How much must you earn per month to live in LA??? (Santa Monica: house, buy)

[JonathanLB]

Originally Posted by ebuch

Yeah LAPD starts there and if you have your bachelor's you start at 61,000 and move up to nearly 100k in a short few years...

Of course any place that is more desirable to live will cost more, no one is wanting to move to Wyoming, Oklahoma, etc..

Although one place that I have been considering moving to is Texas especially the DFW. For some reason cost of living is very cheap there and I would think that state would have a lot to offer as well.

Wow, you have to be kidding me, LAPD raises are ridiculous then. When I moved here just 1.5 years ago, not even that long, LAPD was starting salary $48,500 without a degree roughly, and $50,000 with a degree. Then I saw it went up to like $52,000 starting without a degree. Now it's up again?! Nice...

I guess if directing doesn't work out I should do LAPD. I always thought that'd be fun, and I have no criminal record, only one speeding ticket, own a Glock 9mm and can use it, and have two black belts and a philosophy major (with a lot of focus on philosophy of law, philosophy of politics, etc.), so heck I'd be a great potential candidate

[ebuch]

Originally Posted by KnoxTown

We have those in LA too, except, no yard .

Yeah, every city has its good and bad. I'm sure Dallas and Ft Worth have there very expensive areas just like LA, and have their very bad ghettos like LA.

[ebuch]

Originally Posted by JonathanLB

Wow, you have to be kidding me, LAPD raises are ridiculous then. When I moved here just 1.5 years ago, not even that long, LAPD was starting salary $48,500 without a degree roughly, and $50,000 with a degree. Then I saw it went up to like $52,000 starting without a degree. Now it's up again?! Nice...

I guess if directing doesn't work out I should do LAPD. I always thought that'd be fun, and I have no criminal record, only one speeding ticket, own a Glock 9mm and can use it, and have two black belts and a philosophy major (with a lot of focus on philosophy of law, philosophy of politics, etc.), so heck I'd be a great potential candidate

Go for it, thats what I'm coming to LA for.

[JonathanLB]

That's tight. Yeah we have several officers living in my condo building. I think we have a few detectives, one officer, and I hear but am not sure that we have an FBI agent here.

[ebuch]

Recommend any places that I should look at renting around? I'll be able to afford anywhere from 1200-2000 a month, just want a decent area. I've been looking into Downtown, Koreatown, and Long Beach areas...

[KnoxTown]

Originally Posted by ebuch

Recommend any places that I should look at renting around? I'll be able to afford anywhere from 1200-2000 a month, just want a decent area. I've been looking into Downtown, Koreatown, and Long Beach areas...

For 2000, you can live pretty much anywhere you want.

[ebuch]

Thats good news to hear... Where you would you think the best place to be single is? Good social life, restuarants, bars, etc etc..

[JonathanLB]

I like living downtown a lot honestly. I have really cool neighbors, I get to interact with them more than I would if I lived in the 'burbs, for instance, because it's a condo building so you see more people. It's a really cool community, along with the other condos in the area, and I'm stoked about all of the restaurants going in near us. I walked to a Clippers-Blazers game tonight (go Blazers! hehe) with my friend, which is awesome, and the ESPN Zone is going in soon, plus a bunch of restaurants at L.A. Live, etc. They are trying to make this area of Los Angeles, the South Park district, the entertainment capitol of the entertainment capitol of the world. It's been nicknamed "Times Square West." In another year we get our 16 screen Regal multiplex, which is going to be the flagship of the largest cinema chain in the world -- Regal Cinemas. They'll have red carpet premieres, etc. If you like people watching we have the Emmys, Grammy's, Latin Grammy's all taking place here plus the marathons and whatnot that go right by my building and in this area. You can go to bars that are hole-in-the-wall bars like The Golden Gopher or trendy places like Tranquility Base and The Standard's rooftop bar, also The Bonaventure, which is one of the more filmed buildings in the world. The bar at the top rotates 360 degrees to give you an amazing view of downtown Los Angeles.

I know some people will complain about the negatives -- we do have homeless people, not many in my area, but you'll see them still and it's an annoyance; the area isn't really finished with its transformation yet, there are cranes up putting new condos in regularly and other buildings; rents are high. But overall it's fantastic for people who don't like having to drive too much, not just if you work downtown but I mean for your leisure activities. A salon and Starbucks are at the bottom of my building, arguably the best grocery store in Los Angeles is 3 blocks away (there are only 25 Ralph's Fresh Fare stores in California, the one downtown is open 21 hours a day and has a great selection of anything you could want), Staples, again arguably the greatest sports destination in the United States (no other stadium houses this many professional franchises that I know of; we have 5), is just blocks away, ESPN's West Coast headquarters will be here by year's end, etc. It's a fantastic and very social place to live. But of course, you can hole up in your condo as I do a lot of times and just get work done. When I want to go out, though, the city is at my doorstep.

Suburban living may be for some people. It isn't for me. Even though I'm not a super social person, and I like my peace and quiet, I really enjoy living in the city where I can walk conveniently to so many places, get groceries delivered to me by Vons, dry cleaning picked up by a local company, pizza delivered in minutes, but I can walk to bars whenever I feel like it, and I love the sense of excitement that my area is improving more rapidly than any other in Los Angeles. You can make an argument for why this place or that is way better than downtown, I'm sure. But you can't argue that any place is getting better, bigger, and more fun at a more rapid pace than where I live. The boom here has slowed, but unlike most places it hasn't turned to bust. We're still bustling and residents are still moving in because it's just a great place to live.

[ebuch]

Awesome info, that definitely sounds like something I'm looking for. That area sounds like NYC abit. What condos/apartments would you recommend looking into in the downtown area?

[ITChick]

Originally Posted by lalife

You are WAY OFF on the Midwest home prices. The whole Midwest isn't pudunk USA. Yes, in Podunk where there aren't any jobs, houses are @$55-$85k. BY NO MEANS, are those 'average' prices for decent Midwest cities. I live in Minneapolis and the average home price is about $150- $200,000 for a good starter home in a nice area. Sure there are houses here for $50,000, however those houses are in crack neighborhoods with bullets a flying.

Stop painting the whole Midwest as some backwards place. That is just your view. People are living prosperous lives here, even with the miserable weather. They are inside working their jobs.

Thanks for posting that! I'm in Chicago and even the West Side, with the crack houses surrounding it, you can't find a property for under $200K, unless it's half burnt out and then it would be around $150K. Where I live, you can't find a home under $300K either and I'm not anywhere near Downtown. Not all of the Midwest is a shanty town, flyover place and those $50k homes are most likely found in towns with no jobs and not much else surrounding it except maybe a Super Walmart. I've seen some of those properties and I would never want to live in those areas so saying the Midwest is full of $50K homes is really misleading.