My LA story so far... (Los Angeles, Long Beach: apartment, home, transfer)

[harhar]

I recently moved from the suburbs, Norwalk/La Mirada area to Los Feliz.

My prior experiences with LA have been (I think) typical of some one who grew up in in my neighborhood.

As a child I went to the LA Zoo on a school field trip, (for me the eucalyptus trees by the zoo are very nostalgic and its quite surreal that I'm living where I am now).

When I was a bit older I went to the Children's Museum by USC.

In my teens I went to the Simon Wiesenthal center.

In my mid teens I remember going to a friend's house. He lived off of La Cienega almost directly under the 10 freeway. I always thought that was cool.

And in my late teens early 20's, my friends and I would go to bars in Hollywood.

All of these previous experiences were baseless; I had no bearing where anything really was.

When my GF got accepted to UCLA I pretty much moved in with her, in her apartment in Brentwood.
This was my first "real" exposure to living in LA. And I didn't really like it. I didn't like the traffic, people here use their horns for their brakes and don't even get me started on parking. I thought the people were rude and everything was expensive.

After a couple of months people seemed to get nicer. People here do carry a "superior" air about them, but if you sit down and have a conversation they can be very nice. Very strange. Traffic still sucks and always will.

After she was done with school we moved back to La Mirada until a couple of months ago. We did tons of research where to live and ended up in Los Feliz. I really didn't want to move, but it was inevitable.

We chose Los Feliz because of the easy 5fwy access, the proximity to her work, the architecture of our building, the relative safeness of the area, people here are younger, the silverlake music scene, the "suburban" amenities of Glendale are close and we can walk to a lot of places.
However we are paying quite a bit for our 1bd.

As I mentioned I was hesitant but found the same to be true with people here as I eventually found on the Westside. People are nice, but guarded.
I actually love the area. Traffic on Los Feliz Blvd. sucks, but its manageable.

The best thing is that I don't feel like I'm living in the city. As much as I want to be hip and live in a downtown LA loft, I can't. I'm too much of a wuss. I love suburban life and if I had the choice I would move back to "real" suburbs but right now this is my life and it's not too bad.

Thanks for reading.
-Chris

[the one]

your experience in brentwood is going to be very different from your experience in any other part of the city. its a college town (to a certain extent) over there. a bunch of bratty kids.

you want "real exposure" come to 1st and soto. or central and florence . or wilshire and normandie. or santa monica and western. thats real. real LA.

i think its funny how, living in the southeast corner of LA county, your experience with the city proper was so limited. do people over there go to orange county more? it might seem closer, i suppose. but i have met people who live in norwack or cerritos and even downey who think LAC is a whole world away. i guess it might feel like it. but even long beach is farther and people still feel some sort of connection to LA.

maybe it has to do with the lay out of the land. the density. or the bus lines. but this is interesting.

i remember meeting people from baldwin park and other SGV neighborhoods and they always talked about "going to LA", like it was such a big deal. they would go "party" in LA. it was . it seemed like a field trip for them.

very interesting.
thanks for sharing.

[amc760]

Originally Posted by the one

your experience in brentwood is going to be very different from your experience in any other part of the city. its a college town (to a certain extent) over there. a bunch of bratty kids.

you want "real exposure" come to 1st and soto. or central and florence . or wilshire and normandie. or santa monica and western. thats real. real LA.

i think its funny how, living in the southeast corner of LA county, your experience with the city proper was so limited. do people over there go to orange county more? it might seem closer, i suppose. but i have met people who live in norwack or cerritos and even downey who think LAC is a whole world away. i guess it might feel like it. but even long beach is farther and people still feel some sort of connection to LA.

maybe it has to do with the lay out of the land. the density. or the bus lines. but this is interesting.

i remember meeting people from baldwin park and other SGV neighborhoods and they always talked about "going to LA", like it was such a big deal. they would go "party" in LA. it was . it seemed like a field trip for them.

very interesting.
thanks for sharing.

I had a friend in Whittier who didn't even know LA had a subway.

[harhar]

Originally Posted by the one

your experience in brentwood is going to be very different from your experience in any other part of the city. its a college town (to a certain extent) over there. a bunch of bratty kids.

you want "real exposure" come to 1st and soto. or central and florence . or wilshire and normandie. or santa monica and western. thats real. real LA.

i think its funny how, living in the southeast corner of LA county, your experience with the city proper was so limited. do people over there go to orange county more? it might seem closer, i suppose. but i have met people who live in norwack or cerritos and even downey who think LAC is a whole world away. i guess it might feel like it. but even long beach is farther and people still feel some sort of connection to LA.

maybe it has to do with the lay out of the land. the density. or the bus lines. but this is interesting.

i remember meeting people from baldwin park and other SGV neighborhoods and they always talked about "going to LA", like it was such a big deal. they would go "party" in LA. it was . it seemed like a field trip for them.

very interesting.
thanks for sharing.

Yeah I think that sums up the Brentwood experience. It's like the students there wanted to be like "people from Brentwood". One tip of advice (don't think you can walk from UCLA to Barrington, especially in the summer) . I made that mistake and should have taken the bus.

Anyway, n general when I was younger I didn't go out much, but LA did seem "field trippy" to me. Even though its only about 15 miles away.

When we'd go out it was always to Long Beach, Huntington Beach or Orange County to do stuff.

Now thanks to whoever I'm a lot more versed in LA than I ever was.

The funny thing is that there is a lot of "LA pride" in the Norwalk/Whittier areas; you'll see a lot of Dodger and Laker stuff...and tattoos too, but I wonder how many are/were raised in or by the city.

I remember living in Norwalk as a kid and seeing some "plaster of paris" set in a hole/crack in the side walk. It said two names with some term of endearment and it said "Eagle Rock". I had no clue where that was, I thought it was someplace in the desert or riverside or something. lol.

[Texasturkey]

Originally Posted by the one

your experience in brentwood is going to be very different from your experience in any other part of the city. its a college town (to a certain extent) over there. a bunch of bratty kids.

you want "real exposure" come to 1st and soto. or central and florence . or wilshire and normandie. or santa monica and western. thats real. real LA.

i think its funny how, living in the southeast corner of LA county, your experience with the city proper was so limited. do people over there go to orange county more? it might seem closer, i suppose. but i have met people who live in norwack or cerritos and even downey who think LAC is a whole world away. i guess it might feel like it. but even long beach is farther and people still feel some sort of connection to LA.

maybe it has to do with the lay out of the land. the density. or the bus lines. but this is interesting.

i remember meeting people from baldwin park and other SGV neighborhoods and they always talked about "going to LA", like it was such a big deal. they would go "party" in LA. it was . it seemed like a field trip for them.

very interesting.
thanks for sharing.

I know exactly what you are talking about being from Whittier. It is a city of 80,000 people close to La Mirada, Pico Rivera, Santa Fe Springs, Industry (LA County) and La Habra (Orange County). It is not really close to anything of any importance. Despite Biola University in La Mirada and Whittier College uptown, it is not considered a college town by any means. It is basically a bedroom community with suburban tract housing. A lot of senior citizens. Young people do not "hang out" here. There isn't even a movie theater here anymore. They go to Brea or La Habra to see a movie. We have the Whitwood Center and the Quad for shopping and lot of new restaurants opened there. But, they still spend more time in Orange County or drive down Beach Blvd. to Huntington and Newport beaches. LA is too far away if it be downtown or the westside. Traffic and the freeways are a hassle and not convenient for a fun night out.

[Texasturkey]

Originally Posted by amc760

I had a friend in Whittier who didn't even know LA had a subway.

In LA, we call it the "rail". In NY, it is the "subway".

MTA Rail (Metro Transit Authority)

Red Line-Union Station-North Hollywood
Blue Line-Long Beach-South Los Angeles
Green Line-Norwalk-Redondo Beach
Gold Line-Pasadena
Orange Line-San Fernando Valley

$1.25 one way
$5.00 Day Pass
$62 Monthly pass

www.mta.net
www.socaltransport.org

[Texasturkey]

Originally Posted by harhar

I recently moved from the suburbs, Norwalk/La Mirada area to Los Feliz.

My prior experiences with LA have been (I think) typical of some one who grew up in in my neighborhood.

As a child I went to the LA Zoo on a school field trip, (for me the eucalyptus trees by the zoo are very nostalgic and its quite surreal that I'm living where I am now).

When I was a bit older I went to the Children's Museum by USC.

In my teens I went to the Simon Wiesenthal center.

In my mid teens I remember going to a friend's house. He lived off of La Cienega almost directly under the 10 freeway. I always thought that was cool.

And in my late teens early 20's, my friends and I would go to bars in Hollywood.

All of these previous experiences were baseless; I had no bearing where anything really was.

When my GF got accepted to UCLA I pretty much moved in with her, in her apartment in Brentwood.
This was my first "real" exposure to living in LA. And I didn't really like it. I didn't like the traffic, people here use their horns for their brakes and don't even get me started on parking. I thought the people were rude and everything was expensive.

After a couple of months people seemed to get nicer. People here do carry a "superior" air about them, but if you sit down and have a conversation they can be very nice. Very strange. Traffic still sucks and always will.

After she was done with school we moved back to La Mirada until a couple of months ago. We did tons of research where to live and ended up in Los Feliz. I really didn't want to move, but it was inevitable.

We chose Los Feliz because of the easy 5fwy access, the proximity to her work, the architecture of our building, the relative safeness of the area, people here are younger, the silverlake music scene, the "suburban" amenities of Glendale are close and we can walk to a lot of places.
However we are paying quite a bit for our 1bd.

As I mentioned I was hesitant but found the same to be true with people here as I eventually found on the Westside. People are nice, but guarded.
I actually love the area. Traffic on Los Feliz Blvd. sucks, but its manageable.

The best thing is that I don't feel like I'm living in the city. As much as I want to be hip and live in a downtown LA loft, I can't. I'm too much of a wuss. I love suburban life and if I had the choice I would move back to "real" suburbs but right now this is my life and it's not too bad.

Thanks for reading.
-Chris

Your GF got a good deal didn't she? She gets accepted to UCLA. But, she lives in La Mirada (or elsewhere). She gets her BF (you) to shack up with her in Los Feliz because of its proximity to UCLA. If it wasn't for your financial support, she would be living at home in La Mirada, communting to a community college or CSU. Why aren't you at UCLA with her? Didn't you take the SAT's? Have you been to college yet? What about your goals and aspirations? Or, are they none other than to work at your dead end job to be your GF's ATM, housekeeper, companion and roll in they hay? If you are not engaged or married, she could chose someone else after she graduates. Get your priorities in check. The ship of life is passing you by and you will be left holding the bag.

[harhar]

Originally Posted by Texasturkey

Your GF got a good deal didn't she? She gets accepted to UCLA. But, she lives in La Mirada (or elsewhere). She gets her BF (you) to shack up with her in Los Feliz because of its proximity to UCLA. If it wasn't for your financial support, she would be living at home in La Mirada, communting to a community college or CSU. Why aren't you at UCLA with her? Didn't you take the SAT's? Have you been to college yet? What about your goals and aspirations? Or, are they none other than to work at your dead end job to be your GF's ATM, housekeeper, companion and roll in they hay? If you are not engaged or married, she could chose someone else after she graduates. Get your priorities in check. The ship of life is passing you by and you will be left holding the bag.

I should have been more clear.

She's graduated.

We met at CSUF, then she transfered to UCLA. I graduated with a B.A.. We lived in Brentwood for about a year (I wasn't working at the time), she worked full time (manager at crate and barrel) and went to school full time. (She supported me for a while, kinda) She then went back to Anaheim (where she lived) to finish her last semester and only worked weekends (at the costa mesa crate and barrel). She commuted from Anaheim to Westwood until she graduated. Then she got into her career at a magazine. She commuted for about 3 years, until we decided to move.

I've had the same job making OK money but mine is not a career, her's is. She'll make more than me in a couple of years. She supported me in the beginning and I'm helping her out a bit right now. Then when she makes the big bucks I'm free and clear (J/K) We've been together 5 years and we're going to get married next year. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine.


Oh, and when I applied in 2000 I didn't get into UCLA (rejected) lol. Got into UCI though. Shrug.

[Texasturkey]

Originally Posted by harhar

I should have been more clear.

She's graduated.

We met at CSUF, then she transfered to UCLA. I graduated with a B.A.. We lived in Brentwood for about a year (I wasn't working at the time), she worked full time (manager at crate and barrel) and went to school full time. (She supported me for a while, kinda) She then went back to Anaheim (where she lived) to finish her last semester and only worked weekends (at the costa mesa crate and barrel). She commuted from Anaheim to Westwood until she graduated. Then she got into her career at a magazine. She commuted for about 3 years, until we decided to move.

I've had the same job making OK money but mine is not a career, her's is. She'll make more than me in a couple of years. She supported me in the beginning and I'm helping her out a bit right now. Then when she makes the big bucks I'm free and clear (J/K) We've been together 5 years and we're going to get married next year. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine.


Oh, and when I applied in 2000 I didn't get into UCLA (rejected) lol. Got into UCI though. Shrug.

Sorry! I figured there was more to it than that. That is great! You and your GF are ambitious people and you both pull your weight in the relationship. You support each other as a team. At first, you sounded like my 4th cousin. He had applied to UCLA and CSU San Bernardino. But, he met an older woman the end of his senior year in HS. He blew off college to move in with her and her 2 kids. For the past 4 years they have lived off of her welfare check. He has been cooking, cleaning and driving her kids around. They got married last month. He is ony 22 and he had his whole life ahead of him. Maybe he didn't want to go to college after all. Who knows? His mother thinks she took him down. But, that is where he wants to be. For you and your GF, you both have achieved so much and will have a wonderful future together. (UCI is a good choice too.) Congratulations and best wishes!

Texas Turkey