[maryjo]

I still totally don't know what neighbourhood my apartment is in, even though I know the address and everything. It's sort of north of Culver City, south of Beverly Hills and slightly to the east of both when I look at the map...

Given the choice, in my total ignorance (I move to LA from the UK a week on Tuesday...) I like the idea of Silverlake or Echo Park as places to live. But I wasn't about to turn down the chance to live with a very cool friend as I get my head around the city.

[mouse]

oh yeah! and culver city which is art galleries. and highland park which is adorable and hip and poor, and pasadena which technically is not los angeles but is really really nice, residential and affordable and clean and pretty, and if you are willing to have that commute is a very good choice, i think.

see? lots of neighborhoods. heh.

oh, and the valley is also PORN.

[zoya]

I would pretty much agree with that statement, except that you forgot Eagle Rock, which borders Echo Park on the North and is KINDA on the east end of the valley and is newly hip and not so rich. And Burbank and Toluca Lake are in the Valley technically but have some cute areas (especially Toluca Lake village) but are much more acceptable than living in Encino or Van Nuys, which are FAR into the valley (read..further into the valley means west) Also they are near the big studios (TV and Film)

Studio City is further into the Valley and that has some nice places, as long as you are closer to Ventura Blvd, which is cute too

The valley has its downs, (hot as shit, not so hip - unless you are in toluca lake or parts of burbank) but it also has loads of parking (you are likely to get your own parking spot here at an apartment as opposed to street parking in Hollywood or Silverlake or Los Feliz) and it's cheaper than Hollywood/Los Feliz/Silverlake/ and even some of Echo Park.

(I just found this out when some of my friends recently moved to toluca lake and it's actually really cute over there and very accessible by freeway - actually faster than when I would take surface streets to see them in Hollywood!)

[mouse]

lots of malls? really? huh.

well, bklyn, that's a tough question to answer because i've found that angelenos are pretty territorial, ie very patriotic about their own neighborhoods, and while one person might love the west side, someone else might love the east, etc. etc. you get that in any city, but la has more neighborhoods than most--in fact to me it really seems like a lot of different cities, connected. driving, yes, absolutely. i've been out here without a car for a year now (finally just bought one this week) and unless you have no other choice (i didn't, i was too poor to own a car) i really would not reccommend not having one. the public transportation here SUCKS, and compared to new york's, it's basically nonexistant.

here is my (very inaccurate, biased, and full of sweeping generalizations!) vague idea of la neighborhoods:
venice is hippies. santa monica is rich and arty. beverly hills is superrich moviestarland. west west hollywood is moviestarland/clubland/gay man land, but east west hollywood is more low-key. mid-wilshire/miracle mile is kind of corporate? hollywood is a bit of a mix and i like to think of it as the switzerland of la (ie, neutral). los feliz is hipster and rich. silverlake is hipster and not as rich. echo park is hipster and poor. downtown is office buildings and lofts. chinatown, koreatown, etc--"ethnic" neighborhoods--are kind of self-explanatory. north hollywood is kind of desolate and far away. the valley is rich hippies and far away. i don't know much about marina del ray and those areas but i think they are kind of preppy?

yay! for pigeonholing!

as far as work goes, this is probably one of the best cities for getting a job. there is SO MUCH going on here that even though there are a billion people trying to get the same job, there are a billion of the same jobs. your skill and experience will help you, but i think the main thing is you have to be willing to "network", which is a total cringe term (especially for east coasties) but it is necessary. it can be looked at either as a) gross shmoozing or people helping each other out. i prefer the latter.


like any city, there is good and there is bad. but you knew that. anyway, this is a very long post, and i am going to step down off my soapbox and let some busties who've lived here for more than a year tell you more useful things.
*shame*

ETA: oh, and cost of living is what you make it. cheaper than new york, for sure. i live in echo park (hipster and poor) and i'm paying the same rent for a one-bedroom by myself that i paid in boston's hipster and poor area for a three-bedroom shared by four people.

[bklynhermit]

so, um, hi southern california busties...

this is kind of a weird and random post. i'm a filmmaker. i currently live in new york. while i haven't had too many problems finding work here so far, i'm becoming more and more aware that there might be more for me, careerwise, if i moved to the LA area. i have an on-and-off very realistic fear that sometime in the next few years the NYC film market is going to start drying up. which inevitably leads me to the fact that i need to be prepared to relocate if need be. i've been thinking about it more and more, and realizing that i have absolutely no frame of reference for what that would mean for me. which leads me to a few questions.

what's it like to live in the LA area? all my impressions come from TV. i know you have to drive everywhere, and that there are apparently a lot of malls. but i know there must be more to it (just like there's more to new york than what you'd see on Seinfeld). what are the sane, cheap, fun neighborhoods? is it possible at all to get by on public transit? what's the cost of living like compared to new york or other major US cities?

also, as a side note for anyone who might happen to work in film there, how's the job availability/security and money and all that? i know the ins and outs of that sort of thing here, and i have plenty of experience and connections on this side of the country -- i'm not a blushing young 'hopeful' trying to make it in hollywood. how hard will it be for me to find work? is every kid and their sister trying to get work as a set dresser/prop person/scenic (which is what i do), or is it more like new york where there seem to be jobs out there for those who have the skills and are willing to put in the work?

thanks for letting me hog your thread for a bit, and in advance for giving me some advice about relocating.

[mouse]

thanks zoya!
i actually did buy a car--the crappies, saddest-lookin junker, 21-year-old tiny tiny hatchback you ever saw. but it runs great and has a new stereo, and it only set me back about a month's rent. woo!

[zoya]

I would describe it as "outsider art" kind of in the vein of what you'd see at La Luz de Jesus, if that helps..

I don't know of a mechanic in that area, but if you can get over to Burbank, there is a great mechanic at Magnolia near Victory. Deeds Automotive. You can google them. Pretty much everyone I know takes their car there, even with the drive. They are super honest, really good people.

check ebay for cars also..

[mouse]

cool zoya--what kind of art?


i am not actually getting a veggie mercedes--yet. i went and looked at them a couple weeks ago and the ones i would really feel safe driving are way out of my price range, and i don't want to borrow more money from my folks and be in debt for another half a year....so!

my plan is to get a junker car to get me to and from work (hour and a half busride vs. half-hour car ride? yes please) until i save enough for a greasecar. so--i've been looking on craigslist and such, and it seems like there's a lot out there, but i want to get whatever i end up looking at checked out by an unbiased mechanic first. unfortunately since i haven't had a car here, i don't know any mechanics, so my question is does anyone know of a good mechanic in the silverlake/echo park/los feliz area (even hollywood if they're really good) they could recommend? i'd appreciate it muchly.

also, if anyone knows of a car for sale, i'm looking for a 5-speed sedan of some sort (nissan, toyota, geo prizm, whatever) under $1500. all i care about is that it runs well and gets good mileage and preferably has a tape player; i don't care if it doesn't look all that great. and i can go without a.c.

thanks!!!

[zoya]

Hey everyone - my friends are putting on this art show / opening..

also, the salon rocks if you are looking for a place to get your hair cut / styled / dyed / etc. Seriously. Felicia is a hair goddess. She's amazing.


ART SHOW @ THE DOLLHOUSE SALON!

Hosted By: Felicia Howe & T.MAGIK
When: Sunday Jul 23, 2006
at 8:00 PM
Where: The Dollhouse Salon
4452 Melbourne ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027
US
Description:
Felicia Howe & T.MAGIK

[mouse]

they are, unfortunately, kind of pricey for old cars, but they run FOREVER (some taxi driver in greece has an old mercedes turbo diesel that has FOUR MILLION MILES on it, i am not kidding. mercedes used to give out stickers for every 100k you put on your car). it wouldn't be too bad except they don't have any sort of financing set up yet so you have to pay everything up front. the cheapest, slowest, 240ds start at 3500, but they're the kind of car where unless you really slam your foot down on the gas, starting from a stop at an intersection can be borderline dangerous, they're so slow. the 300 turbo diesels are the best, but they're around 5-7k.

plus, there's about a two month waiting period unless you luck out.

the other option is to buy a mercedes (79-85 mercedes are the best to convert since the way their engine is set up they don't need the two tank conversion most other cars do, plus after 85 mercedes started using aluminum in their engines and they just don't run as well/last as long) and have lovecraft convert it for you (around $700).

the plus side is, you eventually make it all back on what you save on gas--they always have soybean oil, 5 gallon cubes for $13, and often have filtered waste veggie oil for $1.99 a gallon, not to mention if you have the time and space to filter your own oil you basically get it free.

[zoya]

wow, those cars are awesome! I wish I had known about those before I bought my car at the beginning of this year. (my first "big girl" and not shitty ass junker car, which of course, costs a ton since gas here is $3.30 a damn gallon, but I digress...)

I actually drove by there last night and they look great.... are they expensive?

[mouse]

lovecraft biofuels

i actually went and spoke with them today and looked at a beautiful raspberry-colored 240d.........*want*. i'm so torn, though, because the money i put towards a car could be used for so many other (great) things, like art supplies and stuff.......wah.

[maryjo]

Mouse, I want to hear more about that veggie oil converted car!

I won't have a car when I get to LA, and I don't know if I'll be able to afford one (on a $18,000 per school year grad student stipend while paying $700/month rent? The other grad students I know all seem to have cars but frankly I don't know how they afford to) so I'll be a bus girl too, at least to begin with. Probably it will drive me crazy after being used to London, but I'm sure I'll cope.

[mouse]

haha oh i know.

i don't have a car because i haven't been able to afford a car, but now i can, and i'm taking steps to get one of lovecraft's veggie oil converted cars (*excited*). and honestly, i'm a good driver and i have experience driving in cities and i love to drive BUT....i am TERRIFIED of getting out on those streets and freeways. maybe it's just cos i've only seen this city from the passenger seat, but la drivers are effing CRAZY.

and yeah it is absolutely a commuter culture, i think all the moreso because the differentiation between "residential" areas, "industry" areas, and "entertainment" areas is kind of sharp. one of the reasons i have to get a car now is that my new job is an hour and a half bus ride away!

but la's public transport is kind of notoriously bad. you would think, in a city this size, with this many people and this huge of a working class population, we'd have a better one. i mean, look at new york! stellar example, amazing transportation. i am so jealous.

i also think la is the kind of city where you and your neighbor can be living in two entirely different cities. i think it's the kind of place where you can sort of pick and choose, and everybody's personal la tend to be pretty different. and i like that.

[zoya]

As I read these posts, it's reminding me how everyone in LA has a different outlook on things, based on their experience.

I have had issues (the ones that mouse talks about, actually) with the bus system. Of course, I have a car, so anytime I take public transportation, it's mainly to avoid traffic or dealing with hellacious parking situations, and waiting forever makes me nuts. (don't get me wrong, I've practically lived by public transportation in other cites I've lived in, and places I've visited, but LA's makes me crazy)

I do take the subway quite frequently, for that reason - to not have to deal with traffic. However, mouse is right, it doesn't go too many places. My theory on the subway is that it exists for tourists. It pretty much only goes where tourists might want to go. (Universal Studios, Hollywood & Highland, the MOCA, Olvera St.) That said, it is incredibly handy and fast if you need to go to one of those areas.

Anyway, I just think it's interesting how we people who live in Los Angeles each have our own preferred ways of getting places that we stand by, probably more than anywhere else I've lived.

I hope this doesn't come across as trying to argue with you, mouse- that's totally not my intention - I just think it's interesting how LA is so spread out and is completely a commuter culture that we all have very different experiences getting around in the same city.

Some people get really passionate about it - don't even try asking a couple of LA natives how to drive somewhere... you'll get the which freeway vs. which freeway vs. surface streets vs. side street debate!! (I learned this the hard way the first year I lived here!) LOL!!

[mouse]

having lived in this city for a year now without a car, i'm a veteran of the bus system. it's actually quite good (i get super pissed off about the subway, mainly the fact that it simply does not go to the rich parts of town--how do their housekeepers and gardeners get there? for chrissakes), but it takes a while. the buses don't come as often as they should, they're unpredictable. the other night i waited 45 minutes, and when the bus finally showed up, IT WAS BEING TOWED. heh. if you have the time and patience, you can get anywhere on the bus.

but yeah, a cab to hangar 1018 shouldn't be too much.

[zoya]

yeah I'd like to go to the show sonik! Hi ophelia!

sonic - I have to agree with mouse on the walk, and shitty public transportation. the only public transportation I feel comfortable recommending is the subway - the red line connects North Hollywood, Hollywood, and Downtown. That said, you need to find a place closeby a subway station. because like mouse said, a long walk in LA is a LOOOOONG walk. And that walk could be through some not-so-desirable neighborhoods if you don't know where you're going.

If you do find a place to stay downtown, I would suggest taking a cab to hangar 1018. It shouldn't cost too much from Downtown. Hangar 1018 is a great space, but it's in a kind of crappy neighborhood. I dunno if I would even take a bus there at night, because it would involve walking into parts of the neighborhood not very populated to get there. the street it's on is ok, and there will be a lot of people down there for the opening, so it's no big deal. Still, I would want to be driven right up to the door. I've parked my car on the street there and had no problems, but that was on nights there was an opening or a party there.

yeah LA bustie meet up would be fun!

I wish I knew more about hostels. Hotels yes, hostels no.

[msgoofball]

i'm game for an LA bustie meetup as well...

[opheliathemuse]

I would Love to meetup with some busties again! I'd like to see that show, too, sonik =)
That was fun, Zoya, I remember even jek came to that one!

[mouse]

fyi: a long walk in LA is a LOOOONG walk, and public transportation could be a lot better. i'd stay as close to the area you're going to want to spend the most time in as you can. this city is really spread out.

unfortunately hangar 1018 isn't really near ANYTHING, except some construction lots and a big neon strip club. but i believe that buses go nearby. i would not walk around there at night by myself though. just to be aware.

what's ecovillage? sounds cool

(maryjo, i haven't stayed in any hostels in LA, i'm restricting myself from being allowed to talk about this subject :P)