The Official "Help me get to California" Thread

[b*saint]

L.A. is great.

[lga714]

LA is a great city but like any city it has its shitty parts. LA has lots of gritty areas but don't let the naysayers steer you away. Since you're a musician you will find it easy to make friends. Just about everyone I know is involved with music and a lot of them are majoring in music and play in bands.

My biggest concern for you would be finding a job. Keep in mind there are many people leaving California every day because they cant find a job, the taxes are high, and cost of living is too high. Since you're from NYC you're probably used to high taxes and expensive rent.

Los Feliz is a good area for young people but I'd suggest checking out Long Beach, close to the beach, close to LA, close to LAX and John Wayne, not to mention Long Beach has a great little airport that can get you to NYC for like 120 bucks.

[BrooklynMW]

Hmm. Long Beach hadn't occured to me. That's a good point, I may look into it. I realize the situation with jobs out there. But it's not any worse than it s here in NYC. Especially in my field. But I plan on looking ahead of time, using whatever contacts I have over there, and make sure some good people know I'm coming.

Worst case scenario, I'll have a little money saved and a little extra time to look.
The other nice luxury is, we're in no rush to find a place to live, either. Ideally, yes, we'll have a place by January. But December will be spent at my girlfriend's mother's house in San Diego. That will be our home base while we explore LA/Long beach, it's different neighborhoods, and rent costs.

Do I fear we will be stuck at my mother in law's for too long? God yes. Good motivator to find a place. But at least we won't be out on our asses.

Now, the Grand Canyon. We had a discussion today, and a compromise needs to be made. If we plan on hitting Austin, TX, then we will skip the canyon and continue along the southern border, through El Paso, onto SD. Really kind of pointless to travel back up to Albequerque from Autsin, plus really out of the way. I really want to visit Austin. Here it's a great music town, and I have a cousin there. Plus the further north, the bigger chance we have of getting caught in a snowstorm.

However, if we decide to skip Austin, and go through the middle, (is that US 40?) We will hit the Grand Canyon for sure.

Otherwise, it's in my summer road trip: Salton Sea, Vegas, Grand Canyon, Bonnevile Salt Flats, San Francisco, downt he PCH to LA.

[idanity]

having done the "travel through America" (a few times) i would suggest to take the tourist route when you actually want a vacation, and for moving w/all your crap(-no offense) stuffed in your car, to take a train or fly.

its so much more fun to ride, then to drive (esp a car that may need work). you've seen the horror stories of a nice couple stuck in butfukNebraska who stop for waffles, get diarrhea, and then all hell breaks lose.

when we drive a car that may not make it, the last thing we do is mosey around every town on the way...theres just too many towns. we usually take the direct route, and hope for safe/fast passage.
plan out the mileage, and time it will take,
add gas,
food,
hotel (you may want to shower and stretch out on a real bed),
speeding tickets, (which may lead to )
bail (or if your lucky)
bribes
oil change
road rage
knick knacks that girls have to buy
and the things i wont say, like all the denting, flattening, burning, breaking, smashing, spending, skidding, swearing, seething, sobbing times. middle america junk yards are FULL of cars from other states
it may be a bargain to fly 1st class and buy a nice e30 when you arrive in the land of milk and honey. (look up Peerless when you get there)

i prefer huntington beach, laguna ($$), SanClamente, oceanside, Carlsbad, over longbeach.
hek, just find a cheap place, buy a stock, sound car, and travel all over to find what you like. SoCal is frigin Awesome.. and so much more casual than the east coast (i was born in Nyc, so i know what you may go through) prepare for never ending summer.

just sayin

[BrooklynMW]

You see, now THAT'S good advice!

Thanks for the hard dose of reality, I will take that into account.

And yes, I am looking everyday on Cali craigslist to see what's available out there, as far as clean e30's, e28's and e24's go......Oh yeah, and apartments...........(and jobs)

I'm slowly leaning towards not finishing restoring my car, but still driving it out to Cali. Just making sure it can get me there, then can it for something cleaner. I will miss my fully loaded interior, though

[BrooklynMW]

I have definitely toyed with the idea of selling my car, flying out, and finding a new car out there. It would definitely be cheaper and less risky then an extended road trip.

However, if I do that then when I get out there, I would not have a car. And we would have to rely on my mother in law to drive us around, and drive us up to LA to look for housing.....and I'd have to have her drive me around looking for cars.

If I drive out there, at least I'll have reliable transportation. Even if my car is in shit shape, it can at least get me from here to there, and it'd be easier for my girl and I to get set up. Then I can also take my time finding the right car for me, instead of being rushed to get decent transportaion.

There is also the thought of not taking an extended road trip, and just shooting out there in 2 days. A straight shot should take 2-3 days and is about 2,800 miles. Our planned road trip should take 5-6 days and is about 3,500 miles.


Incidentally, I am intersted in early model e30's, e24's and e28's......if anybody hears of anything in the SD-LA area.

[Troyka]

I lived in Brighton Beach all my life, the Navy has taken me to San Diego. I was dead set on returning to New York after my time in the Navy was complete. I am buying a house in San Diego within the next year. California is a great place just make sure you make it out here safe and sound. Good luck to you.

[BrooklynMW]

Thanks everybody. So far everyone has given great advice. I have decided to keep my car, and take it out there. Levent and I are working on the car, and making sure it's in tip top shape for a 3,000 road trip. Once I get there, I'll decide whether to keep restoring the body, or find something cleaner.

In the meantime, what I'm still looking for out of this thread is a list of service places I can go along the way incase I run into a problem, and then a new place in SD or LA I can use as a regular place. Basically I'm looking for Guten Parts' all over the country.

Also, if there happen to be any cool meets along the way, that'd be fun as well.

[e30huh]

Your from NYC, so rude LA ppls should not be a surprise. I'm moving back East because of little to no jobs here in LA/OC. I hear alot of Musicians/Artist settle in Laguna area and the e30 loves those canyons out there. GL

I in the opposite, driving my e30 back to East coast.

[BrooklynMW]

bump for more info.....

Looking for good trusty BMW service places (preferably independent) along the way, incase I run into some issues.

Also still looking for recommendations for a steady place in LA or SD. Like I said....Guten Parts of the west

[hotballs]

Guten Parts of the west, like used parts, are the pick 'n pulls in LA. There are maybe probably 10-20 around the socal area and e30s are a dime a dozen. All used spares pretty much come from those out here, or craigslist/forums.

BMA is out here and their prices are pretty good for new parts.

So I like the road trip idea. Nothing like a new chapter of your life starting with an experience like that. I packed up a corrado with everything I owned in Michigan 9 years ago and I'm still here today. (Car broke down bad badly, heater core, immediately upon arrival, window got smashed over night, stuff got stolen, welcome to LA) But I made it!

Not that I need to say this like everyone else, but there are about 1.2 million people "moving to LA to be an artist, musician, whatever" so it's a grind. But that doesn't mean you don't have to like it. Your a musician? A band? Long Beach, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Highland Park, Eagle Rock, basically east side is where it's at. You'll meet more "real" people in these parts. Silver Lake/Echo Park is pretty much the Williamburg of the westcoast. Also Koreatown and Downtown seems to be coming up, but it's crowded and dirty down there, kind of like a real city! But I would say Long Beach if you like the beach don't wanna go eastside and you want some real character with affordable living.

The west side is more like yoga, Luxury Lease cars, $20 Lunches, gluten free diets, cocaine, just fake bullshit, I can't stand the westside. Los Feliz is as far as I'll go, but if you like it out there Venice is probably the closest "artist," area. But it's $$$$. And if you like e30s and want a garage or a place to work on it, I doubt you'll find anything on the westside. You'll have to settle for like a carport or something.

Also you mention NYC is a big city, LA is a big city....well not exactly. It's a big sprawl of land with tons people in it. It is not really like a city in the urban sense. I know people from Arcadia or say Montebello, small cities within LA, that really have never left or nothing about LA. It is basically a bunch of little neighborhoods next to each other, packed with tons of people and traffic and potholes. So no rust but you still get shitty roads.

Not sure what you're expectations are, doesn't really matter, everyone has a different dream about moving to cali so the best thing really is just not expect anything at all. Just let it all happen. The first 3 years I was here I didn't really like it, I still miss seasons, but every time I'm gone for awhile I can't wait to get back. I've seriously never lived somewhere that you can have EVERYTHING anytime you want it. It's kind of bad.

Good luck!

Oh and don't drop another dime on your car once you arrive, once I realized the rust free goodness I couldn't get enough. And there are about 3 million e30s for sale on craiglist in LA for $1k.

[BrooklynMW]

Thanks man you pretty much covered all the grounds. Great advice.

I will def look for some good pick n' pulls, and check out BMA. Also, my girlfriend's mother lives next door to a couple who build's BMW racecars. (Married couple, lawyers by day, racers by night.) I'm sure he'll be able to help me out..Although they're in SD.

A corrado, huh? Nice. I myself am a fanatic of the mk2 scirocco, and almost bought one. Someone in my area was selling a 1984 Wolfie, 8v. Body was in good shape, but the interior was a hot mess. At the last minute, I switched to e30's, cuz they are slightly more reliable than sciroccos. Ha! The stuff stolen out of your car, was it visible? I have a paranoia about hatchbacks and wagons, and leaving anything in the trunk in sight. In a sedan, you can at least hide your stuff in the trunk.

But anyway, we're not really taking antything valuable in the car, and will ship stuff UPS. But thanks for the moral support on the road trip. We plan to photograph and document the whole thing. Maybe I'll do a thread about it.

Next.

Yeah, I know a lot of people move to LA to "make it" It's the same here in NYC. Being a native New Yorker, I never came here to "make it". I was already here. But I believe the music scene is more saturated over here, while the movie and TV thing is more saturated over there. Honestly, I have absolutely zero expectations. And I'm keeping my options open, and exploring other work possibilites.
But I've spent the last 10 years as a professional session guitarist, saxophonist, record producer and recording engineer. I can very well use those skills over there, and set myself up with a career. I have made a few connections over the years, and those connections can stretch out to the west coast. However being an engineer can get pretty miserable. Long hours, shitty pay, and spending way too much time in a room without windows. So I'm not sure I want to continue down that road.
I am exploring other options, including the auto industry. I would be happy sweeping floors and answering phones at an auto shop for $10 an hour in exchange for an education. Or someplace like the Petersen Auto Museum.

At the same time, I wouldn't mind tending bar for a while either until something comes along.

As far as the "artist" side goes? Yes, I am looking for that too. Not necessarily to make it as a hige rock star, but I wouldn't mind finding a couple good guys to play with. I had a band here in NYC for 10 years, and we just broke up.

Check out my band, KiNDERGARTEN http://www.kindergartennyc.com

So I don't want to give up that side of me. But I have also been taking a break from creative work and songwriting, trying to figure out what my next move and next direction will be. I have given up on the "rockstar" dream, and just want to make good music. However, I won't complain if somebody wants to pick me up and take me to the big leagues. Also will still be shopping my old KiNDERGARTEN records, and if somebody is interested, I will rebuild my band out there.

But realistically, not expecting any of that to happen.


Great advice on the neighborhoods. Hadn't really considered SilverLake/Echo Park, but a lot of people had some good things to say about it. (Although being a native New Yorker, and staunch anti-hipster, I HATE Williamsburg!). We are basically open to anything, (even some parts of the valley). I think it's an advantage for us, not being from LA, and not knowing much about the neighborhoods, cause wherever we settle, I think we can make it our home easily, without being envious of other areas. In New York, you always wish you could afford to live in another neighborhood. However, we would like to be close to the beach, and realizing that Venice and Santa Monica are expensive, we have been looking in Mar Vista. Also, Los Feliz. But I'm glad you hyped up the East Side, cuz so far, I haden't comsidered it, and I'm open to looking.

One nice thing is, we'll be spending a few weeks with her mother in San Diego, and can take our time driving up and exploring different areas until we find what really suits us. (as long as we don't get stuck staying with her too long.)


So in short, no expectations, no specific goals, just a change of pace and surroundings.

Anyway, thanks man. Keep it coming. I'm all ears.

[CleanAzzE30z]

Youre gonna be living in San Diego but looking for apts in L.A.?? Dude thats a 2 hour drive with decent traffic. I dont think you realize how spread-out shit is out here in the greatest land in the history of mankind. Southern California. Anyways, gimme a call so we can chill and you can meet all the SoCal homies. Were a tightknit group that is rarely late, and appreciate a nice pair of slacks. Later, we will be found out to be what is now called mentally retarded...... and die in horrible cheese grating accidents. Ill PM you my number.

[hotballs]

Sounds like you're up for anything man, and that can be good in a new area. As far as the neighborhoods go, yeah echo park/silver are pretty hipster, but there is still a lot of cool stuff going on there.

Yeah I know the most about the eastside, one thing is it gets HOT over here. About 15 degrees hotter than the beaches.

There are also the beach areas like redondo and manhattan if your a "beach" person. I think Long beach offers more, it's not like just a beach city. Huntington is more like that, but the further south you go, you're getting into lifted truck bros with volcom tattos on their necks and the equivalent of jersey shore of the west. Same goes for further east riverside 909 area. God knows what's out there. Meth, mainly meth.

Check out westsiderentals.com when you get here. There is a $60 fee and sometimes you can find people on craigslist selling their login. Also http://therentalgirl.com/ has nice listings, but mostly unaffordable compared to general craigslist finds.

[BrooklynMW]

Gearing up for the trip. Got some job prospects lined up, and couple of apartments lined up, and almost done getting the car in tip top shape. Things are looking good.