Is Los Angeles still outrageously expensive for lower and middle class , (Albany: fit in, apartment)

[DKM]

Originally Posted by Upstateman92

Also honest question not trying to bash your city , but how do you guys do it with the traffic ?
I get misereble and irritated and road rage with out congested roads for our population here in Albany especially around our strip mall
Galore s during the Holliday season I get pissed over a 10 minute commute taking 20+

Idk how you all deal with that la traffic I would lose my mind . Especially driving a 5.7 hemi ram I would be filling my tank probably every day

Unwinding at the beach in November goes a ways towards dealing with traffic.

[EdRoth]

Originally Posted by socal88

If you're not a patient person, the traffic will probably drive you nuts. I find the best way to deal with it is to load a lot of podcasts, playlists, get XM radio, and use drive time to call people, make appointments, etc. Helps the time go faster.

And yes, if your vehicle is not fuel efficient, you can be spending tons in gas. Plus, California just approved a 12 cent gas tax hike with more to come in the next couple years.

You definitely are part of the traffic problem. People need to pay attention to driving!

[seain dublin]

Originally Posted by Marv101

Groceries are much higher in LA than they are in many major cities, and that's been the case for decades, and that also applies to prices fo necessities such as auto insurance and gasoline, which is currently $.75 higher per gallon or more in LA than here in suburban Phoenix and that price difference frequently expands a lot at various times throughout the year due to seasonal maintenance, high taxes, and strict environmental mandates as the NY Times and other media outlets have reported over the years.

It's definitely not a middle-class friendly state these days as it was for most of the previous 50+ years where I was born and raised until moving here last year, and and certainly won't ever be again with an unaffordable housing problem which will also never be resolved.

A below-replacement birthrate combined with a marked decline in the number of children (which means substantially fewer school children, wage earners and taxpayers) in the state, a trend which has been going on for well over four decades and will undoubtedly continue as a 2013 study @ USC grimly pointed out.

You live in Chanldler, AZ so how do you know what things cost here?

Sorry, I left CA for a few years and came back. I was in FL. The car insurance in FL was several hundred dollars higher for an older car, than I pay now for a 2014 car and have the last 3 years. About $500 less
a year than I paid when I bought the 2014 car.

Utilities, good grief. You have no choice but to run the A/C most of the year in FL, triple digit bills every month.

I got sticker shock in Publix with the prices. And no discount card like Vons and Ralphs has.

I can't speak about AZ prices, but there are states that are more costly than CA when it comes to items and services.

Originally Posted by Cowboys fan in Houston

Well, I didnt say anything about Houston specifically. The heat and humidity dont bother me personally but I know some dont like it. Either way, I chose a city that offers 90% of what LA offers at a percentage of the cost.

I understand both sides and I know not all will agree with me. Thats just me.

Houston is as flat as a pancake. Sorry, not even close to what you have in LA.

Than there is what call the "Texas Tude" that you have to deal with.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by seain dublin

You live in Chanldler, AZ so how do you know what things cost here?

Sorry, I left CA for a few years and came back. I was in FL. The car insurance in FL was several hundred dollars higher for an older car, than I pay now for a 2014 car and have the last 3 years. About $500 less
a year than I paid when I bought the 2014 car.

Utilities, good grief. You have no choice but to run the A/C most of the year in FL, triple digit bills every month.

I got sticker shock in Publix with the prices. And no discount card like Vons and Ralphs has.

All of which is easily offset by no State Income tax in FL and way lower gas prices and lower utility rates and lower actual property tax, as homes are far less expensive.

[LiaLia]

Originally Posted by jm1982

Or being white and trying to move to Boyle Heights and get called a colonizer.

That is funny!

[streetscenes]

Originally Posted by Upstateman92

Also honest question not trying to bash your city , but how do you guys do it with the traffic ?
I get misereble and irritated and road rage with out congested roads for our population here in Albany especially around our strip mall
Galore s during the Holliday season I get pissed over a 10 minute commute taking 20+

Idk how you all deal with that la traffic I would lose my mind . Especially driving a 5.7 hemi ram I would be filling my tank probably every day

Plan your trip to minimize traffic, use an app like Waze and have lots of patience.

Also don't drive a big truck, watching the gas gauge move faster the odometer will give you road rage.

[majoun]

Unlike the other expensive cities it really isn't worth it.

[Kevroqs]

Originally Posted by Upstateman92

Which city is that ?

Houston doesn't have hills and mountains to hike and camp

Try Nevada or Arizona

[soupking]

Moved to L.A. in 1999, left in 2013. Came back to visit in 2015...MHO is...

If you enjoy a natural sane life in general you'd do well to avoid California like plague (especially Los Angeles). What was once a casual, creative place to live is now an increasingly desperate and bizarre mindscrew that geographically is becoming urban Brazil meets rural Saudi Arabia.

If you are okay with hard drugs, taxes that challenge gravity, traffic that Tesla can't even fix, and one good reason to pour rent money out like your soul to get back to work the next morning so you can afford a couch bed, then...I guess that's "just like my opinion, man" but...

...Mine is that Los Angeles used to be approachable. Now it's unsustainably over-rated unless you're $$$. Most major cities are, but unless you're top-shelf, in L.A. you'll quickly learn the meaning of what the muckity-mucks call "financially redundant". We live in an era where many still live with their parents because of cost and "other reasons".

Enter L.A. at your own risk. When it comes to company town, nobody's opinion really matters except your own as there is no real norm other than weather. Cheers and best of luck.

[Tuscan80]

Yes and it is getting more and more expensive.

I bought a house last year, and it has gone up in value by 10% in ONE year. I'm already priced out of my own neighborhood and it is not one of the super "desirable" ones by most people's standards.