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Old 05-22-2007, 11:42 PM
 
Location: NYC
1,213 posts, read 3,597,345 times
Reputation: 1254

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Well, I'll be moving to L.A. early next year. Some of the posts here have me a little nervous, but as I've said in previous messages, I think I can handle it. I understand that all major cities have good and bad things about them. The key is just figuring out how to avoid the bad aspects.

I'm from the Baltimore area, and we're having a pretty violent year so far in terms of crime. Columbia, one of our upper middle class suburbs, has seen two murders within the past few weeks. Baltimore is probably on its way to having the highest murder rate in the nation. Seriously, we're a city of 600,000 people and we've already had 110 homicides so far this year. If you go to this website, there's a link that will bring up a map of all the homicides so far in the city this year and all of last year.
http://www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=13471

Now looking at these maps, Baltimore appears to be just one big war zone, which in many ways it is. But there are also many good places in the city that people can enjoy in relative safety. These are the parts of Baltimore that I stay in. I'm hoping that I will also find those same types of places when I move to L.A.

What do you all think?
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Old 05-23-2007, 12:26 AM
 
Location: LA to Pittsburgh
157 posts, read 826,767 times
Reputation: 46
Very well said Matt,

Yes, if you can afford it, you can certainly live someplace in LA where it is just normal urban, not scary gangland. I live on the westside, and it's expensive but it's not crazy dangerous. Yes bad things happen on the westside -- bad things happen everywhere and West LA is crowded so there is more crime there than, say, Thousand Oaks, but beyond normal urban carefulness, I really don't think this part of LA is any worse than any other major city.
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Old 07-11-2007, 11:02 AM
 
Location: Warwick UK
18 posts, read 50,781 times
Reputation: 13
Default moving to LA

I have been to LA, around 8 or 9 times, usually trawling round trying to buy OLD VW's it has taken my to some shady areas from time to time. I have been scared and in the wrong place from time to time but i still want to move out there, maybe not LA itself somewhere like san clemente/dana point/santa monica. I would move tomorrow if i could pull the deal together.

The first time i went to LA, just the sheer size of the place blew me away, i was intimidated by it and only put at ease by the fact i had a freind over there, coming over on your own as a girl would be scary!!! be carefull, come with a friend.
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Old 07-14-2007, 11:49 AM
 
Location: Los Angeles-213.323.310.818/San Diego-619.858.760
705 posts, read 3,289,896 times
Reputation: 445
I moved out here to Los Angeles at age 18 as well!
Los Angeles is not that bad!! I love it out here!!
the bad images you get from people here portraying los angeles are those people who do not like the big city and want to live in small "safe" communities. Whether you move to Los Angeles or any other big city in the U.S. you will find the same conflicts. I cannot begin to tell you the amounts of people Ive met who have moved to Los Angeles from NorCal, San Diego, and other states and they love it out here! You might be scared of the "shady" places in LA at first but in time you will learn that they are actually safe if you dont look for trouble. Human beings live in Los Angeles not mutants. LA is going through a lot of renovations and although some think its going to end up a failed city, I know it wont. California is the richest state in the U.S. and Los Angeles is practically the biggest city in the country after New York city. You will learn to love it here. Trust me, I didnt know anyone when I first moved out here and through time I met a lot of individuals who I now call friends.
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Old 07-14-2007, 11:57 AM
 
Location: Los Angeles-213.323.310.818/San Diego-619.858.760
705 posts, read 3,289,896 times
Reputation: 445
Quote:
Originally Posted by woolie View Post
I have been to LA, around 8 or 9 times, usually trawling round trying to buy OLD VW's it has taken my to some shady areas from time to time. I have been scared and in the wrong place from time to time but i still want to move out there, maybe not LA itself somewhere like san clemente/dana point/santa monica. I would move tomorrow if i could pull the deal together.

The first time i went to LA, just the sheer size of the place blew me away, i was intimidated by it and only put at ease by the fact i had a freind over there, coming over on your own as a girl would be scary!!! be carefull, come with a friend.
I agree that at first Los Angeles can be intimidating but what big U.S. city isnt?? Los Angeles is not that bad!! you hear about gangs and how bad it is but in reality gangs only seek other gangs! you can live in a "bad" neighborhood and have a good peaceful life! trust me!! My friend lives on Normandie and first street (close to downtown) and it may look like an intimidating street but the truth is: he has never been shot, he is not part of a gang and nobody has ever mugged or robbed him.
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Old 07-14-2007, 01:15 PM
 
47 posts, read 368,765 times
Reputation: 70
don't read into what people say too much. people get scared too easily and exaggerate. the media doesn't help.

you guys are talking like it's a hell hole. it's no Detroit. it's no Camden, New Jersey. you guys are just sissies. yes there's bad parts of LA but you don't have to go there. not every single person is going to try and take advantage of you. there's lots of other 18yr olds there.

don't listen to these people too much. they only get scared too easily. your from London so am i. stuff happens there too but you're fine. i'm sure if you were moving from LA to London people would be chatting the same sh* to you about moving there and how dangerous it is.

if you want to live some where, where almost everyone is in show business then move to Hollywood.
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Old 07-14-2007, 05:40 PM
 
225 posts, read 1,088,238 times
Reputation: 147
I'm from London too. Los Angeles is safer than my old home (and remember London is safer than Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh, Reading etc.) Angelenos love to go on about how dangerous their city is. It reassures them than they live in a "proper" city rather than, you know, a giant suburb.

If you are thinking seriously about an area and it's in the city of LA proper rather than an independent municipality like Culver City, check out the weekly crime maps on the LAPD's website. They are slow to load but will show you where the hotspots are. Crime Maps and COMPSTAT - official website of THE LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT

For an idea as to property prices, see craigslist or westsiderentals.com, which is how most people around here seem to find their places.

If you're the reading type, there are some good books about LA that will help you get your head around a city that is unlike any in Europe or on the East Coast. The single best book ever written about LA is "Los Angeles: the Architecture of Four Ecologies". See also Starr's "Coast of Dreams". Ignore everything written by Mike Davis, who is a paranoid fantasist.
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Old 07-14-2007, 10:33 PM
 
Location: Long Beach California
3 posts, read 20,292 times
Reputation: 15
Wow! You guys make it sound like we live in filth, squalor, and overall chaos here in Los Angeles! Los Angeles is a city of migrants - that includes migrants from Europe as well as Asia and Latin countries. Are you insinuating that the Asians and Latinos are creating bad elements for Los Angeles? What about New York or Miami - these too are cities filled with immigrants. Are you saying their crime rates are high because of the presence of "violent illegals"? Come on!!!! Violence happens in a city. It happens in London too.
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Old 07-15-2007, 10:36 AM
 
3 posts, read 7,425 times
Reputation: 10
Hey, im moving to LA at the end of this mnth and at the end of the day, bad things happen wherevr you go. Im originally from a place just outside manchester and im sorry but there are many bad things happening around here right now but it doesnt mean every1 should be cast with the same stick and it doesnt mean its a bad place to live!! there are bad people every where some how in life you find that out the hard way, in life things are what you make them and you should just follow your heart aslong as you trust your head and your own instincts bcos thats all you need!! Im a 20yr old girl and im travelling out to LA at the end of this mnth on my own too but that doesnt stop me!! Luckily i have my head screwed on and have been planning this for a while now!! I know that you have to expect the unexpected but thats life!!
xx
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Old 07-15-2007, 11:11 AM
 
1,211 posts, read 1,484,395 times
Reputation: 540
Quote:
Originally Posted by ralph View Post
LA is not as bad as these people think.
No Rlaph it's not as bad as people think, It's alot worse and if you ever lived their you would know this..
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