Does anyone hate living in Los Angeles,Ca and the San Fernando valley as much as I do? (Long Beach: apartment, rental)

[annonymous0381]

I'm a 31 year old single white male. I moved to the San Fernando Valley portion of LA in 1982 at one year old. I grew up in Encino and have lived in the LA area all of my life. After high school I went to California State University Northridge and got a BA degree after 5 year in Radio-TV-Film.

Since graduating college in 2004 I have noticed certan things about LA and the San Fernando valley that bother me.

I have noticed that more and more generation Y kids from the midwest and other parts of the country keep moving here and try to act like fake actors or actresses. These out of towners take away many of the retail and restuarant jobs. They also make other jobs more competetive. The high apartment rental prices are rediculus here. The traffic is horrible and gets worse and worse every day. The single woman are very superficial and fake. Its hard to make friends that arent acquantances.

The LA area is also very very consumeristic.

I drive a 1999 Toyota Camry that I after I graduated high school. The car still runs and drives great. People I try to meet look down at me for not driving a BMW,Mercedez or late model Honda or Toyota. My cell phone is a basic Verizon flip phone. Almost everyone in the LA area has these expensive Andriod or Iphones. Whne people see me pull out my basci Verizon flip phone they wonder about me.

I'm not interested in wasting money in a new car or expensive smartphone.

Since I lost my job in February 2012 I have been collecting unemployment and I cant find another job anywhere in LA.

Currently I'm living at home with my parents in Encino. When I did work I couldn't afford $1,500 a month for a basic run down apartment.

For the past 8 year I have been unable to meet a woman to date.

I do appear different than most people by LA standards. I wear glasses,walk wobbly and talke in a monotone voice.

Also I don't have any great male friends either. Most of them are acquantances. Many of them live 25-30 miles away. Unfortunatly I have met guy friends who used and took advantage of me to pay for them at restuarants,movies and road trips.

For the past 4 years I have considered packing up my car and moving to Las Vegas,Pheonix or Portland,Oregon. Las Vegas and Phoenix have very high unemployment rates now. Portland also has very high unemployment rates.

I have anough money saved to afford a nice apartment in the 3 cities I mentioned.

Even though I have family in LA I'm starting to realize that LA isn't the right place for me.

I'm lost as to wether leaving LA is a good choice.

A friend of mine just moved out of LA and moved to Albany,New York. He told me on the phone last night that it was the best move he ever made. He is 41 years old and for 8 years couldn't find a woman who would date him. This person is 300 pounds and drives a 1991 Nissan Maxima. He also has an att prepaid cellphone. In Albany he met a 35 year old girlfriend that he has been dating for 3 months. He also told me he had better luck finding better paying full time jobs in Albany as well.

Should I say goodbye to LA and try my luck elsewhere?
There are some good things about living in the LA area such as nice beaches,mountans,canyon roads and so much to see and do.
I also like how LA has nice weather year around.

[southwestchicagoan]

Originally Posted by annonymous0381

I'm a 31 year old single white male. I moved to the San Fernando Valley portion of LA in 1982 at one year old. I grew up in Encino and have lived in the LA area all of my life. After high school I went to California State University Northridge and got a BA degree after 5 year in Radio-TV-Film.

Since graduating college in 2004 I have noticed certan things about LA and the San Fernando valley that bother me.

I have noticed that more and more generation Y kids from the midwest and other parts of the country keep moving here and try to act like fake actors or actresses. These out of towners take away many of the retail and restuarant jobs. They also make other jobs more competetive. The high apartment rental prices are rediculus here. The traffic is horrible and gets worse and worse every day. The single woman are very superficial and fake. Its hard to make friends that arent acquantances.

The LA area is also very very consumeristic.

I drive a 1999 Toyota Camry that I after I graduated high school. The car still runs and drives great. People I try to meet look down at me for not driving a BMW,Mercedez or late model Honda or Toyota. My cell phone is a basic Verizon flip phone. Almost everyone in the LA area has these expensive Andriod or Iphones. Whne people see me pull out my basci Verizon flip phone they wonder about me.

I'm not interested in wasting money in a new car or expensive smartphone.

Since I lost my job in February 2012 I have been collecting unemployment and I cant find another job anywhere in LA.

Currently I'm living at home with my parents in Encino. When I did work I couldn't afford $1,500 a month for a basic run down apartment.

For the past 8 year I have been unable to meet a woman to date.

I do appear different than most people by LA standards. I wear glasses,walk wobbly and talke in a monotone voice.

Also I don't have any great male friends either. Most of them are acquantances. Many of them live 25-30 miles away. Unfortunatly I have met guy friends who used and took advantage of me to pay for them at restuarants,movies and road trips.

For the past 4 years I have considered packing up my car and moving to Las Vegas,Pheonix or Portland,Oregon. Las Vegas and Phoenix have very high unemployment rates now. Portland also has very high unemployment rates.

I have anough money saved to afford a nice apartment in the 3 cities I mentioned.

Even though I have family in LA I'm starting to realize that LA isn't the right place for me.

I'm lost as to wether leaving LA is a good choice.

A friend of mine just moved out of LA and moved to Albany,New York. He told me on the phone last night that it was the best move he ever made. He is 41 years old and for 8 years couldn't find a woman who would date him. This person is 300 pounds and drives a 1991 Nissan Maxima. He also has an att prepaid cellphone. In Albany he met a 35 year old girlfriend that he has been dating for 3 months. He also told me he had better luck finding better paying full time jobs in Albany as well.

Should I say goodbye to LA and try my luck elsewhere?
There are some good things about living in the LA area such as nice beaches,mountans,canyon roads and so much to see and do.
I also like how LA has nice weather year around.

I feel ya man. That's how I felt about living in Chicago. I guess you could say Chicago is the Midwest version of California, heck Illinois has an even worse debt crisis than California due to the unfunded pension systems. But, enough about that. FWIW these are the most up to date unemployment stats given by the BLS. Take these with a grain of salt, as this is the government we are talking about. Phoenix metro 7.5%, Las Vegas 13%, Portland 8.2%, and your native area of LA at 10.9%. I moved from Chicago for the very reasons you described above. I can't tell you that Phoenix will be any better, because more than likely it will not. I can say though, that unless you have some connections Las Vegas is probably one of the worst, or the worst area in the country to be jobless. Until consumer spending comes around, that place will remain in the state it's currently in. My advice would be to try Portland. Looking back on things, I wish I would have researched more about my move. I'm younger than you (22). But, I have been working "real world" jobs since I graduated. I've been very lucky compared to my respective peers, and I am thankful. To me Portland seems like a great place. I have never been, but have heard wonderful things and I truly enjoy the nature associated with the area. One thing you will not see here in the Phoenix area is any "natural" greenery. However, if you want more of that SoCal feel Phoenix would fit the bill. For me, from visting LA, and looking around here it seems that Phoenix tried their "best" to model it after LA. Just my opinion though. I wish I could tell you more about the dating scene in any area. I have found one thing that is more inviting in the Midwest and that is talking to girls. I don't know if it's the sprawl that kills that, but I have an awful hard time making conversation and meeting new people here. Perhaps, it is just me and I have been broken since the ex fiance of three years left me. But, I didn't think I was nearly this bad at socializing. Just my two cents.

SouthwestChicagoan

[bigdumbgod]

First, let's start with that which makes just trying to read through that post difficult...

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by annonymous0381

Since graduating college...

certan
restuarant
competetive
rediculus
arent
acquantances
consumeristic
Mercedez
Andriod
acquantances
Unfortunatly
restuarants
Pheonix
anough
wether
mountans

Is it really this bad out there?

[kttam186290]

You should try moving out to an outer suburb of LA first...like maybe Riverside, Oxnard, Ventura...maybe down to Long Beach...have you thought about that?

Get out of The Valley! I think you and it need some distance for awhile...try another part of LA! That's the awesome thing about LA...if you don't like one part of it, move to another!

[Tiger Beer]

I don't think another West Coast city will be much different. Oregon attracts a ton of Midwesterners as well, but instead of interested in L.A. things, they'll be interested in hipster Oregon things. It's consumerism on a socially conscious level, but still consumerism.

Phoenix or Vegas...might as well just move to the more sprawly area of L.A.

It sounds like you have other issues...very little skills socially or for jobs. Realistically you'll have a hard time wherever you go. But if 'RETAIL' and 'RESTAURANTS' are your goals in life, you'll certainly be better to just do them anywhere where the cost of living is lower. Every town across the U.S. has those things. If you insist on a city, go to a low-cost one like Cincinnati or St. Louis or somewhere like that.

[Samoi137]

Thought of going back to school (work on your spelling, for one thing)? Make yourself more marketable than other people. Keep your goals centered. You walk wobbly? You can't meet women? One thing at a time. Just packing up and moving to another city would seem pointless unless you have a job lined up. Taking classes in general education, and technical areas, would seem one possible step for you to consider.

[Chicano3000X]

I cant say I hate L.A. but I was better off financially in Chicago. My fault was not being prepared.

[windnsea00]

The city of LA is not to blame, the issues pointed out are for the most part personal.

[Count David]

Out here in flyover country you can have it all, even a smartphone.

But you won't have LA.