Relocating from GA To Los Angeles, best cheap place to live temporarly during 6month trail period. (single parent) (Jackson: apartments)

[brendacox]

I've decided to do a 6 month trail period to get a feel of California. What are some affordable cheap decent housing available meaning possible apartment. I'm trying to negotiate and land an $18hr job b4 i get there. If this particular job doesn't go through then i be in the $12-15 pay rate.


I would like to know what counties or cities to look into in the LA area that's cheap, but decent and safe for a single parent. I have a vehicle and wouldn't need public transportation! A city or town with a decent amount of African Americans would be nice or mixture of biracial. How is the weather? Is it usually warm all year or extremely hot during the summers? Like should I be looking at North, South, East or West LA?


Preferably want to stay in a radius of 01-88 miles of LA. what are some of your top employers there that pay really well?

[gemstone1]

brendacox....with all due respect....overall, I don't think expensive SoCal is right for your current economic status....that is single parent, single wage earner on the low end of the wage scale. For another, you won't be able to get a favorable opinion, (re: "get the feel of California") of the area by searching for the cheapest housing...which chances are, will not be in the best/safest areas.....just my thoughts.

Regards
Gemstone1

[jacktravern]

To the OP, not trying to be mean here but will provide a little insight as a black person who relocated here and has family in Georgia.

1)People have to stop relocating from cheaper states then want to move to SOuthern or Northern California asking for "cheap & safe". The 2 typically don't go together here, and in fact you can get rid of CHEAP althogether. Even an awful place like East LA is considerable more expensive or on par with a fairly nice area of GA. That is why many people move to GA from the Northeast per-say, a cheaper way of life

2) Making $15 per hour or even $18 per hour with a kid at that makes you poor here, thus you will be living with other poor people, thus you will likely have serious quality of life issues. NOWHERE on $18 per hour is going to be a good place to raise your child without government help or help from a partner. If your were alone, you could possibly roomate with somebody is a nice neighborhood on that pay, but with a kid, not likely.

3)Top employers are relative to your skill set and education. CBS is a huge, National company. Some of those employees are making 6 & 7 figures, but what is your specific skill set to get some of that "high pay".

4)Black folks honestly need to stop coming to California asking for "black or blackish neighborhoods". You should check demographics before you come here if thats a priority. I understand places like ATL, Detroit and Baltimore have huge black populations, and thats great if thats your thing and a comfort zone, but LA is only 9-10% black and California as a whole is only 6% black. So if you move here, part of your expectation should be to live amongst people who don't look just like you. I guarantee there's no "white bogeyman" that's going to jump out and get you.

And to be totally honestly, any neighborhood here and that even has a decent black population will likely be the total opposite of "decent and safe" that you're looking for. Black people of means here tend to live in expensive low crime areas with miniscule black populations. Look up the Zip Codes for Kevin Hart, Samuel Jackson & Kanye West.

[Wayr2go]

brendacox, have you had an opportunity to travel to CA/LA before? Where in GA do you live? - in Atlanta (ITP) or elsewhere?

One recommendation I have, something I've used as a benchmark myself as I too consider a move to CA/LA, is the going rate (e.g. on Craigslist) for rental apartments in the LA metro area. It gives a virtual feel of the pricing/quality/space/amenities etc. And provides somewhat of a comparison to one's current situation.

As others have rightly said, LA/CA is more expensive than GA, period. The cost of living and take home pay without any increase in income will leave one with lesser disposable income. Take home pay will be spent significantly on rent/mortgage, more than Atlanta. But how much more depends on how much you currently pay in GA for your living situation.

Another aspect that folks have warned about is to ideally have a job lined up prior to moving in or have plenty in savings to get by for a few months while you look for a job. I personally prefer (and recommend) to have something lined up, instead of moving without a job (unless, you have a support mechanism - friends, family etc., who are able to offer some support e.g. rent free living, referrals for jobs etc.).

Depending on how old you child is, you'd probably have to consider their expenses - education perhaps being the biggest one. Have you looked into that?