From Dallas to Los Angeles. What's the best area to live in LA? (Orange: college, organic)

[disgruntled la native]

Don't commute from West Hollywood to Calabasas.. enough said

guydude - there are no homeless on san vicente. never seen one north of montana. and I lived there for many many years

[BarcelonaFan]

Originally Posted by abcnbccbs

First I'm not understanding the aura of attitude. I've never been to LA, coming from Texas, I only know what I see on Tv and read. I ask alot of questions because this is a big move for me by myself and I just wanted opinions from the locals. Ten miles is a big area. I really won't know until I get there. Some of the post in this thread have kinda scared me away, some have excited me. It is, what it is.....being a single woman I'm just taking precautions. I read every post and will continue to weigh all my options and continue to research and ask a million questions. One thing I do know is that any city in LA beats Dallas hands down. LOL! All I can do is feel the city and I'm sure I'll be fine.

You shouldn't take offense to everything said in here. Angelenos are generally nice, they're not fake all smiles nice like in TX, but they tend to be genuine. So you will get both sides of people here, rude and really friendly.

I am from Houston and moved out to LA five months ago. I love it here and have no plans of going back to Houston unless it gets really bad or something really big comes around in TX. LA over Dallas and Houston and Austin any day! All those towns are on an upswing too, so even LA at it's worse is still better than any of those cities at their best.

Dallas and Houston are two cities that are trying to be like what they think LA is, and let me tell you, LA is nothing like what they're trying to be.

[skyway31]

Originally Posted by abcnbccbs

First I'm not understanding the aura of attitude. I've never been to LA, coming from Texas, I only know what I see on Tv and read. I ask alot of questions because this is a big move for me by myself and I just wanted opinions from the locals. Ten miles is a big area. I really won't know until I get there. Some of the post in this thread have kinda scared me away, some have excited me. It is, what it is.....being a single woman I'm just taking precautions. I read every post and will continue to weigh all my options and continue to research and ask a million questions. One thing I do know is that any city in LA beats Dallas hands down. LOL! All I can do is feel the city and I'm sure I'll be fine.

I understand that it can be difficult moving and learning about a new place as complex and unique as L.A. As long as you have an open mind, listen to advice given to you and be willing to consider that some of the way you are thinking right now may be totally off and, ultimately, worth laughing at, you'll be fine.

You said you were single, looking for a fun place with a good singles scene and a beach nearby. You also said you weren't a huge fan of heat/temps in the 90s and 100s. Calabasas is a bad idea if that's what you want. Places others like myself have listed are very good options worth considering. But many of those options seem to be disregarded for, frankly, ridiculous reasons. I grew up in Central Florida and actually moved to L.A. after living a year in Austin, Tx. I understand the misconceptions one can have coming from a place so different from southern California. Some of what you've said I even wondered about myself 10 years ago. That's why the key is for you to check out all of the places that are being mentioned in depth and in person and then decide for yourself. Disregarding places sight unseen-particularly for some of the reasons you are mentioning- is a very bad idea.

[oping00]

You say you would take LA over Austin any day, but I hear lots positives about Austin and not coming from people from austin.

Originally Posted by BarcelonaFan

You shouldn't take offense to everything said in here. Angelenos are generally nice, they're not fake all smiles nice like in TX, but they tend to be genuine. So you will get both sides of people here, rude and really friendly.

I am from Houston and moved out to LA five months ago. I love it here and have no plans of going back to Houston unless it gets really bad or something really big comes around in TX. LA over Dallas and Houston and Austin any day! All those towns are on an upswing too, so even LA at it's worse is still better than any of those cities at their best.

Dallas and Houston are two cities that are trying to be like what they think LA is, and let me tell you, LA is nothing like what they're trying to be.

[BarcelonaFan]

Originally Posted by oping00

You say you would take LA over Austin any day, but I hear lots positives about Austin and not coming from people from austin.

Austin is an amazing town, but it's small. LA is much bigger with tons of more stuff to do. I would only live in Austin if things do not work out in LA.

Austin has a really laid back culture, beautiful weather, gorgeous scenery. It's a very liberal and health conscious town. The only downside is that, while it's growing, it's still a really small city and you can go to sixth street so many times.

But it is a close second to Austin. Actually Houston, is too, as it's a growing major city with many things to do.

[skyway31]

Austin is definitely small. And there's no ocean, the hill country pails in comparison to real mountains (which offer skiing opportunities half the year). And yet Austin still has crime, problems with illegal immigrants and other urban issues. Unless you're a huge Texas Longhorn fan that wants to go to every game, there's no sense in choosing Austin over L.A. If money was a huge issue, and you could get a job making the same amount of money as you would in L.A., and you could embrace a bit of a small town mentality, and do without the mountains and ocean....then you could choose Austin.

[oping00]

Yeah I lived in Columbus, OH another college town where everything surrounds the university, but I heard many CA people are leaving CA in droves and TX seems like one of the top places to go. I have relatives in LA, but really don't want to move there without a job and thats where Atlanta and texas win is a decent job market not 8.00 per hour walmart jobs.

Originally Posted by skyway31

Austin is definitely small. And there's no ocean, the hill country pails in comparison to real mountains (which offer skiing opportunities half the year). And yet Austin still has crime, problems with illegal immigrants and other urban issues. Unless you're a huge Texas Longhorn fan that wants to go to every game, there's no sense in choosing Austin over L.A. If money was a huge issue, and you could get a job making the same amount of money as you would in L.A., and you could embrace a bit of a small town mentality, and do without the mountains and ocean....then you could choose Austin.

[BarcelonaFan]

Austin only wins by default (if you go bust in LA).

In reality Texas is a poor mans California.

No mountains but plenty of hills. No ocean but plenty of beautiful lakes. No palm trees but plenty of hillside greenery.

All this at half the cost if living of LA.

Nothing is a match for LA though. And I mean the world over. Nothing

[TrueDat]

Aw, Texas ain't so bad! I like it here though I agree LA has a unique culture that can't be duplicated.

To the OP, how many times a week will you need to go to the westside? If it's only once, or at most twice, a week, someone upthread suggested coastal Orange County. Seems like it would be exactly what you're looking for: close to the beach, safe, and upscale with lots of shopping and restaurants. I would suggest somewhere between Seal Beach and Newport Beach. It's Calabasas with cooler weather. Though, unless things have changed dramatically, nightlife has always been more of an LA thing than an OC thing.

I know West Hollywood is on the OP's list but if crime is a concern, isn't the rate pretty high in WeHo? At least for property crime?

Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

Personally, I've lived in various parts of LA and not been overly concerned about crime and, except for a car break in, have never been victimized. So I don't quite get the fear. But if that is an issue, I'm not sure WeHo is the best choice.

[mrsltd]

Originally Posted by BarcelonaFan

Austin has a really laid back culture, beautiful weather, gorgeous scenery. It's a very liberal and health conscious town. The only downside is that, while it's growing, it's still a really small city and you can go to sixth street so many times.

How can a city of over half a million within city limits be a "really small city"?

Do you mean that there is nothing else besides 6th Street there to do? Having never been there, I am asking because it seems that, in general, when someone says that a place is really "small", and there is "only so much to do", that says more about where they are in their lives than about the place itself.

People, in my experience, tend to say that about any place that doesn't have an area that approaches (or is) a Disneyland resort area with all its sideshows and in-your-face advertising drawing the crowds, or that doesn't have "nooks and crannies" with interesting things there. I KNOW L.A. has all that and more, and I'm sure that Austin, given its size and population, is like the autocreated proverbial Thomas English Muffin (nooks and crannies included); just that someone hasn't spread the butter hard to hit those nooks and crannies and enjoy those things upon eating.

I hope LA works out for you.