My Move To LA

So I managed to secure three interviews in the Los Angeles area. If you didn't know already, I'm in the architecture profession and with the market crashing the way it is there is some stiff competition in the marketplace.

I didn't get a call back from the firm in Costa Mesa, I received a call back from the firm in West Hollywood and I received a call back from a firm on the south side of downtown.

The firm on the south side of downtown was in the shitty warehouse district and they only offered me $18 an hour... That's less than I make in Denver! So I politely declined. It took the interior design firm in West Hollywood a while to get their offer together but when they finally came through it was decent. Needless to say, I accepted the offer in West Hollywood (right in the fashion district on Melrose).

Next post: Finding a decent place to live!

After interviewing for the position in West Hollywood I decided to check the area out. Most of the places for rent on or near Melrose/Santa Monica in West Hollywood are really nice. I wouldn't exactly call any of the neighborhoods in the area rough, but some were much nicer than others.

I've found that rent in the area for a one bedroom runs about $1,800 a month. You can find apartments slightly cheaper but we've got a 20lb dog and most of the more inexpensive places didn't allow animals. After my salary offer came through I started to see what I could afford... And an $1,800 apartment isn't it.

So, I began searching craigslist for the cheapest apartments in the area. What I found is that 6 miles away in Koreatown you can get apartments in the $800 to $1,500 range (we settled for a $870 studio for 6 months just to play it safe). Now, I didn't get a chance to case the area while I was in Los Angeles but from what I can gather from talking to people it's not the nicest but it's also not the worst.

I grew up in an LMC part of Denver and my wife grew up in an even worse part of Roswell, NM so I think we'll be ok. Look forward to a post on the area once we get there and begin to explore a little.

This is how long and how much (roughly) our move has cost us thus far:

May 29th - June 1st

Airfare to LA for interviews: $200.00
Rental Car in LA: $265.00 (I'm under 25)
Gas for rental: $70.00
Hotel Room in Costa Mesa (1 night): $80.00
Food while in LA: $100.00

Total: $715.00

June 9th

Received a decent job offer in West Hollywood

June 12th

Packing materials (round one): $45.00

June 13th

Penske Rental Truck w/ Car Carrier (reservation for June 21st - June 27th): $665.87

Total cost far: $1,425.87

Projected Costs

Gas for moving truck (1,100 miles, 8mpg @ $4.00/gal): $550.00
More moving supplies: $100.00
Food for the road:$80.00
Goodbye Party Supplies: $50.00

Deposit/Rent on new apartment

Dog deposit: $500.00
Key Purchase: $50.00
Prorated June Rent: $208.00
Regular deposit? (don't know if it required): $890.00

Total: $758.00 (could possibly go up to $1,647.00 Not sure yet)

Total get out there cost: $1,538.00 (or $2428.00)

We made it!! Nothing eventful happened on the drive out but that's a good thing. When we arrived at our apartment to sign the lease and get the keys they informed us that the elevator is temporarily out of order and our apartment is on the 4th floor!! Shitty! Luckily the guy felt bad and gave us $500 off next month's rent and then told us the maintenance guys would help us move all our stuff. Six of them showed up to help and we moved everything in about an hour. Our apartment isn't all that small and we can actually see the US Bank Tower from our living room window. We're in the middle of Koreatown but strangely there isn't a single Korean person in our building. Our neighbors are mostly hispanic but all the shop signs a street over are in Korean. All the neighbors are really nice and love Oni and there are these produce trucks that park out on the street right in front of our building where you can buy cheap produce. I'm really beginning to love this place.

I started my job today and I already can't believe how amazing it is. They told me I can't tell everyone our list of famous clients but I can tell you one of them is a big green angry monster and another recently got out of jail because he accidentally filmed some under age college girls taking their tops off and made a lot of money from selling the tape or tapes or series of tapes.

I'll try and post more often since I've got so much to tell. Keep checking back!

First things first, I want to tell everyone what we get here in Koreatown for $890 a month.

Nicole and I live in a 550 square foot studio on the 4th floor. If we didn't have Oni the rent would be $870. It was recently remodeled (within the last 4 years) and freshly painted when we moved in. When we found this place on craigslist it said we would have the use of an elevator but when we arrived we discovered it was out of order. Pissed, I marched back to the office and asked them how I'm supposed to get all my stuff (including a bed and sofa) up to the 4th floor when it's just my 100 lb wife and I. To make up for the inconvenience the manager took $500 off our rent and supplied 6 of his workers to help us move all our stuff up the stairs. WOW!! What service. I must put in a ringing endorsement here for Macbeth Apartment Systems. They really know how to make their tenants happy. After we moved in and started examining the apartment we discovered that for $890 a month this place is a sweet deal! There's plenty of light, it's clean and we can hardly hear our neighbors.

Despite all the bad publicity from friends and family who had any kind of experience with Koreatown in Los Angeles, it turns out it's a nice place to live (or at least where we're at).

We're located near 8th and Western. There's numerous restaurants, a grocery store, a video store and a gas station all within a block or two. The population of Koreatown isn't very Korean either. Our building (located at 835 S. Oxford Ave 90005) is mostly hispanic and so are the surrounding buildings. It's mostly the working class, which is just fine with me, as they're the kind of people I grew up around. There also seem to be a few white artists and musicians distributed throughout my building but I might venture to say I'm one of five white people in a 50 unit building.

I think the people here in Koreatown are much like those in any working class neighborhood: Really good, hard working people. We've had offers of help when we were moving in, doors held open for us regularly, kind words, smiles, help parallel parking, and questions about our dog Oni. Everyone seems very friendly and I don't feel scared to be outside my apartment for even a second. I even feel comfortable enough to leave the door unlocked when I go to take the dog for a walk.

In my opinion Koreatown gets two thumbs up!