Austin to West LA (SM?) (Los Angeles, Burbank: transplants, 2014, apartments)

[disgruntled la native]

There are a large number of young(er) professionals, lets say late 20s to 40ish in age, who make six figures in Santa Monica. By wealthiest part of LA county I mean Santa Monica is a fairly large city (about 100,000 people) and has some of the highest home prices and THE highest rents in LA county. The bar scene in Santa Monica also attracts young people in neighboring areas that aren't as pricy.

[davet111]

How is the social scene in a place that's a little more reasonably priced and inland, like Brentwood? From my research, it looks like the crowd there is a little younger since it's close to UCLA, the housing in walkable area's is more scarce, but more reasonably priced, and it's still relatively close to the beach.

[8to32characters]

If you want more of a Bohemian vibe like you'd find in Austin, you're not going to find it in SaMo or one of the Beach Cities -- you'd have to search farther inland (i.e., Silver Lake, Pasadena).

[disgruntled la native]

Or Venice, but not sure OP wants a Bohemian vibe.

Brentwood (which doesn't really have any late night bars, so I mean West LA and Westwood) and Santa Monica have interchangeable social scenes. Unless you're trying to hang with exclusively undergrad college kids, you will find plenty of people from 25-35 in Santa Monica bars, as well as Westwood and West LA bars. around 30 is the median, your age. I don't think there's much if any age difference between the Beach Cities and Santa Monica/West LA bar scenes.

[BRinSM]

Originally Posted by 8to32characters

If you want more of a Bohemian vibe like you'd find in Austin, you're not going to find it in SaMo or one of the Beach Cities -- you'd have to search farther inland (i.e., Silver Lake, Pasadena).

venice is probably the most bohemian part of LA and is on the coast, so i don't agree with you. silver lake is bohemian as well, but also very hipster and much less 'weird'.

[8to32characters]

Originally Posted by disgruntled la native

Or Venice, but not sure OP wants a Bohemian vibe.

Brentwood (which doesn't really have any late night bars, so I mean West LA and Westwood) and Santa Monica have interchangeable social scenes. Unless you're trying to hang with exclusively undergrad college kids, you will find plenty of people from 25-35 in Santa Monica bars, as well as Westwood and West LA bars. around 30 is the median, your age. I don't think there's much if any age difference between the Beach Cities and Santa Monica/West LA bar scenes.

Originally Posted by BRinSM

venice is probably the most bohemian part of LA and is on the coast, so i don't agree with you. silver lake is bohemian as well, but also very hipster and much less 'weird'.

It sounds like the OP wants something a little more upscale, which is why I didn't suggest Venice.

[guyatwork37]

OP, I understand that it's tempting to take your same salary from Austin to LA because of the decline in office hours, but if your job is really outside sales, then you replace 60 office hours with 30 driving hours in awful traffic, plus two days a week in your home office for a total of 46 to 50 non-traditional office hours. I'd rather work 10 more office hours than be stuck in traffic three days a week in a place that I make the same money, but doesn't go as far due to higher costs, taxes, etc.

It's alluring, but really think about the opportunity costs here as well.

That being said, if you're dead set on it, SM seems like a good fit. Manhattan and Hermosa are also nice, but a little "bro-ier" and still fairly pricey.

[disgruntled la native]

Originally Posted by 8to32characters

It sounds like the OP wants something a little more upscale, which is why I didn't suggest Venice.

Parts of Venice are very upscale these days. More so than Silver Lake.

[nmnita]

I can't understand, if you enjoy living in Austin why you would relocate for the same salary, but what do I know? As long as you think this is what you want to do, I would consider one of the beach communities, they will be liberal or somewhat so, Silver Lake or maybe west L.A. Good luck and enjoy your new adventure as long as you really think this is what you want to do.

[davet111]

While I'm a big fan of Austin, I'm not much into the hipster side. I also tend to date women younger than me ~25-29. Which is why Austin is great for me since it's got a large college population and graduates tend to stick around for the job opportunities.