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>The westside is really going up in costs now. It's not only the Westside. My girlfriend lived on the border of Hollywood and West Hollywood (La Brea area) an

>The westside is really going up in costs now. It's not only the Westside. My girlfriend lived on the border of Hollywood and West Hollywood (La Brea area) and she used to pay around 1200 for her bachelor/studio room. Ever since last year, they would raise her rent by almost $100 every time she asked them for something (fix minor things). In the end it became too expensive, and she was told her room would be going up to $1600 after she moved out. Seriously? I've lived in LA for almost three years. I hate this city. And it's so easy to hate that I don't even say it anymore. Why would you buy or start a family in a place with polluted air, filthy dirty streets, contaminated parks, high crime, and, more importantly, really bad schools. And you can get all that whilst paying super high rent, as well. My girlfriend actually used to like LA and then I think I complained so much she is starting not to like it. The funny thing is, she's a ballet dancer, so she's in the arts/entertainment business, so she says she would still put up with all of it if we weren't together. Man, she's a lovely person, but I usually do not like a lot of people in the entertainment/Hollywood industry (actors/actress, artists, etc.).

_delirium 12y ago
What do you have in mind as the alternative? It's not like the other popular west-coast startup location, San Francisco, is a cheap rental market with clean streets, great transit, and good schools... Of course, things can be nicer here in Europe on some of those axes, but I imagine most people starting startups in LA are not really choosing between LA and Copenhagen as serious alternatives.
- kafkaesque 12y ago
  > What do you have in mind as the alternative? I'll be upfront and say I'm not a huge fan of the US. I'll probably end up moving back to Vancouver, but honestly, somewhere in the Pacific Northwest (Portland, Seattle) is fine by me. I am interested in technology as an aide to build better, stronger cities, though; more of a social impact. LA is doing things to improve; e.g., improving transit, building smaller communities (i.e., building smaller towns with grocery stores, walking areas/parks, places for entertainment, etc. in a smaller radius), cleaning the air, etc. But all of this takes a lot of time and money, especially in the States/California. Money the state of California is reticent to invest it seems like. I'm happy that LA is doing things to improve, but it's going at a snail's pace. I'm a runner and have had numerous lung infections because I was so determined to run outside, as I think running should be done. Not even the beach towns are worth it. Plus, it doesn't help that I don't like beach/"Industry" culture here (sunbathing, suntanning, plastic surgery, charlatans, etc.). This is my personal beef, so I understand there's a lot of varying taste/subjectivity involved. Luckily, there are major NA cities ready to hire developers (not just tech companies or startups).

_delirium 12y ago

What do you have in mind as the alternative? It's not like the other popular west-coast startup location, San Francisco, is a cheap rental market with clean streets, great transit, and good schools... Of course, things can be nicer here in Europe on some of those axes, but I imagine most people starting startups in LA are not really choosing between LA and Copenhagen as serious alternatives.

kafkaesque 12y ago
> What do you have in mind as the alternative? I'll be upfront and say I'm not a huge fan of the US. I'll probably end up moving back to Vancouver, but honestly, somewhere in the Pacific Northwest (Portland, Seattle) is fine by me. I am interested in technology as an aide to build better, stronger cities, though; more of a social impact. LA is doing things to improve; e.g., improving transit, building smaller communities (i.e., building smaller towns with grocery stores, walking areas/parks, places for entertainment, etc. in a smaller radius), cleaning the air, etc. But all of this takes a lot of time and money, especially in the States/California. Money the state of California is reticent to invest it seems like. I'm happy that LA is doing things to improve, but it's going at a snail's pace. I'm a runner and have had numerous lung infections because I was so determined to run outside, as I think running should be done. Not even the beach towns are worth it. Plus, it doesn't help that I don't like beach/"Industry" culture here (sunbathing, suntanning, plastic surgery, charlatans, etc.). This is my personal beef, so I understand there's a lot of varying taste/subjectivity involved. Luckily, there are major NA cities ready to hire developers (not just tech companies or startups).