NY to LA (best city, best)

[NYmama]

Hey tiredofbeinginside, I should say that I loved Hoboken too, and at the time loved walking to the many bars!!! Santa Monica isn't like that--not many bars to speak of. But my life had changed considerably by the time I got to SM--no more bar-hopping, got married, then few years later had a baby there.... It's a great place for couples and families especially, I think. You can walk to absolutely everything you need there. PM me if you ever care to hear more about SM.

Someone else will have to address the drive to downtown from SM. My neighbor did it all the time. It's not far but I don't know how bad the traffic is and that's key. Long Beach is really quite far. Manhattan Beach is closer and a great place, even more Hoboken-like (dense and pricey housing and loads of restaurants and bars and shops, right on the beach) tho not a hop, skip and a jump to downtown LA; it's pretty far. Anyway, check out Santa Monica: the Third Street Promenade, Montana Avenue, Main Street, the park along the cliffs there, El Cholo restaurant on Wilshire Blvd. Note you may be surprised to see many homeless folks in SM, one of the wealthiest towns in the country. Just so you know. It is a great place and was tough to leave!

[morefromcali]

Hi,

The commute from Santa Monica downtown is comparable to a little easier than Long Beach to downtown. So if that is why you are moving to Long Beach over Santa Monica, then that might not be the best reason

I agree with NYmama that Santa Monica is lovely -- although I'm not sure when she moved and traffic is getting tougher in the Santa Monica area. I no longer live in Santa Monica, but I'm still on the westside and I drive into Santa Monica several times a week. It can take 20-30 minutes to navigate a few miles on the city streets during the week now (a huge change over the last few years) and the Third Street Promenade is sadly suffering. Not to pan this area at all, it is still lovely and quite walkable -- it's just that if you do need to drive it's starting to get the same LAitis as the rest of the Westside

Santa Monica schools also continue to be quite good, so that shouldn't be so much of a concern either! Housing on the other hand . . .

[tired of being inside]

Thanks, NYmama and morefromcali - I actually chose Long Beach as a starting point because 1) my wife has a good friend who lives in Signal Hill so that could ease the transistion and 2) I am going to live within a block or two of the Blue Line, whose Pico stop drops me off two blocks from my office on S Olive St. So the drive to downtown from there isn't a factor. What is a factor is when I need to see clients and leave from home, I will drive and they are basically all over LA county, as far flung as Thousand Oaks, Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Aliso Viejo (the OC, I guess). But the idea of an ubran beach town is really appealing, combing two of my favorite living envrionments. So SM, from what I've heard from numerous folks on this forum, is a great choice. I'm hoping LB turns out nicely too.

Given my work situation, having to commute to downtown LA just twice a week, work at home and see clients all over the rest, and what we're looking for in a place to live (outside lifestyle, walkability, beach, decent for kids) do you think either town is better than the other? Thanks again!

[Amyluv77]

Let me tell you like this, Santa Monica is a much better environment than Long Beach. Sure there are good things about LB, but overall SM is better.

Long Beach from my experience has a few areas that are infested with gangs. I say from my experience because about a year ago, i went to the aquarium down there, and afterwards, my friend and I went crusing. It was a nice summer night, and being that we were naive about the area, we ended up in a bad area of Long Beach... So there we were, two white girls, in the middle of a area where the majority of the people looked like street thugs.

My gas tank was in a need of a fill up, and when I stopped for gas, believe me I was petrified. I had no idea Long Beach had Crips. Some guy walked up to me and tried to get my phone#. He flashed his gang sign, and told me he was an Insane, East-side Long Beach Crip (or something stupid like that).

I nervously smiled, finished pumping my gas, as he continued talking to me. But as soon as I finished pumping gas, I hopped in my car and pulled off about 60 mph...

In SM, I've never ran into any kind of trouble. It's safe to live and raise a family. Make a wise decision.

[tired of being inside]

Amyluv77 - wow, pretty scary story, and not too encouraging. Well, it's too late for me at this point, I've signed the lease and arranged for the movers to our new downtown loft. Hopefully, we'll be okay for the at least nine months we will be there. Send positive vibes our way...

[Amyluv77]

Originally Posted by tired of being inside

Amyluv77 - wow, pretty scary story, and not too encouraging. Well, it's too late for me at this point, I've signed the lease and arranged for the movers to our new downtown loft. Hopefully, we'll be okay for the at least nine months we will be there. Send positive vibes our way...

Don't worry too much... i found out that the bad areas to stay away from are mostly on the east-side of Long Beach, other than that -- you and your family will be fine... I was just stating my story to let you know that bad areas does exist in LB.

Positive vibes are on their way ~~~~~~~>

[tired of being inside]

I've recently heard that too, though it's not really geographically the eastside, see Eastside, Long Beach, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
We are slated to be about three blocks south of the northern most point of this "2nd Eastside", so I appreciate those positive vibes!

[marilyn220]

A little FYI about the Blue Line, the worst of the worst travel on that line into the city. It crosses Watts and every ghetto known to man. How do I know this? Because I ride the redline and many of the people who transfer from the BLUE LINE to the RED LINE train (at 7th street & Metro) are the LOUDEST, ROWDIEST BUNCH OF PEOPLE I HAVE EVER SEEN!!! It's like they were let out of a cage or something and finally got a taste of freedom. They act the total fool, as you will see when you begin riding the Blue Line.

[mf123]

Awesome post ShellinCa!

So, it looks like I will be receiving a job offer in downtown LA. After reading many posts, obviously its better to live closer to work, however I definitely see myself as a westside gal. Would Bev Hills have decent options and not a horrendous commute to DT? Would SM still be ok to live...if I just have to hop on the 10 to get to DT is it horrendous in the a.m.?

Originally Posted by shellinca

I've found this thread to be quite interesting since I am also a professional woman in my 30s who actually made the move from NYC to LA just a few months ago in January 07. I grew up in Brooklyn, lived in the DC area for a while for grad school/work, moved back to NY, then finally decided that I'd had enough and was ready for the laidback lifestyle of the West Coast.

I don't want to participate in the LA bashing because honestly, there are some things I really like about living here - the beach, the mountains, hiking trails, bike paths, warm weather year-round. But at the same time, I feel like I've traded one set of headaches for another.

In NY, I was tired of the dirt and the noise, my tiny apartment with no amenities, the high cost of living, not being able to have a car, to name just a few... In LA, my place is much bigger and has features unheard of in NY - washer/dryer, dishwasher, free gym, swimming pool - but it's not exactly cheap. Granted, its a good $550 less than I was paying in NY, but my car payments, insurance and gas more than make up the difference.

My biggest issue with LA so far has been the traffic, which is absolutely horrendous. NY has traffic too, but in my opinion, if you're stupid enough to drive into the city on a weekday, then you deserve to get stuck in traffic. In LA, you don't have a choice. Public transportation is woefully inadequate and so you will be completely dependent on your car. I avoid the freeways whenever possible and rely on surface roads, but those are clogged as well. It's extremely frustrating when it takes 30 minutes to drive just a couple of miles. Perhaps more annoying are the traffic jams I've encountered at 9:30 on a Saturday morning. A lot of people view the traffic as a trade-off and are perfectly willing to deal with it in exchange for a living in a place that's warm and sunny all the time. But as a New Yorker who's used to being able to walk or take the subway, the traffic can be unbearable.

I've also found it difficult to meet people here, but not because there's anything wrong with the people here. True, I've met some really shallow and pretentious people, but let's be honest - NY has its fair share of those too. The bigger problem I find is that LA is so large and spread out and there isn't really a center. People here work in a variety of different areas throughout the metropolitan area and if you work on the West Side and have a friend who works in Burbank or Hollywood, it can be difficult to try and meet up. In NY, where nearly everyone works in Manhattan, I find it much easier to meet up with friends after work for dinner and drinks. Whereas here, I find myself not wanting to stray too far from home or work because I don't want to deal with traffic and looking for parking.

So, my point is, there's really no right or wrong answer. One city is not better than the other. NY & LA both have a lot of good and a lot of bad. Ultimately, you need to decide for yourself what's most important to you and which of the bad things you're most willing to tolerate.

[Cheektowaga_Chester]

Originally Posted by shellinca

I am also a professional woman in my 30s who actually made the move from NYC to LA

My biggest issue with LA so far has been the traffic

I wonder why the traffic is so bad.