LA, But What Locations?

[GrooveMerchant]

Where are the LA audio pros spending most of their time? I'm still researching living locations, lots of lofts and condos, plus rehearsal spaces as I want to be in the live performance scene too. West side? North West? Other? Some spots I was checking were by Cap records, The Baked Potato for killer jazz / fusion / etc, plus access to jump into downtown.

[drBill]

Honestly, everyone is spread out all over 500+ square miles here. For me it's more important to like where I live. That may not be a priority for others. Pretty much anything within 15-20 miles of downtown LA is an option. But you will have traffic no matter where you go.

I like the Pasadena/Sierra Madre area. Also Orange County, but that's a bit far out for saying you live in "LA".

[James Lugo]

Westside is traditionally post and Hollywood and the Valley is music. That is a broad generalization, there post and music everywhere but those are 2 very concentrated areas. Like what Bill said I think it's important to consider where you are gonna live. I live and work in the Valley, my life is pretty easy because of it, 12 minutes to work no matter when I go, no freeways! I had an engineer who moved to the westside when I had my studio in Hollywood, took him anywhere's from 30 minutes to 2 hours to get to work.

Honestly if you're new I would move to the Valley or Hollywood, that's where most of the action is at. IMO if you're new you gotta jump in with both feet and there's no sense in living far and wasting time everyday driving. The Baked Potato is in the Cahuenga Pass which is the bridge between Hollywood and the Valley.

[RCM - Ronan]

I live on the west side but my studio is in an area known as mid city which is east of Beverly hills, south of Hollywood. Its an area worth looking at because its a cool area, rents are reasonable (by LA standards) and you are pretty much in the middle of everything. Pretty Easy to get to down town, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Burbank...

If you want to be close to a bit of a "scene" take a look at Silver Lake"

As Bill said, expect to drive a lot here, and unless you are going to be going to one specific place every day for work, choose something for a quality of life that suits you.

[GrooveMerchant]

I was just down in the basement boxing the API, Neve, and Chandler gear man. I'll look at Silverlake. When you say Valley, you're talking North Hollywood area, Hollywood Hills? Back in a bit...

[drBill]

"The Valley" is considered N. Hollywood, Studio City, Encino, Van Nuys, Chatsworth, etc. Basically everything N of the Hollywood hills (101 Fry), and S of the 118 Fry. More or less.....

Like Ronan and James said, if you have to take a freeway drive, expect wild variations in lengths of commute. Sometimes there seems to be no rhyme or reason. I'm on the E side of town, and if I'm going to Sony in Culver City (W side of town) in the AM, it can be 25 minutes......or 3 hours. Leaving 10 minutes later can make you an hour late. Leaving 10 minutes earlier gets you there an hour early. Totally weird, but the best suggestion is finding where you think you'll work most and checking with people that live/work that area and see where they live.

For instance, some who work a lot in the Burbank / NoHo area really like living in Santa Clarita area. A bit too far out for me, but it allows them a suburban life style where they feel safe while still being able to get to work "fairly" easily.

The best thing you can do is to find a weekly rental if you have the chance to, or a monthly rental without a long term lease, and check out the different areas. They go from feeling like you're living in Somalia to (literally) Beverly Hills. After a bit of time here, you'll figure out what you like and don't like. Almost always, in the work vs "love to live there" scheme of things, there WILL be compromises to be made..... Expect to put some miles on your car. This in not NYC.

[charles maynes]

If you want to be cool- Silverlake is the place to be...

[GrooveMerchant]

Nice, I hear you - when I was scoping places to rent, it seemed like I could move quarterly and spend decades checking out LA locales. Lots to research, I packed the drums, just need a few cases and I can start prepping an exit summer / fall. Heavy research to do, definitely sounds like West or North West of downtown could work. Regular job will put me in El Segundo or Thousand Oaks so I even considered Marina Del Rey or Santa Monica, but that's another scene. My old roommate is working Thousand Oaks from Glendale so I know NoHo would work.

[hereticskeptic]

Originally Posted by RCM - Ronan

I live on the west side but my studio is in an area known as mid city which is east of Beverly hills, south of Hollywood. Its an area worth looking at because its a cool area, rents are reasonable (by LA standards) and you are pretty much in the middle of everything. Pretty Easy to get to down town, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Burbank...

If you want to be close to a bit of a "scene" take a look at Silver Lake"

As Bill said, expect to drive a lot here, and unless you are going to be going to one specific place every day for work, choose something for a quality of life that suits you.

Mid city! I miss L.A. now. I used to live near Hollywood, but was always in mid city and Culver City. L.A. is huge. I'm likely moving back, but have no idea where I'd wanna live. Rent was super taxed near Hollywood, and my apartment was not special whatsoever.

[mike vee]

north hollywood

[toneguru]

Knowing nothing else...

If you are into the music scene and not so much post, then move near the corner of Lankershim and Ventura Blvd. You will be within 5 miles of half the major studios in town.

Great location for a newbie to the city.

Good luck, there are a lot of cool people in LA and tons of great musicians.

[Pro-Audio-LA]

The east side Silverlake / Los Feliz area has been our stomping ground for the past 2 years. A lot of great music has been recorded within a few miles of here. Our studio is across from the Beastie Boys old spot. I second James in that you want to avoid traveling long distances for work. Traffic is no fun!

[ryst]

Originally Posted by James 'LA' Lugo

Westside is traditionally post and Hollywood and the Valley is music. That is a broad generalization, there post and music everywhere but those are 2 very concentrated areas. Like what Bill said I think it's important to consider where you are gonna live. I live and work in the Valley, my life is pretty easy because of it, 12 minutes to work no matter when I go, no freeways! I had an engineer who moved to the westside when I had my studio in Hollywood, took him anywhere's from 30 minutes to 2 hours to get to work.

Honestly if you're new I would move to the Valley or Hollywood, that's where most of the action is at. IMO if you're new you gotta jump in with both feet and there's no sense in living far and wasting time everyday driving. The Baked Potato is in the Cahuenga Pass which is the bridge between Hollywood and the Valley.

This is the exact advice James gave me when I was looking to move out here. And out of everyone I talked to, James was the guy I listened to and i'm glad I did.

We moved to North Hollywood for the first 6 months that we lived here, and then moved to West Hollywood a few months ago. I'm not far from anything musically speaking and I am never on the highway either. We love it here. As long as you live on less than you make it's no different than anywhere else. Be smart with your money, smart with your decisions on where to live and work your ass off.

[charles maynes]

Post is not mainly on the westside-

commercial work probably is, but film and TV post is mainly at the studios- Sony is in Culver City, Fox is in the Beverly Hills at Ave of the Stars, Universal, Warner Brothers and Disney are all in the Burbank Area. Paramount is midtown on Santa Monica Blvd.

and tons is done at home. so if you want to do the post thing- good internet is important.

[Buss-me]

I live on the westside, work at a music venue in Hollywood, and the studio I work at is in the valley....so LOTS of driving I do!, and LA traffic is NOT getting any better

Most of the live music scene is in hollywood, and quite a few producer/engineers hang out at the club where I work. It's kind of their picking ground for new artists.
Back in the day, the westside had a good handful of music venues.....but today it's mostly dead. A few, but that's it.
The valley doesn't have much in terms of big "rock" venues. There are a few I can think of, but the rest are just bar band locals. The Spud is one exception, but it specializes in mainly the jazz/fusion scene. I use to do cartage waaay back when for a lot of those guys. Spent many nights stuffing myself with those epic Idaho bombs!!

Studios are all over the place....downtown, hollywood, valley, westside...I have some friends that have started up small studios in Eagle Rock which I hear is a pretty reasonable, at the moment.
A friend just started up a big space in Hollywood at the location of what was a famous old studio...can't remember the name of it??.

Good luck

[charles maynes]

the warehouse district down by the brewery is pretty cool too.... its a little bit of a nastier neighborhood- but it has bad boy vibe galore...

[czglom]

I recently moved to Atwater Village from Silverlake and I love it, you should check it out. Close to the east side live music scene, five minute walk to Sonora Studios, and my new favorite bar The Roost!

Good luck with your move!

[GrooveMerchant]

I'm packing those Really Useful Boxes from Office Depot, they rule. Apple Computer will announce iCloud concepts June 6th - but I'm going further, once I pack and ship, I think I'll keep most stuff POD-stored and live in the Cloud too brothas - virtual, with low possessions!! I also need a new laptop, hopefully they announce a new Mac Air version. I should get back on those rehearsal spaces...

[blacklion]

Originally Posted by charles maynes

If you want to be cool- Silverlake is the place to be...

cool to who? other people living in Silverlake?

edit: To the OP, look into areas close to where you plan on working if you can help it.

Btw, the new carpool lane extension from the 134 West to the 101 West connector? It makes no sense...adds 10-15mins of traffic for no good reason whatsoever. Anyhow...

[GrooveMerchant]

Lane split still legal in CA? What mph? I'm digging these bad boys:

Streetfighter S - Ducati

Monster 796 - Ducati

My old guitar bud Eric was a buck 40 and rode a 46 or 48 Harley back when, I'm choraling him to also jump out to LA. Vegas cruise for UFC fights after some LA gigs. I'll be in the mood for a Rubios fish taco at some point, checking out those ABC Rehearsal spots in NoHo and Silverlake too...

[drBill]

Originally Posted by GrooveMerchant

Lane split still legal in CA?

Nice wheels. Yes, still legal, but riding a bike in LA is high risk occupation. Fatalities every week. Be careful.

[GrooveMerchant]

Gotta take the safety course and be careful. Absolutely. Check out these bags man, they also have a handlebar bag:

YouTube - ‪Ducati Monster 696 796 1100 touring luggage panniers tail pack bag‬‏

Dudes are cruisin':

YouTube - ‪Monster trip‬‏

[GrooveMerchant]

This bike is cool:

Hypermotard 796 - Ducati

I'm checking out West Hollywood rentals, that place is HUGE!
Still have North Hollywood to research. What's the word on Whisky A Go Go, cool vibes, seems like heavy pop vice Baked Potato Jazz / Fusion grooves.

[AcoosticZoo]

What's the price of an affordable unit in the valley or hollywood area?

Is there a popular website to check for Units for sale or rental properties in LA?

Regards
Josef Horhay
Mixing Engineer
www.acoosticzoo.com

[mike vee]

expect to pay at least 1200 a month for something decent...you can find a few gems for about 1000 if you get really lucky and some really nice places for about 1500..and of course in la they go up to and above 15000 a month haha

[fastlanestoner]

Long beach. Yeah...

[DaveE]

Originally Posted by GrooveMerchant

...Regular job will put me in El Segundo or Thousand Oaks...

Hey! I'm near TO. Hit me up if you end up there.

[blacklion]

Originally Posted by AcoosticZoo

What's the price of an affordable unit in the valley or hollywood area?

Is there a popular website to check for Units for sale or rental properties in LA?

Regards
Josef Horhay
Mixing Engineer
www.acoosticzoo.com

$1250 and up for a decent 1-bed depending on the neighborhood and parking situation. You can check out westsiderentals.com but I think there's a fee.

You can also check craigslist and follow links to the companies that own various properties around town.

[GearOnTheGo]

I have a commute of less than 10 miles each way from echo park/Silverlake to Beverly Hills - it takes between 40 minutes to well over an hour each way.

Studios and post are all over town and if you end up having to commute from the west side beaches to the east side or valley be prepared to spend a few hours a day in your car in stop and go traffic on 8 lane highways.

Brutal.

In other words, quality of life in LA is determined by how far you have to travel and how frequently you have to do it.

Rents are steep, with one bedroom apartments in my area now matching or exceeding the mortgage on my 4 bedroom house.


Posted from Airports, Planes, Busses, Taxi's, Trains and Hotels via the Gearslutz iPhone app

[GrooveMerchant]

Traffic sound rugged. My bud E and I were checking out some LA neighborhoods last week, someone got us on iPhone and posted to Youtube, pretty good background cut, sounds like Abe Laboriel on bass:

YouTube - ‪CHiPs intro HQver.‬‏

This will be the possible weapon of choice for b roads on that commute:

Hypermotard 796 - Ducati