Where to live and avoid in LA?

[Ryan Ivy]

Hi everybody, I’m moving into LA and I’m curious which parts of LA I should avoid? I have heard a lot about traffic and it seems on par with other major cities, but what are places that should be avoided? My partner is interviewing for a nursing position and have a few places in Burbank, Pasadena, Santa Monica, and Long Beach. How is the film industry in terms of proximity to meeting up with people and working on passion projects/jobs? Trying to get the lay of the land and what might work best for us. Went to Long Beach and the place seemed remote and the hospital area looked pretty impoverished, so, not sure about it there unless there is a budding scene there. Any ideas? Neighborhoods to avoid or to look for specifically for networking and being able to work with people in the industry? Thank you!

[David Mullen ASC]

There’s no escaping driving to where you need to go… I live in the Westside in Mar Vista near Marina Del Rey / Venice / Culver City, the main advantage is that it is 10 degrees cooler on average if not more.

[Tyler Purcell]

Much of the film industry is in the valley or just on the other side of the hill in the Hollywood area. You can find good employment AND a good life living in the Pasadena, Glendale, Burbank, North Hollywood area. I wouldn't go much more west than North Hollywood. Then you've got a quick jump over the 101 or Barham to Hollywood. You can also live in a more urban area if you stick to those areas, rather than it just being straight city. Lots to do; Angeles crest for hiking, theaters, shopping, awesome food and not too far from the beach. It's also not horribly expensive compared and you don't really need the highway to get places. It's all accessible via short stints on the 101/134 and backroads. Having lived here 21 years as of this September, I can attest to how lovely it is living in this area compared to being stuck with freeways.

Stay away from Long Beach, it's pretty bad. 

Santa Monica is very nice, but expensive and you're stuck there. Hard to get out since you're beholden to the 405, which is one of the worst highways in the entire country. 

[Kemalettin Sert]

I live in Long Beach since 2020 and its worse than Syria.I came here with my wife from 3rd world country and LA literally is a hellhole.We never seen a crime before in our lives but in last 5 years my wife became 2 times only eyewitness to a manslaugter.One of them she was looking out from a window (such an evil act aint it) and she saw a homeless dude beating up our old neighbor lady to death just because she tried to help him.Last week i had to call 911 because some other homeless stabbed this homeless who stole her homeless girlfriend.

You dont see this in somewhere else thats why LA and California is a such a unique place.

Other unique sightseeings of LA is you can see a homeless emcampent right across the elemantary schools where they smoke meth and defecate (or other lewd acts )

I wish i never got in industry and had another profession so i can move somewhere else to live that so called american dream where you can own a house nice family and send your children to nice schools with no gang activity.

[Tyler Purcell]

1 hour ago, Kemalettin Sert said:

I live in Long Beach since 2020

Hence why I live in the valley. I don't even go to Long Beach anymore. It's way too dangerous. 

[Phil Rhodes]

I've never lived in LA for more than a few weeks at a time, but I have done that a few times, and perhaps a foreigner's perspective is useful. Still, I mention this in the hope that it might be helpful, but also in the hope that someone might verify my suspicions.

About a year ago I was seriously pondering a job offer in LA and concluded that the answer was basically Burbank. There's a bicycle and walking path which goes up Chandler Boulevard and can make everywhere from North Hollywood to downtown Burbank reasonably accessible even without a car, and it's significantly cheaper than the (admittedly much nicer) area northeast of the 5 freeway. There is actually public transportation in LA. The metro works perfectly well for the places it goes, and can at least avoid the cataclysmically horrendous rush hours on the surface - then get an Uber if necessary for the hopefully-shortish distance to your destination. If you're willing to put your life in thrall to Uber, you can avoid driving in LA.

The area just west of North Hollywood (not quite as far as Van Nuys or Sherman Oaks) is quite nice and I've often AirBnB'd in that part of town. It's a compromise location that is not near anything of significance, although if you walk down to the right part of Ventura Boulevard, say between Whitsett and Laurel Canyon, it's possible to convince oneself that other humans actually live in LA and might occasionally go out for a stroll. It's got life. It's almost pleasant.

Santa Monica is coastal and lovely but way beyond expensive. Breakfast consisting of toast and conserves, eggs, coffee, and avocado was $55 a head when I was there in April, and Santa Monica is incredibly far from everywhere. I love meetings in Santa Monica because it's so pretty, but if you have something down there in the morning, and something in Burbank in the afternoon, well, that's your day. And they're only ten or fifteen miles apart.

In general I don't think anyone is going to LA because it is architecturally gorgeous. There are exceptions: walk along Wilshire in the area of Highland and La Brea and there's some quite nice art deco buildings, some with restored classic neon signs. A couple of the studios, particularly Warner, are also historically significant for their buildings, with the classic barrel vaulted roofs and walls with gatehouses. Personally I have retained enough excitement for this stuff that any opportunity for a visit to the Paramount preview theatre, or the ASC clubhouse, is always fun. LA natives don't seem to see this stuff, somehow. Mostly, though, LA is an identikit smorgasbord of extremely nondescript low-rise buildings made of tan concrete, punctuated occasionally by a huge elevated roadway, school, or stripmall. The air tastes of exhaust fumes and on bad days you can still see the smog, though it's vastly improved even in my experience of the place.

But there's always something going on, the food is wonderful (AJ's Tex Mex on Riverside!) and the can-do attitude to getting things done is unsurpassed.

Feel like a moron for having turned it down, really.

[Tyler Purcell]

8 hours ago, Phil Rhodes said:

I've never lived in LA for more than a few weeks at a time, but I have done that a few times, and perhaps a foreigner's perspective is useful

Very! Sage advise! Burbank is pretty awesome. 

I remember my first year here and how lost I was. It takes a while to find your "home" really. Even though I don't love the area I'm in, sadly it's it's the most "centric" place I can be for my business. 

Burbank would be ideal. Just too expensive. 

[Adrian Sierkowski]

If you can get a place with off-street parking, I really quite enjoyed living in Koreatown (wilshire and western for me). It was doubly nice when shooting in DTLA and I could take the metro to set.

I'm currently in Burbank. It's fine. Not exactly my cup of tea but I can walk to 3 supermarkets (Smart and Final, Vons, Whole Foods) in about 15 minutes. I could even go to Trader Joes by foot if I wanted to. I just wish there was more to do and more to eat (there are nice cafes and I do enjoy Bob's Big Boy, but it's just a little suburban feeling to me. ) I really loved Pasadena when I lived there, but it's kind of out of the way. I liked that about it, It felt just more-- home-y. But It added 15~20 minutes for most commutes to shoot. The Hospital is lovely though, and I liked that it was close to the mountains and road-trips (which I care about a lot more than the beach, personally).

In the end, you'll live near where your partner gets a gig. No matter what you're driving to set somewhere, and rarely are you lucky enough to work right next to where you live. That's the LA thing. I would recommend being close to a supermarket you can walk to, it's nice to walk and get groceries for the day, and hopefully a good cafe.

I haven't flt unsafe in any part of LA save for Skid Row-- but maybe that's because I was used to Philadelphia and New York before coming here. Just be aware it's hugely multicultural city-- embrace that and enjoy all the quirks and foods.

As for film, it's very heavily around Burbank "The Valley" with some things in Hollywood, and some others on "the westside." there's a lot of filming in DTLA and The Arts District.

[Phil Rhodes]

5 hours ago, Adrian Sierkowski said:

Skid Row

A couple of visits ago, I found myself downtown near the Little Tokyo Galleria (having visited the nearby virtual production stages at Orbital Studios, which was entertaining) and decided to stroll over to the garment district and buy some fabric as a take-home gift.

What I hadn't quite realised was what's between the Galleria and the garment district.

It was the middle of the day, and I didn't acquire any interesting new scars. Honestly, being a walker in LA inevitably means using walking routes which are practically disused, under freeway overpasses and beside drainage canals, which are all common haunts of people with nowhere to crash but an approximated tent made out of a dollar-store tarpaulin and a couple of shopping carts. My impression is that the homeless of LA, like most places, are overwhelmingly desperate to avoid trouble. Obviously there's much to say about the cost of living and the overall economic equitability of society but that's true for most large cities in the western world.

I've had more trouble with the cops. What is it with Pasadena?

[Adrian Sierkowski]

Obviously you were violating height restrictions in Pasadena Phil. 

[Travis Shannon]

I hear Atlanta is lovely ?

[Gregory Irwin]

13 hours ago, Travis Shannon said:

I hear Atlanta is lovely ?

I’m a So. Cal. native and lived in Newport Beach for over 25 years. We decided that we had had enough of Southern California and the Los Angeles area and moved to Atlanta. WE LOVE IT HERE! The quality of life is immensely better, the cost of living is way less than LA, crime rates are far lower and I find the people much friendlier and engaging. The air is clean! As far as the motion picture and television industries are concerned, we are bustling with work when there is no strike going on. It’s a win for my family. 
 

PS: I was just working in LA for the past 10 months on a movie at Warner Bros. Since I don’t live there anymore, the studio put my wife and myself in a one bedroom apartment in Burbank. The lease was $7000/month!!! That’s utterly criminal! Thankfully we were not paying for it!
 

G

Edited August 3, 2023 by Gregory Irwin

[Tyler Purcell]

11 hours ago, Gregory Irwin said:

Since I don’t live there anymore, the studio put my wife and myself in a one bedroom apartment in Burbank. The lease was $7000/month!!! That’s utterly criminal!

WOW!

Our 2 story place with a 25x30 garage, 10x20 storage closet, 10x10 laundry, 750 square feet living space, 2 bedroom, two bath, full attic use for storage, is $2400/month. It's not in Burbank, it's on the border of Sherman Oaks in VAN NUYS, right on Burbank/Woodman, but it's not a bad neighborhood. I've seen similar places rent for $2800 in our neighborhood. I've even seen full houses in Burbank rent for $4k with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, full garage, etc. We're always looking to move into a bigger place, but $4k is out of our price range. 

[Gregory Irwin]

52 minutes ago, Tyler Purcell said:

WOW!

Our 2 story place with a 25x30 garage, 10x20 storage closet, 10x10 laundry, 750 square feet living space, 2 bedroom, two bath, full attic use for storage, is $2400/month. It's not in Burbank, it's on the border of Sherman Oaks in VAN NUYS, right on Burbank/Woodman, but it's not a bad neighborhood. I've seen similar places rent for $2800 in our neighborhood. I've even seen full houses in Burbank rent for $4k with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, full garage, etc. We're always looking to move into a bigger place, but $4k is out of our price range. 

Gotcha. By comparison, we have a 6,800 square foot home, including a 2,500 sf furnished basement with full media room and wine cellar on just under a half acre. Three car garage. We sit right on the 7th fairway of a country club that backs up to a national park. Our mortgage is $4K/month. And I’m only 35 minutes away from midtown Atlanta! Our Newport Beach home was only 2,800 sf with no real property (but we had excellent views) and that sold for deep in 7 figures - 8 years ago! The difference in cost between the two places for what you get is crazy!!! Here in ATL, people can actually afford real estate.

G

Edited August 3, 2023 by Gregory Irwin

[Tyler Purcell]

16 minutes ago, Gregory Irwin said:

Gotcha. By comparison, we have a 6,800 square foot home, including a 2,500 sf furnished basement with full media room and wine cellar on just under a half acre. Three car garage. We sit right on the 7th fairway of a country club that backs up to a national park. Our mortgage is $4K/month. And I’m only 35 minutes away from midtown Atlanta! Our Newport Beach home was only 2,800 sf with no real property (but we had excellent views) and that sold for deep in 7 figures - 8 years ago! The difference in cost between the two places for what you get is crazy!!! Here in ATL, people can actually afford real estate.

G

Yea Atlanta is pretty low cost, but didn't you guys get in a while ago? That 7 figure budget probably got ya something pretty good. Goes a long way in the south!  

Checking the pricing in ATL, looks like prices range from $150/sqft to $350/sqft. Different neighborhoods clearly. 

We're gonna move to Colorado eventually. I will miss California, but I also wanna be out in the woods somewhere. 

[Dan Finlayson]

It depends on the kind of work you expect to be doing.  I really like the whole North East stretch from Los Feliz and Echo Park all the way up to Highland Park.  You'll find a pretty wide range of pricing, generally cheaper the further up the North East you get.  It's not the closest to the studio lots but your work might not revolve around those facilities.  Highland Park or Eaglerock would be convenient if your partner get's a job in Burbank or Pasadena.

The other nice thing about NELA is there's a lot of interesting cultural stuff to do, including film screenings and microcinema spaces.  And there are lots of younger industry folks up this direction so taking networking meetings can be convenient.

I used to live in Mar Vista and @David Mullen ASC is not exaggerating - it really is 10 degrees cooler, minimum.  So if your partner lands in Santa Monica, that's a good option.

And as everyone else has said - avoid Long Beach

[Gregory Irwin]

Many years ago I lived in Belmont Shore, Long Beach and it was great! A very quaint beach community. What’s happened down there that y’all say don’t live there now?

G

[Adrian Sierkowski]

I dunno, I like long beach, actually might look in that area next year. Though, I can imagine I'll like it less when we are shooting in the valley.

[Tyler Purcell]

58 minutes ago, Gregory Irwin said:

Many years ago I lived in Belmont Shore, Long Beach and it was great! A very quaint beach community. What’s happened down there that y’all say don’t live there now?

The coast isn't bad, it's the inland issue which is where the problems lie. 

[Kemalettin Sert]

7 hours ago, Gregory Irwin said:

Many years ago I lived in Belmont Shore, Long Beach and it was great! A very quaint beach community. What’s happened down there that y’all say don’t live there now?

G

Its the city council and their mindless decisions.They cant stop or do anything about encampments.

Only good thing about Long Beach is the weather.Other than that i havent seen lawlessness like this anywhere else in the world.

It blows my mind how most of the people living in California thinks this is ok.Its a daily occurence for me to see someone stealing stuff from CVS or Target.

[Travis Shannon]

On 8/4/2023 at 1:19 PM, Gregory Irwin said:

Many years ago I lived in Belmont Shore, Long Beach and it was great! A very quaint beach community. What’s happened down there that y’all say don’t live there now?

G

I grew up in San Pedro just across the bridge from LB and rest assured Belmont Shores, LB and Signal Hill are still fine, not super central but absolutely fine- not sure what these guys are talking about. Appreciate the heads up on your situation in Atlanta, it’s definitely on my list of places to flee to after LA prices itself out or burns itself down. 

[Daniel Muchnik]

Hi Ryan,

Best luck to you with your move. I lived in uptown Long Beach in Bixby Knolls for 8 years. It’s a really excellent neighborhood, and nearby California Heights is chill as well. for someone starting a new life in LA county, it was a great mix of suburban space, proximity to LA, and great weather/nearby beaches. I never felt unsafe personally. If you don’t need to be Hollywood or the Valley every single day, it’s a nice place to call home. The commute comes out to an hour each way most days. Bonus is driving to the west side / LAX isn’t as bad as compared to points east of LA, and LGB is a fine 2 terminal airport too. Feel free to massage if you want any Long Beach tips.

In May this year I moved to Highland Park. It cuts the commute in half for me generally, but I’m usually around east side, PV hollywood, or the Valley sometimes. It’s nice being close to South Pasadena with its great parks, and closer to the mountains if you’re into that. 
 

- Dan 
 

 

[Gregory Irwin]

18 hours ago, Travis Shannon said:

I grew up in San Pedro just across the bridge from LB and rest assured Belmont Shores, LB and Signal Hill are still fine, not super central but absolutely fine- not sure what these guys are talking about. Appreciate the heads up on your situation in Atlanta, it’s definitely on my list of places to flee to after LA prices itself out or burns itself down. 

Thanks Travis! I grew up right next to you in PV. Good to hear that my old stomping grounds are still good. 
 

G

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

On 8/2/2023 at 6:46 PM, Travis Shannon said:

I hear Atlanta is lovely ?

 

 

Isn't that the new Hollywood?

 

 

 

[Tyler Purcell]

21 minutes ago, Daniel D. Teoli Jr. said:

Isn't that the new Hollywood?

It's getting bigger, they've got stages now and quite a bit of crew.