Considering Relocation to LA Area

I've been living up in the Bay Area for about 10 years now. Due to the cost of housing I'm looking to relocate.

I'm interested in LA because I mountain bike, scuba dive, go backpacking in the mountains and do outdoors stuff in general. I know LA has access to all of these. I also like going to Baja and that's a whole lot closer than here.

With some time and effort I can transfer my job down there...just not sure where.

I commute by motorcycle so traffic isn't such an issue than if I commuted by car or truck.

When I start my search where are some places I should focus on or places I should avoid?

 

If you're commuting by moto, I'd say stay away from LA proper (Downtown, Hollywood, ETC.). Lots of congestion and people driving like idiots not looking out for bikes. I did it for a few years until I got clipped. Seen a lot of bikes go down by stupid drivers not paying attention.

 

Good advise...I've heard that about downtown before. My commute now is pretty tame. At least I work 6am - 3pm, it's not quite full on rush hour just yet.

 

Look for west LA, Santa Monica, Pasadena, San Pedro, parts of long beach, seal beach, orange county. All of theses places are decent areas, but Really going to depend on where your work is located.
Stay out of South cental, compton, east LA, parts of long beach, Santa Ana, Venice. These places are hard to find a nice place, nice people and nice neighborhood.
My biggest advice when looking is visit the place on a week day day time and also night time around 9 to 11 pm and also repeat on a weekend like Friday or Saturday. That should give you a good judge of what the neighborhood is like as well as the people you are about to move in next to.

 

It's not the rush hour traffic that gets you, it's the congestion and narrow lanes coupled with constant construction. Hard to explain to someone from out of town as everyone's perception of "traffic" is different. As far as areas to live, it really depends on your budget and tolerance for the proximity of your neighbors. Parking should definitely be a consideration if you have multiple vehicles. Kind of hard to pin point what advice to give you. I'd say look at houses or apartments for rent that are within your budget and you can do a google maps satellite view or street view to see the neighborhood. Once you have areas in mind, other members can chime in with their thoughts of that particular area and perhaps point you towards a part of town that you hadn't considered that might be what you're looking for.

 

Traffic can jam up going in one direction and be wide open going in another especially at intersections of highways. Good tips are look for places at the intersections of major routes.. you can hop on the highway right after the intersection instead of right before and save yourself tons of time.
405/10, 405/110, 405/710, 405/605 etc...

 

LA Ain't much cheaper my man! But good luck on the relocate. SOCAL is definitely awesome for an outdoorsman

 

I don't know...everytime I search San Jose or Bay Area Vs LA cost of living I get info saying rent on average is 10-20% cheaper....which is still pricey as hell. Although LA is massive compared to the bay area and might have more "lower cost because it sucks" areas.

 

Oh yeah forsure the greater LA area is waaaaay bigger! But like someone stated before check out the neighboring counties as well. If I was looking to relocate I'd head towards San Diego!

 

I work in DTLA and live 10 mins from.. its not so bad.

 

SAN DIEGO - NORTH COUNTY BRO!

 

This! Don't move to LA. You will hate your life and smog filled lungs. (Sorry LA dudes)

 

try San Diego it's got everything better than LA (minus snowboarding)

 

LA IS closer to Mammoth and peace and quiet...they got one thing better than SD

 

Also research the rents. Try to stick to cities with rent control. Average rent for one bedroom in the L.A. area is $1,200 to $2,600. Scope the parking congestion too if your rig is too big for a garage and you have to park in the street. Sucks having to park far from your place where you can't keep an eye on it.

Once you lock down a place to rent, visit the neighborhood on a saturday night and see what the night life is like. You don't want to move in after signing the lease to find out the neighbor's kids are up to no good or their place is a crash pad.

 

Don't move to LA. The entire city is a dump, unless youre very rich and can afford to not experience all but the gilded areas. The local government is actively making traffic worse, crime is increasing, and the pollution is horrible. I have to change out air filters in my home monthly.

 

Don't do it unless you're rich and want to be poor.

 

I am a Bay Area native, lived there until I was 29; lived in Portland OR for the last 16 years, living in Santa Barbara now for 1.5 years. As a bunch of people have pointed out, LA is only slightly cheaper than the Bay, and with the 'Silicon Beach' now taking off in the LA area, you can expect the cost of housing to keep going up. San Diego is great too, but housing is far from 'affordable'. It sounds like your job allow you to work remote (?) or just transfer to an LA office? If you can work remote, there are quite a few places on the coast that offer all that the the Bay or LA offer, but with significantly reduce housing costs.

Cheers,
DJM