake which is adjacent to Hollywood. Has a great street/club scene (especially for the younger crowd) and just a nice vibe. This wouldn't be the area for you if you want to live near the beach though. Good luck and don't let the doubters get you down!

[disgruntled la native]

Originally Posted by Eric La Vida

Hello All,

My name is Eric Thomas and I am from Hartford, Connecticut. I currently live out here while I am finishing up my bachelor of arts degree in Performing Arts Management at the Hartt School of Music (Univ. of Hartford). At the insistence of the people close to me, I have begun to look around the country for an appropriate place to settle as I begin my professional career in the entertainment industry.

Naturally when anybody thinks entertainment business, they think Los Angeles (even here in the shadow of NYC). I am confident in my prospects for acquiring a good position in the business so I am not worried about that. What does concern me is where in the L.A. metro would I live??

If anybody could advise me on a suitable town/city/neighborhood in Los Angeles based on the following criteria I would be extremely grateful. Feel free to respond to this thread or to send me a private message. Thank you all so much!!

Needs:

1 BR or studio apartment around $1,000 monthly rent (slightly higher is okay if it buys safety)

Safe neighborhood with low blatant criminality (street gangs, robbers, shoot-outs, drug corners). I grew up in Hartford, Conn. so I am streetwise and capable of navigating the average neighborhood, however I would prefer not to live in a shooting gallery. My girlfriend will be making the move with me and I want to be somewhere where she can go out to her car or walk down the street without having to carry a gun.

Good transportation options to get around the region. L.A. freeway traffic is the stuff of horrible legend here on the East Coast. Is it really that bad? Is it worth having a car, or are there good public transportation options? Access to L.A. city-proper, Hollywood, Santa Monica, etc is key as most jobs in the industry I am seeing are listed in these areas.

Neighborhood with a little character would be nice. My New England instincts compel me to reject subdivisions and strip malls, however I will accept a sterile landscape if it means safety.

Schools are unimportant to me at this point (no children).

If you need any more information just ask. Thank you!!!


-Eric Thomas-

do you realize how many people come here to pursue their dreams in the entertainment industry, and how almost all of them don't make it? I'm not sure what you're trying to do. If it's acting, screenwriting, or directing then your odds are very very very very very very difficult. (Look, everyone's an actor or has a great screenplay) If it's backup work like lighting, sound, set design, editing, etc. then you have a chance, but it's still exceptionally competitive, especially in this economy.


that being said, if you're going to try, your budget might get you something in Hollywood proper. yeah, I mean you wanna make it big here, live in HOLLYWOOD! (you won't afford santa monica or west hollywood) PERFECT ! for $1000 a month or slightly more you might get a 1 br in the scuzzy part of hollywood (which has very little to do with "hollywood" besides relative proximity), or a studio in decent hollywood perhaps even walking distance from studios and the famous intersections! Hollywood by streets like La Brea, Vine near Sunset and of course Hollywood blvd may fit in your price range (barely), be reasonably safe (far from totally), and it WILL have plenty of character.

[nighthouse66]

yeah, call me cynical but i agree with disgruntledlanative. i have been here for five years and knowing what the situation is like here, reading the OP's post sounds so naive as to be almost sad.

"i don't need to come here to get a job i can do it online". are you aware that
1) alot of these postings you mentioned lead you to pay-to-look job sites
2) alot of the postings are just plain fake, and are just "phishing" for your personal info (clue: anything with the word "clerk" in it as it is a rarely used term
3) most people, unless you are an upper echelon executive being headhunted across the country, want to meet you first.

there are 8 people for every job in this town right now. do you realize that? do you know how many people blithely think that they can just roll into town with a good education and if they are good looking enough (as one previous poster on another thread called herself) they will get a job? and you know how many people actually get one? very, very, very few.

there are many, many, many educated people who work or worked in the industry who have been laid off. internships are becoming much more prevalent as companies need workers but don't want to pay them, and recent grads who are being propped up by their parents or working parttime other places are happy to take these.

i would also NOT advise moving to los angeles without having visited. you are seriously, seriously underestimating this place. you cannot simply read about a city like this. and 1000 a month for an apartment is not going to get you very much. that to me shows me your blindness to the realities in this city. i really don't mean to be harsh. but i would rather be (and i think i speak for the other posters on here) harsh now than have you be yet another LA hater who comes out here and doesn't get his poop in a bow and winds up running back home. it is a city of dreams, and all that entails. the good and the bad. if you are willing to face the harsh realities out here, and plan for at least a year of unemployment, come on down. do it. if not, stay at home.

but if you don't, i would suggest culver city. and i would jump up your price for a decent apartment to at least 1200-1300. and you will need a car. there is public transport, but LA is a car city. you will see what i mean when you visit, and you really. need. to visit. i love it here, but alot of people don't. they can't take it. they run screaming.

also- regarding gangs. get used to them. they are everywhere. pretty much any neighborhood you move into is gonna have a gang. hell, i hear they have them in brentwood. they are in silverlake. they are in koreatown. they are all over the place. and most of the time they are pretty invisible. if you are paranoid about gangs don't come to los angeles. its the capitol of gangs. even if they are laying low, they are here and the will always be here, and personally i am not that afraid of them. but gangs are a reality you are gonna have to contend with. but i have never felt in danger in this city, and i lived on the east side.

anyway, good luck to you, regardless.