Another Homesick Transplant-- Other Options? (Los Angeles, Burbank: fit in, crime, credit)

[MItoBH]

Originally Posted by Mr. Zero

If it's in your budget, make those trips back home. I still go back to NYC at least 2 or 3 times a year. We also have family come out to LA and stay with us every couple of months.

Yup, it will be in my budget, and family will come see me regularly too, so it's all good.

[seain dublin]

Originally Posted by theraven24

It's been four years and you still haven't adjusted.

Just go home. No sense in being miserable for any longer.

On a side note, weird you find it hard to go hiking in Los Angeles.

Exactly, go home.

And how does one live in Silverlake with Griffith Park a stones throw away and they find it hard to go hiking? It's right there in front of you.

I have a feeling if the OP lived in Santa Monica and was 10 blocks from the ocean, it would be I'm not used to being so far from the water.

[lozzadraws]

Originally Posted by seain dublin

Exactly, go home.

And how does one live in Silverlake with Griffith Park a stones throw away and they find it hard to go hiking? It's right there in front of you.

I have a feeling if the OP lived in Santa Monica and was 10 blocks from the ocean, it would be I'm not used to being so far from the water.

Hiking in the city on dusty trails is nothing like hiking in the woods, though i appreciate the judgmenet on that. This is more what i'm looking for:



Griffith park is nice, and i take my dog hiking there before work, and i've been there many times. But if your goal is to get away from the people and the city... that's not gonna do it. And that's really why i love hiking, getting into nature.

I lived in Santa Monica for 2 years, I worked a block from the beach and at lunch there most days. It was nice!

Thanks to those of you who have been understanding about the transition and offering solutions to help make LA feel a little more like home while i'm here!

[elhelmete]

Sorry, OP, don't mean to sound smart-azz...I'm a transplanted (17 years) New Englander here too...as is my wife of 20 years.

BUT...no...LA is not NH. It is not now, was not ever, and never will be. No use thinking that you can find it...it will be effort wasted. The foothill communities (I'd throw Sierra Madre into the mix and Monrovia too) are a nice alternative but are still not NH. Up the 5 Freeway I'd say Frazier Park, esp. in the winter is also a nice place I think you'd like (Mt. Pinos).

[CALGUY]

Originally Posted by lozzadraws

Hiking in the city on dusty trails is nothing like hiking in the woods, though i appreciate the judgmenet on that. This is more what i'm looking for:



Griffith park is nice, and i take my dog hiking there before work, and i've been there many times. But if your goal is to get away from the people and the city... that's not gonna do it. And that's really why i love hiking, getting into nature.

I lived in Santa Monica for 2 years, I worked a block from the beach and at lunch there most days. It was nice!

Thanks to those of you who have been understanding about the transition and offering solutions to help make LA feel a little more like home while i'm here!

That trail is very much like the one me and my dog walk every day.

Only thing I see that is different is the trail I walk has an eighteen hole golf course to the left of where the guy in your picture is standing.

Bob.

[lozzadraws]

Originally Posted by elhelmete

Sorry, OP, don't mean to sound smart-azz...I'm a transplanted (17 years) New Englander here too...as is my wife of 20 years.

BUT...no...LA is not NH. It is not now, was not ever, and never will be. No use thinking that you can find it...it will be effort wasted. The foothill communities (I'd throw Sierra Madre into the mix and Monrovia too) are a nice alternative but are still not NH. Up the 5 Freeway I'd say Frazier Park, esp. in the winter is also a nice place I think you'd like (Mt. Pinos).

Appreciate the suggestion And you're right, LA can't ever be NH, i shouldn't expect it to be. I'll look into sierra madre, thank you!

[Chicano3000X]

Originally Posted by ryanms3030

I grew up in new england and been here just over 10 years. I've never loved or hated LA I also work in the industry which severely limits my ability to maximize my income without living here. Where do you live that you can't get to hikes? There is plenty of wilderness that can reached in less than an hour from many parts of LA

One trick I've learned is to go visit new england in winter or someplace else with a real winter once a year and you will stop wanting to live there

Some parts of Pasadena feel like the east coast.

[seain dublin]

Originally Posted by lozzadraws

Hiking in the city on dusty trails is nothing like hiking in the woods, though i appreciate the judgmenet on that. This is more what i'm looking for:



Griffith park is nice, and i take my dog hiking there before work, and i've been there many times. But if your goal is to get away from the people and the city... that's not gonna do it. And that's really why i love hiking, getting into nature.

I lived in Santa Monica for 2 years, I worked a block from the beach and at lunch there most days. It was nice!

Thanks to those of you who have been understanding about the transition and offering solutions to help make LA feel a little more like home while i'm here!

Alrighty....LOL.

You could go to Oak Glen,CA and it looks exactly like your picture. You would think you were back east. It is in the San Bernardino Mountains. About 80 miles east of Pasadena via the 210.

I really think though after 4 years LA doesn't feel like home or really appeal to you, as the Brits say "it's time to press on".

[SpaceMonkyPunks]

Originally Posted by lozzadraws

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! SpaceMonkey, i'm also not a fan of Burbank.. it's not awful? It's quiet and more affordable, just not especially interesting. Not city and not wilderness. My thoughts were if i left LA, i could always have a freelance career. I'm lucky enough to work at a big studio right now, so i'm paying off debt and building contacts... it could be feasible in the future if i feel the need to go back. "Career Suicide" might be a bit extreme.... but i'd definitely have to shift what i'm doing. I know artists living in seattle, boston, and canada who storyboard for LA studios, but i'm not sure how often designers do that. (I design BGs for TV).

Lol well yeah, that's why I said for me personally it'd be "career suicide" I'm mostly self taught and am slowly breaking in at non-union places. So at this point leaving isn't an option for me.

You could also try to shift to vis dev for feature and apply to Blue Sky or Reel FX? IF you're experienced and have great work they might want you, I'm sure they're usually trying to convince ppl who have roots here to move, most don't want to leave LA once they settle down.

Yeah I totally agree on Burbank. Not bad by any means, just...suburban boredom.

[seain dublin]

Originally Posted by lozzadraws

I'm certain this has been talked to death on this forum, but i'd love to get some thoughts.

I'm 25. I grew up in New Hampshire, went to school in Georgia for 4 years, and immediately moved to Los Angeles for work upon graduating. I hated it here for a solid two years (due to more than just the city... toxic people in my life, etc) but as i've just passed my 4-year mark, i can finally say i don't hate it anymore. But i do find myself immensely homesick for the east coast.

I'm sure everyone says they miss the seasons, but of course i do. Time blurs together out here... and since i arrived in the worst drought in history, everything has this dingy brown color. I miss vivid green summers, thunderstorms, snow at christmas, and crisp fall days. I miss being close to family, visiting my aunt and uncle on their farm in Maine, and i even prefer east coast beaches. I miss cheap snowboarding i can get to in 30 minutes, instead of 3+ hour drives and expensive tickets. I think i just have a traditional soul and don't do change super well???

LA isn't all bad. I love the people i've met in the animation industry-- the art community is hard to beat. I love being able to hike year round-- but i wish it wasn't so hard to GET to the hikes. And you can't beat all the amazing food and cultural diversity. New England definitely has it's share of abrasive *******s and backward politics, but even the abrasive personalities warm my heart a little.

Despite the good parts of LA and having grown used to it, I still feel very out of place here and have difficulty not fantasizing about moving anywhere else. Because i work in animation, there are very few options outside LA, so i would probably need a career shift or be willing to work the freelance hustle and work from home.

I live on the atwater/los feliz side of silverlake, and it's a great neighborhood. Very central to a lot of great restaurants and bars. But i think i'm always going to miss my small-town upbringing in the woods of NH.

Do i just need to stick it out a bit longer? How many years for a New Englander to feel at home here? Maybe a different west-coast city-- Seattle or Portland?-- would suit me better? Any advice on how to get over this? Any animators who have escaped this town?

Thanks all

OP, I have been in LA since 1988, before you we're born. Over the years I have known people, one who attended USC Film School who were never quite able to break into the entertainment industry.

You were able to move out and find a good job in your field right away. Yet there is no gratitude, just complaining and whining.

You knew when you decided to pick your career path there were certain cities that were going to have more opporunties. Perhaps go back to Georgia where you went to school, Atlanta has a growing film industry, maybe there are animation opporutunites.

Gee, LA isn't so bad....thanks. There are many people your age who would kill to live here and have a good job like you do. Griffith Park is too dusty....LOL.

There are people in life if you handed them a million dollars on a silver tray would say "only a million, and how come not a gold tray?".