Young Couple Looking to move to LA from Michigan (2009, affordable apartment)

[helpmeout82]

So...My boyfriend and I are professional artists thinking about moving to LA from the Detroit area. We're not originally from Michigan and moved here about a year ago from Florida. He's a theme park designer/scenic painter/freelance illustrator, and I'm a Animation/CG modeling artist. We moved here because I got a job at GM modeling car interiors, but he can't find any work as an artist not involved in the car industry. Aside from that, we're not too excited about the crappy weather, and have no family/support system here which also kind of sucks. We're looking at just picking up and moving to the LA area because there seems to be a lot of work out there for both of us and I have a lot of close friends living out there. I've got a financially secure job right now, would it be too much of a risk to leave my job and pack up and move on a whim. How quickly could we find work in the area? We only have about a couple thousand dollars saved up, but are feeling kind of desperate to get out of here. Could use any advise I could get. Also, between the two of us, we've got about $1600 a month in student loan payments we have to worry about. Does anyone think that paying this, and the insane LA rent costs, and everything else be do-able? THANKS

[AreaSpecialistInLA]

People do pick up daily and move out here for similar reasons! In answering your final question, I think you both really are the only ones who know the answer... It depends on whether you're both able to get work and can afford to make those payments...
In many ways I'd also say it depends on what you're both looking for and what area of town... Are you looking for a small studio apartment or larger? How much can you both afford to pay in rent?

Good luck!

[JerZ]

Originally Posted by helpmeout82

I've got a financially secure job right now, would it be too much of a risk to leave my job and pack up and move on a whim.

YES. I don't want to be a nay-sayer, and definitely do look into moving out here, but yes, it would be a huge risk right now to just up and pack and come out looking for a job. CA's unemployment rate is phenomenally high right now and if ever there was a place for competition in various artist venues, it's here. You could go a year without finding a job. With a couple thousand dollars saved up, you could pay probably one month's rent and expenses and that would be it.

Please take your time, start putting out feelers for jobs, look into the realities of getting an affordable apartment and check here first to make sure you're looking in a safe area, and you'll need to take into account commuting times...you may see an area that's 20 miles from a certain part of LA and think, "I could do maybe a 30 minute commute, that's nothing!" but it may actually be more like an hour or more.

There is SO MUCH you really need to know first before coming out here. You're looking into moving to a very desired, desirable and often beautiful part of the country BUT also one of the highest cost of living to income ratios in the nation (or I think Number One on Money Magazine's list for that last year? Or one of the money magazines)...one with horrendous traffic which you really, really do have to take into consideration when you're comparing "Oh, I could afford such-and-such a rent!" to how long it might actually take for you to get to work...etc.

If the economy and unemployment weren't so bad right now or if you were entirely single without a promising job right now, I'd say, Sure, come out. Do it! Sleep "wherever" for however long it takes to get you settled...but you're grownups; you have a good job in a tough industry to get into, from what I understand...you notice your husband hasn't been able to get a job.

I don't know if kids are in your plans, but it's always easier to uproot and take risks when you don't have kids yet. So if you could put off kids for a few years, in the meantime work out what it would realistically (I can't underline and bold that enough) take to live and work here, and make the move when you two can and will survive here.

Hugs and I hope it all works out for you.

[Jonah1979]

Just try to land a job first, especially in this economy. Everyone, it seems, is laying people off right now..so be careful. L.A. is one place where you must have a good steady income just to get by....rent will bleed you dry overnight.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Jonah1979

Just try to land a job first, especially in this economy. Everyone, it seems, is laying people off right now..

Combine the layoffs with the hiring freezes and the picture is pretty bad:


The jobs problem you don't know about