| Author |
Message |
    
composerjohn
Citizen
Username: Composerjohn
Post Number: 837
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 4:25 pm: | 
|
I've been given an amazing opportunity to work with a famous television composer. I haven't said yes yet, but I think I would be a mistake to pass it up. Ideally he wants me to start in September.
So..... my wife and I (and son) are now considering moving to LA. I really know nothing about the city and the surronding towns. We want to find a place that has good schools and is similar to our area with regards to the arts and diversity (does it even exist???). We want a good, safe neighborhood. I have no idea about costs - is it more expensive than here?
Suggestions? Help! |
Judi W.
Citizen
Username: Judiwein
Post Number: 34
Registered: 7-2005
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 4:31 pm: |
|
Los Angeles is enormous - can you be more specific about which part of LA you'd be working? |
composerjohn
Citizen
Username: Composerjohn
Post Number: 838
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 4:32 pm: |
|
Burbank. There's also some studios in Woodland Hills area. |
srg227
Citizen
Username: Srg227
Post Number: 42
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 5:00 pm: |
|
if you have an unlimited housing budget, you'll have no problem at all. A house in MA/SO that sells for $500,000 here probably goes for double that in a decent neighborhood in L.A.
try any of the major realtor sites - REMAX, Weichert, whatever - for Los Angeles listings. Major sticker shock. |
meluga
Citizen
Username: Meluga
Post Number: 81
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 5:17 pm: |
|
Get on realtor.com and check it out by town and zip. Good Luck! |
Sherri De Rose
Citizen
Username: Honeydo
Post Number: 128
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 5:30 pm: |
|
We met a couple who moved here from LA. (LA the city not in the suburbs, I think)
and was quite surprised when they said the crime rate their was exhorbitant. SHe made it sound like there were drive by shootings on a regular basis in the city.
Don't know what the suburbs are like but as srg227 says, prices are crazy there.
But people love the weather. However, if you are a Northeastern personality you will go crazy there with their slow and lackadasical ways. |
Soparents
Citizen
Username: Soparents
Post Number: 220
Registered: 5-2005
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 7:19 pm: |
|
I have a friend who moved here from LA and was in the film industry - I will try and speak to her this weekend and let her know about your post. If she gives me any info I will post it for you. |
eliz
Supporter
Username: Eliz
Post Number: 1405
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 8:11 pm: |
|
I know it is totally not cool on the east coast to say this but... I love LA and would move in a second if I had the opportunity. I travel there several times a year for business and at first I hated it but I have come around.
From my LA friends I do know that in many areas the public schools suck and most people opt for private. There are relocation specialists and I would ask your prospective employer to hook you up with someone who can find out what you want in a neighborhood, what you can pay for housing and direct you in specific areas.
Good luck - sounds like a great opportunity. |
Da Lat
Citizen
Username: Sidrn
Post Number: 191
Registered: 6-2005
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 9:48 pm: |
|
composer,
I lived in LA for 8 years, 4 of them in Van Nuys, which is right next to Burbank. My sister still lives there. LA the city is not that big but the LA Area is huge. However, the lifestyle there is very laid back. Weather is nice about 11 months out of the year. Food is good and cheap, especially if you like Asian or Mexican.
Be forwarned, there is no culture in the sense of NYC or even NJ. Put it this way, people there generally don't look for museums. Classical music is a novelty. Everything is diluted. It mall heaven down there. Having said that, I loved my time in LA, if nothing else for the food and beach and weather.
Burbank is an OK area. The high school was not very good when I was there. I don't know if it has changed. If they pay you enough to live in neighborring towns like Encino, Sherman Oaks or even Northridge, I would consider it. Woodland Hills is nice too, but you'll be sitting in traffic for hours depending on the time you have to get to work. The 101 can be jammed up even on a Sat. night. There is no mass transit if you don't like to drive and Angelenos make NYC cab drivers look like grannies in Florida.
This sound like a good opportunity, though. My suggestion is before you move there lock stock and barrel, get a one bedroom in Studio City and try things for a few months. Have your family come out for long weekends to see if they like the lifestyle. Living in LA is definitely not the same as just visiting. If they like it, then move. If not, you would not have uprooted yourself. My guess is that you will all either love it or will want nothing to do with. There is usually no middle ground.
If you want more info, PL me. Otherwise, good luck and hang ten, Dude!
|
Da Lat
Citizen
Username: Sidrn
Post Number: 192
Registered: 6-2005
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 10:05 pm: |
|
composer,
I lived in LA for 8 years, 4 of them in Van Nuys, which is right next to Burbank. My sister still lives there. LA the city is not that big but the LA Area is huge. However, the lifestyle there is very laid back. Weather is nice about 11 months out of the year. Food is good and cheap, especially if you like Asian or Mexican.
Be forwarned, there is no culture in the sense of NYC or even NJ. Put it this way, people there generally don't look for museums. Classical music is a novelty. Everything is diluted. It mall heaven down there. Having said that, I loved my time in LA, if nothing else for the food and beach and weather.
Burbank is an OK area. The high school was not very good when I was there. I don't know if it has changed. If they pay you enough to live in neighborring towns like Encino, Sherman Oaks or even Northridge, I would consider it. Woodland Hills is nice too, but you'll be sitting in traffic for hours depending on the time you have to get to work. The 101 can be jammed up even on a Sat. night. There is no mass transit if you don't like to drive and Angelenos make NYC cab drivers look like grannies in Florida.
This sound like a good opportunity, though. My suggestion is before you move there lock stock and barrel, get a one bedroom in Studio City and try things for a few months. Have your family come out for long weekends to see if they like the lifestyle. Living in LA is definitely not the same as just visiting. If they like it, then move. If not, you would not have uprooted yourself. My guess is that you will all either love it or will want nothing to do with. There is usually no middle ground.
If you want more info, PL me. Otherwise, good luck and hang ten, Dude!
|
marken
Citizen
Username: Marken
Post Number: 253
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 11:29 pm: |
|
Having grown up in LA and watched it change on my periodic visits since I left 12 years ago, I can't not comment on this topic.
First, the lay of the land.......If you look at a political map of the city of Los Angeles (like this one: http://www.laalmanac.com/LA/lamap2.htm) it makes absolutely no sense. The Valley (Woodland hills, Studio City) are part of LA, but Burbank is not. It has it's own mayor, police, school system, etc. You won't find these community names on all maps, but people refer to them as though they are individual towns, and so does the post office.
Then, the driving......You have to love to drive everywhere, or be willing to learn to love to drive. Absolutely nothing is in walking distance from anywhere. People don't think twice about driving an hour to go to a restaurant. Granted -- that hour may be a place only 20 miles away, but it still takes an hour. It is a driving culture, you can leave your garage, pick up your dry cleaning, your prescriptions, some dry groceries and soda, grab a burger, get some cash and go back to your garage without ever leaving your car. Sure, you might be able to do that here too, but it's so easy in LA. My buddy worked across the street from his apartment and he drove to work so he could drive to lunch. That's pretty common. And people also judge you by the car you drive, far more than in the Northeast.
Diversity ..... If you want diversity near the locations you mention, the best areas in general would be Hollywood, Los Feliz, Tujunga, Pasadena, or Korea Town. You can find artists, musicians, day laborers, bankers, mall rats, goth kids and gangs in each of these areas.
Arts ..... But if you want arts/culture, you won't find much in those same areas, and you won't find concentrations of culture for that matter. In the past, LA arts "culture" was strictly the film industry, and today that is still largely true. But there are many museums in West LA, and smaller ones in many suburbs, too. There are small and medium music and theatre venues in the Valley (near Studio City) on the West Side (Santa Monica), parts of Orange County. You'll probably need to drive to find what you want/like, and you'll need more patience to get around. It's more difficult than taking the 1 train from Tribeca to Lincoln center. Definitely check out http://www.laweekly.com/ to get a better idea of the arts scenes.
Schools ..... Did you mention the age of your son? I ask because the public high schools are pretty bad in general, but the elementary schools are OK. I have family who taught in the LA unifed school system for 25+ years. Back in the late 1970s proposition 13 passed which changed the formula for how property tax funding went to schools, ever since then the quality has been declining. Perhaps I am biased -- I am a product of private schools, but I do have public school friends and they're not too screwed up.
Cost of Living ..... your biggest expenses (aside from private school if you do that) will be gas and your mortgage / insurance. Remember, it's an earthquake zone. I was there for the '94 Northridge quake. Home prices are completely ridiculous, but renting an apartment is still somewhat reasonable. I saw a small ranch style fixer upper 3 BD 2 BA, on a small lot located near Pasadena sell for nearly $1 million. Definitely do some exploring with a knowledgable agent and check out www.zillow.com for the range home prices on a given street.
Da Lat has a good suggestion about trying it out in an apartment, and Studio City is half way between the 2 locations you mentioned and there are many apartments. Most people find ways to adapt to life out there, even if for a little while, because the tradeoffs are pretty good -- REAL mountains just a couple hours away, sunsets over the water every night and miles of public beaches, first run release and indie films on the same block, authentic mexican food (but really bad italian food), exotic cars and people, usually mild and sunny weather, no shoveling of driveways ....
Best of luck on the move and the research. If you want to chat about anything else or want to talk to people out there, I'm happy to get you connected. Just PL me. |
Judi W.
Citizen
Username: Judiwein
Post Number: 36
Registered: 7-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, April 22, 2006 - 2:24 pm: |
|
Some specific areas that you may want to check out that have very good schools are North Glendale, La Canada and La Crescenta. These 3 areas have a Maplewood feel with old, beautiful houses. Finding good schools in the LA area is definitely going to be your biggest challenge as well as finding affordable housing. You can go farther out into the valley (Studio City or Toluca Lake), but these areas are truly suburbia (kind of like Somerset County) and not any less expensive.
|
eliz
Supporter
Username: Eliz
Post Number: 1406
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, April 22, 2006 - 3:24 pm: |
|
The LA Times has a column that is similar to the NYT Thinking of living in... - you can read the archived columns at http://www.latimes.com/tools/career-more.jsp?section=%2Fclassified%2Frealestate% 2Fnews%2Fcommunities |
|
Closed: New threads not accepted on this page