Can you live comfortably in Los Angeles on 50K per year?

You can, yes.

That's too vague of a question, OP.

Yes, with roommates

At least 2 roommates.

With a partner, or roommates.

Please be warned that a homeless person with cirrhosis of the liver belly will be within 100 feet of you at all times.

If you are planning to rent about 2000 dollars a month should be earmarked for the rent. Less if you can live in a studio or a distant suburb. Is your 50K tax free?

no.

OF COURSE in Englewood!

Different people have different standards of what "comfortable" is, different people have different levels of debt which makes a huge difference.

As others have said, as long as you are cool with roommates you should be able to make it work.

Is Englewood a nice section?

lets just say it has potential to gentrify

Is the 50K tax free OP?

No, it is not tax free r12

What is your net monthly income OP?

Are you comfortable living in a studio OP?

Well seeing if you're going to clear $35K, nope.

Do you think a shelter is “comfortable “?

Hey, Boogie, the real answer is no. Capish? Without roommates you cannot do it. You want "comfortably?" Get two or three roommates. Now. How much can you truly afford to pay in rent? Your rent should be about 35% of your income. And here's something to know. When you apply to rent an apartment, most reputable apartments ask you to prove your monthly income is t least three or four or five times your rent. Now. Keep in mind your "base rent" might be $2,000 but then you have to pay fees for trash, parking, water bill, etc.etc.etc. so you might end up paying $2,400 a month. And that's low. Then there is internet, phone, and other fixed costs. Transportation? Food? other living expenses? Do you have health insurance? A job? A skill? Are you fucking employable or are you going to be Midnight Cowboy 2019? Do a budget and then figure it out.

I couldn't get a decent apartment in Chicago in 1980's earning $45,000. So I say probably not.

The short answer is no. The long answer is it depends. Keep in mind, car insurance is outrageous in LA, rent, gas, food - if you want to live alone at least 1000 a month and that will put you either in DTLA or The Valley. Then electric, gas, cable, water probably another 400-500 a month. Average car insurance is about 1800-2000 a year. That is close to 20K a year just in basic living expenses. That is going to leave you about 200 dollars a week and you haven't eaten, put gas in your car, bought any clothes...anything. So yeah you can live on 50K in LA but would you want to?

$2000 for car insurance? What the fuck?

LA is the land of accidents and lawsuits. Car insurance is outrageous as is plates, tags, taxes --owning a car in LA is expensive.

Living alone is a luxury in many cities. If someone is asking if they can afford somewhere I'd assume that means including with roommates.

r23 not for most cities outside of Top 20 markets. I would say NY, Chicago, LA, maybe but most places you can afford to live on your own. For example 600 a month can get you a 2 bed apartment in Columbus Ohio.

I've been happy in Palm Springs for 60-plus years. And that's not counting my misspent youth.......

Good for Columbus r24, but this thread is about life in one of those expensive cities.

The grouping of the Bay Area, NY, DC, Boston, LA, Seattle and San Diego are the most expensive markets to live in the US.

600 dollars a month in Columbus? Really? Would my neighbors all have warrants out for their arrests?

r26 no this thread is about LA and I answered it. R27 no westerville, dublin, hillard all good areas.

[quote] Is Englewood a nice section?

It's actually Inglewood and it is an "up and coming" neighborhood. A large percent of the population is African American and most of it is still pretty run down, but young people are buying property there like crazy. I believe the rent and home prices there will skyrocket once the Rams stadium is completed. There are quite a few old craftsman style homes there. Eventually the area will become completely gentrified.

And where will the African Americans live if it is gentrified?

Try living in a car, if you can't think of any other way. The weather is moderate enough for it. Buy the right car or RV for the job, and it won't be so bad.

You don't think OP's question is doable if he/she lives in a studio and is debt-free and car-free?

If you're pretty and comfy sucking dicks, sure.

I live in LA on much less than 50,000 a year. But I don't have a car.

That is what I would think, R34. It does come down to one's definition of "comfortable", right? You can do it and be comfortable. It's just that some people are more materialistic.

Nothing wrong with that but they just know they have to have certain things or they won't be "happy".

How much do you pay in rent r34?

I pay it all

I suspect a good percentage of LA residents do not make 50K a year. It will depend on your expectations OP.

Yes, if by comfortable you mean living on the streets in a comfortable cardboard box.

I have employees in Los Angeles and $65k seems to be comfortable. Less is doable but not if you have a social life.

R39 If you get the double-layered kind, it's pretty sturdy.

I pay 1100 a month for a studio in Koreatown. It really is my only big expense. After that I don't spend much.

no!!!!!!!!!!

Whether or not you have a car makes a big difference. I am not familiar with car insurance rates in that area. Also, having roommates obviously will lessen the financial load. Depends what your definition of "comfortable" is.

fuck i only make about 95-100K a year and live in the midwest (small town) and can barely make it.

Oh good lord, no. Do your homework before you move there.

Then you desperately need to talk to a financial plannerr55, because you are doing something wrong.

R45*

If you want to live that life OP, then go for it.

Just keep in mind that outside of Venice, LA's many freeways each have plenty of bridges you can shelter under. But they aren't in the nicer areas.

r47, I really do. I fritter my annual trust fund money away. i'm fucking 45 years old. i should know better than that.

If you're relatively young and the choice is to move to L.A. or stay in your home town, then I say go to L.A. You will always wonder what could have been.

At $50,000 in Los Angeles you’ll likely be considered poor.

Are the poor comfortable?

Answer to OP : “Perhaps, if you’re retired.”

Yes, in Compton.

In my opinion you can't live 'comfortably' on 50k in any major city in America. You might be able to make it, but you won't be comfortable. If you have to pay rent because you can't afford to buy your own home, and have to watch your spending so you can pay car insurance, car payments (unless you've paid your car off), and all the other expenses that come from city life, then you are not comfortable. Comfortable is no mortgage, no car payments, and enough income to have discretionary cash available at the end of each month, and a nice amount of money in a retirement account.

Lol r54. If you can afford to purchase a home and a car without having to finance it, you aren't "comfortable" you are wealthy to an extent most Americans can only dream of.

Are you saying you can only be comfortable if you can afford to buy a home, R54?

If you're young, hot, and willing to put out, you can stay with me for free. All expenses can be paid with nature's credit card.

R54 is not the right person to be answering OP. R42 and R34 know more about living at OP's income range. We're not talking about the white picket fence American ideal.

I live quite comfortably in Atlanta on $45000 a year.And contrary to popular belief, it is an expensive place to live. In fact you come out better buying a small condo compared to the rents which are ridiculous. And no way can you not own a car. I'm buying. Rent is no longer affordable. My note is 1250 for a one bedroom, 750 SF apartment. It includes basic cable, water, parking, and trash. I don't hang out in clubs. Never have. I like going to live music events in clubs, or live theater, movies out to eat, but I do have to stay within my budget. I belong to a chess club, a book club and a bridge club, and I keep track of free concerts and lectures, etc. I'm 57, disabled,and work part time from home.

Someone not able to live in the midwest, in a small town no less, on 100K and an inheritance has something seriously wrong with them. Plenty of people live here on 35K-40K, or less, and they own homes.

OP, I'm planning to move back to California solo from the midwest in a few months, and at this stage of the game, making 50K would work for me. I don't have any debt, I have a paid off car, plenty of savings, and fairly low expenses. I want to find a job I like so I am open minded. I spent 10 years in Los Angeles (2002 - 2013) and car insurance wasn't nearly that high as someone stated above. Look into Wawanesa. Unless something changed so drastically in 5 years. If you have to live alone, you can find a studio in LA if you look hard enough though it might be crappy, for $950 - $1200 (Long Beach, Koreatown, pockets of East Hollywood, etc), if you're open to which area you want to live in. Also, you want to have some kind of network established because it's a town all about "who you know". I'm planning to move back to Palm Springs myself and give it a year, see how it goes.

1250 for a 1 bedroom apartment would be considered cheap in the cities that are really expensive r59, it's all relative

r29, when did Inglewood change demographics? Everyone's favorite one-note actress, Vicki Lawrence, was from there.

I live in Colorado R21 and pay $1800 a year for a car I almost never drive (I work from home) and have a clean driving record. Sigh ... I keep thinking I should drop the full coverage and just go for the bare minimum, but I haven't got around to it. The car is "sporty" (though not a Porsche or anything by any means) - Subaru WRX.

You folks are a decade or two behind

Go to Zillow and type in Inglewood

See all those houses for sale between $500 - 800 K?

You can’t get a 1000 sq foot crumbling bungalow in Boyle Heights for less than $500 K

I friend of my is relocating to Vegas tomorrow. Priced out of LA.

if you have a bunch of roommates and live in a run down rental in a rundown part of town and drive a peice of shit or take the bus and dont travel and dont go out to eat often.

r63 I love the WRX, but you need to trade it in for a Forester. I don't know if the insurance will be cheaper, but the Forester is much more practical, especially in Colorado snow.

r62 All of those places like Inglewood, Compton, etc. used to be working-class white areas.

r64 If you go farther afield you can find things. I live in a nice townhouse community east of Pasadena. My unit is 3BR/2.5BA 1400 sq. ft. and it's less than 500K. It's certainly a better neighborhood than Inglewood or Boyle Heights.

R19 is full of shit. My friend lives in Wicker Park no rent control and makes a lot less than that and has a great apartment, two bedrooms too. Other friends live in good neighborhoods and make less than that, And that’s in 2019 dollars grandpa.

Buy a tent and a gym membership, and call it a day.

Are there low income rentals there? I know you would qualify on that or about that in Seattle.

There is an entire subculture of people in this country that have no fixed address and live all over the country in their RUVs. Winnebagos and Airstreams spend the night in Walmart parking lots all across America. YOU get a storage locker for your "stuff." YOU buy a modest RV, and hit the road.

No but your same job may pay more in LA

Here's another piece on the RV subculture, the nomads of America.

Some of those RVs cost more than a condo.

^^me again.

I was in an outdoor mall a few nights ago, the one near my home, and an RV sailed through: super expensive. The first thing I noticed was the radar globe on the top that I only see on expensive boats. (Why would you even need one on an RV?)

It was this--147k

I make 70k a year in LA, but the one caveat is I have a rent-controlled apartment that I’ve been in for 8 yrs, which makes it doable. I couldn’t do roommates after 30.

R78, if you don't mind answering, what's your rent? And do you have a car?

I just got this information today from our Office of International Students and Scholars, which handles immigration issues for students and staff at my university in LA. To sponsor a new employee for an H1-B visa, the minimum salary required for a position to start in August 2019 is $82,787. The amount is determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for non-US citizens to be able to live in LA. We have to hire at Wage Tier 2 (of 4), which requires education beyond a Bachelor's, but not necessarily a doctorate. YMMV.

R80, interesting...

R79, my rent is 1100 a month for a large one bedroom in Los Feliz. They can only raise it 3% a year. I do have a car, but you can really get by without one as long as your job is relatively close and you live in a decent neighborhood. Make sure if you find a place that you get a parking spot! Having to constantly look for parking when you get home will drive you insane.

You can look here if you're interested in searching for your specific career:

Yes you can. In the trunk of a car.

[quote] And where will the African Americans live if it is gentrified?

I don't know. I imagine most will stay if they own homes. Maybe some will move out of state.

Are people here under the impression everyone in LA lives on 80k a year? hahahaha my God. Most angelenos live on 35k at best.

Obviously there are people who survive in every city with not a lot of money r86. But no one would consider that comfortable.

I'd say comfortable is living in a decent neighborhood and having enough money that you don't need to freak out over affording your bills.

I am comfortable on about 29K a year in LA. Not having a car saves a bundle.

Quite a lot of working couples/double incomes. You really need to have a decent job to be able to live here and I have a feeling many are living way beyond their means. There are homes going for almost 2 million near the LAX airport being bought by guys in their 20s who work in the tech industry. I just wonder how long those jobs will last and if we'll see another housing market crash.

That's awesome, R82. Hold onto your place. I paid $1100 for an old, average 1 bedroom in West Hollywood 5 years ago. I'm sure it's renting for over $1800 now. I miss the rent control there. Where I live now (midwest) there is none, and my rent has been raised between $50 - $100 a year.

l.a. is not a nice place to live

Like a prince. Of course, you won't be able to eat, but you can live like a prince.

If you doubt car insurance rates in LA.

You know you can use the internet to find all this out - rent.com will show you rents for all the areas and you can search by what you can afford, or apartments.com. You can call any insurance provider and find out what your rate would be in the area you can afford. You can google all the rates for power, water, cable. You can google and find out how much it costs to register your car in LA County. The sales tax rate is 9.75 percent and you can look up gas per gallon. A little research can help you figure it out. You can use online tools to get basic comparisons (linked here) of cost of living difference between two cities.

The bottom line is you can live in LA making 50K a year - it just depends on how lean or how extra you want to live.

I can't be said enough: only with roommates, OP.

R68 my mother was born in Compton. Grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles all lived in Compton. It was a white hood back in 1938.

This will give you some perspective. I work with homeless in LA. One of my clients recently got a room paid for, but he is nervous because eventually he will be responsible for the rent, which is $900. I asked him where he was living. That $900 is for a room on San Pedro downtown, which is Skid Row. He is paying $900 for a ROOM (not an efficiency or studio, a room) in the scariest part of LA.

Section 8 offers $1000-$1200 monthly for those who qualify, but you are required to find a one bedroom apartment for that. You cannot rent anything smaller. So, a lot of my clients have to move to Lancaster, which is the nearest “affordable” city (an hour away).

You will not pay less than $1000 for anything in LA, but you can get something passable (barely) for around that or $1100. At $1800 for a one bedroom you can get somethimg pretty nice.

R97, whoa!

Looks like you can find a studio in Downtown LA or Long Beach between $1000 - $1200.

Seems like there ought to be something, even a studio in a decent neighborhood.

Where I live in Santa Monica, on the local NextDoor.com, I see a lot of people looking to share places (2 or 3-bedroom) for about $1800 a month (yes, your share--the rents are probably over $3500 for 2-bedrooms). I have rent control, so I've stayed put for years because my rent is so low. This is one of the most expensive neighborhoods in LA I should add. I'd say look in Koreatown (sort of middle of LA), where there are actually a lot of nice older buildings. You might be able to find a studio for $1100-1300 (not sure about that), even a 1-bedroom. And no, you can't get deals like I have anymore. The law changed in 1999 but I was grandfathered in so my rent only goes up 1-3% a year. Once you have rent control, your landlord will have a lot of trouble throwing you out, at least here in Santa Monica. My newest neighbors are probably paying about $2700 for a one-bedroom just like mine, and that might be cheap now in Santa Monica.

Best thing about living in LA is still the weather (if you are on the west side). It's just constant sunshine. I actually enjoy it when it rains because the droughts now last so long. Worst thing of course is worst traffic in the country. There is now a light rail system, so it is possible to live without a car. But it stops at traffic lights in some places (not like the subway in New York), so it still takes about an hour or more to get to downtown LA from here (which is about the same as by car, depending on the time of day). There are also shared Ubers/Lyfts that are cheaper., though I haven't tried myself. There are buses. It just takes a long time to get anywhere, whether it's by car, bus or train. There are some car insurance deals for people who don't drive much. I see them advertised.

It's hard to get used to living here--it's so big and spread out. You need to have a good support network. I basically stay in LA because of my cheap apartment. The lack of bad weather does make it easier in some ways of course. Today was in the mid-60s for example and last night in the low 50s, which is actually quite cool for here in January. Can often be 80 degree weather in January.

Anyway, good luck! Like someone said above, do your research.

Does anyone honestly think they can get an apartment for under a $1000 in LA? In 2019? You couldn't even do that ten years ago. I would think the median price is between $1500-$2000 for a 1 bedroom in a decent area.

I rented a studio in Koreatown recently and pay 1,100.

[quote]Best thing about living in LA is still the weather (if you are on the west side). It's just constant sunshine.

Apparently you've never been here in May or June.

How do you like Ktown R103? It’s one of the areas of LA I haven’t explored except for trips to the Wiltern and for BBQ.

When my friend lived in Koreatown, I hated visiting her because there were blocks and blocks of no parking, so I had to walk through shitty neighborhoods and risk my car getting broken into. The "Koreatown rapist" was apparently a thing then, too. She lived in a big old building and rent was probably $800 a month. I think all of Koreatown is improving/renovating now and rents are likely much higher. She has since moved to East Hollywood area, (way east of La Brea, but not yet in Silverlake off Santa Monica Blvd) where the sidewalks smell like pee, there are trans hookers on the corners, and you don't want to walk around at night. Her rent was $850 several years ago, maybe around $1000 to $1200 now. My other friend was able to get a 1 bedroom in Hollywood proper - by the high school - for $1500. A basic complex building but it's noisy and I know she's had incidents of theft. I want to move back to California, but the prices and what you get for your money make me ill.

That has been my big problem with Koreatown—horrific lack of parking. We’ve gone there to eat and simply had to leave without stopping for lack of parking space. But there is divine food there.

Whoever says you can live in the LA area with no car is crazy. You won't need a rental, because all your time will be spent on the bus.

We split our time between the east and west coasts (I’m from west; husbands from east).

R101, and others, have got it about right. The “good” (ie popular) parts of LA have become ridiculously expensive. Although fancy, late model cars are the image - and in some neighborhoods, the norm - as a new arrival with 50k you’re going to most likely

a) have a roommate; and,

b) need to make a stark choice between where you live and what you ride.

HINT: The bus and rail lines are getting much better (for example - the buses along Santa Monica Blvd - are plentiful and cheap. But do you want to arrive at The Abbey by bus?)

Husband’s

[ . . ] = WEHO bar

i get about 95k a year and live in a small town located in the midwest (central IL). I can barely make it.

R109, or grocery shop and carry bags on the bus? OP you can live like white trash (barely).

There's always Uber and Lyft. I work with struggling actors who will use them to go to/from their gigs.

I wouldn't date someone who didn't have a car. That's pretty basic in LA.

For special ocassions, perhaps. Uber is whatever Uber costs. The off-peak bus is 75 cents.

OP, people on DL's idea of comfortable is having caftans in high quality material and different colorways, eating out at Mr. Chow every other night, owning three shitzus and being able to pay their dogwalkers. Numerous people have lived in LA for less than $35k a year and quite comfortably.

[quote]OF COURSE in Englewood!

This isn’t New Jersey. It’s spelled “Inglewood” here.

comfortably? no. rents are very high in LA.

A friend just bought an “affordable” house in Inglewood for $550,000.

r116, those "numerous" people all have roommates. That is not living comfortably.

[quote]do you want to arrive at The Abbey by bus?

Silly. Get off at the bus stop at SM and San Vicente and walk down a block. Make a fabulous entrance, complaining loudly that parking was just TERRIBLE!

There are still places to find affordable rents, but if you’re looking to buy (which you probably aren’t on 50k a year) there is no place that has homes under 550k these days, unless it’s a severe “fixer-upper”.

And houses typically rent for between 0.5% and 1% of their purchase price. So a $550,000 “needs some work” home will rent for around $3600 per month

Nobody wants to move to Seattle?

[quote]The most recent Cost of Living Index release, for the 3rd quarter of 2018, pegs Seattle at 53.6 percent above the national average. In just six years, our index score jumped by about 38 points. No other city comes close to matching that.

[quote]We’re now firmly established as the sixth most expensive place to live in the country, according to the index, a mark we first hit that at the end of last year. And yeah, we’ve left Portland in the dust, even though the Rose City is also in the top 10, with a 13-point gain in its index score.

r122 r123 Not true at all. Again -- it's all about LOCATION.

[quote]Numerous people have lived in LA for less than $35k a year and quite comfortably.

In which decade, dear?

R125, where exactly do you think one can buy a house for under 550k?

There are some deals on rentals, but they’re apartments, not houses.

I like Silver Lake.

Well, if you consider LA County LA you can probably find a shit box for $1000 a month and commute a couple of hours each way.

I just did a quick search on Redfin. there are over 6000 listings for under $500K in LA County. And they're not all in the middle of nowhere. Here's one in LA itself (Sylmar.) 4BR/4BA. $479,900.

Sylmar is a shithole city in the Valley. Calling that LA is stretching it. It's miles to any place decent to eat or any entertainment. Plus, riddled with white trash.

SYLMAR???!!

Ohhh honey, Sylmar is NOT in L.A.- it's a good 30-60 (traffic dependent) minute drive outside of LA, next to Santa Clarita, right before the whole Methworld of HWY14.

Here you go OP and even this isn't exactly cheap.

Sylmar? lol.

Sylmar is part of the CITY OF LOS ANGELES. Unlike Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, etc.

50K a year? No, unless you want to live like a church mouse. 50K a quarter, however, will buy you a decent middle class lifestyle.

R135, give it up hunty. No one gives a fuck about Sylmar unless you are looking to score meth.

OP - why don't you refer to the Ugliest European cities thread, near the Eastern Boundaries, for where you can live comfortably on 50K.

Los Angeles City is huge and takes in a lot of area very far from the downtown LA or Hollywood. Sylmar is very far north of the center of LA. There are cities much closer to central LA that are independent--Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica to name a few. These various city incorporations date from early 20th century mostly. Anyway, saying Sylmar is part of LA says nothing about its geographic location or convenience to places you might want to go--say, Silver Lake (near downtown and part of LA) or West Hollywood (nearer to Bev Hills and a separate city). Do your homework. There is a website I used to look at called City-Data.com that has a lot of good info about various places (including outside the US if I recall). You might want to look there and ask questions about places you're interested in.

Burbank/Studio City/Noho are not ridiculously expensive

Yes, Studio City is very expensive, probably the most expensive area of the valley. Parts of it and Sherman Oaks arr contiguous with Bel Air, not sure about Encino.

Silver Lake is cheap.

Silverlake and Studio City are not cheap. Maybe, if you looked hard enough, you could find something "affordable" in the least desirable area of North Hollywood.

OP have you come back to post in this thread?

Check Hotwire Op. I once got a rental at a hotel for 50 bucks a night at LAX. It came with free parking and WiFi. That would be around 1500 a month. It wasn’t a palace, but I only needed it for a week. Maybe you could do a longer hotel rental. That way you save on WiFi and other utilities.

Took about 25 minutes to get to weho via LaBrea . Not horrible. I wouldnt walk around that area at night by lax , but it’s a place to sleep

The worst parts of NoHo are still expensive, and Mexicans everyplace. Vile.

r120 1. You're not allowed to determine what comfortable is to people. I knew a lot of people/couples who lived together comfortably. Queens like you just need gardens in the backyard full of daisies and enough space in your living room for your twelve fainting couches.

2. I lived in Valley Village (between NoHo and Studio City), in a nice area, by myself, for $1,200 a month. That's $14,400 a year. With 50k, that's more than enough to live a comfortable lifestyle. Yes, I realize I was paying more to live the beautiful LA lifestyle I wanted and I could've rented a mansion in Flyovervania where you stay, but I was happy with my decision.

I am doing LA on much less than 50K a year. I have an income of 35K a year. I spend 13200 a year on rent which leaves me a little more than 1800 to live on which is plenty. I actually save money. I have no idea what the people on this thread are spending their money on. It is crazy.

I spend 35k on my hairspray bill alone!

[Quote]I have no idea what the people on this thread are spending their money on.

Life costs money if you aren't a shut in.

That is true, R147. You can scrape by almost anywhere if you have no desire for anything beyond food, shelter and (presumably) internet. Most people want more, especially when you’re in LA and surrounded by so much in and around the city.

I am curious about why you choose to live in LA. Even “free” things like the beach, hiking, and some museums still charge for parking. What about being here attracts you? The weather?

If you make 35k a year you aren't even supposed to spend more than 875/mo on rent according to financial planning recommendations.

For OP, he shouldn't spend more than 1250 on rent.

Believe me many people are throwing more than 30 percent of their income on rent in the major cities. I suspect that 30 percent example is dated.

From 2001-2004 I was making 45K and paying 625 rent for a 1 bedroom duplex in Highland Park (advertised as Mt. Washington). Those were the days. I was actually unemployed for the last year but made do from my savings. I left for DC in 2004 and while it's expensive here, I do not have a car so that's an enormous expense saved. Sure LA rent isn't as expensive as NYC but if you factor in all the expenses associated with car ownership, it almost makes up the difference in rent to NYC.

Because of my mom, I know I will return to LA one day. I know I can't live the same lifestyle that I have here in DC-adjacent in LA. Not on the same budget anyway.

Valley Village is a made up city, because people disliked North Hollywood/Van Nuys and wanted increased property values with a chicer sounding name.

It's still hot and a cesspool.

I remember when I was in my 20's in LA, I would look at rentals in Valley Village.. hot, far away, dumpy.

An average/nice 1 bedroom apartment looks to be about $2,000 - $2,500 throughout the desirable parts of LA

There's tradeoffs to living this lifestyle - have to decide how important it is, how much you want to be in LA, California, etc... you have to want it pretty bad to put up with all of the BS, and $ cost of living.

I've posted earlier in the thread. I get about 95k a year after taxes. i live in a small town in the midwest. i can barely make it. what should i do?

Kill yourself.

That you can barely make it in the midwest on thay amount of money, which comes out to 8K after taxes monthly on average, makes no sense.

R156.. trolling?

Where's your money going? you should be living like a "queen" on that. What kind of small town is this?

I spend too much on clothing and beauty products.

So, OP, what did you decide?

OP Compton is lovely this time of the year.

I'm in the NoHo Arts District. Yes, I have a roommate, but my building is nice and we both have master bedrooms with our own bathrooms. I pay 1K/a month.

Depends on what you consider comfortable, OP. My brother & his partner managed on that much several years ago, but they lived in a studio in Koreatown and shares one old, paid off car.

R164, no one considers that comfortable unless they are refugees from a war-torn country.

LOL R165, that's probably why they moved to a cheaper city after about 2 years or in LA.

[quote]Mexicans everyplace. Vile.

Awww...poor pendejo. It's so inconvenient when brown people exist, isn't it?

[quote]I'm in the NoHo Arts District. Yes, I have a roommate, but my building is nice and we both have master bedrooms with our own bathrooms. I pay 1K/a month.

That's a good location. Lots of restaurants, plus you're near the end of the Red Line.

My sister bought a condo in Toluca Lake and it's pretty large, 2000 SF. One of the bedrooms and bathrooms is off by itself and I told her to get a roommate, since she's not wild about living alone. She found someone through work and is getting $1500 for one room. It's a very nice building, but that's crazy to me.

NoHo is pretty dangerous, though the area aroumd the arts district is nicer. I go to Ground Works there and, earlier this year, I was passed by a guy being followed by police on foot. He’d stabbed someone.

R168 Yeah I'm very hesitant to move because I doubt I'll find anything comparable. Every time my lease comes up, I look around at nearby listings and go...NOPE. I don't see any shame in having roommates as long as you have enough personal space. I don't even see mine every day. The red line is very convenient. If I'm going anywhere from Hollywood to Downtown, easy enough to hop on.

Co-living or a podshare is the way to go. Live there for a while that way to get your bearings and when you are more settled, know where you want to be and have a better idea of what it will cost you to live there before you sign a lease anywhere.

I’ve lived in West Hollywood for 20 years and have always had a roommate. It’s not glamorous but I save money that way. I don’t make much either (45k). I’ve also been fortunate enough to have rent controlled apartments. Plus for 15 of those years I did not have a car payment because my car was already paid for. I was able to save money for a down payment on a new car and it’s already paid off. It’s doable.

But..... if I had to pay market rate for an apartment in this area even with the roommate my cost would be around 1800 a month instead of the 1100 right now.

eyeroll at R170

If you're terrified walking around Magnolia and Chandler, you should never leave the house

Settle down, R174. I’m not “terrified” and didn’t say that I was, but it’s a high crime area. Are you denying that NoHo is sketchy? I live near there and worked there for several years. That area of NoHo is not as bad as the Lankershim/ Saticoy area, but it is rough.

I'm horrified by all of the crime!

[quote]Mexicans everyplace.

No way!

Mexicans in the West coast? There are so many here that you would think they were always part of California!

Saticoy is 5 miles away. That's like saying East Hollywood and West Hollywood are comparable.

Rough? Hardly. Do things happen? I'm sure. Is it crime infested? Not in my opinion. Friend came over the hill and we went to the Laemmle Noho. She parked in front of a bar across the street, LEFT ONE OF HER WINDOWS DOWN, and when we came back to her car, nothing was disturbed. I keep my antenna up when I'm walking around at night, but no more than anywhere in Hollywood, WeHo, or the the east side. It's a fact of city living.

Crime happens in every neighborhood here. Even in “safe”neighborhoods.

According to my local nextdoor.com neighbors in Santa Monica, this formerly quiet beach town is crawling with crime and the police and city lie about it to the public, even saying that crime is the lowest since the 1950s; just read that in the LA Times. They say that if you ask a cop on the beat they will tell you the truth. The only thing I personally notice is how much more traffic there is than say even 10 years ago. That's because a lot of high tech and film-related businesses have relocated here, so a lot of people commute to working in S.M. and Venice and then go home east or into the valley where housing is cheaper. There have always been a lot of homeless in Santa Monica, because it's been a progressive place where they were fed and not hassled. My own street is still pretty quiet, however. I'm very luck to have a rent-controlled apartment here and don't foresee moving any time soon.

Ok R174/178. NoHo around the Red Line is a safe, low crime area on par with Studio City and Sherman Oaks. Lovely and safe. Happy?

BTW, did you know they're doing away with the "color" names for the subway/light rail system? They're going to start using letters (like in NY) in a few years.

I'm 66 and haven't had a roommate since college.

R182 what a nice and unnecessary thing. I just looked at wikipedia and we have 6 rail lines. They can't handle 6 distinct colors?

They are building more lines which is why they’re ditching the color codes.

[quote]They can't handle 6 distinct colors?

Hon, Californians can’t even name the 5-6 states that make up the South, what makes you think they can handle the colors?

R186 nothing there worth considering

I liked Asheville, North Carolina, the one time I went. That's the only place I've been in the South. The "downtown" is teeny tiny, but it's a beautiful area and the Biltmore House (as big as a European castle) is a wonderful place to take a self-guided audio tour. What I didn't like is all the Billy Graham followers asking if you want to pray with them when they sit next to you in restaurants (for real--his conference center was just outside Asheville). The other good thing was biscuits in every restaurant instead of bread--really great biscuits. And fried green tomatoes--yum. Anyway, in LA you don't get the praying or the biscuits.

What's a 1 bedroom go for in Sherman Oak/Studio City/Noho/Burbank these days?

South Missabamalina that is it right? I just think of them as one racist clump of Trump voters who outlaw abortions for everyon except if their daughter got preggers by a colored fella.

I never go north of Moorpark anymore. I used to get the cold sweats around Magnolia, and once had a panic attack near Victory.

R289, my guess is on average $1800

“Live comfortably” and “live with roommates for economic reasons” are clearly 2 mutually exclusive concepts.

You don't have to be a "shut in" to live well on less. But you're right, if you mean you can't be part of the club scene five nights a week on less than $50,000. YOU'd be surprised at how much free or cheap stuff there is to do with a little effort and imagination.

LOL R193 I don't get the hate for roommates. I have a 3 bedroom, fairly spacious place and 2 roommates. We all have our own space and privacy and there's someone around if we want to hang. I don't even see my roommates every day.

Now, I do have neighbors who have like 5 people in a 3 bedroom. THAT'S nuts. But roommates aren't bad in and of themselves. I don't even see my roommates every day.

There is a happy medium between "shut-in" and "club scene". Nice restaurants, concerts, theater, dinner parties- all pretty much out.

I had a roommate in my early 20s. Can't imagine it now.

r10, Englewood doesn't exist.

Inglewood does.

You will have to live with roommates. And be prepared for how shitty most rentals are - a lot of them haven’t been updated at all in 30-40 years.

Landlords here are terrible - particularly in apartment complexes. I had some very good LUCK using Craigslist to find a very small house (1 bedroom) in a nice neighborhood. Still pay over $2,000/month, and my landlord is ok.

Oh, and a lot of rentals don’t have things like washers, dryers, dishwashers, or A/C.

^or refrigerators. You have to rent those on your own from a rental company.

Most the time I enjoy having a roommate. It gets lonely living on your own.

Had no idea these were the board’s demographics. Motherfuck, this thread is depressing. Is no one else on DL in the Hollywood Hills?

Horror stories about LA landlords are why I'm terrified of moving. I'm content in my place. Size is good, I have central air and heat, elevator, and a building manager that gets shit done. Wish we had more machines in the laundry room though.

Yeah, R203. I’ve taken two to small claims court. It’s awesome.

Fuck R204. I'm coming up on 6 years in my apartment. Longest place I've lived as an adult. I like to say I'm 90% happy. I wish there was a pool and more laundry machines and I'm a little restless about trying different neighborhoods. But like they say...is the grass REALLY greener? I've had roommates who have moved out and regretted it.

^ 203

Yeah, R203/205 those bad experiences were with apartment complexes (large) one in Orange County and one in Redondo. I feel like renting directly from an owner (house or condo) is usually better.

Honestly, I feel like Craigslist is the way to go in SoCal if you’re renting. It’s usuallt rent by owner and you can scope each other out beforehand to see if it’ll work.

I hate the real estate market here. I owned on the east coast and sold when I moved here in 2015. I still feel like I can’t afford to buy, even though I have a pretty decent salary, unless I live way out in the San Gabriel Valley or Riverside Co. It’s really sad. The whole market is fucked for anyone who didn’t buy 10+ years ago, or isn’t some techtard - or has mommy and daddy buying, or is a real estate investor. We are this close to being SF or Seattle. Big cities in the US are no longer vibrant at all.

Yeah, but anybody can put on a polite face for a few days until you sign a lease R208. Then you're fucked.

I've never had a truly TERRIBLE experience (outside of a roommate back east who refused to return my deposit) but I've heard so many horror stories. Most important of all my building is generally quiet. And when there IS noise, the manager takes care of it.

The thing Cal has going for it is fairly decent tenant protection laws, R209. If you know them (or sound like you know what you’re talking about) you can usually get the upper hand on the landlord. I’m a lawyer, but, the laws are straightforward enough to understand and articulate if you are a layman. It was actually pretty fun filing a suit in small claims court against the two property management companies - they settled quickly (in my favor). BUT it sucked that I had to sue them to get the issue resolved - it shouldn’t have ever come to that.

Sounds like you’re in a good spot now; nevertheless, something to consider if you move.

Just curious 210, what kinds of issues were you suing over?

I could live comfortably in LA on $50k a year- in 1988.

I have a 2ba, 2br in a prime location in West Hollywood. The landlord just puts band aids on repairs (we have problems with plumbing all the time), but overhauled 3 (out of 8) apartments in our building. The same overhauled apartment is $1000 more than mine (but really nice)- I was looking at it wistfully and the contractor was saying, "you should rent it". I replied, "I can't afford it", and he said, "get a roommate (which the current renter has). I wanted to say, "Motherfucker, do you know how much of a loser I would look like to have a roommate at my age?" I'm in my mid 50's, single woman- I really can't afford to move out anywhere.

They tried to retain my security deposits for ordinary wear and tear - it’s impermissible under California law, R211. The big companies try this on tenants all the time, usually under the guise of a cleaning or repair fee. If you file a complaint in small claims and serve it on the company through a process server the landlord usually settles quickly.

fuck. i can't live comfortably on 95k a year in Litchfield, IL.

BUMP