Any Duers live/work in Los Angeles County?..

[Hawaii Hiker]

At some point, I may move to LA....Just wondering if there are any DUers who live /work in Century City, WH, Mid-Wilshire, downtown LA, San Fernando Valley, and can shed any info on living there....

I've been to LA many times, but only as tourist, much different living there....Hey, you have two great bargain eateries - In N Out Burger, and the Soup Plantation!...

thank you

[stopbush]

1. I live in Orange County. Does that count?

[Hawaii Hiker]

2. Well, you get 1/2 point

its close enough...Though politically speaking, its worlds apart....The OC is a red dot in a blue sea...

I have a friend in Brea, so I've been there...

[stopbush]

3. OC is getting purple these days.

It's no longer a guaranteed R stronghold.

[underahedgerow]

4. I lived in the Weho, Baja Beverly Hills, Fairfax district, Hancock Park areas for

nearly 25 years. It was great then. Quite safe, a gazillion restaurants and shops. Can't get anywhere by bus or public transport, you must have a car. Rents are high, internet/cable is high. Car insurance is high for those zips due to car thefts.

You couldn't have given me a free house in the San Fernando valley. So much depends on your commute and where your job is. If you're working in the West LA or Hollywood areas, there are precisely 2-3 ways to get over that hill, and in LA, rush hour is from 6am until 4:30 pm, then from 4:31 pm until 1:00am.

Just sayin'.

Weho is very, very congested, rents are very high, even with rent control. Best prices are Baja Beverly Hills and south of Olympic. Culver City near the studios is still an excellent value, if you can find anything, but south of the studios, it gets a wee bit questionable.

[Hawaii Hiker]

6. Thanks underahedgerow

I've never heard of the area that's referred as "BAJA Beverly Hills"...Where is that?...

I also found out rent control only pertains to buildings built before 1978....

I was thinking Studio City, Universal City might not be too bad, no?......

[KamaAina]

5. Try the California group

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1040

[denbot]

7. I live in the southbay area

Downtown is in the midst of gentrification, but is quite dicey along with the hip loft. The best to be said about it is that it's centrally located with the caveat of it being ground zero for traffic.

One neighborhood you may want to consider is just southwest of Culver City known as Mar Vista, relatively inexpensive, next to Venice Beach, LAX, the West Los Angeles area, and the 405/10 freeways.

If you don't drive, learn, and be ready to buy a car on arrival if you don't have one already.

Good luck, and tell everyone back home "stay away, this place sucks", especially if you don't think so..

[IcyPeas]

8. Sherman Oaks

is where I live (for the past 24 years). I have worked both downtown LA and in Century City. It is as underahedgerow says. Your commute to work is something to consider. I drive to Century City and it is 10 miles door to door; it can take 45 minutes to 90 minutes. I never take the freeway (405) because that's worse.

I like living in Sherman Oaks. It's right next door to Studio City. Everything is nearby. It has more space that the west side. There are rent controlled buildings that are very nice so don't knock it. There's also a lot of newer buildings. They have been demolishing older ranch style houses that were once very prominent in the Valley and replacing that land with 3 or 4 story apartments/condos. You'll be doing a lot of driving - there's no avoiding it (unless you live near one of the mass transit stations). A lot of the apartments buildings have parking. The Valley is hotter that the west side too. The older buildings might have a pool too.

They are converting old buildings in downtown l.a. (dtla) into lofts and condos. dtla is better than it used to be, but I wouldn't want to live there. It still pretty much empties out at 5:30 although they are trying to have more events down there in the evening now... outdoor concerts etc., late night for museums etc. Even some supermarkets have opened there like Whole Foods. There are the districts in dtla like the garment district, jewelry district, flower market... these are all interesting places to check out. I don't want to mention it but parts of downtown do have a huge homeless population that turns a lot of people off.

So it just depends on your lifestyle, your income, your commute...