# Some questions about LA



## tarantulis (Jul 26, 2018)

Hi all! I'm moving to LA in a few weeks and trying to decide what area I should be in.

Is Central LA a good place to start in terms of being able to get around the city and to adjoining areas? Are there other areas to consider? Also, is public transportation a viable means of getting around? (Here in San Francisco, it's not.)

Thanks!


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## ricz (Jul 26, 2018)

Hi there!

In terms of using public transport to get around, your best bet would be Hollywood/East Hollywood, Koreatown or Downtown. I live in Northeast LA (can't recommend it enough for many reasons) and you can also take the Gold Line in to Union Station and connect from there. Truthfully, though, it's very difficult to access much of LA without a car and I would strongly recommend having one.

Cheers,
Ric


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## tarantulis (Jul 26, 2018)

ricz said:


> Hi there!
> 
> In terms of using public transport to get around, your best bet would be Hollywood/East Hollywood, Koreatown or Downtown. I live in Northeast LA (can't recommend it enough for many reasons) and you can also take the Gold Line in to Union Station and connect from there. Truthfully, though, it's very difficult to access much of LA without a car and I would strongly recommend having one.
> 
> ...



Great info--thanks Ric!


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## X-Bassist (Jul 26, 2018)

My advice to everyone who comes to LA is this.. find a temporary living situation until you get a steady job, then find a place to live right next door to where you work (within a short walk). It could save you literally hours of driving per day. But if you normally work from home, I recommend West LA, Culver City, or Mid City. All three have subway stations and highways to get you most places, but proximity to the beach gives you more consistent, cooler temperatures. Right now it’s the only place not boiling.


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## chillbot (Jul 26, 2018)

X-Bassist said:


> My advice to everyone who comes to LA is this.. find a temporary living situation until you get a steady job, then find a place to live right next door to where you work (within a short walk)


This is very good advice.

It's just not possible to live too far from where you work. Don't underestimate traffic conditions, you could waste 15-20 hours/week driving.

Public transportation is possible but never recommended.


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## karelpsota (Jul 26, 2018)

I'm really happy with Mar Vista (I work from home).

Great air quality
affordable rent (1,900 for 2 bedroom 2 bath)
10 min away from the beach, culver city.
20 min away from Santa Monica.


Though, 1 hour away from downtown... but who really wants to see "naked crack-heads taking dumps on the sidewalk" ?


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## tarantulis (Jul 26, 2018)

Thanks for the advice, everyone! I'll restrict my search to the areas mentioned. Should I avoid downtown LA altogether?

I currently work from home but would be looking for something new once I got settled. I found a place in the 90037 area (so South LA?) that would be a 6-month lease; I'm wondering if that would put me close enough to outlying areas to find an opportunity and new place in the meantime.

My other idea is to just invest in a decent car and live out of it for however long it takes me to find something. Obviously not ideal but it would allow me to get around and save some money for the first couple months.


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## JohnG (Jul 26, 2018)

I think renting or something for a while is a great suggestion, as @X-Bassist wrote. Los Angeles is not like any other town in which I've lived -- going even five miles at the wrong time can be an exhausting, lengthy endeavour.

I like living near the ocean too. If you have a car you can live in parts of Malibu (up the coast) and it's not quite as expensive as areas closer in. Definitely think there's a lot of good advice here already.


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## gsilbers (Jul 26, 2018)

tarantulis said:


> Hi all! I'm moving to LA in a few weeks and trying to decide what area I should be in.
> 
> Is Central LA a good place to start in terms of being able to get around the city and to adjoining areas? Are there other areas to consider? Also, is public transportation a viable means of getting around? (Here in San Francisco, it's not.)
> 
> Thanks!




The two main hubs for entertainment business is west side - santa monica, venice etc and then its burbank/studio city area in the valley. There of course a lot of places but those two main hubs is where stuff happens. There is also hollywood area , downtown and other places around mid city of course but those two are the main ones.

To give you an idea of how it works.. the other day i was standing in a santa monica street at around 6pm. from 6pm to 7pm i saw the same car go only two blocks. So if you get a job in saw for example century city and live in downtown, you can imagine how long it can take during rush hour. even at 6am i still see heavy traffic.

So traffic can be one those , meh type of topics but think onhow much time you can spend to and from a gig and its quite a burdemsome.

so temporary housing is a good idea.

Also, if you come from SF, it reminds me that the big tech companies from there are taking refuge in mar vista area. yahoo, google, amazon and others are around there and they are taking over entertainment.

Also reminds me that housing prices and rent have gone thorugh the roof to SF levels since.. well. its also high paying tech jobs.

And no, not only does the LA buss and metro takes you nowhere fast, most of poeple LA dont want to take it or build upon it. OR also want denser cities so... more traffic and higher housing prices.


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## Gerhard Westphalen (Jul 27, 2018)

As others have mentioned, it's really all about where you need to be for your work. If you're working from home or only occasionally going out for meetings I'd recommend Glendale, Burbank, and Pasadena. If you need to be somewhere like Santa Monica the you'll either need to pay and arm and a leg for a crappy apartment or you'll spend at least 3 hours in traffic every day.


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## charlieclouser (Jul 27, 2018)

Public transport? Yeah.... no. In legendary LA traffic, a trip that takes 20 minutes by car at 3am will take 90 minutes (or more) by car at 5pm - but it will take three hours (or more) by bus as it stops every two blocks. It would be easy to imagine a journey that would take a total of four hours and require you to walk a mile or two at either end if trying to do it by bus. If by some miracle you live and work near the Metro (train) stations, then it's possible that public transport could work.... but that would be a freaking miracle. That said, many of the busses have a bike rack on the front and some of the bigger bus stations / stops have little locker-type deals that you can lock a bike up inside of.

I've lived in LA since 1992, with many breaks and back-and-forth jaunts to other cities. On three different occasions I've had to return to the city without ample time to sort out living arrangements, and I've made use of the excellent (but not cheap) housing that caters to transient entertainment industry professionals. Namely, the various components of the Oakwood empire. The main campus, The Oakwood apartments on Barham, are widely known as about the closest place to the big studios when you need to be in town for a short acting gig, or for husbands who just got kicked out of the house by their soon-to-be-ex-wives. They have a wide variety of buildings all over LA, and you can basically show up with a credit card and move in right then and there. Furnished apartments can come fully equipped with dishes, forks, and spoons and even hotel-style maid service if you want - and you can definitely get monthly terms so you don't have to sign a year-long lease. It's somewhere between a hotel and an apartment, and the one on Barham has a pool and even a convenience store on-site. 

I've arrived at LAX with four road cases and four suitcases and no clue what I was going to do next, and just told the cabbie, "Oakwood on Barham, please." As long as it's within business hours and your credit limit is healthy, you can get checked in and moved in within an hour - but still, check their websites for availability just in case.

www.oakwood.com

Something like that, where you can go month-to-month while you figure out the lay of the land and where you actually want to be, might be a good option.


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## charlieclouser (Jul 27, 2018)

But, yeah... for maximum flexibility in LA, have a car. Get a car. Get AAA membership for that sweet sweet free towing and roadside assistance. Get a hands-free mount for your cell phone - cellphone in your hand gets you a big $$$ ticket. Get a new cell phone number with a 323, 310, or 818 area code if possible. 

And visit The Apple Pan on Pico and try the hickory burger with apple pie for dessert. That will cure what ails ya.


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## tarantulis (Jul 27, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> But, yeah... for maximum flexibility in LA, have a car. Get a car. Get AAA membership for that sweet sweet free towing and roadside assistance. Get a hands-free mount for your cell phone - cellphone in your hand gets you a big $$$ ticket. Get a new cell phone number with a 323, 310, or 818 area code if possible.
> 
> And visit The Apple Pan on Pico and try the hickory burger with apple pie for dessert. That will cure what ails ya.



Thanks for the input, CC. Looks like I'll definitely need a car.

Why the area code change? Applicant visibility?


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## charlieclouser (Jul 27, 2018)

tarantulis said:


> Why the area code change? Applicant visibility?



Well, that's just a bit of an inside LA joke - area code snobbery. It doesn't really matter - but there are some people who will raise an eyebrow if your cell number has an area code from west bumfuck Arkansas or whatever. NYC area codes are exempt from such snobbery. Here's how the LA codes break down:

213 = you are a true O.G. whose number was issued before they ran out of numbers in 213.
323 = this is the area code for Hollywood and most of LA proper; the areas that used to be 213.
310 = this is "the west side"; Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Malibu, etc. More chi-chi than 213/323.
818 = this is "the valley" (Burbank, Studio City, etc.); more low-rent than the others.

I fucked up and gave up my 213 cell phone number a long time ago - now I have to live with the shame of having a 323 cell phone and a 310 land line. Woe is me.

Kidding, of course. It doesn't really matter. Unless you're Warren G and "stay reppin' 213."


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## robgb (Jul 27, 2018)

Was at a party in Glendale. People from West Hollywood said it took them two hours to get there in traffic.
Get ready for traffic.
Lots of it.
Anything in Hollywood—unless you're in the hills—is going to be shit city. In fact, any place decent is going to have high real estate costs.
Consider the valley. But don't tell anyone in the industry you live there.
There are some decent places on Wilshire over near the tar pits. Lots of food trucks out there, too.
Man, I don't know. I hate L.A. I left there as soon as I had kids.
Really, if I had to live there now, I'd probably choose Santa Monica.
And get a car. Public transpo will drive you crazy.


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## NoamL (Jul 27, 2018)

gsilbers said:


> The two main hubs for entertainment business is west side - santa monica, venice etc and then its burbank/studio city area in the valley.



Yup, that's what I was gonna post. @tarantulis And keep in mind that while these areas are only 15ish miles apart "as the crow flies" they are much further apart due to 1) the lack of a single highway running directly between them makes the distance more like 25 miles on the ground and 2) traffic crossing the Santa Monica Mountains on the 405 is pretty bad. Burbank to Santa Monica is a 1 hr commute at least, 2.5 in bad conditions.

Bus support is actually not terrible but only in areas served by the Big Blue Bus (commuter bus for people going to Santa Monica). Get the NextBus app on your phone.

Check out WestSideRentals (I think they got bought by Apartments.com?) for an idea of apt prices on the west side. Avoid Santa Monica itself.

Agree with Charlie, get a new cell number.

AIR QUALITY and WALKABILITY - there are websites that rank these for different neighborhoods. Very important. Don't live by the highway & avoid Downtown (Echo Park).


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## charlieclouser (Jul 27, 2018)

When I first arrived it was 1992 and long before GPS and Google Maps - so what I did was get the Thomas Guide (the spiral bound map book that used to be THE bible for LA navigation) and I just.... drove. I drove everywhere, just looking around and checking things out.

Nowadays you can Google up the names of various studios and post facilities and just drive around and check out neighborhoods, see what the locals look like, see what the shops and restaurants are like, see how many bail bonds places versus valet parking guys per block there are (hint: more bail bonds places = worse neighborhood; more valet parking guys = better neighborhood).

A good resource to check out for rentals is:

https://www.westsiderentals.com

I've used them a few times over the last 20 years. Great way to get a feel for the prices in different areas.

Here's my impressions / memories of the various areas, going by the names you'll see displayed on Google Maps:

Hollywood = high energy, a little crusty, kind of crowded, not very cheap but fun. Lots of apartment buildings as well as single family houses. I lived in an apartment just east of Fairfax and south of Melrose for a while and it was nice, and not too $$$ - but that was 20 years ago.

Hollywood Hills = mostly houses, fewer apartments, more expensive but can be really nice. I lived in Beachwood Canyon just below the Hollywood sign for a decade and it was great - quiet, chill, but close to all the insanity of Hollywood. A good friend still lives there in a rented guest house and he loves it - he's been there for 12 years. Nichols Canyon and Laurel Canyon are awesome but mostly houses, few if any apartment buildings.

Los Feliz / Silver Lake = very hipster-y, less expensive, a little more crusty.

Echo Park / Little Armenia / Koreatown = a little more sketchy / crusty, a little cheaper, still convenient.

Central LA / Miracle Mile / Mid-Wilshire / Mid-City = less sketchy, convenient, not that cheap though.

Fairfax / LaBrea / Hancock Park / Carthay Circle = not very sketchy, convenient, less cheaper still. I lived in Park LaBrea for years and it was awesome. It's a huge gated community of post-war townhouses right in the center of the flats just south of Hollywood. Super quiet and calm despite being in the middle of everything. No short-term leases though - it ain't The Oakwood.

West Hollywood / Beverly Grove / Beverlywood = nicer than Hollywood, less nice than Beverly Hills. Big LGBT community, nice restaurants, upscale furniture stores, etc. Lots of apartments and convenient location mostly.

Beverly Hills / Century City / Holmby Hills / Westwood = big $$$. Ferrari dealerships etc.

Brentwood / Pacific Palisades = a more family-oriented version of Beverly Hills = $$$

Rancho Park / Cheviot Hills / Culver City / Sawtelle = more reasonable prices, family oriented, mostly not sketchy at all.

Mar Vista / Ocean Park / Venice / Marina Del Rey = can be nice, or rough depending, but the weather is to die for and it's convenient to Santa Monica and the west side. A good friend rents a house in Ocean Park with a guest house behind that he converted into a little studio and he makes records right there - and gets on the charts with them too.

Santa Monica = heaven on earth, weather-wise. Hell on earth, price-wise. Hans Zimmer's complex (and many many many other composer studios, like James Newton Howard's) are in this area.

Malibu = heaven on earth in all respects but kind of far out. The prices are far out as well. There are apartments though, due to Pepperdine University being out there. Most of the residents are self-important douche nozzles who think their shit doesn't stink. It can be a little much.

Topanga = my favorite (it's where I live for the last 11 years). Very rural, small population, total country side living. Surfer shacks, little cabins, a wide variety of stuff tucked up into the hills. Kind of hippy-dippy - lots of organic food cafes etc. A former nudist colony, an outdoor Shakespeare theater, etc. No apartment buildings though.

Moving north, on the other side of the Hollywood Hills, we have the awe-inspiring expanse of... (bum bum buuummmm) THE VALLEY. Starting at the eastern edge:

Burbank = it can get cheap out there if you get a little north + east, up towards Sunland. LOTS of post facilities in the southern part. Big "media neighborhood" around the intersection of Lankershim and Magnolia. Disney's offices are out there, and of course the Warner Brothers and Universal Studios lots and facilities, and their awesome dub stages and scoring stages. Composer Blake Neely's "Cow On The Wall" studio is in that media neighborhood.

Toluca Lake = a little more expensive, mostly big single-family homes.

Studio City / Sherman Oaks = very decent, very popular areas. Mix of apartments and houses. Not that cheap, but not insane. Ventura Boulevard has every restaurant in the world, and is kind of the dividing line between "nice" (aka "south of the boulevard") and "okay" (north of the boulevard).

Valley Village / Van Nuys = a little cheaper than Studio City / Sherman Oaks. More apartment buildings. Can get sketchy depending on many factors, mostly how far north you go. Check for how many bail bonds and "refill your water jugs cheap" places there are.

Encino / Tarzana = bigger houses, more 1970's style houses, more relaxed - but not much cheaper than Studio City / Sherman Oaks. Pretty chill area though.

Lake Balboa / Reseda / Winnetka / Canoga Park / Northridge / Chatsworth = cheaper than Van Nuys but there are some sketchy areas the further north you go. Now you're starting to get a little far out though.

Warner Center / West Hills = pretty chill, mostly safe, not too expensive. I eat at the restaurants at The Village mall in Warner Center all the time and it's super nice. My business manager's assistant lives out in Warner Center and commutes all the way to Beverly Hills every day, so.... it's do-able.

Woodland Hills / Calabasas = a little nicer than Warner Center, but can get expensive; Kardashians and Beibers live in Calabasas. The Commons mall in Calabasas is pretty upscale but has a good movie theater that's empty on weekdays. Mostly houses in this area though.

That's about it for my neighborhood memory. I'd say the psychological / practical transportation boundaries of "being in LA" are: Topanga Canyon Blvd on the west, the 5 freeway / Glendale on the east, the 10 / Culver City on the south, and halfway between the 101 and 118 freeways on the north. Once you get too far outside those areas you might face some hellacious drive times to wherever you're going "in town" if it's not 3am.


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## zvenx (Jul 27, 2018)

As someone making this move mid September this thread indeed is exceedingly useful and timely. And Charlie that breakdown above is priceless.
Thanks you so much.
rsp


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## PaulBrimstone (Jul 27, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> When I first arrived it was 1992 and long before GPS and Google Maps - so what I did was get the Thomas Guide (the spiral bound map book that used to be THE bible for LA navigation) and I just.... drove. I drove everywhere, just looking around and checking things out.
> 
> Nowadays you can Google up the names of various studios and post facilities and just drive around and check out neighborhoods, see what the locals look like, see what the shops and restaurants are like, see how many bail bonds places versus valet parking guys per block there are (hint: more bail bonds places = worse neighborhood; more valet parking guys = better neighborhood).
> 
> ...



Wow, not only is CC @charlieclouser our resident musical/technical guru — he’s a real estate/lifestyle pro, too. That's one of the best LA summaries I can recall reading, and the OP should consider it his local bible. FWIW, I second Topanga and the Apple Pan. And don't live in your car!


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## charlieclouser (Jul 27, 2018)

I've heard that in some rare instances one can actually use a weird invention (I think it came from The Netherlands?) called a "bi-cycle". It's a tiny little vehicle, and apparently it's powered by your feet! 

Kidding aside, at one point my assistant lived at the bottom of Beachwood Canyon and got a new gig working for a composer who had a room at Henson / A&M studios on LaBrea and Sunset, and he'd just hop on his bike and could zip back and forth quicker than he could drive. Also, if by some miracle you're working for a composer in Santa Monica you could live in Ocean Park / Venice or another slightly lower-priced neighborhood and bike to work pretty quickly since that area is pretty flat. But that situation isn't something to count on, it's more like you get situated and find out, "Hey, I don't even need to drive for this gig!" Now that guy rents a house with his wife out in the flats of Burbank and he loves it. He's got a yard for the dog and everything.

But yeah, I'm a total real estate junkie. I go to open houses almost every Sunday, and I look at any new listings in the area every day on Redfin.com; I flag tons of houses I will never buy simply because I want to bookmark the photos of cool bathrooms or kitchen cabinets or whatever - but the side effect is that I get a running timeline of prices, inventory, and how long it takes to sell properties at various price points in various locations. Fun to see a house I flagged that sold at three million come back on the market five years later for five million. Well, not fun exactly... but interesting.

If you can't tell, I love LA. The energy and optimism affect me in a positive way. If one is aiming for success in such an unrealistic, low-odds crap shoot as the entertainment industry, it can help to be surrounded by a zillion other folks who are equally deluded and optimistic! I feel so different here than I did in the decade I spent in NYC, surrounded by schlubs and shmendricks on the subway carrying their work shoes in a plastic bag from Gristede's, trudging piss-smelling streets to my fifth floor walkup. Besides the temperate climate, the lack of annoying insects, and all the awesome skiing / skateparks / surfing within easy reach - there's still the echo of the mid-century "jet age optimism" that resonates here for some weird reason. The low-slung "atomic ranch" houses in quiet suburban neighborhoods with winding streets, the bits and pieces of "googie" architecture like Mel's Diner and the retro-futuristic carwashes, the impromptu weekly sunday morning car shows... it all contributes to that unrealistic optimism. 

And there's a LOT of work going down. There's so many nooks and crannies and niches for a talented person to find - but it can take some digging. That said, a few months ago I was eating lunch with a friend at a not-fancy restaurant out here in Woodland Hills (a world away from Hollywood), talking shop, and the kid who was bussing our table said, "I hope this isn't rude, but I overheard you talking about film scores. Are you guys composers by any chance? Because I'm just finishing up school, studying exactly that..." We talked to the kid for a while - turns out his dad was a film composer in France where he grew up, and long story short, I brought him along to our monthly peer-group get together of film composers out in Topanga, and to the Monday morning "Malibu breakfast club" of film composers and record producers. Next thing you know, he's interning for a composer, and three months later he's applying for an internship / assistant position at Bear McCreary's massive operation. 

As the saying goes, "only in Hollywood" - but also in the suburbs I guess.


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## jononotbono (Jul 28, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> I've heard that in some rare instances one can actually use a weird invention (I think it came from The Netherlands?) called a "bi-cycle". It's a tiny little vehicle, and apparently it's powered by your feet!
> 
> Kidding aside, at one point my assistant lived at the bottom of Beachwood Canyon and got a new gig working for a composer who had a room at Henson / A&M studios on LaBrea and Sunset, and he'd just hop on his bike and could zip back and forth quicker than he could drive. Also, if by some miracle you're working for a composer in Santa Monica you could live in Ocean Park / Venice or another slightly lower-priced neighborhood and bike to work pretty quickly since that area is pretty flat. But that situation isn't something to count on, it's more like you get situated and find out, "Hey, I don't even need to drive for this gig!" Now that guy rents a house with his wife out in the flats of Burbank and he loves it. He's got a yard for the dog and everything.
> 
> ...



I love your enthusiasm man. Every time you talk abou LA it makes me want to move there even more. Trying to figure out how to move from the Isle of Wight and being able to afford it is my biggest mystery at the minute.


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## charlieclouser (Jul 28, 2018)

jononotbono said:


> I love your enthusiasm man. Every time you talk abou LA it makes me want to move there even more.



Well, one pre-existing condition that I have comes from growing up in the 1960's - 1970's on a snow-covered dirt road in rural Vermont, and watching far too many episodes of The Brady Bunch, Bewitched, I Dream Of Jeannie, CHiPS, etc. 

In other words, being brainwashed / programmed by the media to desire living in California. Those floating-tread stairs and the step-down den in the Brady Bunch house were all I wanted when I was a kid, living in an 1800's farmhouse that was heated by a wood stove. People who weren't fed a constant diet of that sort of programming might not have the same reaction to California that I did when I first got here!


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## MatFluor (Jul 28, 2018)

Charlie, your descriptions are very valuable. Even though currently I don't consider moving to the US (Switzerland - LA would be a very far move - plus green card and all that jazz. At least I'm a double Citizen Switzerland and EU), it's nice to have info about it.

Apart from "being close" (I am used to commute 30min-1hour currently), I am one of those guys who can't stand hot weather. By my hometown St. Moritz standards, hot means everything above roughly 27°C (80°F). How is that in the different places in LA? ACs are nice and all, but it would be crap being burned alive 10/12 Months a year - so the networking over a piece of meat at a BBQ would fall away 

In your experience, how's NYC industry-wise?


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## jononotbono (Jul 28, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> Well, one pre-existing condition that I have comes from growing up in the 1960's - 1970's on a snow-covered dirt road in rural Vermont, and watching far too many episodes of The Brady Bunch, Bewitched, I Dream Of Jeannie, CHiPS, etc.
> 
> In other words, being brainwashed / programmed by the media to desire living in California. Those floating-tread stairs and the step-down den in the Brady Bunch house were all I wanted when I was a kid, living in an 1800's farmhouse that was heated by a wood stove. People who weren't fed a constant diet of that sort of programming might not have the same reaction to California that I did when I first got here!



I’m kid from the 80’s with a Slash’s Snakepit tattoo on my arm. Is the Whiskey still "the" venue and is Jumbos Strip joint as nasty and legendary as I've been told? haha!


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## CT (Jul 28, 2018)

MatFluor said:


> Charlie, your descriptions are very valuable. Even though currently I don't consider moving to the US (Switzerland - LA would be a very far move - plus green card and all that jazz. At least I'm a double Citizen Switzerland and EU), it's nice to have info about it.
> 
> Apart from "being close" (I am used to commute 30min-1hour currently), I am one of those guys who can't stand hot weather. By my hometown St. Moritz standards, hot means everything above roughly 27°C (80°F). How is that in the different places in LA? ACs are nice and all, but it would be crap being burned alive 10/12 Months a year - so the networking over a piece of meat at a BBQ would fall away
> 
> In your experience, how's NYC industry-wise?



I love Charlie's enthusiastic Los Angeles posts, but I loved them more when I still thought I was Los Angeles bound. I feel much more sure that going back home to New York is the right choice now, so I wouldn't mind someone cheerleading that either.


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## charlieclouser (Jul 28, 2018)

MatFluor said:


> I am one of those guys who can't stand hot weather. By my hometown St. Moritz standards, hot means everything above roughly 27°C (80°F). How is that in the different places in LA? ACs are nice and all, but it would be crap being burned alive 10/12 Months a year - so the networking over a piece of meat at a BBQ would fall away
> 
> In your experience, how's NYC industry-wise?



For at least 6-8 months of the year, the temperature in the LA area is basically 22c every single day. It almost never gets below 10c, but for maybe 2-3 months it will be hot - occasional days in the 30c range. The last two weeks have been like this, but today it's warm and breezy at 24c. There are big variations in temperature depending on how close you are to the ocean - that's part of the reason why Santa Monica and Malibu are so expensive! If it's 35c in Hollywood / The Valley it will be 25c at the beach. Where I live we get huge temperature swings over the course of the day - if it's hot in the day it will be chilly at night. Right now I have the big sliding doors open and the breeze is wafting through the studio.

It almost never rains. And I mean never - maybe five times a year, only in the winter. It's been six months since a single drop has fallen. Every freaking day it's sunny, blue skies without a single cloud - it gets boring actually!

And every place, every house, every apartment, every store and restaurant definitely has AC. We love our AC!

As to NYC - it's been nearly 30 years since I lived there. When I was there things were very different - it was very expensive, but not "you've got to be kidding me" expensive like it is now. You could rent places for bands to rehearse, there were dozens of recording studios. etc. I paid $1,200 per month for a one-bedroom, fifth floor walk up apartment half a block away from Central Park on 82nd street. I think it's very different now - probably double that for rent. You may have heard about many of the famous NYC studios closing because the buildings were sold to become high-end apartments. My buddy who now lives in Beachwood Canyon in LA grew up in NYC and has always been a die-hard fan of the city, and goes back six or more times a year. He grew up as the child of artists and documentary filmmakers, living in a large building that was government-subsidized artist housing - that kind of housing is almost completely gone now. He has recently started to say that it's over for artists and musicians in NYC, unless they're at the very top of the industry and making lots of $$$. He still has musician friends there, but most of them stay there because they own a large building that's been passed down through family and the rental income from the building pays for them to live for free on the top floor or whatever. 

One aspect of the industry that's always been strong in NYC is advertising / "jingles". I think that's still going strong maybe?


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## charlieclouser (Jul 28, 2018)

jononotbono said:


> I’m kid from the 80’s with a Slash’s Snakepit tattoo on my arm. Is the Whiskey still "the" venue and is Jumbos Strip joint as nasty and legendary as I've been told? haha!



The Whisky A-Go-Go is still going strong for sure! Just as crowded and crusty as ever! And, yes, Jumbo's Clown Room is still as nasty as it ever was. They've cleaned up their act a little but it's still happening.

http://jumbos.com

One of the best depictions on film of what LA is like for people in their 20's - 30's is the movie "Swingers". The house party in the hills, the way that five guys take five cars to get there, and the night at the Dresden Room piano bar are spot-on and very realistic, even now that it's 20 years later. That scene where they're playing video games in a small apartment and get beers delivered by Pink Dot, and the late-night breakfast at the diner is exactly what it was like when I first got here in the 90's.


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## jononotbono (Jul 28, 2018)

5 days of rain! That’s gotta be the most bespoke Sample Library collaboration between you and Spitfire waiting to happen! Haha! 5 Inch Trails. Sorry.


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## jononotbono (Jul 28, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> The Whisky A-Go-Go is still going strong for sure! Just as crowded and crusty as ever! And, yes, Jumbo's Clown Room is still as nasty as it ever was. They've cleaned up their act a little but it's still happening.
> 
> http://jumbos.com
> 
> One of the best depictions on film of what LA is like for people in their 20's - 30's is the movie "Swingers". The house party in the hills, the way that five guys take five cars to get there, and the night at the Dresden Room piano bar are spot-on and very realistic, even now that it's 20 years later. That scene where they're playing video games in a small apartment and get beers delivered by Pink Dot, and the late-night breakfast at the diner is exactly what it was like when I first got here in the 90's.



Ahh man. This gives me so much joy. A couple of friends of mine were playing with Courtney Love and said they spent a considerable amount of time in Jumbo’s. 40 year old C Section dancers, putting a quarter in the duke box before hitting the pole every night! Haha!


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## Jdiggity1 (Jul 28, 2018)

To explain LA to the younger generations: It's basically living in GTA V.


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## Mike Greene (Jul 28, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> I've heard that in some rare instances one can actually use a weird invention (I think it came from The Netherlands?) called a "bi-cycle". It's a tiny little vehicle, and apparently it's powered by your feet!


I sometimes ride my bike to work from our house in Studio City to my studio in Hollywood. I love to do it and it's very satisfying, but there are two things:

First, it's slower than by car. In my case, the Cahuenga Pass is a bitch, so it's a _lot_ slower. Taking my car to work is 15 minutes with no traffic, or 30 with traffic, but bike is 40 minutes SC to Hollywood or 55 minutes Hollywood to SC. (Our house is at a higher elevation than the studio, so it's more huffin' and puffin' for me to get there. Lance Armstrong I am not.) For flatter rides, the time difference will be less, but even in flat areas, unless it's just a few blocks, car is almost always faster.

The other thing is weather. If it's hot, then taking my bike is very unappealing. Even with a shower at the studio and the reward of a pool at my house, if the temperature is in the 80's or 90's ... ugh!

I keep a second bike at the studio for lunch trips or other errands. It's really handy. Not necessarily faster than a car, except parking it is easier, so it pays off.


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## jononotbono (Jul 28, 2018)

Jdiggity1 said:


> To explain LA to the younger generations: It's basically living in GTA V.



Everyone here knows what GTA V is but only someone from a "younger" generation would know what it's like to live in GTA V. Spill the beans... How old are you? haha!


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## Jeremy Gillam (Jul 28, 2018)

I live in Los Feliz near Thai Town, two blocks from Jumbo's, in a dingy but charming little 1925 bungalow apartment with no AC. I LOVE this neighborhood, but I really lucked out with my place and even in the 5 years I've been here prices have gone up a lot in the area. I got rid of my car a couple years ago and it was a great decision financially, but I mostly work from home and am able to walk to everything I need. Uber and Lyft are cheap and easy when I need to make a longer journey, and I found that I was using them a lot for going into the nightlife even when I had a car. I was able to make the commute to RCP in Santa Monica last fall via Metro which took about 90 minutes each way. Definitely a hike, but as others have said the same journey via car at rush hour might take just as long.

Friends of mine have a beautiful property in Topanga. It's really lovely over there, I always feel like I've left the real world behind for a while when I visit...


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## Jdiggity1 (Jul 28, 2018)

jononotbono said:


> Everyone here knows what GTA V is but only someone from a "younger" generation would know what it's like to live in GTA V. Spill the beans... How old are you? haha!


Old enough to fill out an age verification form.


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## jononotbono (Jul 28, 2018)

Jdiggity1 said:


> Old enough to fill out an age verification form.



Hey, I could do that when I was 4. How many cars have you stolen since being in LA?


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## C.R. Rivera (Jul 28, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> Hollywood = high energy, a little crusty, kind of crowded, not very cheap but fun. Lots of apartment buildings as well as single family houses. I lived in an apartment just east of Fairfax and south of Melrose for a while and it was nice, and not too $$$ - but that was 20 years ago.
> 
> Hollywood Hills = mostly houses, fewer apartments, more expensive but can be really nice. I lived in Beachwood Canyon just below the Hollywood sign for a decade and it was great - quiet, chill, but close to all the insanity of Hollywood. A good friend still lives there in a rented guest house and he loves it - he's been there for 12 years. Nichols Canyon and Laurel Canyon are awesome but mostly houses, few if any apartment buildings..



---You forgot South Central on that list........gets aired out often........ (badda bing)

Good call on Oakwood.....I lived in the Oakwood (Coronado) for 5 years during two navy tours in SOCAL. Nice, clean, and especially for me, on the SD Bayfront. Not sure what the ones up north have to offer on that perspective or what their prices are now.


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## charlieclouser (Jul 28, 2018)

Yeah, in anyone's life there's bound to be an occasion or three where you don't have time to plan, search for an apartment, wait a month for applications to be approved, move in, etc.... you just need to move in today, like *right now*. For those times, the Oakwood is great. You pay for the privilege, but it sure beats the Tropi-Cal Motel on Sunset!


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## fiestared (Jul 29, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> Yeah, in anyone's life there's bound to be an occasion or three where you don't have time to plan, search for an apartment, wait a month for applications to be approved, move in, etc.... you just need to move in today, like *right now*. For those times, the Oakwood is great. You pay for the privilege, but it sure beats the Tropi-Cal Motel on Sunset!


Charlie, what kind of "visitors" do you have in your garden ? A friend of mine lives in the valley (between Sherman Oaks and Van Nuys) he has regularly "racoons, opposums, snakes"


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## charlieclouser (Jul 29, 2018)

fiestared said:


> Charlie, what kind of "visitors" do you have in your garden ? A friend of mine lives in the valley (between Sherman Oaks and Van Nuys) he has regularly "racoons, opposums, snakes"



Lizards are everywhere. No bugs though! Hummingbirds, owls, deer, the occasional hawk. 

We see coyotes at least once a week. They usually take a nice big deuce right in the middle of the driveway. 

Had rattlesnakes every year or two, and twice a tarantula as big as your hand has wandered slowly across the floor of my studio - that got my attention for sure. My wife has seen bobcats drinking from the koi pond four times but I missed it every time. The koi have a garage-type thing they can hide under, so no free sushi buffet for mister bobcat!


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## fiestared (Jul 29, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> Lizards are everywhere. No bugs though! Hummingbirds, owls, deer, the occasional hawk.
> 
> We see coyotes at least once a week. They usually take a nice big deuce right in the middle of the driveway.
> 
> Had rattlesnakes every year or two, and twice a tarantula as big as your hand has wandered slowly across the floor of my studio - that got my attention for sure. My wife has seen bobcats drinking from the koi pond four times but I missed it every time. The koi have a garage-type thing they can hide under, so no free sushi buffet for mister bobcat!


Great ! If you decide to change for something different, you can make nature documentary films directly from home !


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## URL (Jul 29, 2018)

Uh-scary, rattlesnakes, hopefully there are pro people who can take those away, do they come into the "city" also...?


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## aaronventure (Jul 29, 2018)

Since the weather is basically perfect throughout the year, are none of you motorcyclists? With the traffic and all, lane splitting does sound like a good idea there. What's the this idea like in reality?


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## charlieclouser (Jul 29, 2018)

Lane-splitting is completely legal here pretty much anywhere there is more than one traffic lane, and most drivers are aware and courteous. So, freeways - yup. But shoulder-riding or passing on double yellow is not allowed. So, dashed white lines only.

But they definitely get their bike on around here, especially in Topanga / Malibu - the canyons are legendary for both bikers and sport / supercar drivers. One of the favorite roads for sport bikers (and baggers too) is "The Snake" which is a few miles from my house. We have Mulholland Highway, Stunt Road, Decker, and the unique Tuna Canyon Road, which is a one-way, single-lane, down-canyon road with no intersections, houses, driveways, trash cans, or pedestrians. It is pretty epic. But I prefer four wheels.

Check out RNickeyMouse's YouTube channel - he's always filming up on the Snake.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvtfT-xYX4Q-jC2Mbsk3OUA

As to actual slithering snakes (not roads nicknamed "The Snake") there is a snake wrangler who definitely makes house calls, and captures and releases the danger noodles somewhere far away, for free. Had him out here a couple times.


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## Mike Greene (Jul 29, 2018)

We get the occasional snake in the Studio City hills (near Coldwater), but a few weeks ago, a neighbor caught this beauty on their doorbell cam.

I walk our dog Joey right by there, every night. Luckily, Joey's pretty skinny without a lot of meat on his bones, so I don't think a mountain lion would be too tempted by him. Although ... me, on the other hand ...


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## PaulBrimstone (Jul 29, 2018)

Mike Greene said:


> We get the occasional snake in the Studio City hills (near Coldwater), but a few weeks ago, a neighbor caught this beauty on their doorbell cam.
> 
> I walk our dog Joey right by there, every night. Luckily, Joey's pretty skinny without a lot of meat on his bones, so I don't think a mountain lion would be too tempted by him. Although ... me, on the other hand ...



Wot, no music bed?


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## PaulBrimstone (Jul 29, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> Lizards are everywhere. No bugs though! Hummingbirds, owls, deer, the occasional hawk.
> 
> We see coyotes at least once a week. They usually take a nice big deuce right in the middle of the driveway.
> 
> Had rattlesnakes every year or two, and twice a tarantula as big as your hand has wandered slowly across the floor of my studio - that got my attention for sure. My wife has seen bobcats drinking from the koi pond four times but I missed it every time. The koi have a garage-type thing they can hide under, so no free sushi buffet for mister bobcat!


Sadly, in our LA days, we had to nix living in any of the canyons because of our gang of lovely outdoors Maine Coon cats. They're big, but they'd be no match for the swarms of carnivores out there. And I had really wanted the Getty as my neighbourhood hangout. Oh well... So if you have kitties or puppies, stick to Santa Monica!


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## tmhuud (Jul 29, 2018)

aaronventure said:


> Since the weather is basically perfect throughout the year, are none of you motorcyclists? With the traffic and all, lane splitting does sound like a good idea there. What's the this idea like in reality?



I’m a biker. Love it. Couldn’t be without. These things are zero to 60 in . On my second one.
Before that, Honda bikes. These Zeros are very dangerous though. Motors have super high torque and must be treated with respect.

Lane splitting is legal and cagers (drivers) are generally very courteous.

http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=69


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## fiestared (Jul 29, 2018)

Mike Greene said:


> We get the occasional snake in the Studio City hills (near Coldwater), but a few weeks ago, a neighbor caught this beauty on their doorbell cam.
> 
> I walk our dog Joey right by there, every night. Luckily, Joey's pretty skinny without a lot of meat on his bones, so I don't think a mountain lion would be too tempted by him. Although ... me, on the other hand ...



Wow ! Mike be carefull we don't want to loose our so beloved forum owner...


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## Dirk Ehlert (Jul 29, 2018)

Very worthy discussion and thanks @charlieclouser for what seems to be the most in depth and detailed LA neighborhood breakdown I've ever seen. I've ended up in Chino Hills (FW71 Riverside/Pomona) for the start and I'm lucky enough to not have to commute everyday, since I work at home. Nevertheless we're considering getting closer to the city when our first year lease is done and right now it looks like it's gonna be Whittier or Pasadena. Closer to Burbank and also just a 40 min ride to downtown SM and not 1,5 hours, like it is now (FastTrak helps a lot)


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## rlw (Jul 29, 2018)

Great overview @charlieclouser. The discussion brings up many memories after living 20 plus years in Burbank, Glendale, Toluca Lake and then 20 plus years in Newport Beach and Irvine. So many moments with great musicians in both communities. I have to say, I was intoxicated by the beach life, restaurants and weather in Newport. Rode my bike 10 months out of the year and lived for a period looking over Balboa Island without air conditioning in comfort and wonderful breeze year around while it could be 100 plus degrees just 15 miles inland. Southern California traffic is insane and public transportation is extremely limited. Uber did not exist then. Working at home or near your work is a blessing. Got so very tired of all the wasted moments on the freeway.


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## KerrySmith (Jul 29, 2018)

Being somewhat tangential, anyone recommend a hotel in Hollywood, near the Chinese Theater that’s below the $200 level, but clean decent? I just got asked to attend a festival for a short I scored , and my local buds won’t be around the first night.


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## charlieclouser (Jul 29, 2018)

KerrySmith said:


> Being somewhat tangential, anyone recommend a hotel in Hollywood, near the Chinese Theater that’s below the $200 level, but clean decent? I just got asked to attend a festival for a short I scored , and my local buds won’t be around the first night.



The Roosevelt is right across the street from the Chinese, but it's probably around $300 and up. Great pool though.

But check out The Magic Castle Hotel. It's a little cheaper, right behind the Chinese, and rumor has it that with the booking of a room you get to visit The Magic Castle - which is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The Magic Castle is a private, members-only club for magicians, and is sort of ground zero for sleight-of-hand and small theater magic. (Not Criss Angel crap). I've been there a few times and it is not to be believed - it will blow your mind. Check and make sure that you can visit the Castle if you book a room, and if you can, make sure you get a seating in the close-up theater, where just a few people sit at a table with a sleight-of-hand artist doing incredible illusions right at arm's length. It's amazing. Wandering in the bar area will be other close-up artists, just doing tricks right in your face, and then there's usually two or three acts in the main theater, which is still pretty small. It's so good.


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## dzilizzi (Jul 29, 2018)

tarantulis said:


> Thanks for the advice, everyone! I'll restrict my search to the areas mentioned. Should I avoid downtown LA altogether?
> 
> I currently work from home but would be looking for something new once I got settled. I found a place in the 90037 area (so South LA?) that would be a 6-month lease; I'm wondering if that would put me close enough to outlying areas to find an opportunity and new place in the meantime.
> 
> My other idea is to just invest in a decent car and live out of it for however long it takes me to find something. Obviously not ideal but it would allow me to get around and save some money for the first couple months.


90037 may be the worst part of LA, if you are next to USC, you may be okay. but really, that area is called South Central and has a lot of gang problems. 

It's been a while since I've lived in LA though. I used to stick to Pasadena/Glendale area but I had friends who lived over near Hollywood Blvd & Highland Ave - Franklin had some less expensive but small apartments. There are a lot of studios in that area. But it is all going to be pricey. And if you can find anything in Santa Monica/Venice, they have rent control, but it is hard to get in. However, the weather is the best over there.


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## charlieclouser (Jul 30, 2018)

Here's another resource I check out when I'm scoping neighborhoods - this website scrapes data from LA Country Sheriff's Dept. and aggregates it in a clickable Google Maps format.

You'll need to fiddle with the zoom, filters, date ranges, and other settings to get it to show what you want but you can click on the little incident icons to see exactly what bad things went down and when.

Sorry about the insane length of the link, but just click it.

https://www.crimereports.com/agency/los-angeles-county-sheriff-department-ca#!/dashboard?incident_types=Assault%2CAssault%20with%20Deadly%20Weapon%2CBreaking%20%26%20Entering%2CDisorder%2CDrugs%2CHomicide%2CKidnapping%2CLiquor%2COther%20Sexual%20Offense%2CProperty%20Crime%2CProperty%20Crime%20Commercial%2CProperty%20Crime%20Residential%2CQuality%20of%20Life%2CRobbery%2CSexual%20Assault%2CSexual%20Offense%2CTheft%2CTheft%20from%20Vehicle%2CTheft%20of%20Vehicle&start_date=2018-07-16&end_date=2018-07-30&days=sunday%2Cmonday%2Ctuesday%2Cwednesday%2Cthursday%2Cfriday%2Csaturday&start_time=0&end_time=23&include_sex_offenders=false&lat=34.103987256360575&lng=-118.46488952636717&zoom=12&current_tab=list&shapeIds=&shape_id=228


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## fiestared (Jul 30, 2018)

Mike Greene said:


> We get the occasional snake in the Studio City hills (near Coldwater), but a few weeks ago, a neighbor caught this beauty on their doorbell cam.
> 
> I walk our dog Joey right by there, every night. Luckily, Joey's pretty skinny without a lot of meat on his bones, so I don't think a mountain lion would be too tempted by him. Although ... me, on the other hand ...



https://photographyontherun.com/prun.asp?id=568


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## Loïc D (Jul 30, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> You could rent places for bands to rehearse, there were dozens of recording studios. etc. I paid $1,200 per month for a one-bedroom, fifth floor walk up apartment half a block away from Central Park on 82nd street. I think it's very different now - probably double that for rent. You may have heard about many of the famous NYC studios closing because the buildings were sold to become high-end apartments.


Same story here in Paris, at a lower scale I guess. Big names of parisian recording studios are closing one after another (Plus XXX, Davout,...). There are only a couple of studios left and the news are not so good.
Same - and worse - for rehearsing studios.
Not to say that Paris is the hell for amateur bands to find gigs: grumpy barkeepers wouldn't even treat your band with free drinks. The city is turning more and more into a museum everyday, being plagued by foreign $$$ investors and Air'BnB facilities.
I, along with lots of my friends (with families), have moved to the 1st ring of precints.
I used to pay 1100€ monthly rent inside Paris for a crappy old 40sqm 2-rooms flat.
At a stone jet east of Paris, for the same rent, I have a 60sqm 3-rooms in a mint new building. And At least, my own studio room lol.

Anyway, Charlie, did you consider city guide / real estate advisor as a side job ?... 
Your description of LA districts is second to none.


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## charlieclouser (Jul 30, 2018)

Heh. The thing about LA is that it's so spread out, eventually you'll explore (by accident) so many neighborhoods just in the course of doing things like: taking a synthesizer in for repair, shopping for a mattress, finding a Home Depot that has a 14-foot ladder in stock, finding those wall-mount shelf rail things, going to every Fry's Electronics store in the area scooping up 4tb hard drives, etc. etc. etc. 

Out here you just sort of can't help but explore in the course of daily life - it's like, "Hey dude, where did you find those clip-on LED light strips? Oh, The Container Store? Where is that? Way the hell out in Oxnard? All right, maybe I'll cruise out there on Sunday." And since you absolutely must have a reliable car just to live, why not take a drive way the hell out to Oxnard just to look for stupid LED strips? And while you're out there, why not grab a bite? And while you're eating, scope out the real estate listings and take a cruise through some neighborhoods before heading home? You might see some of those "open house" signs with the little arrows pointing up some tree-lined street, so... let's take a look.

There's these free, glossy, magazines called "Homes and Land" that are nothing but real estate listings, and they publish different ones for each area - and they're always in little dispensers at restaurants and malls and stuff. And they're free. So the curious types (like me) will grab one and flip through them while having lunch. A good way to see how people are livin' large in whatever weird area you might find yourself.

https://www.homesandland.com

Plus I love modern architecture, interesting and unusual homes, etc., so I'm always looking for the next awesome concrete and glass monstrosity that nobody else wants to buy. Sundays are always me and the wife driving around to real estate open houses just out of curiosity. We saw six houses today, with no intention of buying any of them - but you never know. Two of them were next to each other in a little dead-end cul-de-sac up in the hills, right next door to a house we saw six months ago on a Sunday open house - so now we've been inside three of the four houses on that little street. You start to run into the same real estate agents, talking about neighborhoods and houses, etc. They'll be like, "Have you seen that new build on Van Alden? It's really nice, but there's an elementary school on the other side of that tall hedge, so it's noisy as heck - that's why it's priced so low." Ohhh.... good to know - since it's Sunday, school was out and we didn't hear any noise. I flag houses on the Redfin.com website that I have no intention of buying just to bookmark the photos of cool kitchen cabinets or whatever, and then I get notified if it sells, or the price changes, etc. So kind of by accident I'm gathering information about real estate pricing, inventory levels, and trending neighborhoods. To be fair, I have been out here for 25+ years, often moving away and back again - so I've wound up doing the "moving to LA" thing at least five or six times now. That's why I know so much about The Oakwood!

I love knowing an area - knowing which street all the machine shops and powder-coating shops are on, knowing which Home Depot has the best garden section and which ones are a destroyed mess, where the good taco trucks park along the beach, etc. I think that's part of what makes a city feel like "home", even in such a huge and "soul-less" city as LA. Thing is, in LA you don't discover "culture" by walking down the street like you do in NYC (because nobody walks in LA) - you have to seek it out, Google Map it, drive to it, pay for parking, and THEN - boom:

Culture.

Legendarily creative weirdo Werner Herzog loves LA, and defends it against the haters in this article in the LA Times:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-mn-werner-herzog-on-sunset-blvd-20170411-story.html

Good enough for Werner = good enough for me!


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## charlieclouser (Jul 30, 2018)

I forgot to mention - since LA requires "inside knowledge", it's kind of tradition for old hands to act as guides to new arrivals to help them get a feel for the place. When I first arrived in LA in 1989, 1990, somewhere around there, I had no clue - but I had a few old college friends who were already out here and knew the ropes. My old buddy picked me up at the airport, and with my bags still in the car, we headed directly to The Apple Pan - he was giggling the whole way, saying, "I can't wait for you to see this place - you're gonna love it!" 

I've been a regular customer ever since. They know what I'm going to order as soon as they see my face, so if there's a wait for a seat at the counter, they start cooking my food as soon as I make eye contact with the cook, and they plunk it down in front of me exactly when my butt hits the seat. The other customers are like, "What the hell just happened? This guy didn't even order!"

Little things like that make LA amazing to me. Small town moments in the midst of 20 million people. Awesome.


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## Ashermusic (Jul 30, 2018)

I have lived in LA since 1972 and every year I like it less. Great place to visit but I wish I was not stuck living here, which I am.

That said, if you are the kind of person who skis and surfs and the more sunny days the better, you might love it. I am not that guy.


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## dgburns (Jul 30, 2018)

Ashermusic said:


> I have lived in LA since 1972 and every year I like it less. Great place to visit but I wish I was not stuck living here, which I am.
> 
> That said, if you are the kind of person who skis and surfs and the more sunny days the better, you might love it. I am not that guy.



I can apppreciate what you must feel. Not having lived in LA, but having visited mostly for work, I have always left with a feeling that people were, as Charlie stated, very optimistic. That might not seem apparent to a local, but it’s contagious, and I always find myself a bit down for a few weeks leaving because of the special energy that seems to exist there. It’s not the weather, I find myself somehow always perma THIRSTY when I’m in town. It’s not the traffic, yuk, but somehow manageable. It’s the idea the town holds that ‘This is the place where it all happens’ kinda vibe that seems to be prevalent.
For a guy like me, it all became about the financing. It costs alot to live there IF you want to maintain the lifestyle of a lesser expensive place. I did the math, and I’m just not sure, but it’s also about the loss of possibilities if you aren’t ‘around’. Strange for an industry like ours that proximity plays such a big factor, but it does.

I like the locals, everyone is just trying to make a living, for the most part, and the bonus of living in a town that is media friendly means that you have the best of talent, food choices (especially non big chain options) and gear places to buy stuff that a big media city allows.

I think Charlie has something special in Topanga, it’s a lovely place, but if I were to move there it would be Santa Monica, or barring that somewhere close-ish.

Maybe one day this industry will have a more open mind to working at a distance, what with Frame IO, Cinesync, Skype and all.


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## Ashermusic (Jul 30, 2018)

dgburns said:


> I can apppreciate what you must feel. Not having lived in LA, but having visited mostly for work, I have always left with a feeling that people were, as Charlie stated, very optimistic. That might not seem apparent to a local, but it’s contagious, and I always find myself a bit down for a few weeks leaving because of the special energy that seems to exist there. It’s not the weather, I find myself somehow always perma THIRSTY when I’m in town. It’s not the traffic, yuk, but somehow manageable. It’s the idea the town holds that ‘This is the place where it all happens’ kinda vibe that seems to be prevalent.
> For a guy like me, it all became about the financing. It costs alot to live there IF you want to maintain the lifestyle of a lesser expensive place. I did the math, and I’m just not sure, but it’s also about the loss of possibilities if you aren’t ‘around’. Strange for an industry like ours that proximity plays such a big factor, but it does.
> 
> I like the locals, everyone is just trying to make a living, for the most part, and the bonus of living in a town that is media friendly means that you have the best of talent, food choices (especially non big chain options) and gear places to buy stuff that a big media city allows.
> ...



Look, I love Charlie and I have been to his place and it is terrific. But Charlie is a _very_ successful (deservedly) cat and if you don't make a lot of money, you will NOT be living in Santa Monica.

And I don't find anyone but the youngest people all that optimistic, nor should they be, because there is nowhere NEAR the opportunities now that there were in 1972 when I came here. Almost no live music; what there is doesn't pay; almost no staff writing deals; almost no "middle class" composers because there are so few "Movies Off The Week" and that kind of stuff that pay e.g. $30 k like I used to get. Almost no musical director jobs for touring acts like I used to get. And on and on.

When I come back to LA from out of town, as I just did, I feel the depression you describe when you leave it.


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## Wally Garten (Jul 30, 2018)

tarantulis said:


> Hi all! I'm moving to LA in a few weeks and trying to decide what area I should be in.
> 
> Is Central LA a good place to start in terms of being able to get around the city and to adjoining areas? Are there other areas to consider? Also, is public transportation a viable means of getting around? (Here in San Francisco, it's not.)



I lived in Koreatown for three years. Central LA will definitely maximize your ability to get to a lot of important places relatively quickly -- usually 20-40 minutes by car to anywhere you might want to go. Public transit is also somewhat viable: I took the train to a job downtown for a year with no trouble, and they're extending the Purple Line westward, so public transit in central LA will become even more functional in the nearish future. I'd say you could do a mix of transit and Uber -- transit alone would be tough.

The center of the city is also a brutal place to live -- it's crowded, it's noisy, it's smelly, outdoor space is lacking, it's ten degrees hotter than at the beach, and if you don't have parking at your building you're screwed on having a car (I am not kidding about this). 

Culver City is a bit further west but offers much of the same convenience (easy drives, good access to public transit) with better amenities. It is, however, priced accordingly.

Downtown is great _if you work downtown_, but it's somewhat hard to get in and out of, is nearing SF/NYC levels of expensive, and smells like pee. (Also, you will inevitably end up with some kind of stupid parking arrangement two blocks from your building.) Same with Santa Monica/Venice, minus the pee smell. Both downtown and the beach areas are quite bikeable, so if you work in the area it can be pretty easy to get around.

The Northeast (Eagle Rock, Glassell Park, Mt. Washington, Highland Park, and points north) is cute and fun and was affordable seven or eight years ago. Now people have caught on, but maybe you could still find something decent in Lincoln Heights? The only downside is it does put you in a bit of an isolated pocket -- there are only a few arteries for getting to the rest of the city, and I would say almost none of them are safely bikeable, so you almost certainly need a car for regular commuting. (There is also the Gold Line, if you're going downtown and live in one of the pockets that's close to a station.)

When I first moved to LA, someone told me "No one lives south of the 10." This is obviously not true, and I think there are some very nice areas south of the 10 (Baldwin Hills, in particular, is near some great parkland), but it is a vast sprawl and you would almost certainly need a car.

Weirdly, the Valley is somewhat more amenable to using public transit -- the "Orange Line" (a dedicated busway) makes it pretty easy to hook up with the Metro system. But, again, the Metro itself is still pretty limited.

Hope that's helpful. Good luck!

(Oh -- and avoid living anywhere that makes you dependent on the 405.)


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## Wally Garten (Jul 30, 2018)

Ashermusic said:


> I don't find anyone but the youngest people all that optimistic, nor should they be, because there is nowhere NEAR the opportunities now that there were in 1972 when I came here.



Yeah. I left last year. LA still coasts on an image (as a golden land of opportunity) that was formed when half as many people lived there. The expense/opportunity ratio is just drastically different from what it was when broke hippie musicians could live in the canyons. 

Of course, it's still where the deals get made and the hiring gets done in the film industry, so if you want to work in that business, maybe you have to live there. But if you're any other kind of musician or artist, I think your life will be better, and the opportunities just as good, in Nashville or Atlanta or Minneapolis (or, hell, even somewhere in the Rust Belt where you could live REALLY cheaply).


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## KerrySmith (Jul 30, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> The Roosevelt is right across the street from the Chinese, but it's probably around $300 and up. Great pool though.
> 
> But check out The Magic Castle Hotel. It's a little cheaper, right behind the Chinese, and rumor has it that with the booking of a room you get to visit The Magic Castle - which is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The Magic Castle is a private, members-only club for magicians, and is sort of ground zero for sleight-of-hand and small theater magic. (Not Criss Angel crap). I've been there a few times and it is not to be believed - it will blow your mind. Check and make sure that you can visit the Castle if you book a room, and if you can, make sure you get a seating in the close-up theater, where just a few people sit at a table with a sleight-of-hand artist doing incredible illusions right at arm's length. It's amazing. Wandering in the bar area will be other close-up artists, just doing tricks right in your face, and then there's usually two or three acts in the main theater, which is still pretty small. It's so good.



That is really rad. I don’t think I’ll have time for it this trip, but I am definitely keeping that in mind for future trips.


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## tarantulis (Jul 30, 2018)

Thanks for the great advice everyone. Got some promising listings lined up.


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## charlieclouser (Jul 30, 2018)

Hey, I'd live in Santa Monica - if I could justify the expense. The prices there are absolutely mental, and even my boundless optimism can't overcome my tendency to say, "Wait a minute, this just ain't worth it!"

Check out this nice but not over-the-top house, with a man-cave area on the bottom that is being used as a small composer's suite, a pool, and so-so modern-ish style:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/562-Stassi-Ln-Santa-Monica-CA--402/20539643_zpid/

SIX FREAKING MILLION DOLLARS.

Sure, it's 5,100 square feet, but... sheesh. Look at the street view - it's a tiny little slice, ass-to-elbows against the neighbors, with a tiny two-car garage on a scrunchy little street, with zero guest parking, only inches away from a busy cut-through street (Entrada) that is bumper-to-bumper at rush hour.

They bought it only two years ago - after it had been originally listed at $6m and the price dropped all the way down to $4.5m before it finally sold. So maybe the same thing will happen again - list it for $6m and hope you don't have to drop as far as the previous owners did in order to get it gone. Still, hoping to make a $1.5m profit in two years is just.... wow. But Santa Monica's like that. And with the tech companies and video game studios vying for space to turn the area into "Silicon Beach" it ain't gonna get any better.

The climate down there *is* pretty awesome though.


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## PaulBrimstone (Jul 30, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> Hey, I'd live in Santa Monica - if I could justify the expense. The prices there are absolutely mental, and even my boundless optimism can't overcome my tendency to say, "Wait a minute, this just ain't worth it!"
> 
> Check out this nice but not over-the-top house, with a man-cave area on the bottom that is being used as a small composer's suite, a pool, and so-so modern-ish style:
> 
> ...



David Buckley’s?


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## charlieclouser (Jul 30, 2018)

PaulBrimstone said:


> David Buckley’s?



Is it? I have no idea who owns it - I just flagged it because it had a pool and a space that could be / is being used as a composer's space - and it wasn't some mock-Mediterranean, faux-Tuscan monstrosity.


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## PaulBrimstone (Jul 30, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> Is it? I have no idea who owns it - I just flagged it because it had a pool and a space that could be / is being used as a composer's space - and it wasn't some mock-Mediterranean, faux-Tuscan monstrosity.


I have no idea either — but the posters match the composer!


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## givemenoughrope (Jul 30, 2018)

We moved to the taint between Eagle Rock and Glassell Park about 8.5 years ago. Our house's value has doubled(!). Corner lot (10k sq ft) on a hill, almost 3k sq ft with the garage built out as a studio, panoramic views...we got pretty lucky. Very close to the freeways (2, 134, 5, 10) and with access to food, theaters and music venues in 10 mins; jazz at Blue Whale downtown or a few places in HP, rock/metal/electronic at the Echo or Zebulon or any number of places, Disney hall and a bunch of places for chamber music between downtown, Pasadena, Glendale, EP, etc on any given day. I could basically see music every day/night (had to choose between Walter Smith III and the Melvins last friday...argh...)

We could sell and almost do an even swap for this (I will eventually live in either this house or one just like it someday if I have to hand deliver my soul to the devil himself):
https://www.realtor.com/realestatea...2089?cid=prt_patch_editorial_web_patch#photo0

...but givemenoughrope jr drops any day now and my wife is just like..."no." He'll probably be beyond pissed when he realizes he could have grown up in a gold dome. I'd need a jetpack to get anywhere too.


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## givemenoughrope (Jul 30, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/562-Stassi-Ln-Santa-Monica-CA--402/20539643_zpid/
> 
> SIX FREAKING MILLION DOLLARS.
> 
> Sure, it's 5,100 square feet



Looks like a boring restaurant. Too much upkeep. (And paint that guitarviol a darker color ffs.) Great climate though, sure.


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## charlieclouser (Jul 30, 2018)

Wow I can't believe I never saw that gold dome! Wild. How about a pyramid?

https://www.redfin.com/CA/Malibu/24861-Rotunda-Mesa-Rd-90265/home/6853559


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## givemenoughrope (Jul 30, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> Wow I can't believe I never saw that gold dome! Wild. How about a pyramid?
> 
> https://www.redfin.com/CA/Malibu/24861-Rotunda-Mesa-Rd-90265/home/6853559



WoW! I like how it looks like Kenneth Anger's Pleasure Dome from the outside and immediately becomes modern Martha Stewart upon entry. She can live here. I'll take the gold dome.


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## C.R. Rivera (Jul 30, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> Wow I can't believe I never saw that gold dome! Wild. How about a pyramid?
> 
> https://www.redfin.com/CA/Malibu/24861-Rotunda-Mesa-Rd-90265/home/6853559



The HOA fees are only $9 a month? Is that a typo......seems like a bargain for what I pay.


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## Wally Garten (Jul 30, 2018)

givemenoughrope said:


> We moved to the taint between Eagle Rock and Glassell Park about 8.5 years ago. Our house's value has doubled(!).



Oh, man, that was the right time! We were actually living there then but didn't quite have the juice to buy (or felt we didn't, which amounts to the same thing). Anyway, congrats!


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## dgburns (Jul 30, 2018)

Ashermusic said:


> Look, I love Charlie and I have been to his place and it is terrific. But Charlie is a _very_ successful (deservedly) cat and if you don't make a lot of money, you will NOT be living in Santa Monica.
> 
> And I don't find anyone but the youngest people all that optimistic, nor should they be, because there is nowhere NEAR the opportunities now that there were in 1972 when I came here. Almost no live music; what there is doesn't pay; almost no staff writing deals; almost no "middle class" composers because there are so few "Movies Off The Week" and that kind of stuff that pay e.g. $30 k like I used to get. Almost no musical director jobs for touring acts like I used to get. And on and on.
> 
> When I come back to LA from out of town, as I just did, I feel the depression you describe when you leave it.



So sorry to hear you feel that way.


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## dgburns (Jul 30, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> Hey, I'd live in Santa Monica - if I could justify the expense. The prices there are absolutely mental, and even my boundless optimism can't overcome my tendency to say, "Wait a minute, this just ain't worth it!"
> 
> Check out this nice but not over-the-top house, with a man-cave area on the bottom that is being used as a small composer's suite, a pool, and so-so modern-ish style:
> 
> ...



I love scanning for real estate. Me and the wife used to go out on Sundays and just tour around and walk into open houses just to get a feel for the layouts and to get ideas. It got us into our current home, which we had built a few years back. Backing onto a forested area that NO WAY I could get anywhere in the LA area. And yes we have wildlife too, but wild turkeys and deer instead of bobcats and tarantulas !

I just went into MLS and saw that pretty much nothing under 4 mil for an average single detached in Santa Monica, well none that I'd see myself living in anyway. Gadzooks!


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## Loïc D (Jul 30, 2018)

Creston said:


> Some of you folks should try living in London. There are tiny new 1 bed apartments a few doors down from me going for £600k. One half of the building has gone to people on welfare as the developers had to make a deal with the council. I know what that cash would get me in Beachwood Canyon. A nice fixer upper with a balcony that was probably owned by John Frusciante when he was at peak heroin use.
> 
> I can't see myself ever buying here. I've been in the £1mil, £2mil homes. They're really nothing special. And the big daddies (£5mil plus) are on the most souless streets near Hampstead Heath and half are empty most of the year round.
> 
> Maybe I'm just bitter. But LA makes me optimistic, London makes me feel a bit hopeless. Plus, I've been told assistant rates in London and LA. There's a vast difference...


I second this.
Same in Paris area.

Charlie, the 6M$ house you showed would probably be even more expensive in London or Paris. And definitely not the same weather...


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## givemenoughrope (Jul 31, 2018)

Wally Garten said:


> Oh, man, that was the right time! We were actually living there then but didn't quite have the juice to buy (or felt we didn't, which amounts to the same thing). Anyway, congrats!



Thank you. 
Yea, we didn't know it was the right time. We're not that slick. And finding the space was basically an accident; bank-owned, sat vacant for a year, in escrow but fell through, etc. I was watching this Motorhead doc the other day and Lemmy was going on about how the many of the major things that happen to you in life are essentially accidents. Kinda true on all fronts over here...


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## givemenoughrope (Jul 31, 2018)

I should add that we were also not as wide-eyed as a couple years before. We almost bought a place in Silver Lake that was a serious remodel/disaster. Even the inspector was just scratching his head the whole time. Underground tree roots out to the street, a chimney that could buckle with a small earthquake and a cracked retaining wall at the top of a hill that just needed one huge rain to maybe break off and float down the street. Not to mention the person LIVING in the crawl space...that was quite the surprise! But someone bought it...painted it orange. Good luck to them.


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## ryst (Aug 10, 2018)

I think it's great to read Charlie's enthusiasm about LA. So many people bash it. I'm glad to see someone loves this city as much as I do. I'm extremely lucky and blessed. My wife and I are always exploring new spots and there are so many things to do out here, we're never bored. I guess it's all about perspective.


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## KerrySmith (Aug 10, 2018)

I’ve been enjoying it again today. The enthusiasm of so many people trying to create things that mean something to them. Although, I did the 5pm drive from Venice to Hollywood, and that’s no fucking joke. Ridiculous shit.


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## charlieclouser (Aug 10, 2018)

Just got tickets to see 2001:A Space Odyssey in the big room at The Chinese later this month, and I saw it at The Cineramadome a couple of months ago. Even though it probably looks better on a 4k OLED tv, it's still great to be in a city that lets fanboys worship as they please, and seeing Kubrick at The Chinese or The Dome is about as close to a religious film-viewing experience as you're likely to find. 

Then, after the late showing, the diner at the Roosevelt Hotel just across the street from The Chinese is open all night and does a grilled three-cheese sandwich on challah bread that hits the spot.


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## Smikes77 (Aug 10, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> Just got tickets to see 2001:A Space Odyssey in the big room at The Chinese later this month, and I saw it at The Cineramadome a couple of months ago. Even though it probably looks better on a 4k OLED tv, it's still great to be in a city that lets fanboys worship as they please, and seeing Kubrick at The Chinese or The Dome is about as close to a religious film-viewing experience as you're likely to find.
> 
> Then, after the late showing, the diner at the Roosevelt Hotel just across the street from The Chinese is open all night and does a grilled three-cheese sandwich on challah bread that hits the spot.



What kind of cheese?


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## KerrySmith (Aug 10, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> Just got tickets to see 2001:A Space Odyssey in the big room at The Chinese later this month, and I saw it at The Cineramadome a couple of months ago. Even though it probably looks better on a 4k OLED tv, it's still great to be in a city that lets fanboys worship as they please, and seeing Kubrick at The Chinese or The Dome is about as close to a religious film-viewing experience as you're likely to find.
> 
> Then, after the late showing, the diner at the Roosevelt Hotel just across the street from The Chinese is open all night and does a grilled three-cheese sandwich on challah bread that hits the spot.



I’ll tender a vote for the turkey burger at the diner. Tried that last night after the screenings.


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## charlieclouser (Aug 10, 2018)

Despite the ridiculous real estate prices, I think I found somewhat of a bargain:

http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/736-Salem-St-Glendale-CA/5842207/

$3.6 million - so $1.5 million less than a house in Santa Monica - and it comes WITH a 96-input Neve VR, a huge mic collection, and a room big enough to hold a 70-piece orchestra. Any takers?


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## Jdiggity1 (Aug 10, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> Despite the ridiculous real estate prices, I think I found somewhat of a bargain:
> 
> http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/736-Salem-St-Glendale-CA/5842207/
> 
> $3.6 million - so $1.5 million less than a house in Santa Monica - and it comes WITH a 96-input Neve VR, a huge mic collection, and a room big enough to hold a 70-piece orchestra. Any takers?


I'll pitch in.
I can cancel my Composer Cloud subscription and put that money towards it.


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## Kyle Preston (Aug 10, 2018)

I can afford one square foot. Wanna go in halfsies @Jdiggity1?


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## Jdiggity1 (Aug 10, 2018)

Kyle Preston said:


> I can afford one square foot. Wanna go in halfsies @Jdiggity1?


Get your own square foot!

EDIT: Upon re-evaluating, I would love to go halfsies with you Kyle.


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## MaxOctane (Aug 10, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> Despite the ridiculous real estate prices, I think I found somewhat of a bargain:
> 
> http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/736-Salem-St-Glendale-CA/5842207/
> 
> $3.6 million - so $1.5 million less than a house in Santa Monica - and it comes WITH a 96-input Neve VR, a huge mic collection, and a room big enough to hold a 70-piece orchestra. Any takers?



I don't get it, that _does_ look cheap. Are the economics of running a studio in LA just bad, or am I overestimating how much a warehouse space should cost? (my view is skewed, living in the Bay Area)


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## JohnG (Aug 10, 2018)

I want Charlie to be my life coach.


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## charlieclouser (Aug 10, 2018)

MaxOctane said:


> I don't get it, that _does_ look cheap. Are the economics of running a studio in LA just bad, or am I overestimating how much a warehouse space should cost? (my view is skewed, living in the Bay Area)



That does seem pretty dang cheap, especially considering that it appears that price includes the entire functioning business - the built-out facility, the Neve VR, a ton of mics, about a zillion dollars / hours worth of custom wiring, LED lighting, a separate parking lot down the block, etc. 

I followed the build thread from the very start on Gearslutz - check it out, it's absolutely nuts. Here it is:

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/pho...cts/341598-bridge-recording-studio-build.html

I remember when that thread first started, I bookmarked it because I was looking at a house with a pair of gigantic concrete garages that I could build out into a 26x42 foot composing room and a 32x42 foot live room. I got a look at the initial photos on that build thread and thought, "I need a space that big". 

(cue the Arrested Development narrator: "he doesn't")

As the thread progressed I kept watching because I became enthralled at the sheer insanity of the build - they used up all the Green Glue on the west coast, had pallets of lead sheeting, custom mahogany diffusers, an ridiculous wire list, etc. Then, when it came time for the actual gear, they got the conductor's podium from some famous scoring stage that had closed down, the music stands with attached headphone boxes from another, the decca tree and Starbird stands from another, the Neve console from yet another, etc. etc. etc. It was the most amazing series of priceless, once-in-a-lifetime gear acquisitions - absolute technology-archaeology. That thread details the trials and tribulations in excruciating detail - it's one of the best studio build threads on the internet. And the room has been a success by all accounts - they score tons of tv, film, and game scores there and it appears they're booked solid - and everybody seems to agree it sounds great.

So now it's almost exactly ten years since that thread started - and why is it for sale? Who knows. Maybe building such a facility is more fun than actually running it? Maybe if it sells for that price the owner will realize a bit of profit? Maybe he wants to build another? Maybe he wants to grow avocados?

But it does seem cheap for a fully-built and functioning studio of that magnitude. I've seen raw industrial spaces in that price range - stripped to the bare walls. Of course, those were in Santa Monica and this place is in Glendale, so that's something... but still.

I hope somebody buys it and keeps it running as a scoring stage. Paging RcTec! Get out yer checkbook and re-brand it as Remote Control East!


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## Anders Bru (Aug 11, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> https://www.gearslutz.com/board/pho...cts/341598-bridge-recording-studio-build.html



Thanks for posting that link, Charlie. Great read!


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## SillyMidOn (Aug 11, 2018)

You can do the most amazing google maps style walk-through of the facility:

http://www.thebridgerecording.com


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## sean8877 (Aug 11, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> That does seem pretty dang cheap, especially considering that it appears that price includes the entire functioning business - the built-out facility, the Neve VR, a ton of mics, about a zillion dollars / hours worth of custom wiring, LED lighting, a separate parking lot down the block, etc.
> 
> I followed the build thread from the very start on Gearslutz - check it out, it's absolutely nuts. Here it is:
> 
> ...


What an amazing thread, thanks for posting. There goes my morning reading through all 30 pages...


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## resound (Aug 11, 2018)

Wow, I didn't know The Bridge was up for sale. That's a great studio. 

The build thread is amazing, thanks for sharing!


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## gsilbers (Aug 11, 2018)

sadly no one bought the bridge and its closing down. 

sad cuz i remember seeing the owners post in gearslutz and doing the construction and all existed about it. 
but recording studios are def not a good business nowadays in the US. I keep seeing the fox stage always empty except for the huge blockbuster union clad scores com in. 
Anything else seems to go to eastern EU or air studios. Or just done at home. 
since remote control got a stage its even less for media.


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## brenneisen (Aug 11, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> I hope somebody buys it and keeps it running as a scoring stage. Paging RcTec! Get out yer checkbook and re-brand it as Remote Control East!



*whispers* he is/was already building his own (same street, even number)


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## givemenoughrope (Aug 11, 2018)

@chillbot should buy it. Do it!


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## JohnG (Aug 11, 2018)

gsilbers said:


> sadly no one bought the bridge and its closing down.



very sorry to hear that. I like that room. It's big enough for a large brass section to bloom.


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## charlieclouser (Aug 11, 2018)

gsilbers said:


> sadly no one bought the bridge and its closing down.
> 
> sad cuz i remember seeing the owners post in gearslutz and doing the construction and all existed about it.
> but recording studios are def not a good business nowadays in the US. I keep seeing the fox stage always empty except for the huge blockbuster union clad scores com in.
> ...



Wow, I didn't know The Bridge was actually closing. I saw a thread on FB about that last night after I posted here, and people seem bummed. 

Crazy. What a ride they had though. Sad that the whole story is wrapped up almost exactly a decade after it started.


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## ryst (Aug 11, 2018)

charlieclouser said:


> Just got tickets to see 2001:A Space Odyssey in the big room at The Chinese later this month, and I saw it at The Cineramadome a couple of months ago. Even though it probably looks better on a 4k OLED tv, it's still great to be in a city that lets fanboys worship as they please, and seeing Kubrick at The Chinese or The Dome is about as close to a religious film-viewing experience as you're likely to find.
> 
> Then, after the late showing, the diner at the Roosevelt Hotel just across the street from The Chinese is open all night and does a grilled three-cheese sandwich on challah bread that hits the spot.



Nice! We just saw Empire Strikes Back at the Hollywood Bowl with a live orchestra. It was great. There are so many unique things to do out here. I love it.


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## jononotbono (Dec 28, 2018)

Just got such a great Christmas present. My mum lives in Arkansas and has dual citizenship. She told me the other night that she is going to be my sponsor for a Green Card. Stoked to see what the future holds and roll on 2019!


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## PaulBrimstone (Dec 28, 2018)

jononotbono said:


> Just got such a great Christmas present. My mum lives in Arkansas and has dual citizenship. She told me the other night that she is going to be my sponsor for a Green Card. Stoked to see what the future holds and roll on 2019!


Congratulations, @jononotbono. You had better change your avatar photo before you apply!


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## dannymc (Dec 28, 2018)

PaulBrimstone said:


> Congratulations, @jononotbono. You had better change your avatar photo before you apply!



ha ha good advice


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## jononotbono (Dec 28, 2018)

Ok ok... I could change it to this...


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## PaulBrimstone (Dec 28, 2018)

jononotbono said:


> Ok ok... I could change it to this...


Aww, that's your Thinkspace headshot. Give it a try, I suppose


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## tarantulis (Jan 2, 2019)

Just want to thank everyone for the advice and support. Last week I was finally hired as a composer assistant. It took about three months to get my foot in the door but in the end it was worth every minute.

Not sure I could have done this without VI. What an awesome community.

Happy New Year!


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## PaulBrimstone (Jan 2, 2019)

tarantulis said:


> Just want to thank everyone for the advice and support. Last week I was finally hired as a composer assistant. It took about three months to get my foot in the door but in the end it was worth every minute.
> 
> Not sure I could have done this without VI. What an awesome community.
> 
> Happy New Year!


Congratulations! Don’t forget the Apple Pan


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