Leaving LA

[dustin183]

Originally Posted by arandomhuman9

Anyone who has left LA, what did you miss? I'm trying to prepare myself for a move to the NYC suburbs for work. What is unique about LA that you wouldn't know is unusual if you've never left?
(I live in East LA)

I miss the food options (especially korean).

I miss the weather. (though where I moved to in Northern CA is not bad).

I miss my friends and my network.

I miss the air of creativity and "be and let be" attitude.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by ohio_peasant

Price-distribution was highly even. Surprisingly, it's largely evened out. Highland Park was "sketchy" and commensurately inexpensive. Likewise East LA, or further east... places like South El Monte. Even the "north side" of Pasadena....

Yes, much of Highland Park has become gentrified. The north part of Pasadena...not so great if you have kids going to public schools, and the crime rate is still fairly high. South El Monte? Still not the safest place to live. But if all you're doing is investing, then lifestyle, safety, schools, neighbors, etc, probably don't matter to the owner.

Originally Posted by ohio_peasant

LA housing has been a shockingly good investment, even after accounting for the high property taxes... and specially in the second-rate neighborhoods, which have "gentrified".

Residential real estate is not always a way to make money hand over fist. Think of the people who bought at the peaks (around 1989, 2006) but then had to sell at the bottom (around 1995, 2010) and lost their shirts.

[5pyg1a55]

Originally Posted by ohio_peasant

For me, quality of life, is secondary to "winning the game", so to speak. Having spent 20 years in the Midwest, watching coastal property values rise, while our property values stagnated, was irritatingly grating. To me the point isn't about whether your neighborhood is walkable, or the restaurants trendy, or the schools good, or the crime low... it's about money made upon leaving (or dying?), relative to years-spent, and what was one's initial investment.

Indeed. Imagine being a renter in LA... I pissed away over $380,000 on rent in LA. Never once paid late, kept my home in pristine condition for 13 years (same LL who owned a few buildings, some inherited from his father, now passed to his son).

No equity. No credit. Not even a reference (??!!). Slumlords FTW in LA for now, and for the last 20-30 years.
This is why Millennials don't have a chance. Why we don't have kids. Unstable jobs, no chance, etc...


Even so, this thread brings tears to my eyes... I love the city for all the reasons folks have described and more. LA will always be part of me. It's my home. <3

[ohio_peasant]

Originally Posted by CALGUY

I have lived here for over forty years, and have never been to any of the things most people associate with SoCal.
Examples would be, Disney land, rose parade, sporting events, magic mountain, theaters ,the ocean only once, the mountains once.
Never cared for any of that stuff.

Interesting. I go to the beach nearly every week, despite living on the "wrong" end of region. I've sampled the smattering of beaches, from Santa Barbara down to San Diego. Before the fires and 'rona restrictions, I'd go the San Gabriel mountain range at least every couple of months. Driving on Angeles Crest Highway is/was one of my favorites.

Originally Posted by 5pyg1a55

I pissed away over $380,000 on rent in LA. Never once paid late, kept my home in pristine condition for 13 years ...

That's > $2400/month in rent! For one person?

If my rental expenses were that high, and my intended duration-of-stay were that long, I'd be buying a house, even under present conditions of prices and taxes.

But please keep in mind, that the "pissing away" is only so, if the house that you'd have bought instead, were appreciating well. In LA, it likely has. In some other places, you'd have been paying a similar amount in monthly mortgage/insurance/taxes, plus maintenance, plus higher utilities, and finally a 6% commission when it was time to sell. The amount "pissed away" would potentially have been nearly as staggering.

[5pyg1a55]

Originally Posted by ohio_peasant

Interesting. I go to the beach nearly every week, despite living on the "wrong" end of region. I've sampled the smattering of beaches, from Santa Barbara down to San Diego. Before the fires and 'rona restrictions, I'd go the San Gabriel mountain range at least every couple of months. Driving on Angeles Crest Highway is/was one of my favorites.



That's > $2400/month in rent! For one person?

If my rental expenses were that high, and my intended duration-of-stay were that long, I'd be buying a house, even under present conditions of prices and taxes.

But please keep in mind, that the "pissing away" is only so, if the house that you'd have bought instead, were appreciating well. In LA, it likely has. In some other places, you'd have been paying a similar amount in monthly mortgage/insurance/taxes, plus maintenance, plus higher utilities, and finally a 6% commission when it was time to sell. The amount "pissed away" would potentially have been nearly as staggering.

And what house would that have been where? With living expenses so high, it's hard to save for a down payment. $2400 is (was? now higher) average for an apartment in the basin.

[bobspez]

Originally Posted by arandomhuman9

Anyone who has left LA, what did you miss? I'm trying to prepare myself for a move to the NYC suburbs for work. What is unique about LA that you wouldn't know is unusual if you've never left?
(I live in East LA)

What did I miss? As other posters mentioned, friends and being close to relatives. Like another poster said, you can visit, communicate by phone and email, but it's not the same. You can't go home again. Weather so nice at least 9 months a year. The beach, though when I left you could swim at Santa Monica Beach. Now I believe it is too polluted to swim in. Riding my motorcycle. Casual life style. People say they like the movie the Big Lebowski. In LA all my friends were like that.
What didn't I miss? Being poor with no good financial or job prospects even though I had a college degree. No money translated to no girl friend, no wife or children, no nice apartment or house, no car, no prospects. I got all that in NYC.

[bethereds82]

I would no doubt miss the Al Pastor street tacos from El Flamin on Vermont & 6/7th in K-town.

I'd also miss the marine layer, and the energy from living in an urban environment. I routinely walk my dog in my neighborhood at 9:30-10pm and I run in to at least 10 pedestrians. But, I do believe that K-town is the most densely populated neighborhood in LA.