Considering LA

[WonderRandy]

So, I'm in a bit of a career limbo at the moment, so I've had a lot of time to be introspective and stuff. Who am I, What do I want out of life, What are my dreams... etc....

I've been living in Hawaii for 9 years, and I absolutely love it here. I had been planning on moving to Honolulu in January, because I want to live in an urban setting with more opportunities to perform with quality contemporary theater groups.

But now I'm thinking about making a MUCH bigger leap, and moving to LA, and developing an actual career as an actor. I'm totally aware of the odds against making it "big", in fact that's what has kept me from taking the risk all my life. But I'm tired of letting that fear control my decisions. I'm doing my research, and learning a lot about the business side of the game - way more important than raw talent, that's for sure. An acting career is at least as much about personal marketing as it is about talent and "lucky breaks".

What I'm looking for now, is insight into actually living in LA - neighborhoods, traffic, crime, finding a day job, hidden costs, etc.

Anybody have any insights?

[Amy SF]

Well, I've already told you what I know.

I reiterate on one point: If you want to avoid some of the inevitable smoggy air, stay as close to the ocean as possible. There are cheap digs to be had everywhere, so you just have to look. If you choose to live in the San Fernando Valley, or the San Gabriel Valley, you're going to deal with extreme heat during the summer as well as dirty air.

I would also say that every neighborhood has its charms, except maybe Compton, and Skid Row downtown.

[WonderRandy]

yeah, I've managed to work out which parts of LA have the biggest gang/crime issues. I've also learned to double check addresses posted on Craigslist (just because they SAY it's in mid-wilshire doesn't mean much when the address is in Westlake)

[WonderRandy]

Looking for input on the following neighborhoods:

Koreatown
Mid-Wilshire
Hollywood
North Hollywood
Downtown LA

[whisper]

Is there any way you could make a trip out here to look around.

I used to live on the North Hollywood/Van Nuys border about 15 years ago and then most of it was iffy. It really depends on what parts your looking at. There are still some areas of NH that are nice but in a lot of it you wouldn't want to be out after dark. I think that pretty much holds true for all the areas you have mentioned.

For the most part if your looking at areas with cheaper rent then it most likely is in the rundown areas. But even though some areas don't look the nicest, they do have nice people living there. So you really do need to come out and see what you would feel comfortable living with.

You may want to look into areas around Burbank (not sure which parts are still nice) since thats where a lot of the studios are.

As for things dealing with acting....Central Casting is the largest casting agency if you don't mind working as an extra or background actor. I have a relative that has been doing extra work for about 30 years so if/when you get here I can give you more places to sign up with.

Most actors work as waiters or with temp agencies as those offer the most flexible schedules for going on auditions or doing extra work.

[Mojo]

Here are two resources to help you evaluate what is going on in specific neighborhoods. One is the school performance map. Bad schools are usually indicative of other bad things going on in an area that make it less desirable. Gangs, drugs, lack of jobs.

http://schoolperformancemaps.com

You can also look at the LAPD crime map

http://lapdcrimemaps.org/

[WonderRandy]

Cool! Thanks Mojo!!!