What is there to do in LA?

[Himu]

Edit: figured out a place: North Hollywood. Looking at apartments in that area and their proximity to Burbank.


Hi, I've set a date for myself: December 26. What better time to move to a new city and state than experiencing it on New Years? Blow up mattress. Check. Neighborhood? BZZT. So I'm planning my move and I'm trying to think of a good place. I'm thinking the valley because it is cheap and there seems to be a real sense of community there. plus it is walkable, particularly NoHo.

In the valley I'm scouting Burbank and NoHo. Thoughts? Are Burbank and North Hollywood diverse?

This piece is fantastic.

http://www.immovingtola.com/laneighborhoods/

[Himu]

http://www.immovingtola.com/safest-places-to-live-los-angeles/


http://www.immovingtola.com/things-to-do-guide-silver-lake/



http://www.immovingtola.com/new-years-in-los-angeles-2013-2014/

[StealthFan]

Move to Simi Valley so I can bug you in person

San Fernando Valley is full of twats, breh. Sense of community my ass. I've lived in Sylmar, Granada Hills and Canoga Park.

[Kara]

I remember a thread on GAF eons ago written by someone who had moved to LA--Echo Park specifically--on a lark without doing any research and one of their neighbors got shot and they were obviously shaken up. LA-GAF's response was, "why did you move to Echo Park on a lark?" 

Silver Lake is OK, I got a little sick of it when I dated someone who lived there when I was in college. It's also ripe to get the full gentrification that's sweeping LA and displacing people of various incomes in the name of yuppie lebensraum.

NoHo is very disconnected from the rest of the city imo. It also literally smells like latex when you're outside. It does have Game Dude in it. (This ridiculous video game store / warehouse.)

Not sure what the rents are like since I haven't lived there in years, but I found Sawtelle pleasant enough to live in when I was there. It's quiet, safe, close to Santa Monica, close to Little Osaka, on the Westside (the Westside is grid plan which makes it easy to get around). Right off the 405 (the easier of LA's 2 interstate highways to navigate on a daily basis imo). It just didn't have much happening in it proper, you had to go somewhere else to have fun. Westwood is right up the road so you have a college scene there. West Hollywood is also nearby and that's pretty fun too. There's the previously mentioned Santa Monica as well. The major caveat is you are cut off from downtown--the metro isn't going to be extended out there for quite some time and there are no real east/west freeways in LA so going to downtown is a special trip.

Excited for you, Himu. I think you'll like LA a lot.

[Himu]

I'd prefer the valley because Disney Animation Studios is in Burbank and it won't be much hassle traveling there. Also, I need close proximity to Hollywood in general because that's where all the studios are at. So the valley is up my...alley. Commuting from Santa Monica or even South Bay, believe me, would be hell.

As for liking LA, I love the city. I haven't been since 1997 though. How much has it changed?

[Kara]

I would say quite a bit, but in 1997 I didn't even live in LA, let alone have much of a feeling for it.

[Himu]

Check my edit, mate.

[Kara]

I'm sorry, I completely forgot about the Disney thing.

I knew someone who made a life for themselves in Studio City for a number of years. I enjoyed the area when I visited, but I really can't tell you a lick about the economics of living there. He managed to stay there while unemployed long-term, so it has to be a manageable place.

[Tasty]

I'm not knowledgeable about this but I have visited Santa Monica and thought it was really nice. The promenade was pretty cool.

[Himu]

Disney Animation Studios - Burbank
Nickelodeon Animation Studios - Burbank
Fox Animation Studios - Los Angeles (does this mean downtown?)
Dreamworks Animation Studios - Glendale
Hasbro Studios - LA

3/5 and they're all in the Valley. It'd be stupid to NOT live anywhere inside the Valley, and that's not including the smaller studios who do commercials and bumpers.

[StealthFan]

Game Dude is cool. Some of their prices are tho

[Himu]

That place looks rad!

[chronovore]

Santa Monica is fantastic, but EVERYONE wants to live there. Malibu is awesome mostly because no-one can afford to live there.

Toward the south bay, Redondo Beach, Huntington Beach, and Seal Beach are really nice.

But it looks like you'll be in the valley. I'd tell you to get ready for hot and dry weather, but you're already used to it.

[Himu]

The valley is hotter but it is cheaper. I'm moving to LA with 10k dollars, possibly 15k. And I will be doing production assistant jobs most likely, so it needs to be frugal. How much more hot/dry is the valley exactly?

Please post your hidden nooks and Easter eggs in LA on top of things to do for a new Angeleno.

[Himu]

A 2 lane highway is not a highway.  That's a street where I'm from. Almost all highways in Houston have 4-5 lanes. Then again things are bigger in Tejano country.

[Himu]

Eek.

What are freeways called there? Highways?

What's this called in Los Angeles?

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Okay, so look at a map. Glendale/Burbank are not really "LA" - they are the Valley. You want to live close to there.

LA TRAFFIC IS REAL.

It could take you an hour to travel 8 miles. Each way. Every day. Are you going to have a car? Are you going to take a bus? Research roads and routes ahead of time. KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE GETTING INTO.

I would recommend AGAINST living in a Beach city (Huntington, Long, Santa Monica) due to cost and traffic issues.

If I lived in downtown LA I would probably pick Silver Lake. Close to music + live shows, good vibe, is improving (and rents increasing)...

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Eek.

What are freeways called there? Highways?

What's this called in Los Angeles?

You call it the 5, the 405, the 101. They aren't a highway or a freeway or a parkway. They don't need any qualifiers. The roads simply ARE. Los Angeles was built for cars. Humans are there by mistake.

Read this: "Los Angeles is where you confront the objective fact that you mean nothing."

Seriously, read it.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

NoHo would be my second choice. Burbank is endless office parks and suburban shopping malls. Nothing there but movie studios and Olive Gard--

carry on.

[TVC15]

Malibu = god-awful traffic because the highway in is basically a 2 lane road for miles. Unless you go up the 101 east of the little mountain range and then cut west from there. But yeah, way out of everyone's price range on here except DCharlie and Cormac.

One of my friends (that I went to Coachella with) has to commute from West Hollywood to Malibu everyday and he said he spends at least 2 hours a day in traffic to go a relatively short distance.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Oh, and Malibu? MALIBU? DOES IT LOOK LIKE MALIBU IS IN LOS ANGELES?!?

chrono I love you but you need to check your beach privilege

[Himu]

I have considered Silver Lake. I'm. It going for a beach city for obvious and depressing reasons. I hear Silver Lake is full of hipsters though?

So LA is like Houston in his it names stuff? In Htown, the actual city is small as shit, and the surrounding stuff that make up the majority of "Houston" are suburbs that are their own actual towns with their own mayors and shit. So while we are in Bouston, we are actually not in "Houston". LA is like that? I'm from Humble, Texas which is a suburb of Houston. humble has its own police force and mayor and laws despite being literally two minutes away from Houston City limits. So if an address says Los Angeles it only means downtown?

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I'm worried you won't read this article so I'll quote it here:

L.A. is the apocalypse: it's you and a bunch of parking lots. No one's going to save you; no one's looking out for you. It's the only city I know where that's the explicit premise of living there – that's the deal you make when you move to L.A.

No one cares. You're alone in the world.
L.A. is explicit about that.  If you can't handle a huge landscape made entirely from concrete, interspersed with 24-hour drugstores stocked with medications you don't need, then don't move there.  It's you and a bunch of parking lots.

Los Angeles is where you confront the objective fact that you mean nothing; the desert, the ocean, the tectonic plates, the clear skies, the sun itself, the Hollywood Walk of Fame – even the parking lots: everything there somehow precedes you, even new construction sites, and it's bigger than you and more abstract than you and indifferent to you. You don't matter. You're free.

Los Angeles is a confrontation with the oceanic; with anonymity; with desert time; with endless parking lots.
And it doesn't need humanizing. Who cares if you can't identify with Los Angeles? It doesn't need to be made human. It's better than that.

[Himu]

NoHo would be my second choice. Burbank is endless office parks and suburban shopping malls. Nothing there but movie studios and Olive Gard--

carry on.

NoHo sounds like what I need. And I might bring a car. I may spend 5000 on one. Maybe I'll add it to the Los Angeles fund.

[Himu]

I'm going to read the article Howard!!! Calm down!!!!

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I have considered Silver Lake. I'm. It going for a beach city for obvious and depressing reasons. I hear Silver Lake is full of hipsters though?

So LA is like Houston in his it names stuff? In Htown, the actual city is small as shit, and the surrounding stuff that make up the majority of "Houston" are suburbs that are their own actual towns with their own mayors and shit. So while we are in Bouston, we are actually not in "Houston". LA is like that? I'm from Humble, Texas which is a suburb of Houston. humble has its own police force and mayor and laws despite being literally two minutes away from Houston City limits. So if an address says Los Angeles it only means downtown?

Silver Lake is full of hipsters. Why do you want to go to the beach? If you're not a surfer it's not worth the cost and headache (remember, during the summer, everyone who DOESN'T live at the beach WANTS to go to the beach, and they use the same roads as you, and you will come from grocery shopping and it will literally take you three-and-a-half hours to find available street parking, and you will be so very, very sad).

Los Angeles mostly just means downtown, though there are plenty of named Los Angeles neighborhoods (like Echo Park and Silver Lake). Malibu is not LA. Burbank and Glendale are not LA. Orange County is sure-as-shit not LA. LOOK AT THE MAP. Figure out where you want to work. Figure out what you want to spend. Figure out what you will want to do - not what you say you want to do but what you will actually do. Are you a homebody? Do you like bars and live bands? Are you really, truly going to learn to surf? Only pay for as much as Los Angeles as you are going to use.

[Himu]

I am reading the article!!!

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I really like Pasadena, but I'd imagine that's further out than you'd want to be.

[Himu]

Things I want out of LA:

1. To pursue my childhood dream of working in animation and film.

2. To be able to go to a beach that does not have gray water, light up a joint, smoke it publicly, and tell a police officer I'm "medical" while checking hot guys.

3. Active night life. Not so much clubs, because clubs suck. But live music venues and concerts. Music a big deal.

4. Food variety is a big deal.

5. I want to be able to go skiing in the morning and end my day jet skiing to a sunset.

6. Don't know how to surf, might as well learn how to surf.

7. I love art. Museums are a big thing. LA has over 300 museums. I'm in luck!

Seems the only negative here for me is the traffic. I can deal. Since I'm from Houston, it takes me 30 minutes to an hour to reach most places anyways.  Plus, I plan on using the bus. A lot.

[Himu]

I've heard it sucks but you can totally use it if you pre-plan everything.

[Himu]

That article was beautiful, Howard. It's settled - December 26!

[Himu]

I have considered Silver Lake. I'm. It going for a beach city for obvious and depressing reasons. I hear Silver Lake is full of hipsters though?

So LA is like Houston in his it names stuff? In Htown, the actual city is small as shit, and the surrounding stuff that make up the majority of "Houston" are suburbs that are their own actual towns with their own mayors and shit. So while we are in Bouston, we are actually not in "Houston". LA is like that? I'm from Humble, Texas which is a suburb of Houston. humble has its own police force and mayor and laws despite being literally two minutes away from Houston City limits. So if an address says Los Angeles it only means downtown?

Silver Lake is full of hipsters. Why do you want to go to the beach? If you're not a surfer it's not worth the cost and headache (remember, during the summer, everyone who DOESN'T live at the beach WANTS to go to the beach, and they use the same roads as you, and you will come from grocery shopping and it will literally take you three-and-a-half hours to find available street parking, and you will be so very, very sad).

Los Angeles mostly just means downtown, though there are plenty of named Los Angeles neighborhoods (like Echo Park and Silver Lake). Malibu is not LA. Burbank and Glendale are not LA. Orange County is sure-as-shit not LA. LOOK AT THE MAP. Figure out where you want to work. Figure out what you want to spend. Figure out what you will want to do - not what you say you want to do but what you will actually do. Are you a homebody? Do you like bars and live bands? Are you really, truly going to learn to surf? Only pay for as much as Los Angeles as you are going to use.

I'm not going to the beach. I'm targeting NoHo. I meant I'm NOT going to a beach city because of obvious and depressing reasons. Typo!

[StealthFan]

Move to the valley or Simi Valley so i can blow your back out hang out with you.

[Arbys Roast Beef Sandwich]

I plan on using the bus. A lot.

Welp... Good luck with that Himu. LA's public transportation system is by far the most soul-sucking I've ever experienced. Get a car. If you don't know how to drive, learn quickly. LA drivers are the worst.

[Himu]

I've decided on NoHo for a neighborhood. When I get there I'm going to be going to Burbank a lot to try and peddle my services for a production assistant position. I just used google to figure out distance time between NoHo and Burbank. It's 4 miles. Disney Animation is on Buena Vista. I'm going to buy a bike and commute to Burbank that way.

[Huff]

dont mean to derail this from actual areas, but i'm kinda curious if you have things set up about what your going to do out there or just gunna wing it

[Himu]

What do you mean?

[chronovore]

I'm worried you won't read this article so I'll quote it here:

L.A. is the apocalypse: it's you and a bunch of parking lots. No one's going to save you; no one's looking out for you. It's the only city I know where that's the explicit premise of living there – that's the deal you make when you move to L.A.

No one cares. You're alone in the world.
L.A. is explicit about that.  If you can't handle a huge landscape made entirely from concrete, interspersed with 24-hour drugstores stocked with medications you don't need, then don't move there.  It's you and a bunch of parking lots.

Los Angeles is where you confront the objective fact that you mean nothing; the desert, the ocean, the tectonic plates, the clear skies, the sun itself, the Hollywood Walk of Fame – even the parking lots: everything there somehow precedes you, even new construction sites, and it's bigger than you and more abstract than you and indifferent to you. You don't matter. You're free.

Los Angeles is a confrontation with the oceanic; with anonymity; with desert time; with endless parking lots.
And it doesn't need humanizing. Who cares if you can't identify with Los Angeles? It doesn't need to be made human. It's better than that.

This is all pretty much spot-on.

Oh, and Malibu? MALIBU? DOES IT LOOK LIKE MALIBU IS IN LOS ANGELES?!?

chrono I love you but you need to check your beach privilege

Eh. She asked "where's nice?" and I responded with the nice places. I think I noted that they're not practical.

Los Angeles is a place I used to actively hate. Not dislike: hate. I intended to never go back there, ever, ever. Then a funny thing happened, and I went there on business a few times, and it seemed like everyone was a lot nicer than I remembered -- so maybe it was just adolescent desire to leave one's home town, coupled with my own insecurity and impotent rage. In any case, I have enjoyed my trips to LA in the last decade, and have miraculously avoided all traffic.

So maybe YOU'RE the deluded one with caught-in-traffic anti-privilege? Hmmmm? Didja think about that?

[Himu]

It is funny. I find Houston traffic and commuting awful. I stayed in LA for three months in 97 and I never found the traffic worse than Houston. I didn't get what everyone was mad about. Did my aunt just know LA well enough to avoid that shit?

[Himu]

[bluemax]

Best neighborhood is completely relative.

You have to find the neighborhood that fits your personality and socioeconomic status.

Personally I enjoy living near Venice because I love the beach, but I'm pretty sure I'd have better luck with the ladies if I lived in closer to Los Feliz.

The bus isn't THAT bad, as long as you don't have to transfer between cities. If you stay in LA and don't go to say Culver City or something then you're fine. The trains and TAP system have made it better than it was 10 years ago. I still prefer having a car.

[Himu]

Alright. Since I've now picked North Hollywood, time to get started on apartment research. Anything to know about getting an apartment in LA? Also, any good hostel suggestions in case I end up leaving without a place ready?

So far I have 8,000 saved up for this move. My initial goal is 10,000 dollars for sustenance, and that's not including buying a new car, a new bike, a new semi-powerful laptop, a new Wacom tablet, and art supplies, such as charcoals and oils and other materials, nor clothes, since I fully plan on starting out in Los Angeles as a woman. Lots of shit to do. One thing I've got in mind is taking Greyhound to LA for a vacation sometime this year to scout and explore North Hollywood and the surrounding areas and get a feel of it. I probably should have done that Memorial Weekend but oh well.

[TVC15]

Alright. Since I've now picked North Hollywood, time to get started on apartment research. Anything to know about getting an apartment in LA? Also, any good hostel suggestions in case I end up leaving without a place ready?

So far I have 8,000 saved up for this move. My initial goal is 10,000 dollars for sustenance, and that's not including buying a new car, a new bike, a new semi-powerful laptop, a new Wacom tablet, and art supplies, such as charcoals and oils and other materials, nor clothes, since I fully plan on starting out in Los Angeles as a woman. Lots of shit to do. One thing I've got in mind is taking Greyhound to LA for a vacation sometime this year to scout and explore North Hollywood and the surrounding areas and get a feel of it. I probably should have done that Memorial Weekend but oh well.

When I moved to Seattle, I was able to find and secure a place before moving via Craigslist.

I also moved on only 3000, punk.

[Himu]

I am going to be working my way up the cartoon food chain so I need back up cash as well as transition cash.

[MrAngryFace]

best place for tacos in LA go

[StealthFan]

There's a taco place on every goddamn corner in South Cali.

[pilonv1]

I've been to LA a few times and I honestly felt very uncomfortable there.  I think it's mostly down to the fact that if you created a place the opposite of where I was born and raised in every single way, it would look exactly like LA.  First time descending into LAX, I felt like I was entering Midgar from FF7.

Every time I've been there I've been counting the days until I could get out. I don't know how people live there.

[Pickles the Firecat]

NoHo is a good enough area and you can always reevaluate when your lease is up. Temperatures won't get much past the low 100s (and rarely into triple digits), whereas out deeper into the valley you can hit the 110s on bad days. If it's still up for discussion and you have a general rent limit you want to stay under I can make some more suggestions. What everyone else said is 100% correct though, you want to be somewhere near your work if you aren't willing to commute an hour+ every day.

There's a great service called Westside Rentals that compiles open apartments, condos, and houses for rent. Most of them aren't listed elsewhere and there are a ton of gems. These are immediate move-in type deals, where if it's listed it's available to move in right away. The service is $60 a month but I may have an account with a few days left on it if you want to get an idea of what prices look like.

Keep in mind there are some kind-of-not-really sketchy areas of NoHo, but you'll honestly be fine anywhere. If you see a place that you're interested in (complex, neighborhood, etc) let me know and I can swing by and get some information/pictures for you. Or just go by memory.

3. Active night life. Not so much clubs, because clubs suck. But live music venues and concerts. Music a big deal.

You're in for a good time. Let me know if/when you're actually in the city and I'll keep you up on shows. You'll want to get used to going to some of the resident events, too. Low End Theory @ the Airliner on Wednesdays, Bootie LA @ Echoplex twice a month on Saturdays, etc. Nonstop music. If you can be out here to scout in August (23rd and 24th) you can be at FYF, or Low End Theory Festival in June (14th and 15th), or Culture Collide in October (16th, 17th, 18th), or...you get the picture. That's not counting the tours and local shows. Music like no other place. I actually keep a pretty solid concert schedule in Google Calendar if you want to be added to it.

I guess a good question would be, what do you listen to? I know you're a Knife stan like me. What else?

4. Food variety is a big deal.

Oh man....you're straight. LA is a really, really divisive city, but if you're willing to be socially active it has all of your list ready to hit up. Those two in particular. I wouldn't split time between LA and SD at all if it weren't for the music scene in LA.

best place for tacos in LA go

Guisados, but tacos are better in SD.

[Pickles the Firecat]

and double posted. Smooth.

Gonna use this opportunity to pimp Low End Theory some more for LA residents and visitors. Best place in the world, can't imagine my life without it. There's nothing like a Wednesday night with a Kings win and Low End straight after. Like your family is momentarily extended out to 300 folks into the dopest shit in the world.

Daddy Kev, Gaslamp Killer, D-Styles, Nocando, and DJ Nobody as residents. 3+ guests a week. Generally up and coming dudes for the most part, always one person who sent in a submission and got the okay to play. So this week (today!) for example is Black Knights, Untold, and Yosi Horikawa. Unannounced guests fairly often (Erykah Badu + Thundercat, DJ Shadow, Q-Tip, Mary Anne Hobbs, Mimosa, etc so far this year).

Gaslamp Killer talks Low End Theory

Low End Theory hype video

Here's a dude doing backflips during a Daddy Kev set.

The infrequent Low End Theory podcast series can be downloaded here.

This is how dope GLK is, although not at Low End. Week in week out, incredible to see this dude work. Few weeks ago he was playing this Thai country shit...like mana from heaven.

And as I mentioned above, the first ever Low End Theory festival is in June...sold out, but you can still grab secondary market tickets. Just a truly special place. Support your local institutions, fellas!

[Himu]

Will respond to rest of the post later, but for now I will respond to weather. What is NoHo weather like on a regular day? I am not moving from one armpit to another. How humid does it get?! What does 100 dry weather feel like? When I visited LA as a kid, I never felt tremendously hot. Htown felt way hotter to me. But then, I was staying in Crenshaw.

Thanks for the informative posts.

Did some research on some other studios and asked other people in animation biz. Some studios like Fox would be a bitch to commute to from NoHo. There are a few studios over the hill, however. Fox is in Century City and a few others (Titmouse, Six Point) are in Hollywood. Can you tell me about commuting from NoHo to Century City/Hollywood?

Good news is there's ample studios in Burbank and Glendale.

[Himu]

Anyone use Meetup to meet new people in LA? I know Bebpo has but little else.

You're in for a good time. Let me know if/when you're actually in the city and I'll keep you up on shows. You'll want to get used to going to some of the resident events, too. Low End Theory @ the Airliner on Wednesdays, Bootie LA @ Echoplex twice a month on Saturdays, etc. Nonstop music. If you can be out here to scout in August (23rd and 24th) you can be at FYF, or Low End Theory Festival in June (14th and 15th), or Culture Collide in October (16th, 17th, 18th), or...you get the picture. That's not counting the tours and local shows. Music like no other place. I actually keep a pretty solid concert schedule in Google Calendar if you want to be added to it.

I guess a good question would be, what do you listen to? I know you're a Knife stan like me. What else?

The music scene sounds really rad.

Ummm. Music I liiiike.

Let's check my phone, shall we?!?!?

Janelle Monae
The Roots
Erykah Badu
Nas
Radiohead
Solange
M.I.A.
The Knife
M83
Boards of Canada
Air
Daft Punk
Fever Ray
Metric
Honey is Cool
PTR
Jazmine Sullivan
Kelis
V.V. Brown
St Vincent
The Weeknd (PRE-KISS LAND)
Elijah Bake
Miguel
BJ the Chicago Kid
Bruno Mars
Ellen Varner
Arima Ederra
Sigur Ros
The Naked and Famous
Kavinsky
Justice
Flying Lotus
Thundercat
Bonobo
Tycho
Emancipator
Emily Haines
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Tegan and Sarah (PRE-HEART THROB)
Chvrches
Neon Trees
Fun
Artic Monkeys
Tokyo Police Club
The Strokes


MUSIC

Guisados, but tacos are better in SD.

Tacos are great, but burritos are better! Is there a taqueria every two minutes like in Htown?

and double posted. Smooth.

Gonna use this opportunity to pimp Low End Theory some more for LA residents and visitors. Best place in the world, can't imagine my life without it. There's nothing like a Wednesday night with a Kings win and Low End straight after. Like your family is momentarily extended out to 300 folks into the dopest shit in the world.

Daddy Kev, Gaslamp Killer, D-Styles, Nocando, and DJ Nobody as residents. 3+ guests a week. Generally up and coming dudes for the most part, always one person who sent in a submission and got the okay to play. So this week (today!) for example is Black Knights, Untold, and Yosi Horikawa. Unannounced guests fairly often (Erykah Badu + Thundercat, DJ Shadow, Q-Tip, Mary Anne Hobbs, Mimosa, etc so far this year).

Gaslamp Killer talks Low End Theory

Low End Theory hype video

Here's a dude doing backflips during a Daddy Kev set.

The infrequent Low End Theory podcast series can be downloaded here.

This is how dope GLK is, although not at Low End. Week in week out, incredible to see this dude work. Few weeks ago he was playing this Thai country shit...like mana from heaven.

And as I mentioned above, the first ever Low End Theory festival is in June...sold out, but you can still grab secondary market tickets. Just a truly special place. Support your local institutions, fellas!

Edit:

How accurate is this video?

[MrAngryFace]

best place for tacos in LA go

Guisados, but tacos are better in SD.

Thanks!

[Steve Contra]

Guisados  them tortillas.

[Mupepe]

I can't wait to go visit you out there himu

[Himu]

[StealthFan]

North Hollywood is not LA. It's practically a part of the Valley. It's gonna be hot.

[Himu]

I haven't even moved yet and I'm starting territory wars

[Pickles the Firecat]

Will respond to rest of the post later, but for now I will respond to weather. What is NoHo weather like on a regular day? I am not moving from one armpit to another. How humid does it get?! What does 100 dry weather feel like? When I visited LA as a kid, I never felt tremendously hot. Htown felt way hotter to me. But then, I was staying in Crenshaw.

There's zero humidity out here. A regular NoHo summer day would probably be mid 80s to low 90s, with a few spikes up to the high 90s and some rare trips into the 100s. Outside of summer you're looking at 60s - 80s year round, similar to elsewhere in the Valley.

North Hollywood is not LA. It's practically a part of the Valley. It's gonna be hot.

^^^ this is pretty true. Ultimately the Valley is part of LA County, though, and access to the city is easy enough.

Did some research on some other studios and asked other people in animation biz. Some studios like Fox would be a bitch to commute to from NoHo. There are a few studios over the hill, however. Fox is in Century City and a few others (Titmouse, Six Point) are in Hollywood. Can you tell me about commuting from NoHo to Century City/Hollywood?

Good news is there's ample studios in Burbank and Glendale.

NoHo to Hollywood would actually be super easy, you'd just be on the 101 and get off wherever you need to be. Traffic wouldn't be horrific for that. The problem is parking. There are a lot of offices and workplaces in Hollywood that don't have employee parking and can run $20 a day. BUT, in NoHo you would be right next to the end of the underground Metro railway (above ground/underground railway). And the one, singular thing Metro is good at is delivering people to Hollywood. You could park there and get off the Red Line at Universal Studios (Studio City), Hollywood and Highland, Hollywood and Vine, or Hollywood and Western. I actually used to live near the Hollywood and Vine stop (down the street from Amoeba) and used Metro to get out to the Valley, it's maybe a 40 minute trip.

Anyone use Meetup to meet new people in LA? I know Bebpo has but little else.

Not really, but I found a group of Shiba owners that do park days there. It was easy enough.

The music scene sounds really rad.

Ummm. Music I liiiike.

Let's check my phone, shall we?!?!?

Yeah you're straight. Of that list, these fellas played this calendar year or are scheduled to play by September:

Janelle Monae
The Roots
Erykah Badu
Nas
Solange
M.I.A.
The Knife
St Vincent
The Weeknd (PRE-KISS LAND)
Flying Lotus
Thundercat
Bonobo
Tycho
Chvrches
Fun
Arctic Monkeys
The Strokes

Tacos are great, but burritos are better! Is there a taqueria every two minutes like in Htown?

Yessir, but Mexican food is just straight up better in San Diego. The good news is it's only a two hour drive away. The bad news is you can't really get carne asada fries or California burritos in LA.

How accurate is this video?

Mmm...it's a pretty touristy outlook and presentation of LA. Like, J-town? I don't know anyone who doesn't call it Little Tokyo. Hail a taxi? How the fuck are you getting a taxi in LA? You'd use Uber or Lyft. And it kind of focuses on touristy areas.

But in general, yeah, it's accurate enough. If you have someone local guiding you you'll have a much different and much better experience. Nothing glaringly wrong though.

[bluemax]

best place for tacos in LA go

The truck in Echo Park next to the Ralph's.

Although there's a place a couple blocks from my apartment called Tacomiendo that is rated among the best places in LA for Tacos and since I can walk there, that's where I go.

Alright. Since I've now picked North Hollywood, time to get started on apartment research. Anything to know about getting an apartment in LA? Also, any good hostel suggestions in case I end up leaving without a place ready?

So far I have 8,000 saved up for this move. My initial goal is 10,000 dollars for sustenance, and that's not including buying a new car, a new bike, a new semi-powerful laptop, a new Wacom tablet, and art supplies, such as charcoals and oils and other materials, nor clothes, since I fully plan on starting out in Los Angeles as a woman. Lots of shit to do. One thing I've got in mind is taking Greyhound to LA for a vacation sometime this year to scout and explore North Hollywood and the surrounding areas and get a feel of it. I probably should have done that Memorial Weekend but oh well.

I've used a combo of West Side Rentals and CL with mixed results. I've also just tried driving around places I wanted to live and looked for buildings that advertised vacancies, they usually have fliers that give you a listing of floorplans/buildings they have. Be prepared to have everyone and there brother attempt to charge you for a credit check on any apartment, some places will try to fleece you by charging you like $50 or more for a credit check.

If you go the CL route, be prepared for everyone to try and lie to you, screw you over or mislead you. While also being sketchy as shit. Always do your research before agreeing to anything, and get everything in writing.

I've never tried meetup for meeting people, I mean I've looked at it and I always find myself hating the people in groups with things that interest me. I know some people who have done it with varying degrees of success. I joined a couple of rec sports leagues and met some decent enough people to hang out with. In all honesty the city is large enough and diverse enough that if you can't find people to hang out with then you're probably doing something really wrong. My roommate is a spergy manchild and he is rarely home in the evenings because he found other people to spend time with.

NoHo is hot. I'm sorry. I also find the further east I go of the 405 the dirtier and hotter everything becomes. Until you get to the suburbs where its just hot and boring.

[Steve Contra]

best place for tacos in LA go

The truck in Echo Park next to the Ralph's.

That place It's lousy with people on a weekend night though.