Hows Monterey Park? (Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco: apartments, insurance, condos)

[JuanitoPasteles44]

Hello everyone, I currently live in San Francisco and am becoming a little sick of all the fake liberals and wealthy upperclass who have hijacked my home town, anyway being that Ive lived here almost my whole life how would a transition to Monterey park be?

The reason I choose Monterey Park is because of the high asian population (which i am comfortable with) and because it seems to be within near proximity to the heart of LA, being raised in a high density city I like having a major urban center near by.

however I am concerned with a few things about the area, dispite that it seems close on a map to LA Im sure it would be a long walk given that LA area is kinda oriented toward cars. So Im not sure this is such a good thing for me, also does it feel like the suburbs? does it have horrible public transit? does nobody walk at all? is it a wealthy area or more middle class? is housing affordable? how about diversity (not just asians) or crime?

these are my concerns with the LA area. Also what goes down in LA?, where do people hang out? I hear downtown is not the hotspot for activity so where is? anyway Im also looking NYC and Flushing,Queens seems to be another alternative how do these areas compare for those who know, any info would be usefull.

[Mr. Mysterious]

Base from my observations, eventhough Monterey Park is full of Asians, Asians in that area don't like other Asians .

Vietnamese, Chinese, Taiwanesse, Filipinos, Thai, Cambodians, Japanesse, Laotian, Indonessians, don't like to be associated with each other.

We'll its L.A. I used live in a predominantly black neighborhood, and even us don't like each other (Crips and Bloods).

Just kidding... So anywho,

You can take a glimpse at wiki to see the median income of that area and the social make up...In general terms.

[ubringliten]

Monterey Park is about 8 miles from downtown LA. The Asians there are not like the Asians in the SF Bay Area. They are more 1st generation Asians or immigrants. It's like going to Hong Kong or China. Food is ridiculously cheap and very good. It doesn't feel like a suburb at all, more like urban. MP is the closest best place to live east of LA. It's definitely a middle class. The rich people that work in MP live in Arcadia or San Marino. It is relatively safe to walk the streets at night. Housing is pretty expensive, for example, a small 3 bedroom house is in the $500-700K.

If you want Asian experience, Monterey Park/San Gabriel Valley is the place to go. Flushing is very dirty and small compared to MP. The diversity there as well as the Asian amenities are no comparison to MP. Remember MP is not alone in having the Asians, there's Rosemead, San Gabriel, Alhambra, Arcadia that border MP, thus making the area very diverse and huge for an Asian community. Then there's Roland Heights, Hacienda Heights, Diamond Bar, West Covina that are 10 miles east of San Gabriel Valley that are filled with Asians. And these are all cities, not neighborhoods. Whereas Flushing is the only place (maybe Bayside, besides Chinatown) that have a densely populated Asian community.

[EscapeCalifornia]

I only go to Monterey Park for the great dim sum, but it looks like a nice enough place. I'd say its much more suburban than urban, having lots of strip malls, tract houses, and low rise condos and apartments. It definitely looks like the kind of you'll want a car but that applies to most of SoCal. You're not going to walk from Monterey Park to downtown LA or Hollywood and I don't think I'd take the bus there either since you'd be cutting right through East LA to get there. I believe most of Asians residents are Mandarin speaking Chinese and Taiwanese.

[JuanitoPasteles44]

the transportation thing is a big deal for me, i mean i got a car but id rather take the bus, Flushing only appeals to me more because of subway and the urban enviornment. However I have been to monterey park i think once but dont remember to much. Im looking mainly for a middle class neighborhood with a moderate to high asian population in an dense urban enviornment with at least decent public transit. Are there any other places in the LA area that fit this description?

I know alot of people think that urban means high population, i mean rather "feels" urban like alot people walking, dense building, close by to transportation, stores etc. I've been to the LA area many times and often have seen alot of suburban row houses, strip malls, and freeway, im just wondering if there are anyplaces in LA that have an easy coast feel? mabye older sections of the city? i only ask because NYC is a long way to move to and if I can stay in California and still get that lifestyle i'd like to.

[the one]

you will need a car. MP is not very urban. it has some developments, but as a pedestrian or walkable area it fails. other close by areas that are a bit more walkable (or have a main street) are alhambra, and pasadena. alhmbra also has an asian population. pasadena is very mixed. MP is ok, but its not urban. it has some urban feel to it. i would say it is as urban as st francis wood. its nice enough to live in, but if you want to grab a bite to eat, good luck. it all depends on where you en up living. but you will most def need a car.

if you want an urban asian feel. check out korea town. or j town as well. the only problem is that j town is getting more and more expensive. one issue with koreatown can be the parking and the crime. but thats closer to the southern part of the district. to feel urban, you pretty much have to stay away from the outlying cities. stay closer to downtown LA and start moving out from there. the further east you go, the more suburban it feels.

[JuanitoPasteles44]

thanks i'll definatley look into koreatown, if monterey park is like st. francis wood then i'll have to steer clear of that place.

[vantiera]

I live in Monterey Park. It's definitely not the greatest place in the world but I like it. People keep to themselves and are pretty harmless (except in a car..). Monterey Park has a red flag with auto insurance companies so keep that in mind. I wouldn't use public transportation, it just sucks anywhere in Los Angeles. Homes are not cheap but are much cheaper compared to Arcadia or San Marino. Good luck to you

[mini_cute]

True that there are lots of Asians in MP, and that part of SGV. I'd say MP is a hybrid between urban and suburban. According to your definition of urban, it would lean more on suburban. If you wanted to get to downtown LA you would need to drive. It would take you about 20-30 minutes to get to downtown LA when there's no traffic. But, depending on where you live in MP, you're likely to live walking distance to many restaurants and groceries. MP, and the whole "Asian Oasis" mostly consists of Asian family owned restaurants & businesses, boba shops, supermarkets, Vietnamese sandwich shops, etc. However, to call it completely a suburban area is misleading as it does not consist that much of strip malls with big box retailiers. In fact, the Asian owned business have been slowly driving out large American chains. For instance, Vons located on Valley Blvd. was driven out and now there is an Asian supermarket called 168 in its place. Target was driven out many years back, and now there is an Asian supermarket/superstore in its place. The buildings don't get much higher than 5 floors or so. But it is fairly dense there... not to the level of SF, but more dense than a usual suburb. Also, many restaurants stay open late so you can find easily find a place to eat at 2 AM. Like ubringliten mentioned earlier, the Asian food is very inexpensive and according to Asian tastes, has some of the best Asian restaurants in nation. New businesses, and Asian plazas are being built and opened all the time and there will always be a new restaurants to try. I would say MP and the surrounding cities are like a "Little Hong Kong" and I think you won't miss out on cultural experiences and stimulation. Living in that area, if you don't mind living near lots of Asians and new immigrants (Asian & Mexican) is a very good situation as it is centrally located and you can commute to LA in a short amount of time but not have to actually live within the city of LA. Most places in LA city, if not on the west side, are dangerous and run down, though the city is trying to change that with the downtown high rise residential projects. Traffic is horrible, on weekends and could occur at any hour, so that would be a major drawback. To answer your question about where people hang out, I'd say that most people who live in LA aren't very active meaning they don't go biking or rock climbing. They like to go to the various malls (there are some really nice ones all around LA and OC counties), like to drive and mod fancy luxury cars if they can afford it, a few are into the anime scene, clubbing on the weekends in Hollywood, Santa Monica, or downtown. Music concerts are great in LA as lots of bands come there to play or originate from LA. They also watch movies and dine out a lot. They head to the beaches in LA or OC. People tend to be fashion concious and are willing to spend lots of money to improve their image. Angelenos also love to visit Vegas often and stay there for a weekend. Lots of people with an artistic bent being either aspiring actors/actresses, artists and designers. They are also festive and outgoing. During the 4th of July, they start lighting fireworks a week before, and keep going for even a week or 2 after. Traffic and smog are two of the biggest drawbacks.

Since you are trying to find something urban and still stay in California, check out downtown San Diego and some of the other neighborhoods like Little Italy, Old Town and Hillcrest. Downtown SD has been gentrifying and has lots of newly built luxury residential high rises. Although not as populous as LA, yet, you can at least see people walking around downtown, tourists and people who live and work there. Public transportation in SD is better than LA as they have the trolley which runs through downtown SD and many other parts of San Diego. There are parts of San Diego city which are very, very suburban (i.e. North County) but the downtown areas are definitly urban according to your definition. Soon after moving to SD from NYC, I went to downtown with a friend and we had to take the taxi from Gaslamp to East Village and I thought to myself how much it reminded me of NYC but with less people.

[JuanitoPasteles44]

hey thanks for all the advice, i got a decent visual of Monterey Park, sounds something like the Sunset only with worse public transportation.