Those who have moved to LA from out of state in the last few months/years - Are you glad you did? (Los Angeles: fit in, transplants)

[Siroxian]

It seems a lot of people love LA, but I've recently encountered a large number of people who say they absolutely regret moving there simply because of the traffic, and these individuals seemed to really not like the area.

In my current state traffic isn't an issue, but I'm not that much bothered by the idea. I'm anticipating LA to have a lot more upsides than downsides with relation to the traffic there. I do not work a traditional job so I really go out and drive whenever I want to, so I think this will be a huge advantage in avoiding the hot traffic hours....

Those of you who have recently moved there, how do you like it? Have you "gotten tired of it in a week because of the traffic", like so many people seem to insist, or has it been exactly what you hoped for?

[BRinSM]

Traffic does suck, but can be minimized if you live close to work. As for driving during off hours, there aren't many of those left any more. Fwiw, I work about 4 miles from home and my wife works from home. We also spend most of our free time relatively close to home. Having said that, traffic is not really a concern for us unless we're considering a weekend trip to Vegas.

[Siroxian]

I have a business and will be needing to find some sort of industrial space somewhere, probably not bigger than 1000 sq ft, and I am not too fond of the idea of living in the center of downtown. Might be a stretch, but can you suggest any places that have this sort of small industrial space, but aren't too far from living/activites? I was looking at Santa Monica, but I am not sure how easy it will be to find Industrial complexes around there.

Part of my reason for wanting to come out to the LA area is because hopefully there will be much more available industrial space than here.... here it is such a pain to fine.

Then again I can also go and leave whenever I want, but you say traffic is always bad?

[MordinSolus]

I moved to LA this Spring from a quiet, slow Midwestern city and I don't regret it at all. I work from home so I don't have to drive anywhere at rush hour. That said, I live in the Hills and the one-lane streets up here are a real pain sometimes. You get the killer views but also the hassles that come with wealthy snobs who think they own the roads. And my girlfriend lives on the east side of Silver Lake and sometimes the drive there from my house is aggravating. But I still drive just to do it sometimes. I especially love driving around this city at night. The traffic really falls off, the lights go on, everything sort of slows down and it feels like a completely different city.
I love it. I adore this city and I haven't regretted moving here for one minute. I love that my house is in a very quiet area with amazing views of mountains, the ocean and the city and I can be in the heart of West Hollywood in 5 minutes. What other city is like this?

Originally Posted by Siroxian

I have a business and will be needing to find some sort of industrial space somewhere, probably not bigger than 1000 sq ft, and I am not too fond of the idea of living in the center of downtown. Might be a stretch, but can you suggest any places that have this sort of small industrial space, but aren't too far from living/activites? I was looking at Santa Monica, but I am not sure how easy it will be to find Industrial complexes around there.

Look into Culver City and Silver Lake. I've seen plenty of industrial spaces in those areas.

Originally Posted by Siroxian

Then again I can also go and leave whenever I want, but you say traffic is always bad?

No, that's an exaggeration. Some areas never feel too bad, some areas are terrible 20 hours a day, and some areas are only bad at rush hour.

[jamills21]

Originally Posted by Siroxian

It seems a lot of people love LA, but I've recently encountered a large number of people who say they absolutely regret moving there simply because of the traffic, and these individuals seemed to really not like the area.

In my current state traffic isn't an issue, but I'm not that much bothered by the idea. I'm anticipating LA to have a lot more upsides than downsides with relation to the traffic there. I do not work a traditional job so I really go out and drive whenever I want to, so I think this will be a huge advantage in avoiding the hot traffic hours....

Those of you who have recently moved there, how do you like it? Have you "gotten tired of it in a week because of the traffic", like so many people seem to insist, or has it been exactly what you hoped for?

All of the people who I have ever encountered who didn't like LA were people who either: 1) Lived far from where they worked. 2) Couldn't get over the idea that LA is not like home. 3) Didn't do any research before they got here and just got the cheapest housing in the Valley or Glendale.

I think most people who move to a not named Los Angeles move to where they think is the cheap safe area...then they look for work, in LA you need to ask yourself where your working first, then find the safest area near it.

[timtemtym]

I think my best advice when moving here was, "Prepare to feel completely ripped off your first year here." Keeping that in mind, I got through it and was pretty happy. This is my 3rd year here and I'm in a completely different situation than when I moved here. I'm not struggling, I'm not driving as much, and I know what things are legit and what things are just rip-offs. traffic is relative. You will not be happy working more than 5-7 miles from home unless you're living and working in a far out area or the valley. In the city, it's just not going to be a good time. My 7 mile commute takes 40 minutes in the morning and on Friday afternoons is never under an hour coming home.

LA is nothing like TV. I work right in Hollywood and I still don't feel like I'm in that wonderland of celebs and beautiful people I thought might be here. So come here with an open mind and be yourself. This city isn't going to make you over or make you cooler although it may seem that way to friends back home on Facebook.

One of my hidden gems about living in LA is the natives. They truly value non-judgements of others. You'll see people in high positions with tattoos and piercings and just people being themselves. It's the outsiders who judge you for your shoes or car. So if you want to fit in here, be yourself, like what you like, and don't think that your way of being or living or worshiping or arguing or loving or dressing is the only way it should be.

[thebordella]

Personally, I think the constant repetition about "traffic is always terrible" is a bunch of BS. People like to be dramatic. They can't (usually) complain about the weather like in most places, so they gotta find something else.

Invariably someone will retort to this about their one hour commute every morning. That's the rub - if you don't live the commuter lifestyle, being streetwise about traffic in LA is just like any other large, populous metro area. You learn how to avoid bad tie-ups. My first few months I got stuck in a lot of frustrating jams on the west side because I didn't know any better, but you figure it out.

Honestly, every guest we've hosted from out of town has been scared about coming here because they thought we'd be stuck in traffic jams every day at every hour. That's the stereotype people start to believe. And every time my guests express surprise by the end of their trip that we never got into any worse traffic than they have seen back home in insert-major-city-here.

Being savvy about traffic is worth it if you take advantage of all the unique, cool stuff that LA has to offer. And there is a heck of a lot of it. I mean, do you really care if it takes an extra 20 minutes to get somewhere when you see an awesome band or see a great movie in a beautiful theater? The ocean crashing up against the winding coast? If your life is just a banal daily routine then LA probably has nothing to offer but frustration. If you want adventure and seek out the wow, a few minutes here and there is meaningless.

[sydlee]

"

Originally Posted by timtemtym

One of my hidden gems about living in LA is the natives. They truly value non-judgements of others. You'll see people in high positions with tattoos and piercings and just people being themselves. It's the outsiders who judge you for your shoes or car. So if you want to fit in here, be yourself, like what you like, and don't think that your way of being or living or worshiping or arguing or loving or dressing is the only way it should be.

Thank you for saying this. Can't stand it when people who move here try so hard to be "LA," which really isn't LA at all. So much pressure to "be someone." TV is just TV; it's not real! Just be yourself. It's all good!

Oh -- and it would be great if transplants to LA didn't go around telling everyone that "no one's from LA." This native has been told this so many times it's not funny.

[thelopez2]

Originally Posted by Siroxian

I have a business and will be needing to find some sort of industrial space somewhere, probably not bigger than 1000 sq ft, and I am not too fond of the idea of living in the center of downtown. Might be a stretch, but can you suggest any places that have this sort of small industrial space, but aren't too far from living/activites? I was looking at Santa Monica, but I am not sure how easy it will be to find Industrial complexes around there.

Part of my reason for wanting to come out to the LA area is because hopefully there will be much more available industrial space than here.... here it is such a pain to fine.

Then again I can also go and leave whenever I want, but you say traffic is always bad?

Finding the space won't be an issue, it just depends on your budget. Venice has actually has light industrial zoning and the residences hate it.

After 10AM freeway traffic is good, except for one area, but then there are always streets. An industrial area will be no more than 15 minutes away without traffic. Cargo trains may contribute to a significant amount of non rush hour traffic in some areas.

Breweries have setup shop in Torrance due to regulation issues with the City of LA.

[V8 Vega]

I live in Sylmar and the traffic is no problem at all unless there is a wreck on the freeway. I despise the left wing politics here, thats my complaint.