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Thinking of Moving to LA with my wife any suggestions ?

1K views 13 replies 7 participants last post by  michblanch 
#1 ·
Hi all,
My wife and I are Aussies born in Melbourne and lived here all our lives.

Recently we went on a trip to the USA and really had a great time.

Our favourite places were Miami and LA. We want to live in LA and work there for a few years. Have some fun before we decide to have a family and move back to Australia to raise little guitarists.

Any suggestions about getting work and living in LA.

I am Computer technician by trade, and I also would like to meet musicians and form a band or even work playing music.

I know this post wont be the answer to all my questions.

But any Americans on this forum that have any comments positive or negative or any thoughts or Ideas, are welcome to post them up.

Thanks
 
#2 ·
when you say LA i'm assuming you mean los angeles. i love it there and try to visit often, have some family there. i am in chicago and almost moved there back in '95 since i just can't get enough of it. in the end i stayed where i am mainly due to lack of money and the fear of it falling into the ocean someday. not to mention, i just love Chicago too much to leave it. it's a great place. can be expensive to live, although it can be done. you don't need a lot of money, depending on where you live. the scenery and beaches and the entire hollywood feel is just great. i would move there someday if i could. good luck.
 
#3 ·
IbanezFreak, I used to make business trips to Los Angeles (and San Diego, and Santa Barbara, etc...). I'll give you some more details on the area later. However, I'm not as familiar with the computer technician trade, so I really can't help you there.

There are some great areas in LA. Housing is expensive, and commutes can be long. Are you more interested in the downtown area, or the beach?
 
#4 ·
Well I like the whole hollywood area, but i guess there are better and worse places to live around this spot.

Depends where i could get work. I may try and look for work from Australia and get them to sponser me. That way I would have something to go to. But this must be difficult to do also.

At the moment its all up in the air. Its a feeling we both have, just to do something different, melbourne is an awesome place to live, its kinda like LA. Suburbs city and beach. But we just need a change in life. Something exciting and different.

and i really want to play music in LA even if its i a crap bar or something.

who knows it may or may not happen
 
#5 ·
Ummmm, what a strange thread to come up.....

My wife and I went to LA on a business trip quite a few years ago, and fell in love with the place, totally... in particular Laguna Bay to the South of LA itself, came back to Sydney and started researching how we could move to LA.

A year or so later we went skiiing in Denver - stopped in at LA for a week - stayed at Venice Beach, then Dana Point, well south of LA - we got robbed in West Hollywood, the commute from Dana Point took FOUR AND A HALF HOURS to LA, the girl at The Vensice Beach Guest House insisted that the ocean is poisonous, and Laguna Bay, second time around Lagune Bay reminded me of Terrigal... but not as nice beaches.....

I'm not trying to put you off, I'd just suggest you go back and spend a few weeks looking really hard before you commit yourself to LA, we didn't, and I have to say I am pretty happy to have ultimately stayed in Sydney!

Cheeers

David
 
#7 ·
Well we only want to live there for a few years. We have a place to come home to in melbourne.

I guess you can be robbed anywhere in the world. Seems like you had bad luck. We holidayed there for 2 weeks and it was a blast. Not one problem with anyone. Its just luck I guess

Ultimatly we will end up living in melbourne, but want to experience living in LA. Even if its a struggle, its still an adventure. And if the worst happens like run out of money, we can just fly home to OZ

Melbourne just starting to get a little boring. Change is good sometimes to find out how much we really miss Melbourne..
 
#10 ·
The suburban areas south of Los Angeles are nice. I like Torrance, CA, for example, and all of the beach towns along the way southward. The further east you go (heading away from the coast), the cheaper it gets, generally. Housing can be astronomically expensive if you want a short commute to downtown. Pasadena is nice. Still fairly expensive. Stay away from the famous "South Central" area of LA for the sake of safety. Watts and Compton (no offense to any people on this board who live there, but there are safer places...). This is near the intersection of the 105 and 110 freeways, and eastward. Logically speaking, cheaper can also mean "less desirables" living there. So keep that in mind. Northwest of Los Angeles is Burbank, and the famous San Fernando Valley. Convenience means cost, in terms of places to live.

If you don't plan on staying for long, you could rent an apartment or house, and make out okay, and live in a convenient location.

Most of the famous music clubs and stores are right on Sunset Boulevard.
 
#11 ·
Firstly New York is great but ive been there and I don't like the fact that its a city everywhere, you can't escape it. I was ready to explode. So many people you couldn't walk anywhere without being asked for money or having someone wanting you to put on headphones and listen to their music or get you to go to a show. your either a NY or an LA person, and LA is for me. I don't want to play music in LA just to say it, I just want to be away. Haven't you ever just wanted to be away......

Anyways its already something we have been thinking for a while. My wife and I have such a great relationship that we can be happy in a shoe box, so I think being in LA together will be great.

Just finished a 4 month world tour with her and each day was golden.....
 
#12 ·
You also mentioned Miami, Florida. If you want to see extravagance, it's actually in Florida these days, not as much in California. There were some parts of Florida near Miami that just blew me away. We pulled into a gas station to fill up the tank, and a Rolls Royce pulled up next to us. Followed by a second Rolls a few minutes later. And as we passed by the houses we saw docks with 200' long yachts parked along side.
 
#13 ·
Hi,

I have visited LA several times, played shows there, etc. Not my cup of tea, but to each their own :) I suggest looking at the housing prices for sure! The west coast of the US is one of the most expensive markets in the US right now. I live in Portland, and its very expensive even here. One bedroom apartments 20 miles from downtown can go for 800/month, and those are just your average apartments. My house has doubled in its market value in under 5 years, and I live about 15 mins (by freeway) from downtown. LA traffice is pretty bad to say the least. Finally, I have a family friend that bought a 1400 sq. ft ranch style house for 500,000 in LA a couple years ago! If you can afford it, and enjoy it, then go for it. I would suggest looking at both the real estate and job market prior to moving tho. Good luck!
 
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