Relocating to LA from Orlando

  • Guest, it's time once again for the hotly contested and exciting FoH Asshat Tournament!



    Go here and fill out your bracket!
    Who's been the biggest Asshat in the last year? Once again, only you can decide!

Alex

Still a Music Elitist
14,465
7,381
I've never figured out what people do to make money starting from Santa Barbara all the way through the Central Coast. Such a beautiful area and it's really laid back but how the fuck do you pay the bills? Farm or make booze is all I can figure. My wife would be bored but I'd love it.

One of my best friends lives in Paso Robles. And you guessed it - he's a vintner. His wife is a wedding planner. The wedding business is booming down there with all the picturesque wineries. I understand the charm. It's a beautiful and laid back area. But absolutely zero employment opportunity for what I do.
 

a_skeleton_06

<Banned>
1,923
2,410
I've never figured out what people do to make money starting from Santa Barbara all the way through the Central Coast. Such a beautiful area and it's really laid back but how the fuck do you pay the bills? Farm or make booze is all I can figure. My wife would be bored but I'd love it.

Yeah, I originally wanted to try and get a 100% remote work job and move up to Ojai or Ventura but then you realize the houses are still LA prices (start at 700k) and so that dream dies pretty quick.

Interesting places to visit in LA that I'd add here are:

Tour the Getty Villa in Malibu - It's basically a time portal back to a small roman enclave.
Universal Studios Tour - Very busy but imo, the best of the Hollywood lots to visit. Can check out Simpsons world and Harry Potter if you're into that and they have some pretty cool rides. Also quite a few restaurants immediately surrounding the entrance.
Grab Brunch at Perch Downtown - This is a very boojee, typical LA scene brunch spot but the food and drinks are good and it probably has the best view in the entire city.
 

Jovec

?
727
279
Interesting places to visit in LA that I'd add here are:

Tour the Getty Villa in Malibu - It's basically a time portal back to a small roman enclave.
Universal Studios Tour - Very busy but imo, the best of the Hollywood lots to visit. Can check out Simpsons world and Harry Potter if you're into that and they have some pretty cool rides. Also quite a few restaurants immediately surrounding the entrance.
Grab Brunch at Perch Downtown - This is a very boojee, typical LA scene brunch spot but the food and drinks are good and it probably has the best view in the entire city.

Some other ideas local to where I am at...

Griffith Observatory is nice, and high enough to look out over LA and see the Pacific too if the smog/clouds are not bad - you can also see the Hollywood sign from there. Travel Town and the LA Zoo can be fun depending on age/interests. There are horse rental/tour rides from a couple of different places near the LA Equestrian Center that take you up into the hills of Griffith Park. Grab a Bulldog from Yaki's and hit up the Burbank Porto's Bakery for the baked sweets. These are all relatively close Universal Studios. Descanso Gardens isn't too far away either.

Also, if driving from LA to SF, definitely take the 101 north. Once you hit Ventura, it's coastline through Santa Barbara up to Gaviota where the 101 turns into the mountains. After Pismo and San Luis Obispo, you will hit wine country and Paso Robles. Or could try the 1 and stay coast (almost) all the way but that is going to be slower for sure so depending on your time frame might not be feasible.
 
Last edited:
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

Alex

Still a Music Elitist
14,465
7,381
Yeah PCH is like 11 hours from LA to SF. And it's very, very remote most of the time. Some cool shit along the way though like Hearst Castle, Big Sur, Monterey, Santa Cruz.
 

GuardianX

Perpetually Pessimistic
<Bronze Donator>
6,690
16,850
One more thing, if you guys will help with: Safer area to stay a couple of nights for less than $100 a night

Think of Dallas area, can you stay anywhere nice around Dallas for under 100 a night? Not unless you AirBNB and even then it's a 50/50.

I wouldn't stay anywhere in the bay area that's under 100 a night. In the case of SoCal there are a ton of options AROUND the main areas but you are gunna drive for maybe an hour to get to places like Hollywood / LA actual.

If you can stand driving in SoCal (I never really minded driving in SoCal..) you can stay in Cerritos for just above your 100 limit. Its a nice hotel, your shit won't get broken into because it's mostly asian (still take your shit in...):

210249


Worst traffic you can assume:

210250


210251
 
  • 2Like
Reactions: 1 users

Brad2770

Avatar of War Slayer
5,221
16,408
Thanks guys. This has been more than helpful. And that traffic is fucking nuts. No idea how people can live with that. I hate being stuck in 20 minute traffic in Fort Worth.
 

Asshat Brando

Potato del Grande
<Banned>
5,346
-478
Thanks guys. This has been more than helpful. And that traffic is fucking nuts. No idea how people can live with that. I hate being stuck in 20 minute traffic in Fort Worth.

Without getting into a huge diatribe about the issues facing LA, traffic goes hand in hand with location for why real estate prices are what they are. You then have the people in those neighborhoods fighting any further density changes to help with pricing as they're scared it will hurt their home value which then creates more traffic and then gives more value to their real estate. It's a bit of an endless feedback loop that then has a bunch of nasty side effect, mainly homelessness.

Edit: As an example, newly built 1800sqft homes in Compton are selling at $500k. Compton....
 
  • 1WTF
Reactions: 1 user

a_skeleton_06

<Banned>
1,923
2,410
Without getting into a huge diatribe about the issues facing LA, traffic goes hand in hand with location for why real estate prices are what they are. You then have the people in those neighborhoods fighting any further density changes to help with pricing as they're scared it will hurt their home value which then creates more traffic and then gives more value to their real estate. It's a bit of an endless feedback loop that then has a bunch of nasty side effect, mainly homelessness.

Edit: As an example, newly built 1800sqft homes in Compton are selling at $500k. Compton....

I agree but I also argue with people about the other side of the coin, which is LA doesn't have the public transit or the road infrastructure to support higher density units. A perfect example is the aforementioned Lincoln. They have piled so many more units into fucking Playa Vista/PDR/MDR that traffic has literally about doubled in the 7 years or so I've lived here. This is a driving city and it just means more cars in a lower sq footage IMO.

I drive from Playa to West LA / Santa Monica which is 4.9 miles, it usually takes me ~45-60 minutes.
 

Alex

Still a Music Elitist
14,465
7,381
I don't know why people even both driving sometimes in SF. Especially if you're dealing with the bridges. You can easily spend 45-60 minutes on the bridge while I can get to Oakland from my front door in 30 minutes with BART.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

GuardianX

Perpetually Pessimistic
<Bronze Donator>
6,690
16,850
Thanks guys. This has been more than helpful. And that traffic is fucking nuts. No idea how people can live with that. I hate being stuck in 20 minute traffic in Fort Worth.
I agree but I also argue with people about the other side of the coin, which is LA doesn't have the public transit or the road infrastructure to support higher density units. A perfect example is the aforementioned Lincoln. They have piled so many more units into fucking Playa Vista/PDR/MDR that traffic has literally about doubled in the 7 years or so I've lived here. This is a driving city and it just means more cars in a lower sq footage IMO.

I drive from Playa to West LA / Santa Monica which is 4.9 miles, it usually takes me ~45-60 minutes.

When I was doing E3 for Best Buy:

210562


Was a fun expo but once they opened it to ANYONE who wanted in the place smelled like shit and was ABSURDLY packed. Before that point it was cool basically getting back-room passes to see things that never made the light of day.

Shit I remember playing a mortal-combat-ISH game while on the floor at one show that was basically mortal combat battle arena. Never released and I don't recall the name of the game. I saw Tabula Rasa there before it released and belly-flopped on concrete. One year Heffner was there with a bunch of playboy girls all promoting a playboy mansion Sims esque game.

Traffic was BEYOND insane though, absolutely retarded but to be honest i never minded driving. My wife hates it so when we do road trips I drive. I would turn on music and mentally afk. traffic was going feet per hour at most times so I didn't give a fuck.

---

Back on topic-ish

Honest to god though, if you wanna hit up places to chill and just be in the moment without spending retarded levels of money, Downtown Disney is a great experience.

210565


Huntington Beach Pier is another one where you can hang out and eat at ruby's diner out on the pier (burger-joint food but a GREAT sea view for basically a "Medium Food" charge, arrive before sun-set and try to ask for a 2nd floor table.)

210566



Since you are taking kids, I 100% recommend eating here once. Try to hit it up at late afternoon so you can get dinner with a sunset. One of the places my wife and I talk about missing the most from SoCal.

100% hit up Knotts if you have the time ( Daily Tickets & Admission | Knott's Berry Farm ), knotts basically will make you hate Six Flags for being Ghetto as fuck because knott's is super low effort and yet the park still doesn't look like shit. It's basically what Six flags COULD be if they had pride in their park. they have a ton of rides ranging from kids stuff to new coasters. And the price isn't retarded as fuck, for 4 people you are talking 200, as opposed to Disney for 4 people being 400+
 
  • 2Like
Reactions: 1 users

Asshat Brando

Potato del Grande
<Banned>
5,346
-478
I agree but I also argue with people about the other side of the coin, which is LA doesn't have the public transit or the road infrastructure to support higher density units. A perfect example is the aforementioned Lincoln. They have piled so many more units into fucking Playa Vista/PDR/MDR that traffic has literally about doubled in the 7 years or so I've lived here. This is a driving city and it just means more cars in a lower sq footage IMO.

I drive from Playa to West LA / Santa Monica which is 4.9 miles, it usually takes me ~45-60 minutes.

I don't want to completely shit over this thread but I deal with housing developers on a regular basis and Playa Vista isn't even dense enough for what is really needed. LA County residents voted for a sales tax increase that basically lasts forever to improve and create mass transit. The answer to that from a housing standpoint is to encourage people to get out and use the mass transit by building more units on existing and new transit lines. Yet one of my developers buys a site on the Expo line in Culver City that was entitled for 80 condos but they wanted him to build over 200 parking spaces with it so a portion of the parking could be used for people to come park there to use the Expo line. WTF? You get people to use the train by making it so they have to use the fucking train.

And LA wasn't always a car city. Just look up maps of the old Red Car lines and it makes you want to cry of what could have been.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

Asshat Brando

Potato del Grande
<Banned>
5,346
-478
Actually just so people can see here's a cleaned up version of what used to exist and I think at one point was the largest urban train system in the world. It's also the source material for "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" oddly enough. Of course us humans being smart like we are about the future decided to chop up all the right of ways when the system went bankrupt to insure it could never easily be rebuilt.

pacific_electric.0.png


PacificElectricRedCar-7-1.jpg
 
  • 2Like
Reactions: 1 users

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
<Silver Donator>
14,366
2,139
3.) Given your short time span, I'd probably choose one neighborhood to explore in the actual city. Normally I'd suggest the Mission but it's not quite as kid-friendly (except for maybe Dolores Park) since it's more hipster. North Beach (Little Italy) or The Haight (where Grateful Dead started off and hippies lived) might be better. What are your kids into? Might be able to suggest something better.

My vote would be for Chinatown although I don't know where to go for Dim Sum since Gold Mountain closed. Not the tourist shops so much as the food markets and whatnot. Really gives you the feeling of visiting a foreign country.

I love the Monterey Aquarium. Been there probably 6 times. Alcatraz is great too. Cool kids in San Francisco make fun of the tourists going there but it's a really unique place with a very interesting history and the audio tour is great.
 

Captain Suave

Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris.
4,678
7,922
I don't know where to go for Dim Sum

Since Chinatown is getting more expensive all the good authentic Chinese restaurants are in the San Gabriel Valley. Rosemead, San Gabriel, and Alhambra are loaded with good spots. You have your pick of Ceschuan, Cantonese, Shanghainese, Taiwanese, or whatever other variants you want.
 

Alex

Still a Music Elitist
14,465
7,381
Since Chinatown is getting more expensive all the good authentic Chinese restaurants are in the San Gabriel Valley. Rosemead, San Gabriel, and Alhambra are loaded with good spots. You have your pick of Ceschuan, Cantonese, Shanghainese, Taiwanese, or whatever other variants you want.

He's talking about SF. I find the best Chinese food in SF to be in the Richmond now. Chinatown still has legit places, but the Richmond has some world beating dim sum.
 

Captain Suave

Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris.
4,678
7,922
He's talking about SF. I find the best Chinese food in SF to be in the Richmond now. Chinatown still has legit places, but the Richmond has some world beating dim sum.

Lol, whoops. Saw the thread title and of course there's a Chinatown, Mission , and North Beach here too. My bad.
 

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
<Silver Donator>
14,366
2,139
He's talking about SF. I find the best Chinese food in SF to be in the Richmond now. Chinatown still has legit places, but the Richmond has some world beating dim sum.

Whatever you do, do NOT go to the place that has someone handing out coupons for free egg rolls on the street. I'm ashamed to say that I fell for that once.
 
  • 1Worf
Reactions: 1 user

MrHolland420

KRA! KRA!
<Silver Donator>
896
1,120
If you pass through Albuquerque on the 40, be sure to stop off and pick up some Green Chili burritos. In the peak of chili season right now and the shit is like crack.

Grand Canyon is a bit of a detour but worth it if you spend to time. The rest of that drive is boring as all hell. I do it multiple times a year between LA<->ABQ. You have Flagstaff...Meteor Crater....a bunch of Wampum Shops and a whole lot of fucking desert. The 10 is even worse unless you are going to hit up White Sands for a few hours and feel like having some chats with the Border Patrol

Make sure you have ZERO agricultural goods in your car when entering Cali around Needles on the 40 or they will rape your car. I seriously had a house plant and they tore my car apart. And I'm fucking white.

Bastards.

lol


California is a shit pile in the city's, Libs in the city why do they get picked? Russian interference? KRA! RKA!
 
  • 1Dislike
Reactions: 1 user