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Old 02-02-2011, 01:39 PM
 
1 posts, read 3,335 times
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A friend and I are seriously considering moving from quiet little Lincoln, Nebraska to the great city of Los Angeles. I know the basics: cost of living will skyrocket, we can count on getting lost nearly everyday (probably multiple times a day) for a while, and life will upgrade 100% by virtue of being anywhere but Nebraska. We have a friend who lives in LA and we're tentatively planning on moving after the summer. HOWEVER. What should we know? What are some helpful hints to aid us in the big move? Do I really have to save extra money to buy a ****ty car or do some Angelenos make it without? Any and all advice would be appreciated!
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Old 02-02-2011, 10:42 PM
 
129 posts, read 316,649 times
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I personally couldn't live in LA without a car. Everything is so far apart that you really need a vehicle to get around here. You should definitely save for some type of wheels prior to the move so you can enjoy everything LA has to offer.
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Old 02-03-2011, 07:56 AM
 
672 posts, read 2,174,684 times
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There are some neighborhoods in LA where you can find all your necessities in walking distance. And there are quite a few people that survive on public transit alone, so, you could try it for a while. You won't die or anything. But when I was car-free in LA for a while, I ended up hanging out in my local neighborhood a lot, and my neighborhood is pretty boring.

As a general rule, the fun stuff is in more costly neighborhoods, so if you're starting out in an inexpensive neighborhood and you're car-free, you'll probably start out spending half your life on buses before you give up and spend all of your time at home watching TV. ;-)
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Old 02-03-2011, 08:08 AM
 
3,550 posts, read 6,488,242 times
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Good for you, man! Come out to LA and follow your dreams!
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Old 02-03-2011, 09:47 AM
 
Location: Las Flores, Orange County, CA
26,329 posts, read 93,734,875 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hertealeaves View Post
A friend and I are seriously considering moving from quiet little Lincoln, Nebraska to the great city of Los Angeles. I know the basics:

What about the other "basic", a job?

What line of work are you in?
Where will you be working?
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Old 02-03-2011, 10:19 AM
 
Location: Living on the Coast in Oxnard CA
16,289 posts, read 32,333,368 times
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Could be a fun trip. I know we love leaving our little town of 200,004 and heading into the LA area for fun every couple weeks. Will you be staying with your friend? That should be cozy. The real unemployment figures for the LA area are 22% unemployment, or at least that is what I keep hearing. Not sure what you will do, but then I am sure you are smart enough to figure something out. You can make it in LA without any kind of transportation. As far as I know the homeless don't have any and they seem to do allright.
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Old 02-03-2011, 12:25 PM
 
Location: Sometimes Portland, other times LA
600 posts, read 1,468,319 times
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Do you have a job lined up? How much do you have saved? Have you looked at what renting will cost? You will need a car because everything is so spread out. Are you prepared to pay what it will cost to register your car here or will you buy a car when you get here? Are you prepared for the huge jump in utlility costs?

Last edited by Daisy32673; 02-03-2011 at 12:38 PM..
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Old 02-03-2011, 12:28 PM
 
Location: California
37,127 posts, read 42,189,292 times
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As always, I suggest you come out and "visit" your friend for awhile and while you are there check out how you can get around and what kind of jobs are available to you. Then you then go back to Nebraska and either pack your bags for a permenant move, or stay there. That's the way to do it!

If you can't afford to do that then you can't afford to move there.
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Old 02-03-2011, 01:54 PM
 
4,213 posts, read 8,303,136 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hertealeaves View Post
A friend and I are seriously considering moving from quiet little Lincoln, Nebraska to the great city of Los Angeles. I know the basics: cost of living will skyrocket, we can count on getting lost nearly everyday (probably multiple times a day) for a while, and life will upgrade 100% by virtue of being anywhere but Nebraska. We have a friend who lives in LA and we're tentatively planning on moving after the summer. HOWEVER. What should we know? What are some helpful hints to aid us in the big move? Do I really have to save extra money to buy a ****ty car or do some Angelenos make it without? Any and all advice would be appreciated!

No, life will not upgrade 100% by virtue of being in anywhere but Nebraska. In Nebraska I'm guessing you have family, friends, familiarity, a stable infrastructure. Yeah, it might be boring, you might feel like there's nowhere to go in Nebraska (and you might be right), but dropping everything and coming to a big, very difficult city is not necessarily the best option.

Like others said make sure to visit the city first. Then either have a job lined up (yeah right these days, ok, maybe) or considerable savings/family support to live off until you find a job.

How many times have I met folks from states like yours, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa. They hate their life at home. Sure, they come from a nice middle class background with a family and have plenty of friends, but goddamn it's just so boring and everyone in LA is having so much fun and there's endless possibilities. So you fill up the beat up car, take the great journey west, and end up in an unforgiving, cruel city that drains your cash faster than you can blink. And then you end up broke, crying for mommy and your friends back home, but hell, no money to get back there.

LA is not the land of milk and honey. There are people who have come out here and found riches and glory, but they are far and few. The vast majority either end up destitute and return home, or work in the service industry barely scraping by. Be careful.
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Old 02-03-2011, 03:39 PM
 
Location: Sometimes Portland, other times LA
600 posts, read 1,468,319 times
Reputation: 247
Quote:
Originally Posted by disgruntled la native View Post
No, life will not upgrade 100% by virtue of being in anywhere but Nebraska. In Nebraska I'm guessing you have family, friends, familiarity, a stable infrastructure. Yeah, it might be boring, you might feel like there's nowhere to go in Nebraska (and you might be right), but dropping everything and coming to a big, very difficult city is not necessarily the best option.

Like others said make sure to visit the city first. Then either have a job lined up (yeah right these days, ok, maybe) or considerable savings/family support to live off until you find a job.

How many times have I met folks from states like yours, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa. They hate their life at home. Sure, they come from a nice middle class background with a family and have plenty of friends, but goddamn it's just so boring and everyone in LA is having so much fun and there's endless possibilities. So you fill up the beat up car, take the great journey west, and end up in an unforgiving, cruel city that drains your cash faster than you can blink. And then you end up broke, crying for mommy and your friends back home, but hell, no money to get back there.

LA is not the land of milk and honey. There are people who have come out here and found riches and glory, but they are far and few. The vast majority either end up destitute and return home, or work in the service industry barely scraping by. Be careful.
This couldnt have been said any better. Dont take what you have for granted thinking its all puppies and rainbows out here. Its a tough city to survive in, ESPECIALLY coming from a place that is not as fast paced or "exciting". We moved from Portland which is about as vanilla as it gets and it is a complete 180. While there are things that we really enjoy about this city, there are plenty that are really tough on us, especially the cost of living which has doubled for us.
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