Moving to Los Angeles from San Francisco...early planning stages, need help... (Pasadena: school, live)

[ablau]

Originally Posted by sfpycroft

How bad IS the roach problem? Are they *really* everywhere? ...

A friend told me there is no parking in LA, is this true? We are moving from San Francisco, where there is REALLY no parking (which is why we are just now buying a car), so was my friend just exaggerating?

Any help on these two questions will be greatly appreciated!

I've never had roaches in any of my apartments. Suppose it depends on the neighborhood, though.

Parking in LA in general is much easier than SF. (I lived in SF for a year, so have a good basis of comparison). If you're going out to Hollywood on a weekend, you might need to search a bit or pay for valet/parking lot. Anything in a more suburb-y area, you won't have a problem with. Downtown LA has expensive parking but it's still probably at least $5-10 cheaper a day than Downtown SF.

I'd say parking in Hollywood on the weekend = parking in the Castro on the weekend. I haven't seen any places in LA as crazy as trying to park in SF's FiDi!

Feel free to PM me if you have more questions!

[ablau]

Oh yeah, I should also mention... people talk about crazy LA drivers, but if you're coming from SF, you can handle ANYTHING! Hahaha.

Drivers in LA, esp when there's traffic, tend to be fast and discourteous (as a whole), so you'll have to get used to forcing your way into lanes sometimes if some $%&$(@#&%($% won't let you over. But like I said, LA seemed like a breeze after coming from SF drivers.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by ablau

I've never had roaches in any of my apartments. Suppose it depends on the neighborhood, though.

I had plenty of roach problems in L.A., and you can find them in ALL neighborhoods.

Parking in LA in general is much easier than SF. (I lived in SF for a year, so have a good basis of comparison).

I'm living there now so I have a basis of comparison as well. To say L.A.'s parking is better than S.F.'s isn't saying much.

If you're going out to Hollywood on a weekend, you might need to search a bit or pay for valet/parking lot. Anything in a more suburb-y area, you won't have a problem with.

The Westside, anyone? (The only exceptions to the Westside's lack of parking being Culver City and Mar Vista.)

Downtown LA has expensive parking but it's still probably at least $5-10 cheaper a day than Downtown SF.

I'd say parking in Hollywood on the weekend = parking in the Castro on the weekend. I haven't seen any places in LA as crazy as trying to park in SF's FiDi!

How about Venice on summer weekends? Very comparable.

[ablau]

Majoun, where in the Westside do you mean specifically?
Also have never been to the Venice area so can't compare on that.

It's true that both LA and SF have pretty bad parking but don't you agree that LA is just a tad easier? Everyone else on this thread seems to feel that way...

[majoun]

Originally Posted by ablau

Majoun, where in the Westside do you mean specifically?

Everywhere except for Culver City and Mar Vista.

The worst of the worst: VENICE, SUNSET STRIP, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Westwood, Brentwood. (The absolute worst being in caps. BH, WeHo and SM have very strict parking enforcement and are almost entirely permit parking.)

Also have never been to the Venice area so can't compare on that.

On summer weekends, it's as bad as anything in SF. During the winter and on rainy days, the parking's horrible but better than SF. However, permit parking is going to be instituted in Venice soon, which will make parking there even during the off season as bad as the Castro or Haight...

It's true that both LA and SF have pretty bad parking but don't you agree that LA is just a tad easier? Everyone else on this thread seems to feel that way...

I agree L.A. is slightly easier AS A WHOLE.

[Todd.LA]

Originally Posted by majoun

Everywhere except for Culver City and Mar Vista.

The worst of the worst: VENICE, SUNSET STRIP, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Westwood, Brentwood. (The absolute worst being in caps. BH, WeHo and SM have very strict parking enforcement and are almost entirely permit parking.)

WeHo is bad if you're a visitor, but if you're a resident it's fine (all of that permit parking means lots of space for those of us with permits). I never have to walk more than a block from where I park to my apartment, usually much less than a block. Do read the signs carefully, though, as the parking enforcement here is strict and frequent.

[uptown_urbanist]

Both the house and the apartment we rented dated to the 1920s, and we never had roaches (the house had ants for a bit). I think it's hit or miss, but I don't think it's a huge problem.

[yukiko11]

The reason most people don't see roaches is that they are nocturnal creatures. If you live in an apt building chances are there are roaches. If your neighbors are not so neat it can be worse. The best way to fight them is to use silicone to seal around all the wall and floor moldings, light switch plates, light fixture plates and put flanges and sealer on all pipes etc that come through the wall. Keep anything edible in lidded containers. The roaches will go next door.

[timelesschild]

Didn't you say that you hadn't lived in LA for 18 years? No offense but... I would not presume to advise someone about a city where I had lived 18 years ago.

[werewolf34]

I would never buy a used Jetta or Volvo (unless you like car repair)...more likely to be a problem than the roaches...lol