Apartment Living in Downtown LA (San Diego: apartments, hotel, houses)

[Salmanal]

I am a student, I cannot afford to live beyond downtown.

An acquaintance once told me that LA is under siege from insects (he was from SF).
Yes, SF has them too in downtown apartments, but most of the private homes are relatively bug-free.

Are LA apartments as infested as NYC's? I lived on the Mexican border and stayed
in a San Diego hotel; I'm kind of used to insects.

I currently live in N Nevada, carpet beetles are the most common apartment
pests here. It is normally too cold for cockroaches here.

Will I need to hire a pest control service to live in downtown LA?

[Chicano3000X]

Not sure, but LA does have alot of lepricons living in people's homes. Usually raid does the trick. But dont step on them, they just split up into more. Or you can also pour water.

Anyway, gotta take my meds.. As soon as I find the talking tree that took them.

[Lorielicious]

What do you mean you can't afford to live beyond downtown? Downtown is ridonkulously expensive.

[JohnG72]

Youre under a whole lot of misconceptions Salmanal.

[Salmanal]

Originally Posted by JohnG72

Youre under a whole lot of misconceptions Salmanal.

This is hearsay; but, the last time I visited LA, I stayed on Alvarado. When I returned to my hotel,
I passed an enormous American cockroach; I had to ask myself, "was he correct in saying this about
the bugs in LA?" The first hotel in San Diego had German ones.

I'm used to them after living in Mexico.

And Lorielicious, Downtown LA is inexpensive, per the listings I am reading.

Per some of these responses, LA may be as "drugged out" as Las Vegas; I think I'll
need to stick with N CA, I know it better.

This issue is resolved........

[Lorielicious]

Glad you already know everything. Good thing you asked us.

[hockfan86]

What a strange yet, intriguing human being...

[buzzkillb]

Where is it cheap to live in Downtown LA? Read some reviews about those places. We lived near Staples Center for the last year and it was very expensive. But we also wanted parking spaces too which is also hard to find 2 spots.

We were in a newer building so there was no roach problem. But there were a lot of tiny mosquito gnat things that would come from off the street and bite us. All of the restaurants and bars seemed to have these too. We also had beetles fly into our room because we were near a street light.

Like I said above, read reviews about some of the buildings. Some of the areas are pretty rough.

[HarryKerryJr]

The problem is that the owners of many of the apartment buildings in downtown LA don't confront the insect problem they have. The older buildings, and I' talking only 20+ years or even a bit less, are now in need of major rehab and upgrades. These are buildings that were DREAMS to live in as I've knows several people over the decades who've lived in them. The buildings along Grand Ave. either at or across from MOCA were spotless and well cared for and NO insect problems, but now have problems that owners aren't addressing. Even the relatively new apartments at Union Station have insect problems that aren't being addressed.

I really don't know about the much newer apartments on the South Park area like Evo, et al. They may have fewer problems, including fewer insect problems, because these building are practically brand new and owner/management may be on top of any insect problems.

No it is not too cold here for roaches, but if you live filthy enough, or if you are close to trash dumpster, it is very easy to get a roach problem. But it doesn't have to be that way.

My aunt lived in a building in Hancock Park, and the owners had a Super there full-time who cleaned and maintained and addressed any small problems before they got out of hand. NO INSECT PROBLEMS there, but easily so if not addressed. Further, there could have easily been a rodent problem, as well, but the Super was on top of it and only one mouse in the nearly 25 years she was in the building, and that little guys met his doom next door. At first she was almost ready to move, but she realized it was one of those things that can happen no matter how careful one is or how good the maintenance. My other aunt had mice visitations at least 3 times because she lives in the hills and has her EXPENSIVE doors at the rear OPEN to facilitate fancy parties at her designer house. You have to remember that expensive HOUSES in the exclusive LA areas may have more rodent visitation than once in 25 years because of our lush landscaping that gives them many places to hide. One should have a cat or two in such instances.

If you are on a budget, regular insect treatment can be expensive, but it may NOT do you much good in apartments because the bug man won't have access to the SOURCE of the problem, and that takes the owners cooperation and willingness to spend the money, which most owners don't want to do because they don't live there and they like the checks rolling in just as they are.

There are sites that rate the buildings and even post experiences. Also, the LA County Health Department rates apartment buildings similar to how it rates restaurants, but using a percentage system. It is on their website. My aunt's building was rated 97%, and it really deserved that high rating.

[Chicano3000X]

^
To be continued..