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I moved to Los Angeles 6 years ago. I packed my belongings and I drove out here from Detroit. I had $3000.00 in savings at the time and I stayed at an Extended Stay hotel in Orange County until I found a job, which enabled me to rent my first apartment.
The job market was hot during that time. I had so many interviews I had to turn people away. I found a job within 3 weeks of moving here, fast forward 6 years later and I have a mixed perspective on my time here in Los Angeles.
For anyone looking to move here you have to first keep in mind how expensive it is. Yes, there are a number of opportunities here, even as bad as the economy is right now, but the cost of living is very high and your standard of living will be greatly determined not only by what you make but by your expectations.
Are you single, or married with no children? If so your expectations of what you want in a job and living situation will be quite different from someone who is married and has a family. Do you want to own a home of a certain size within a certain price point in an affluent neighborhood? Quite hard to do here on a standard middle, or slightly upper middle class salary. It can be done, but one will have to make a great deal of sacrifices to pull it off.
When I moved here I was single with no children. Paying $1300 for a nice apartment didn't bother me, after all it was just me. Renting wasn't a problem since I didn't have the desire to put down roots anywhere and I was dating and shopping and hanging out with friends. I was also making $65,000 a year (I'm highly educated) as a single person, so naturally I had more disposable income.
I am married now with a 3 year old and after I had my son I started to look at Los Angeles from an entirely different perspective. Now I want to own a home of a certain size in a really good neighborhood and in a price point that is not possible here. I have no desire to buy a 500k home in a so so neighborhood while being house poor. My son comes first, so my husband and I have to make choices based on factors other than what we want all of the time since there is a child to consider.
My expectations for what I want are quite high. We are going to leave Los Angeles. With that said I have truly loved and enjoyed my time here. It is gorgeous here. If you're single there is so much to do and see. I found dating while I was single quite fun. And I was able to branch out professionally in ways I was never able to in Detroit. However, living here isn't very affordable and it is a good idea to move here with a job since the market is not hot right now and it is difficult to find something if you aren't very experienced and educated. It is difficult in many respects even if you are.
So, my advice to anyone considering a move here would be to one, set realistic expectations. Make sure you have a plan and plenty of money saved up and be ready to take the cost of living hit. You will probably love Los Angeles if you don't have children, but once you do unless your filthy rich it is truly a struggle.
I had a similar situation. And I moved because I got married planning on having a baby at some point and I wanted to be able to afford a house & maintain a decent style of living. I wasn't as into drinking & partying anymore.
I quickly learned that there is no where like LA. I moved to Ventura then Austin then Boston and now I'm back.
I moved to Burbank, a place I wouldn't have been caught dead living in 10 years ago. But, I'm loving it! Yes, it's more expensive to live here, but to me... it's worth it. I'd rather have beautiful sunny days & palm trees than be able to go out for dinners.
I moved to Los Angeles 6 years ago. I packed my belongings and I drove out here from Detroit. I had $3000.00 in savings at the time and I stayed at an Extended Stay hotel in Orange County until I found a job, which enabled me to rent my first apartment.
The job market was hot during that time. I had so many interviews I had to turn people away. I found a job within 3 weeks of moving here, fast forward 6 years later and I have a mixed perspective on my time here in Los Angeles.
For anyone looking to move here you have to first keep in mind how expensive it is. Yes, there are a number of opportunities here, even as bad as the economy is right now, but the cost of living is very high and your standard of living will be greatly determined not only by what you make but by your expectations.
Are you single, or married with no children? If so your expectations of what you want in a job and living situation will be quite different from someone who is married and has a family. Do you want to own a home of a certain size within a certain price point in an affluent neighborhood? Quite hard to do here on a standard middle, or slightly upper middle class salary. It can be done, but one will have to make a great deal of sacrifices to pull it off.
When I moved here I was single with no children. Paying $1300 for a nice apartment didn't bother me, after all it was just me. Renting wasn't a problem since I didn't have the desire to put down roots anywhere and I was dating and shopping and hanging out with friends. I was also making $65,000 a year (I'm highly educated) as a single person, so naturally I had more disposable income.
I am married now with a 3 year old and after I had my son I started to look at Los Angeles from an entirely different perspective. Now I want to own a home of a certain size in a really good neighborhood and in a price point that is not possible here. I have no desire to buy a 500k home in a so so neighborhood while being house poor. My son comes first, so my husband and I have to make choices based on factors other than what we want all of the time since there is a child to consider.
My expectations for what I want are quite high. We are going to leave Los Angeles. With that said I have truly loved and enjoyed my time here. It is gorgeous here. If you're single there is so much to do and see. I found dating while I was single quite fun. And I was able to branch out professionally in ways I was never able to in Detroit. However, living here isn't very affordable and it is a good idea to move here with a job since the market is not hot right now and it is difficult to find something if you aren't very experienced and educated. It is difficult in many respects even if you are.
So, my advice to anyone considering a move here would be to one, set realistic expectations. Make sure you have a plan and plenty of money saved up and be ready to take the cost of living hit. You will probably love Los Angeles if you don't have children, but once you do unless your filthy rich it is truly a struggle.
I would NEVER leave LA just because I had children. You have to do what makes you happy - you can't let having kids rule your life. I've heard so many stories of people leaving LA because they had kids and then regretting it. It made me not even want to have kids, because I didn't want to give up what I love and lose my identity to them. When my husband and I have kids, we are staying put in LA no matter how hard it is. I don't want to regret leaving a place I love because I had a baby. That's setting yourself up for regrets and animosity down the road in my opinion.
I had a similar situation. And I moved because I got married planning on having a baby at some point and I wanted to be able to afford a house & maintain a decent style of living. I wasn't as into drinking & partying anymore.
I quickly learned that there is no where like LA. I moved to Ventura then Austin then Boston and now I'm back.
I moved to Burbank, a place I wouldn't have been caught dead living in 10 years ago. But, I'm loving it! Yes, it's more expensive to live here, but to me... it's worth it. I'd rather have beautiful sunny days & palm trees than be able to go out for dinners.
Good for you! You CAN have it all. Hearing your story makes me not so scared to have kids someday. I keep hearing about so many people leaving LA due to kids and I hate the thought of it. Happy, successful parents=happy children.
LA certainly isn't the only place in the world where people can be happy. Our reasons for leaving are about so much more then dinners out. It is about long term goals that we as a couple have set for ourselves that we can't achieve here.
And no, we won't regret leaving. We have both lived in different areas in the country and loved them just as equally. For those people that want to stay here, great, but for people who can see they can have more somewhere else...that is fine as well. We are doing what is best for our situation and that is the only thing that matters.
I just recently moved back to LA, and it was probably the worst mistake I've made to date.
We moved back because my wife wanted to be closer to family. Nothing has changed here; same high price gas, dirty highways, high rent, traffic all day, gangs in just about every area, parking/tow truck scams just to name a few.
First chance I get.... I'm out for good. The only things I'll probably miss is family, and the fresh seafood.
First chance I get.... I'm out for good. The only things I'll probably miss is family, and the fresh seafood.
HAH HAH! That's what I miss about Boston! When we were living there, my husband got a lobster roll about once every two weeks, and I ate lobster bisque as much as I could to get it out of my system. (you can get lobster bisque here, but it's not great. And the few times I've gotten a Maine lobster here, it was horribly undercooked and overpriced. At different upscale restaurants!)
Having family nearby is great... but if you hate where you're living, it's just not worth it.
Prostitution has been around a long time....long before Hollywood's broken dreams and the current deep recession in California.
Are there more people driven to that sort of thing in this economic climate? I am sure that is true.
But the OP of this thread had a good job at a big company in LA three years ago. He clearly stated he saved up a nest egg. This was not a reckelss or rash decision.
The runaway youths in Hollywood (or similar places) often come with "issues" that drive them to sex work that are often independent of economic circumstances. The 80's and '90's saw good economic times but TONS of teen prostitution and runaways on the streets of Hollywood.
I am talking more about women hitting people up thru Craigslist. Not that I would readily admit to partaking in such behavior I know of a few women who did so who were very obviously not professional hookers though I also get the idea they also liked the excitement. ("Good girls" with secret wild sides and stuff like that)
I am talking more about women hitting people up thru Craigslist. Not that I would readily admit to partaking in such behavior I know of a few women who did so who were very obviously not professional hookers though I also get the idea they also liked the excitement. ("Good girls" with secret wild sides and stuff like that)
Craigslist, LA Weekly, dozens of escort sites, "massage parlors" (of which there are dozens, strip clubs, the list goes on. This includes men too, to some degree. The sex trade is alive and well and it's not just desperate drug addicted street people who do it.
about a year ago i posted on this site my intent on moving back to LA from CO. i mentioned that i didn't have a job lined up but we had a decent savings and since we had lived in LA 3 years earlier, we felt we could make it... i asked for advice.
flashback 10 years earlier...
when i was 22 i left boston and drove cross country to live in LA. i had never been there before and i had about 2k (my entire savings) in my glove compartment. i found a person looking for a roommate, took any job i could, and in about 6 months i was working for one of the biggest companies in LA and worked my way up the ladder to a director within the company. I DID IT! it was hard work and in the beginning i wasnt making much but i did it. i met my wife in LA, found my career in LA made a bunch of money in LA... then we moved to CO. (so i made one bad decision!)
present day...
when i asked for advice, i got a ton of people saying how LA has changed and we would be crazy to come with no jobs because people are standing in line for unemployment and blah blah blah. well, i am happy to say that we did return with no jobs lined up. we took a small apartment in venice and worked our butts off to find work in our field. we scrimped and saved and tried to keep our spirits high and in 3 months we found great jobs in our respective fields and me, my wife and our dog have a wonderful life back in LA.
the point of this story is not that we made it. its that YOU can make it if you really want to. you may have to work hard, you may have to tighten your belt and you may have to sacrifice much but if you have an education, have ambition and a good attitude YOU CAN MAKE IT.
Good luck, enjoy the ride and welcome to Southern California!
I can dig it! Stay focused. Stick to the plan and you'll make it. But i personally believe people have a problem with maintaining money. Thats why they never make it to where they want in life. Its the source of society.
Craigslist, LA Weekly, dozens of escort sites, "massage parlors" (of which there are dozens, strip clubs, the list goes on. This includes men too, to some degree. The sex trade is alive and well and it's not just desperate drug addicted street people who do it.
The economy's made it much bigger.
Although the sex trade has long been a big part of L.A. going back to even before L.A. was a big city. As it has long been a part of just about every big city in America and many suburbs in America. It's bigger in bad economic times but it's always there, as the demand is inelastic. Which is why prohibiting it will never work.
The links between illegal immigration and the lower rungs of the sex trade were not as great when L.A. had fewer illegals, but the trade itself has always been there.
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Hearing your story makes me not so scared to have kids someday. I keep hearing about so many people leaving LA due to kids and I hate the thought of it. Happy, successful parents=happy children.
Well...
