25 moving from OR to LA with my cats, pet friendly, safe, affordable rentals? (Long Beach: low income)

[skyevolution420]

i am fresh out of a 4 yr relationship and am trying to move to LA. As a teenager i lived in the AV but those days are a blur. I am doing a blind move by myself for the first time and was wondering out of the many many areas of LA which would be best for someone like me. I am looking for a 1 bedroom that will allow my 2 awesome cats to stay with me for a reasonable price. I am not transferring jobs so i will have to look for one after i move,( though ive already started searching online)

so, im a tough chick but i would like to find a place in a somewhat decent, or should i say at least safe neighborhood, and it'd be cool if there were a few ppl around my age too!

i have been a min. wage worker for some time so will probably start out with a basic min. wage job down there,(hoping for full time) although i am a quick learner and am willing to try new fields, (NOT porn!!!) lol

HERE'S A CHALLENGE!!

so were looking at one young person(25/f), living solo, no kids, probably making min. wage, with pets..., has licence but is scared of driving (but will), who likes to go to punk rock shows, and eventually would like to start a band, (cliche lol)
i think thats everything!

Ive been kiiinnnda stressed out a lil and I really appreciate ANY advice and/or thoughts! And if ya help me out I'll buy ya a drink when i get there!
Thanks!

[JohnG72]

Originally Posted by skyevolution420

i am fresh out of a 4 yr relationship and am trying to move to LA. As a teenager i lived in the AV but those days are a blur. I am doing a blind move by myself for the first time and was wondering out of the many many areas of LA which would be best for someone like me. I am looking for a 1 bedroom that will allow my 2 awesome cats to stay with me for a reasonable price. I am not transferring jobs so i will have to look for one after i move,( though ive already started searching online)

so, im a tough chick but i would like to find a place in a somewhat decent, or should i say at least safe neighborhood, and it'd be cool if there were a few ppl around my age too!

i have been a min. wage worker for some time so will probably start out with a basic min. wage job down there,(hoping for full time) although i am a quick learner and am willing to try new fields, (NOT porn!!!) lol

HERE'S A CHALLENGE!!

so were looking at one young person(25/f), living solo, no kids, probably making min. wage, with pets..., has licence but is scared of driving (but will), who likes to go to punk rock shows, and eventually would like to start a band, (cliche lol)
i think thats everything!

Ive been kiiinnnda stressed out a lil and I really appreciate ANY advice and/or thoughts! And if ya help me out I'll buy ya a drink when i get there!
Thanks!

Next to impossible. It would be difficult without the pets. The pets kill it.

Min wage is $8 an hour. Full time, thats $640 every two weeks. $520 take home. $1040 per month take home.

Cheapest mini studio rentals are around $500-600/mo and thats IF you qualify for their low income programs. Places like the Alexandria, the Huntington, the Bristol Hotel. Keep in mind, these are NOT suburban safe...they are very urban places and homeless people are frequent outside these buildings.

AFAIK, none allow pets.

Which means that you are looking at low cost studios that allow pets. You cannot find that under $750/mo anywhere even remotely safe.

Which means you'd have to rent a room in someones house. And good luck finding that with cats. One dog, maybe you could find a place. But no one wants cats in their place, and no I'm not joking.

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by JohnG72

One dog, maybe you could find a place. But no one wants cats in their place, and no I'm not joking.

What he says, except I'll amend it to no cats or smaller yappy dogs.

[mayorhaggar]

If you are getting by in Oregon on minimum wage then stay there. Rent is expensive in the LA area and wages are low, and the economy is not good at all. If you had a college degree and some office experience you could maybe get an office job making $12 an hour, but that's barely enough even to live with roommates, and probably couldn't afford a car. Most office jobs are in really inconvenient locations like Santa Monica, Century City, and parts of the OC, and that means a long commute from cheaper areas. Fast food or retail is $8 an hour and that's not enough to live with roommates--most people doing that live with their parents if they're lucky.

[skyevolution420]

well, i have a good 5 digit amount saved up, i can probably do 750, 850, ..just not wantin to go into the 1000's,.. homepless ppl dont bother me too much, i was one myself for a few years before i turned 20, so it doesnt have to be all fancy or anything, livable is good, just dont wanna be drowning in crackheads n whatnot, lol

and i dont wanna be in the middle of nowhere either, i had considered long beach, san diego, or any of the other cities down there, as long as there are some jobs, and public transpo, (after seeing the bus system up here the one there is like a limo service!, YA try to imagine that one!) LOL

so i guess it doesnt have to be LA specifically, the outer cities or towns or other major cities in the area would be ok.

Sorry im so scattered, just a little stressed, but who the heck isnt during a move

[skyevolution420]

ya, i wasnt really getting by on min wage, it is somewhat cheaper here, but like most places the cheaper dwellings are out in the middle of nowhere, farmlands with no jobs, mostly retirement towns up here.

[Joe Van Fossen]

Long Beach isn't a bad idea, especially if you're looking to start a punk band some time down the road. I have a drummer friend who was looking for a roommate in LB not too long ago. I know you said 1 bedroom, but the roommate thing might make more sense at your budget. If I were you, I'd probably try to find a local musician whose renting and kill two birds with one stone--easier said than done, but not impossible.

If you have any customer service experience, there are some call centers that will pay you between $10-12 to start in OC. Shoot higher than min. wage, then settle if you have to.

[1200RT]

Originally Posted by Joe Van Fossen

Long Beach isn't a bad idea, especially if you're looking to start a punk band some time down the road. I have a drummer friend who was looking for a roommate in LB not too long ago. I know you said 1 bedroom, but the roommate thing might make more sense at your budget. If I were you, I'd probably try to find a local musician whose renting and kill two birds with one stone--easier said than done, but not impossible.

If you have any customer service experience, there are some call centers that will pay you between $10-12 to start in OC. Shoot higher than min. wage, then settle if you have to.

I was going to say the same - why are you shooting for minimum wage jobs? I would recommend trying to shoot higher. Why do you devalue your skills so much? Looks like Oregon min wage is also $8.80, and we're $8 flat in CA, so if you've truly been working minimum wage in OR, you may be taking a wage hit AND moving to a more expensive state. Do not discount what I just wrote. CA is VERY expensive.

What is your field? What have you been doing for work?

I also hate to stir the pot (pun intended), but looking at your username, may be time to put down the weed and focus on the bigger picture, if this move is as important as you're making it sound.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by skyevolution420

i am fresh out of a 4 yr relationship and am trying to move to LA. As a teenager i lived in the AV but those days are a blur. I am doing a blind move by myself for the first time and was wondering out of the many many areas of LA which would be best for someone like me. I am looking for a 1 bedroom that will allow my 2 awesome cats to stay with me for a reasonable price. I am not transferring jobs so i will have to look for one after i move,( though ive already started searching online)

so, im a tough chick but i would like to find a place in a somewhat decent, or should i say at least safe neighborhood, and it'd be cool if there were a few ppl around my age too!

i have been a min. wage worker for some time so will probably start out with a basic min. wage job down there,(hoping for full time) although i am a quick learner and am willing to try new fields, (NOT porn!!!) lol

HERE'S A CHALLENGE!!

so were looking at one young person(25/f), living solo, no kids, probably making min. wage, with pets..., has licence but is scared of driving (but will), who likes to go to punk rock shows, and eventually would like to start a band, (cliche lol)
i think thats everything!

Ive been kiiinnnda stressed out a lil and I really appreciate ANY advice and/or thoughts! And if ya help me out I'll buy ya a drink when i get there!
Thanks!

In general, are people making minimum wage net producers of revenue or net consumers of government services? Meaning, when someone who is making minimum wage moves to your town, is he an overall contributor or an overall debtor on that town?

[mayorhaggar]

Originally Posted by skyevolution420

well, i have a good 5 digit amount saved up, i can probably do 750, 850, ..just not wantin to go into the 1000's,.. homepless ppl dont bother me too much, i was one myself for a few years before i turned 20, so it doesnt have to be all fancy or anything, livable is good, just dont wanna be drowning in crackheads n whatnot, lol

and i dont wanna be in the middle of nowhere either, i had considered long beach, san diego, or any of the other cities down there, as long as there are some jobs, and public transpo, (after seeing the bus system up here the one there is like a limo service!, YA try to imagine that one!) LOL

so i guess it doesnt have to be LA specifically, the outer cities or towns or other major cities in the area would be ok.

Sorry im so scattered, just a little stressed, but who the heck isnt during a move

I live in Long Beach and it's a decent town with somewhat cheaper rent than OC or LA, but there are no jobs here and it's pretty far from most job centers like OC or downtown LA. Even a studio is like $700 at least. If you're lucky you could maybe live with roommates for like $500, but 2 cats is probably going to nix that.

If you're really serious about this, mainly try and get a job first, if you can make at least $14 and work full time then everything else would fall into place. I'd look into getting a studio somewhere like Koreatown so you'd be close to downtown LA and about a 1+ hour bus ride to jobs in the Westside. But I guarantee you that you're not getting an apartment without a job, even with a lot of savings.