Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > Los Angeles
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 12-06-2007, 05:33 AM
 
1 posts, read 6,474 times
Reputation: 12

Advertisements

I am currently considering a job offer in Vernon, CA. I'm a 22 year old male graduating from college in a few weeks. After reading much of the posts in this forum, I am getting quite discouraged. I currently reside in NYC, but have lived in Boston, San Fran, and Hong Kong before so the cost of living and congested traffic should be no culture shock to me.

I would just like some perspective on whether it'd be a smart decision. Although I'm not specifically in LA, I would like to live close enough to enjoy it. Is Vernon a nice place to live or should I look elsewhere? Also, is the crime as bad as everyone says it is?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 12-06-2007, 05:45 AM
 
Location: FULCI LIVES!!!(but not in Indiana)
413 posts, read 1,845,396 times
Reputation: 200
L.A. has no more problems than any other metropolitan area. Actually on a per capita search I found that Los Angeles has less overall crime than my little hick town of 60,000. IMO it's a great city with alot to offer. We move into our L.A. apartment March 1st and are never looking back. Have you visited there? I mean several times? I think to really have an idea of what your getting into you need to experience the city on a few occasions because that will give you a better rounded feel for what to expect. Your 22, single and out of college with a job offer???!!! I'd be on that plane the second I threw off my grad cap!!!!! Good Luck to you!!!!

PS- Try not to let the negatives on this board sway you from the positives that L.A. and SoCAl have to offer, especially to a new college grad. The world is yours!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-06-2007, 10:06 AM
 
1,398 posts, read 6,605,139 times
Reputation: 1839
Here is the City-data.com site on Vernon, to get an idea of how it looks:
Vernon, California (CA) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, news

I've lived here 5 decades, and like to remind people of trade-offs. Vernon is a primarily industrial/business area, home of Farmer John abbatoir (I once photographed its famed pig murals for Rolling Stone magazine) and many other large employers. The area is NOT one I'd ever recommend for habitation, nor any of the ones immediately surrounding it (Compton, South Gate, Inglewood, etc. In fact, these are the most dangerous areas of L.A. in gang violence.) The low population density on the site's chart is a tip-off that people generally don't live in this inner city area- it is mainly businesses.)

Jakehorror is correct that now is the time in your life to explore what options work for you. But just because your place of employ is in an iffy locale doesn't mean you should live nearby, no matter what others claim about living near your work to beat traffic.

Do what many locals who can afford the better aspects of L.A. do, live where it pleases you (perhaps further south in Long Beach proper? This is a far better area- check out the consensus on this board, which is rare! It's also close by) that's within an hour drive and commute in all the congestion for hours with the rest of us, saving your fun for the weekends. Vernon is not the place to live happily, and yes, crime in the iffy areas is as bad as we locals, and every national chart that tallies the whole of L.A., say.

Last edited by fastfilm; 12-06-2007 at 10:35 AM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-06-2007, 10:48 AM
 
830 posts, read 2,859,743 times
Reputation: 387
Crime is no worse in LA than any other big city. Dallas, where I'm from, has a higher per capita murder rate than LA. Go figure.

fastfilm has some good advice for you.

The primary difference between NY and LA is that you'll need a car in LA. Figure that into your expenses.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-06-2007, 01:20 PM
 
225 posts, read 1,090,294 times
Reputation: 147
Quote:
Originally Posted by dantsanggg View Post
I am currently considering a job offer in Vernon, CA. I'm a 22 year old male graduating from college in a few weeks. After reading much of the posts in this forum, I am getting quite discouraged. I currently reside in NYC, but have lived in Boston, San Fran, and Hong Kong before so the cost of living and congested traffic should be no culture shock to me.

I would just like some perspective on whether it'd be a smart decision. Although I'm not specifically in LA, I would like to live close enough to enjoy it. Is Vernon a nice place to live or should I look elsewhere? Also, is the crime as bad as everyone says it is?
Like Fastfilm says hardly anybody lives in Vernon but plenty of people work there. That means the crime figures, which are generally calculated on a per-resident basis, are meaningless. There are plenty of nice areas fairly close, though not very close, to the city. I would look at Long Beach, also the nicer gateway cities, e.g. Cerritos. As the crow flies you are not that far from a string of nice neighbourhoods N and E of downtown Los Angeles. But I don't know what your commute would be like from there. Others will.

Don't be discouraged by the posts on this forum. Look at the forum for your home city of New York for some perspective. To judge by the posts there the 5 boroughs are crime-ridden, utterly unaffordable, crawling with illegal immigrants etc.--and will be even more unpleasant tomorrow. Great cities generate complaint. People don't complain about bad cities--they just leave.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-19-2007, 04:07 PM
 
18 posts, read 95,958 times
Reputation: 13
West LA is not so bad. A lot of the nice areas consist of asians and whites. more diversity also. I would definitely consider it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-20-2007, 05:26 AM
 
100 posts, read 543,913 times
Reputation: 101
LA good: Hancock Park, Park La Brea, Westwood, Brentwood, Bel Air, Hollywood Hills, Mount Olympus, Westchester, Los Feliz, Eagle Rock, Cheviot Hills, Rancho Park, Pacific Palisades, Marina Del Rey, Playa Del Rey, Country Club Park, Leimert Park, southern/northwestern SFV (Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Valley Village, Encino, Tarzana, Woodland Hills, Toluca Lake, Chatsworth, West Hills, Porter Ranch)

LA okay: Sawtelle (cleaned up but the gang still exists), Palms (not great for a west LA neighborhood but not terrible either), Venice (same as Sawtelle), Northridge (southern part isn't that great), Granada Hills (north is great, south isn't that great)

LA bad: Pretty much all of south LA, Watts, Florence, Athens, Jefferson Park, Mid-City, Westlake, Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights, Echo Park, Hollywood, Cypress Park, El Sereno, Highland Park, Glassell Park, Atwater Village, Montecito Heights, Mount Washington, Monterey Hills, Hyde Park, Crenshaw, Mar Vista, Silver Lake, Koreatown, Chinatown, East Los Angeles, City Terrace, Wilmington, Harbor Gateway, San Pedro, central/northeastern SFV (Van Nuys, North Hollywood, Sun Valley, Reseda, Winnetka, Canoga Park, Pacoima, Arleta, Panorama City, North Hills, Mission Hills, Lake View Terrace, Sylmar, Sunland, Tujunga)

As for suburbs close to LA, I recommend Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, South Pasadena, San Marino, Alhambra, Monterey Park, and San Gabriel. All are safe for the most part and have reasonable commutes to the downtown area. Much better than Vernon or any of the areas near it...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-20-2007, 12:06 PM
 
Location: Earth
17,440 posts, read 28,589,728 times
Reputation: 7477
Quote:
Originally Posted by sgvkev View Post
LA good: Hancock Park, Park La Brea, Westwood, Brentwood, Bel Air, Hollywood Hills, Mount Olympus, Westchester, Los Feliz, Eagle Rock, Cheviot Hills, Rancho Park, Pacific Palisades, Marina Del Rey,Playa Del Rey, Country Club Park, Leimert Park, southern/northwestern SFV (Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Valley Village, Encino, Tarzana, Woodland Hills, Toluca Lake, Chatsworth, West Hills, Porter Ranch)

LA okay: Sawtelle (cleaned up but the gang still exists)
A gang that at its worst was never that threatening, unlike Venice. I grew up right in the heart of that area and knew some of those guys. Their activities these days are confined to writing graffiti to prove that they still exist as their numbers have gone down to the point that their end is certain. Not all gangs are equally threatening, some are relatively harmless. Didn't Bratton say that 10% of L.A.'s gangs commit 80% of its gang crime?
I don't think the crime level there is that different from Cheviot Hills. It's an area I feel safe in. (Nor is it now or has it ever been a majority Latino area, although its close to being majority Asian now...)The most dangerous element in that area is not the now-tiny gang, but the homeless who frequent the office/industrial side streets between Olympic and Pico at night when they are deserted.

Quote:
Palms (not great for a west LA neighborhood but not terrible either), Venice (same as Sawtelle), Northridge (southern part isn't that great), Granada Hills (north is great, south isn't that great)

LA bad: Pretty much all of south LA, Watts, Florence, Athens, Jefferson Park, Mid-City, Westlake, Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights, Echo Park, Hollywood, Cypress Park, El Sereno, Highland Park, Glassell Park, Atwater Village, Montecito Heights, Mount Washington, Monterey Hills, Hyde Park, Crenshaw, Mar Vista, Silver Lake, Koreatown, Chinatown, East Los Angeles, City Terrace, Wilmington, Harbor Gateway, San Pedro, central/northeastern SFV (Van Nuys, North Hollywood, Sun Valley, Reseda, Winnetka, Canoga Park, Pacoima, Arleta, Panorama City, North Hills, Mission Hills, Lake View Terrace, Sylmar, Sunland, Tujunga)
Wait a second, Mar Vista, Silver Lake, Mount Washington, large parts of Echo Park, and large parts of Hollywood cannot be compared to the other neighborhoods on the list. And to say that Country Club Park (next to Pico-Union and Koreatown and which has a lot of gang activity) is better than MV or Silver Lake is absurd. I wonder where you're getting your info from or how familiar you are with the neighborhoods you wrote about.

[

Last edited by majoun; 12-20-2007 at 12:24 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-20-2007, 12:12 PM
 
Location: Long Beach, CA
72 posts, read 192,289 times
Reputation: 28
If you are considering moving to LA County, consider Long Beach. It's got a downtown in the process of redevelopement, the 4th largest port in the world and is known as the "International City.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-20-2007, 12:16 PM
 
Location: Long Beach, CA
72 posts, read 192,289 times
Reputation: 28
Quote:
Originally Posted by dantsanggg View Post
I am currently considering a job offer in Vernon, CA. I'm a 22 year old male graduating from college in a few weeks. After reading much of the posts in this forum, I am getting quite discouraged. I currently reside in NYC, but have lived in Boston, San Fran, and Hong Kong before so the cost of living and congested traffic should be no culture shock to me.

I would just like some perspective on whether it'd be a smart decision. Although I'm not specifically in LA, I would like to live close enough to enjoy it. Is Vernon a nice place to live or should I look elsewhere? Also, is the crime as bad as everyone says it is?
Vernon isn an induastrial city, or it lest used to be. I'd look to move to Long Beach, it's by the ocean
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > Los Angeles

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top