born here live here and I will die here how about you? (Los Angeles: insurance)

[Contreras-21]

Born and raised in Whittier, as was my husband.
Bought a house in Long Beach and it now takes me 45 min in the morning to get to Santa fe Springs straight up the 605 fwy...a whole 12 miles!!
We have thrown in the towel-I'm feeling old not because I just turned 40, but the traffic and the stress is over the top.
We were very fortunate to have sold our home and walk away with a tidy profit to put down on a home that cost us $250k on a 1/4 acre around the corner from a lake which would easily cost $1million here.
Can't see my 4 year old growing up here..leaving our families behind in order to improve our lives.
I don't think I'll miss much; good mexican food for sure and Angeles baseball, other than that, there's more to life and we are in search of it.

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by CLQ

It is hard to leave but when you come back to visit, it will justify why you left. That was my experience. There are plenty of gorgeous places to live with a lot to offer. Plus, it is cheap to fly into LA from across the country if you go at the right time so you can always come back to visit and enjoy the place rather than spending your life in traffic which is such a waste of the time and main reason I want to leave. Has anyone ever converted their salary into a true hourly rate including commute time??? Driving is such a waste of my time and everything is so spread out in LA with no big city feel that driving in traffic is required to do anything and experience what LA has to offer. It is just way too crowded and a hassle to get around. Plus, you have to deal with rude drivers that are in such a rush but I can see why because they probably have to drive 50 miles to get where they need to go so they are ruthless and in a rush and full of road rage! It's not worth the hype that is seen in the movies. I think people have a misconceived perception on Hollywood or should I say "Ha"llywood. The walk of fame - ghetto. The beaches and sky - dirty. The weather is nice although I think the winter is still cold. Locals like to think it is warm but it's not. Homes are overpriced and many people here are unfriendly and too concerned with what's on the outside cars, image while the inside is UGLY.

ditto on what you said about "hard to leave". I cried in my car on the way back to texas from long beach. I still miss roller blading on the beach and some of what some would call the "calif attitude". But when i went back to visit recently, i was stuck in the unbearable traffic and witnessed the unattractiveness of certain neighborhoods along the freeways. There are poor neighborhoods everywhere flooded with illegals, looks like an extension of tj. I always thought the nights in cali were cold just like you do. and of course, everyone knows about the insane house prices. thank god that i'm out of there.

[FarewellLA]

I've lived in LA my entire adult life (almost 25 years). LA was great when I was young, perhaps even when I was not so young, but now as a 40 something y/o single woman, I find it extremely challenging. The inability to purchase a home is at the top of my list of frustrations, followed by congestion, noise, pollution, and the general inconvenience of living in the city. I plan to move back to the midwest (Ohio probably--where I was born and raised) to a small, college town environment, or move to Houston. I'm leaning toward Ohio at this point so I can be close to family.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by FarewellLA

I've lived in LA my entire adult life (almost 25 years). LA was great when I was young, perhaps even when I was not so young, but now as a 40 something y/o single woman, I find it extremely challenging. The inability to purchase a home is at the top of my list of frustrations, followed by congestion, noise, pollution, and the general inconvenience of living in the city. I plan to move back to the midwest (Ohio probably--where I was born and raised) to a small, college town environment, or move to Houston. I'm leaning toward Ohio at this point so I can be close to family.

Sister, I might suggest Colorado Springs. I lived in LA for 45 years too.

What line of work are you in?

Why Choose Colorado Springs?

Colorado Springs: most affordable homes in Colorado


From the COS post:
The whole Front Range is attractively priced, Denver being higher. Colorado Springs is far enough away from Denver to have it’s own identity. On the north end, across from the USAF Academy, everything is new, nothing spotty, no pockets of poverty. Entire state is beautiful. Very nice homes here for $300-$500k.

The Springs has a lot of Federal money, USAF Academy, Peterson AFB, Schriever AFB, Fort Carson, NORAD, Homeland Security, Cheyenne Mountain, not to mention the Federal contractors and high-tech biz. Lots of good clean money coming in and few industrial areas to speak of. All upside, no downside. A well educated populace.

[CLQ]

Originally Posted by Jakehorror

You think 30 or 40 degrees is cold? Come on.

I think anything under 70 is cold!! Warm weather is wearing shorts and tank tops all day. Relative to some other places it's "warmer" but not warm. Just to clarify..

[majoun]

Originally Posted by Charles

Sister, I might suggest Colorado Springs. I lived in LA for 45 years too.

What line of work are you in?

Why Choose Colorado Springs?

Colorado Springs: most affordable homes in Colorado


From the COS post:
The whole Front Range is attractively priced, Denver being higher. Colorado Springs is far enough away from Denver to have it’s own identity. On the north end, across from the USAF Academy, everything is new, nothing spotty, no pockets of poverty. .

That's not what Eric Schlosser's book "Fast Food Nation" said. He mentioned that there are pockets of poverty and even gangs in Colorado Springs. While I'm sure it's pretty mild compared with South Central, East L.A. or the Northeast Valley it does exist according to that book. He also mentioned that Colorado Springs is making the exact same mistakes when it came to sprawl, development, bad economic choices, etc.that SoCal did, and that after a Prop 13 type measure passed Colorado schools went from the nation's top 10 to the nation's bottom 10 as occurred in California after that ill-advised initiative passed.

Can't speak from personal experience, though, only place I've been in Colorado is Denver.

[Huckleberry3911948]

Originally Posted by PacificKamikaze

I know many angelenos complain (myself included) but how many angelenos intend to leave and how many of you are staying until the sand is blowing over you.I am in the complain but will never leave catagory.I wonder which camp are you in? ( now I am still going to complain about things I think are wrong just like I suspect people do everywhere)

it took me a long time to get this good at living in s. cal. i am in.
unless we have a sunami.
then i am out. depending at how much i can improve my swimming.

stephen s
san diego ca
..

[the one]

born here...lived in frisco...might move to chi-town some day but for now im here and no matter where i go i hope to end up here. like the **** callin the rising sun, LA beckons. my folks and fams are here. i love it! i really do.

[Sorcerer68]

I'm back and I'm never leaving again. I love L.A., living other places was just a let down. I lived places considered desirable but they just weren't for me. I'll tell you that in the last 15 years I've seen amazing transformation in Santa Monica, Venice, Silverlake, Pasadena, Mt. Washington, Montecito Heights, Echo Park, Downtown, Culver City, Highland Park, Eagle Rock, Long Beach, San Pedro...I could go on. Redondo and South Pas are the same as they were when I was a kid and before. Some nasty parts of the valley got nastier, fallout of gentrification. Yeah, traffic sucks and I have a wonderful solution to that...I live close to my office. I know, it's rocket science. I love this place. We're the most diverse city on earth, the center of the entertainment industry and pop culture, we have sensational weather and there's always something to do. I last counted 322 museums. I have amazing moneymaking opportunities. I can't complain about cost of living, it's 1/3 of what it was where I just moved from. I still can't believe how cheap groceries and durable goods are. Weekly live music offerings are like the menu at Jerry's Deli. I typically have 3 dozen theatre performances going on in any given week within a 15 minute drive or subway ride. ANYTHING is available here. I never realised it until I left. Goods, services...you name it, it's here. I've never had the quality of life and happiness I had here. I didn't set foot in L.A. for 2 years and was shocked when I returned...I forgot how friendly people are here. I got terribly depressed two times I moved away, the last time was Hawaii. I'd close my eyes and pretend I was in the lobby of the Hollywood Roosevelt or eating at a sidewalk table at Mi Piace in Old Pasadena or enjoying a cup of coffee and conversation with likeminded nuts at Equator or Psychobabble. I had a whole list of things I'd picture and now I can do them all again. Coming back wasn't as quick and easy as I thought it would be. I posted the 200+ list a while back. I experience random acts of kindness every week. We have 3generations of happy, successful family here. Not all stayed. City life doesn't suit everyone and some moved to the boonies and good for them...everyone should live where they are happy.

[thekingofcheap]

I used to manage a restaurant and had a busboy working for me. He earned about 8$ an hour for 6 hours (+food) then worked at another place where he bused for 6 more hours at 8$ per hour. he ate for free and cleared about $100 a day. he lived in a three bedroom house, with 4 guys in one room (bunk beds) 4 guys in the next room and a mama san in the third. the mama san cooked and cleaned for the eight men for free rent. rent was $200 per guy, laundry and tv included. one day off a week. clothes provided by restaurants. biked to work. one day off to howl at the moon. earned $2000 a month and has $100k saved. was going to return to mexico and retire for ever once if saved $150k. smartest guy i ever met. he was 28 years old.