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limpingcrab

Trad climber

the middle of CA

Feb 11, 2013 - 06:29pm PT

There's no job that could get me to move to Hell A. I'd rather live in Oildale making minimum wage than I'm move down there and get paid six figures to eat ice-cream and watch the waves. I love caving and the only times i've ever had tight-chest claustrophobia have been trying to get though days south of the grapevine. I'm sure there are lots of nice spots, but they're still too far from my mountains.

Thankfully everyone likes different stuff, so to each their own! Hope you find somewhere you and your family enjoy, and not too far from some rocks!

labrat

Trad climber

Auburn, CA

Feb 11, 2013 - 06:50pm PT

"I'd rather live in Oildale making minimum wage than I'm move down there and get paid six figures to eat ice-cream and watch the waves."

Pure internet bs!

I would move to Newport Beach (at least for a few years).

limpingcrab

Trad climber

the middle of CA

Feb 11, 2013 - 07:02pm PT

Call my bluff if you will, but I'm not folding!

Auburn seems nice, I'd live there

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Feb 11, 2013 - 07:22pm PT

Let's try a few more welcomes.....
welcome to the Hanoi Hilton!
welcome to Guantanamo Bay!
welcome to Bakersfield!
see
now
LA doesn't seem so bad.

MisterE

Social climber

Feb 11, 2013 - 07:23pm PT

It helps if you work 10 minutes from home. My last job before this one, I was 4 blocks from work.

NO WAY I could do the hellish commute many do.

I never pictured myself in LA - I prefer smaller towns, but here I am 4 years later...

Hope we can climb again soon, Scott!

Fat Dad

Trad climber

Los Angeles, CA

Feb 11, 2013 - 07:31pm PT

10 minutes to work is sweet. I'm 30 minutes from home on surface streets and I feel pretty lucky. I could probably work closer to home but professionally I've kind of staked out my turf and personally my kids are kind of set with their school. LA is kind of like life itself in that the place is what you make of it.

I can see if how you lived in Telluride that LA might seem far from the mountains, but Oildale?! That's just a place I drive thru quickly en route to the Needles. Glad it's working for you limpingcrab but I kind of like it here.

nutjob

Sport climber

Almost to Hollywood, Baby!

Topic Author's Reply - Feb 11, 2013 - 07:33pm PT

LA is a big place with more variety than SF bay area. Definitely better for climbing in the immediate vicinity than SF bay area. It seems possible to plug into a community that matches whatever lifestyle you want as long as you can afford it. That said, you have to be able to afford it, and if your work options are constrained or fixed, then it can be pretty darn awkward to find an overall quality of life match (e.g. commute/traffic, participating in the family on weekdays, etc.)

We're reconsidering South Pasadena, pretty Beaver Cleaver but a nice hilly undeveloped neighborhood in there.

Man, I'm building up a karmic debt for trip reports. Gonna have to do something about that soon.

edit: C'mon donini, you're undercutting sympathy for my first world problems. Is it really possible to have it all? Can I really be happy if I don't have absolutely everything I can imagine that my heart might desire? I think I'm just getting cranky from lack of climbing.

MisterE, next Monday afternoon looks pretty good right now.

limpingcrab

Trad climber

the middle of CA

Feb 11, 2013 - 08:05pm PT

Oildale?! That's just a place I drive thru quickly en route to the Needles. Glad it's working for you limpingcrab but I kind of like it here.

Woah, wait a second! I don't actually LIVE in Oildale! I just wanted to come up with a town I've heard bashed here on ST to illustrate my dislike of soCal.

I do like how Bakersfield was in Donini's list right along with gitmo and the Hanoi Hilton, that's funny! Poor Bakersfield, getting a bad rap just because of the pollution and weather and people and location and smells.

Nutjub, good point. LA probably does beat the Bay area, especially for climbing.

Batrock

Trad climber

Burbank

Feb 11, 2013 - 08:12pm PT

BURBANK!!! great schools and the cops dont put up with no crap.

Spider Savage

Mountain climber

The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles

Feb 11, 2013 - 08:29pm PT

Batrock speaks truth about Burbank. One of the cleanest safest cities in the US. They say the schools are the best in LA County. I got sick of the public school crap though and put my kids through secular private school some how. Cost tens of thousands per year. Public schools would play patty-cake all day then send 2 hours homework home to the parents, in first grade!

I never did no homewerk when I wuz a kid and I terned out ok.

Silvelake is the hipster capital of the world!

Intelligensia Coffee on Sunset.

Yuca's Taco Stand up on Hillhurst near Los Feliz

Griffith Park.

So much to do and see.

BE sure to get on your skinny jeans and fedora hat when you go out. Wear a scarf over your $50 vintaged t-shirt.

JMC

climber

the land of milk and honey

Feb 11, 2013 - 09:01pm PT

Nutjob,
Sent you a email about a house in Altadena.
-John

john hansen

climber

Feb 11, 2013 - 09:07pm PT

Whoa,,

For a minute there I thought Lance Armstrong had joined the Super T..

Fletcher

Trad climber

The great state of advaita

Feb 11, 2013 - 11:18pm PT

Burbank has a really nice public library. Took the kids there one day when I needed to hang out in that neighborhood once.

I've lived in Pasadena for years and now Altadena for the past couple. I can vouch for both. Public schools are pretty good, but you need to find the right one that fits your kids (this is true anywhere). When seeking schools, ask if the person offering advice has had direct, ongoing experience with a specific school in the last two years. Dramatic shifts can and do happen either way (especially with leadership changes). Pasadena and Altadena are the same school district and offer open enrollment, though it's not guaranteed (it's done by a kind of lottery). We are very pleased with our kids' school, which is one of the first elementary schools in California that was International Baccalaureate certified.

I've been told that Pasadena has more private schools per capita than anywhere in the country. Whether that's precisely true or not, there sure are a lot. And you get the whole range from inexpensive church run schools to bucco bucks palazzi.

We loved living in Pasadena and love Altadena now. Depends on where you are specifically, but Altadena has a more mountain feel (we are pretty close to the base of the San Gabriels. It's very diverse and quirky and I like to think of it as another iteration of Bezerkley. No big university though.

If you want to ask specific questions, just PM me and I'd be happy to do my best to answer them.

Eric

guyman

Social climber

Moorpark, CA.

Feb 12, 2013 - 01:12am PT

Whatever you do... do not reside in the city of Los Angeles.

You will be getting screwed by the high taxation, poor police service, poor fire department...and LAUSD is one of the worst school systems in the USA. That city just sucks eggs and is quickly becoming a 3rd world cesspool... avoid it at all cost.

Burbank, Montrose, Glendale, Monrovia, Beverley Hills, Santa Monica, Canyon Country or anyplace in Ventura County are all pretty nice.

That said... welcome, come out to Stoney Point - Tuesday, Thursdays.

drljefe

climber

El Presidio San Augustin del Tucson

Feb 12, 2013 - 01:15am PT

Anastasia

climber

Home

Feb 12, 2013 - 01:33am PT

This gives a nice overview of the crimes within that region. I also look at the predator maps. Nice to know if a sexual offender is living next door, eh?

Bill works in L.A. smack in the middle of the worst of it. I Hated Living There despite the good food.

I now live in Ventura and the poor guy commutes, ends up sleeping over in his office. Yes, I feel real bad about that but I seriously love my "Leave it to Beaver neighborhood" and I couldn't survive without my neighbors who are like family to me. When the kid gets sick, they are there. When my Dad died, they were there. When Bill overworks and doesn't come home for three days, (which he will do no matter how close I am) they are there. Getting good neighbors are like winning the lottery. Serious awesomeness.

(For Crime)
http://spotcrime.com/ca/los+angeles

(For Sexual Offenders)
http://www.familywatchdog.us/

justthemaid

climber

Jim Henson's Basement

Feb 12, 2013 - 10:29am PT

I was going to mention Altadena/Pasadena area as well. Puts you on the north rim of LA, but close to some arteries direct to downtown LA. You'll have a little more commuting, but it will save your sanity. Burbank?... very nice place to live but I'd brush up on your Armeneian.

10b4me

Boulder climber

Somewhere on 395

Feb 12, 2013 - 11:36am PT

And the cops like to use you for target practice.

Guyman is correct. No need to travel to Saigon, Kathmandu, Timbuktu to experience the third world. We got it all right here. Not that there's anything wrong with that.