I've been in LA for two weeks. My initial reactions... (Santa Monica: buying, living)

[EclecticEars]

Originally Posted by JeffSanDimas

I was in Manhattan Beach recently and it felt very yuppie and the people were very Silicon Valley. Redondo Beach maybe, but not for long..there is too much techie money floating around in that part of the county for the laid back vibe to persist...

Oh trust me, Carlsbad and Encinitas are changing in that direction, too. But it's not tech money. It's cranky old people from the Midwest money, kinda like the Florida Gulf Coast, as well as yuppie folk who earn their money mostly in San Diego proper.

A friend of mine has lived all over the world, including having grown up in Greater NYC and L.A., and even this person says that Carlsbad's/Encinitas' friendly town feel is slowly slipping away. I've noticed the difference even in the last few visits I've made down there over the last year (of course, I'm moving there soon...)

[seain dublin]

Originally Posted by goldenglory18

Forgetting about your direct rudeness, would it make you feel better about my decision if I told you my wife will probably work at Cedars?

And how long do we have to be here before I can post my opinion again and have it be valid? I'd like to know my time table.

Speaking of direct rudeness I was nice enough awhile back to send you some good information on the CA DMV via a DM since you had concerns about that, you're welcome.....LOL. A simple
"thanks" back would have been nice.

I simply said don't complain about LA traffic when you set yourself up for a long commute and blame LA.

As far as parking goes, there are plenty of places that have no parking problems.

And comparing LA to NYC in regards to pace of life? Not even close.

And to answer your question, I would it give more time than you did to form an opinion, which BTW is mostly negative, the traffic sucks, the parking sucks, a small burrito costs $10....it's not only negative it's not accurate and based on a very limited time frame and experience.

[nslander]

To be honest, I was tempted to remark on the decision to live in WeHo and commute to Hawthorne for safety reasons, but it appeared that decision had already been made. Coughsouthbaycough.

[goldenglory18]

Originally Posted by seain dublin

Speaking of direct rudeness I was nice enough awhile back to send you some good information on the CA DMV via a DM since you had concerns about that, you're welcome.....LOL. A simple
"thanks" back would have been nice.

I simply said don't complain about LA traffic when you set yourself up for a long commute and blame LA.

As far as parking goes, there are plenty of places that have no parking problems.

And comparing LA to NYC in regards to pace of life? Not even close.

And to answer your question, I would it give more time than you did to form an opinion, which BTW is mostly negative, the traffic sucks, the parking sucks, a small burrito costs $10....it's not only negative it's not accurate and based on a very limited time frame and experience.

Thats my mistake. I just looked through the DM's and I have a response to everyone but you. Thank you for the info. It will be most useful here in a few weeks.

Traffic is **** no matter where you are. If I'm in the SB I have to fight Supulveda or Hawthorne. If I'm inland I have to fight the freeways. It's not like its going to be THAT much of a difference maker in my life (last night it took me 20 minutes to get home. I'm not going to complain about that at all.)

For the record, I tried to rent in the SB and it was almost impossible to secure a place with my dogs. Very few listings that were listed as "Per Friendly" were as advertised. I even had an app and small deposit in on one in Redondo Beach, and a self proclaimed "Pet person" land lord rented the property to a Mother/Grandmother family with three young kids instead. Tell me they are going to be better tenants and you are a ****ing moron.

And, as someone else pointed out, this was my INITIAL opinion. It's not like I'm going to up and move back to the desert just because I had a rough first few weeks. It's a huge adjustment and I should be given that right to disclose my INITIAL reactions of the area for others to reference.

[UB50]

Originally Posted by goldenglory18

Traffic is **** no matter where you are. If I'm in the SB I have to fight Supulveda or Hawthorne. If I'm inland I have to fight the freeways. It's not like its going to be THAT much of a difference maker in my life (last night it took me 20 minutes to get home. I'm not going to complain about that at all.)

You might try taking either LaBrea or La Cienega straight over the hills into Hawthorne. That's the way I go all the time and the traffic isn't that bad. It's better than the freeway during the day.

[goldenglory18]

Originally Posted by UB50

You might try taking either LaBrea or La Cienega straight over the hills into Hawthorne. That's the way I go all the time and the traffic isn't that bad. It's better than the freeway during the day.

Yeah, I think WAZE has taken me that way a few times. It's pretty much always something to the 405, then the 105. The only consistently crappy spot is that interchange, although on clear days it provides a great E/NE view.

[taydigga]

Originally Posted by JeffSanDimas

I was in Manhattan Beach recently and it felt very yuppie and the people were very Silicon Valley. Redondo Beach maybe, but not for long..there is too much techie money floating around in that part of the county for the laid back vibe to persist...

Spot on! Not my vibe at all. Hermosa and parts of Redondo are the same. It's OC of LA imo.

[taydigga]

Originally Posted by seain dublin

Speaking of direct rudeness I was nice enough awhile back to send you some good information on the CA DMV via a DM since you had concerns about that, you're welcome.....LOL. A simple
"thanks" back would have been nice.

I simply said don't complain about LA traffic when you set yourself up for a long commute and blame LA.

As far as parking goes, there are plenty of places that have no parking problems.

And comparing LA to NYC in regards to pace of life? Not even close.

And to answer your question, I would it give more time than you did to form an opinion, which BTW is mostly negative, the traffic sucks, the parking sucks, a small burrito costs $10....it's not only negative it's not accurate and based on a very limited time frame and experience.

I have to admit these^^^ are great points.

[taydigga]

Originally Posted by goldenglory18

Thats my mistake. I just looked through the DM's and I have a response to everyone but you. Thank you for the info. It will be most useful here in a few weeks.

Traffic is **** no matter where you are. If I'm in the SB I have to fight Supulveda or Hawthorne. If I'm inland I have to fight the freeways. It's not like its going to be THAT much of a difference maker in my life (last night it took me 20 minutes to get home. I'm not going to complain about that at all.)

For the record, I tried to rent in the SB and it was almost impossible to secure a place with my dogs. Very few listings that were listed as "Per Friendly" were as advertised. I even had an app and small deposit in on one in Redondo Beach, and a self proclaimed "Pet person" land lord rented the property to a Mother/Grandmother family with three young kids instead. Tell me they are going to be better tenants and you are a ****ing moron.

And, as someone else pointed out, this was my INITIAL opinion. It's not like I'm going to up and move back to the desert just because I had a rough first few weeks. It's a huge adjustment and I should be given that right to disclose my INITIAL reactions of the area for others to reference.

I disagree with traffic. LA traffic is all about timing. I rarely run into traffic to be honest. I'm also finding people's idea of traffic is different though.

[N610DL]

Originally Posted by UB50

Just a "for instance"....

White Americans move to LA and do their grocery shopping at Ralphs, Vons, Gelsons, Whole Foods, or one of those type stores and say "OMG! The prices are so high!" They never stop in the "ethnic" grocery stores because they aren't like the stores at home and they don't feel like they fit in or will find what they want. They don't realize that those are the places with the best deals on produce, meat, and other things like that. They also don't realize that lots of white Americans (those of us that are left in LA) shop in those stores too -- because what American grocery store sells calamari to go like my Korean market up the street? Until you shop in those stores, you won't realize that the Asian market near work sells tomatoes for $.89 while Whole Foods is asking $7.95 for exactly the same tomatoes in the exact same box.

So, it's a learning process. (I don't mean to sound racist saying "white Americans" but they are usually the ones who move here from places with less ethnic variety.)

Groceries in LA expensive? Why is it that I live on groceries for 2 weeks for Trader Joe's for $40 and I can't even shop for 2 days at Kings in NJ for around $30?

Seriously, cost of food out here is significantly less than the east coast. Might be hard to give up the habit of going to the Food Emporium to shopping at Food 4 Less.