5 ms·

Come to Los Angeles. It's not perfect, but the weather's better, economy broader, there's more space, its downtown is improving every year, and building up (in

Come to Los Angeles. It's not perfect, but the weather's better, economy broader, there's more space, its downtown is improving every year, and building up (in several places) is encouraged. Even the long neglected Metro is seeing investment.

lolwutf 12y ago
This. I'm fleeing SF this year for LA. The socioeconomic struggle has finally become, to me, unbearable + the rents too damn high.
- eclipxe 12y ago
  I recently migrated from the Bay Area to SoCal (Orange County) - I'm seeing this sentiment more and more in my peer group. (BTW - I'm hiring engineers down here in SoCal if anyone is interested in the migration - contact in profile)
  - muzz 12y ago
    Businesses however are doing the exact opposite-- they are expanding and hiring within the Bay Area.
rdtsc 12y ago
For the longest time I didn't even know LA had a Metro. I guess I just went there to visit friends/family and we ended so much time stuck in traffic it really got to me after a while. (Usually visit a week at a time). One day the friends had to work and suggested we take the Metro around town. Except that Metro didn't seem to go where we wanted to go. We opted for a bus. It worked out ... ok, the bus ended up stuck in traffic just as well as the other cars. With that level of traffic, unless there is Metro and it is effective or some other public transportation system, I would go crazy. (Note: I haven't visited SF so not comparing it with, maybe it is just as bad there).
- digisign 12y ago
  I don't do traffic either. Been lucky I guess, but I have two strategies that have worked out. One, live in walking distance to work. Two, work remotely from a walkable neighborhood.
- overdrivetg 12y ago
  I almost don't want to weigh in here since LA is kind of this hidden secret gem, but the answer is to just live on the Westside (Venice/Santa Monica). You can almost never have to drive if you work it out this way - I bike to work along the beach every day and drive somewhere maybe once a week if that. It's amazing, and it's pretty much 70-80 degrees every day. You could also live downtown (which has turned around in the last couple years and now is becoming very nice) - the Metro will connect there and Santa Monica in another year or two. Sidebar: what I've also found here (I moved down from SF around 2002 & have lived all over the US) is that you really get back what you bring here. If you want to connect with smart, creative, great people, they're all over here. If you expect to meet a bunch of a-holes, well... They're here too, if that's the attitude you're bringing.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - dima55 12y ago
    No, you should live in the general area where you work, same as in any other city. The westside has all sorts of issues, like having the worst traffic and the least public transit.
  - beachstartup 12y ago
    too late, secret's out. SM real estate has been skyrocketing for about 2 years now. there's nothing even listed in my zip code for < 700k. when i moved here in 2008 (from SF) people were still talking about scripts and auditions in the cafes and bars. now it's all startups and web technology. i moved 500 miles and ended up in the same damn place. life is funny like that.
  - waterlesscloud 12y ago
megablast 12y ago
And you require a car to do anything. No thanks.
- dima55 12y ago
  This is a lifestyle choice that one absolutely does not have to make. I bike everywhere.
  - waterlesscloud 12y ago
    I live in LA and have several friends who bike as their primary mode of transport. It's not easy. You have to be alert at all times. Outside of that, though, it's surprisingly viable. With a bike and Metro, you can get most anywhere in a reasonable amount of time.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- sliverstorm 12y ago
  So? Unless you are ethically opposed to anything with four wheels, it's a cost/benefit tradeoff. If a car is X hassle and Y money, but moving to LA saves you 2X hassle and 2Y money...
geebee 12y ago
I enjoyed living in LA. I grew up in SF and came back because I have family here, but I find the irrational aversion to LA from SF extremely irritating. LA does have somewhat dirty air, compared to SF, this is true. However, out by the coasts, it's not too bad, and the water quality at the beaches is actually very high (it has improved immensely over the years, but perception hasn't quite caught up). LA also has a lot of old neighborhoods with a really cool vibe. Hiking and more remote beaches aren't nearly as difficult to come by as people up here think, and the beach towns (Manhattan, Hermosa, and so forth) are pretty great. Also, people in LA don't start sentences with "as a fourth generation native LA resident" crap that is truly irritating in SF, and they don't seem to think that "right to move" is unidirectional (we can move out, but nobody's allowed to move in… I'm looking at you, Seattle). LA is also adding more and more density, getting more urban (as the bay area sprawls out due to severe building constraints). Also, there's quite a bit of very interesting and creative work here. I worked for a film compositing software company, and it was kind of great. With electric cars on the way? Eh, maybe some days LA will get its air quality under control. Then it really will be a huge, traffic clogged, overcrowded, clean, creative gem of a city… well, at least parts of it. Ok, one thing - I've been hard on SF here, but that's because this is a particular issue where I think SF residents have it totally wrong. On the balance, I actually do think SF is a beautiful place - it's got problems, but the undeveloped coast, redwood forests, hills over the bay, and so forth are also spectacular, and some sections of the city are historic, dense, urban, and walkable in a way that you still don't really find almost anywhere else west of the Mississippi. There does seem to be a tendency toward hyperbole on the "sf suks" style post that would rival the knee jerk reaction to LA you sometimes see here as well.

lolwutf 12y ago

This. I'm fleeing SF this year for LA. The socioeconomic struggle has finally become, to me, unbearable + the rents too damn high.

eclipxe 12y ago
I recently migrated from the Bay Area to SoCal (Orange County) - I'm seeing this sentiment more and more in my peer group. (BTW - I'm hiring engineers down here in SoCal if anyone is interested in the migration - contact in profile)
- muzz 12y ago
  Businesses however are doing the exact opposite-- they are expanding and hiring within the Bay Area.

rdtsc 12y ago

For the longest time I didn't even know LA had a Metro. I guess I just went there to visit friends/family and we ended so much time stuck in traffic it really got to me after a while. (Usually visit a week at a time). One day the friends had to work and suggested we take the Metro around town. Except that Metro didn't seem to go where we wanted to go. We opted for a bus. It worked out ... ok, the bus ended up stuck in traffic just as well as the other cars. With that level of traffic, unless there is Metro and it is effective or some other public transportation system, I would go crazy. (Note: I haven't visited SF so not comparing it with, maybe it is just as bad there).

digisign 12y ago
I don't do traffic either. Been lucky I guess, but I have two strategies that have worked out. One, live in walking distance to work. Two, work remotely from a walkable neighborhood.
overdrivetg 12y ago
I almost don't want to weigh in here since LA is kind of this hidden secret gem, but the answer is to just live on the Westside (Venice/Santa Monica). You can almost never have to drive if you work it out this way - I bike to work along the beach every day and drive somewhere maybe once a week if that. It's amazing, and it's pretty much 70-80 degrees every day. You could also live downtown (which has turned around in the last couple years and now is becoming very nice) - the Metro will connect there and Santa Monica in another year or two. Sidebar: what I've also found here (I moved down from SF around 2002 & have lived all over the US) is that you really get back what you bring here. If you want to connect with smart, creative, great people, they're all over here. If you expect to meet a bunch of a-holes, well... They're here too, if that's the attitude you're bringing.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- dima55 12y ago
  No, you should live in the general area where you work, same as in any other city. The westside has all sorts of issues, like having the worst traffic and the least public transit.
- beachstartup 12y ago
  too late, secret's out. SM real estate has been skyrocketing for about 2 years now. there's nothing even listed in my zip code for < 700k. when i moved here in 2008 (from SF) people were still talking about scripts and auditions in the cafes and bars. now it's all startups and web technology. i moved 500 miles and ended up in the same damn place. life is funny like that.
- waterlesscloud 12y ago

megablast 12y ago

And you require a car to do anything. No thanks.

dima55 12y ago
This is a lifestyle choice that one absolutely does not have to make. I bike everywhere.
- waterlesscloud 12y ago
  I live in LA and have several friends who bike as their primary mode of transport. It's not easy. You have to be alert at all times. Outside of that, though, it's surprisingly viable. With a bike and Metro, you can get most anywhere in a reasonable amount of time.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
sliverstorm 12y ago
So? Unless you are ethically opposed to anything with four wheels, it's a cost/benefit tradeoff. If a car is X hassle and Y money, but moving to LA saves you 2X hassle and 2Y money...

geebee 12y ago

I enjoyed living in LA. I grew up in SF and came back because I have family here, but I find the irrational aversion to LA from SF extremely irritating. LA does have somewhat dirty air, compared to SF, this is true. However, out by the coasts, it's not too bad, and the water quality at the beaches is actually very high (it has improved immensely over the years, but perception hasn't quite caught up). LA also has a lot of old neighborhoods with a really cool vibe. Hiking and more remote beaches aren't nearly as difficult to come by as people up here think, and the beach towns (Manhattan, Hermosa, and so forth) are pretty great. Also, people in LA don't start sentences with "as a fourth generation native LA resident" crap that is truly irritating in SF, and they don't seem to think that "right to move" is unidirectional (we can move out, but nobody's allowed to move in… I'm looking at you, Seattle). LA is also adding more and more density, getting more urban (as the bay area sprawls out due to severe building constraints). Also, there's quite a bit of very interesting and creative work here. I worked for a film compositing software company, and it was kind of great. With electric cars on the way? Eh, maybe some days LA will get its air quality under control. Then it really will be a huge, traffic clogged, overcrowded, clean, creative gem of a city… well, at least parts of it. Ok, one thing - I've been hard on SF here, but that's because this is a particular issue where I think SF residents have it totally wrong. On the balance, I actually do think SF is a beautiful place - it's got problems, but the undeveloped coast, redwood forests, hills over the bay, and so forth are also spectacular, and some sections of the city are historic, dense, urban, and walkable in a way that you still don't really find almost anywhere else west of the Mississippi. There does seem to be a tendency toward hyperbole on the "sf suks" style post that would rival the knee jerk reaction to LA you sometimes see here as well.