Is Los Angeles, California a good place to live? How is the quality of life?

First, Los Angeles is EXPENSIVE! Nice hotel rooms here average around $250/night. More permanent accommodations cost so much that you will need a spouse, partner, or other person to help pay rent. If you want to buy a house, even a tiny one in a terrible neighborhood, will cost at least $400,000 (nearly half a million US dollars), and a decent house will cost anywhere from $1 to $20 or $30 million. There is an extremely large population of homeless people here as a result. Los Angeles natives like me are rare because of massive immigration from around the country and the world. You will meet people of every persuasion from every country you can imagine, but especially Mexico, our neighbor to the south. So many people from Mexico and Latin America have moved here illegally to grab low-wage jobs at even lower wages than the legal minimum that employment can be difficult to find for low or no-skilled people who are here legally and seek at least the minimum wage. The minimum wage here is $15.50 per hour, which is not enough to live on, so if you don’t have top education and skills you will probably need to have at least two jobs to survive. If you do have excellent knowledge and skills, such as a doctor or Ph.D., high tech guru, computer systems engineer, or developer, big business executive, movie/TV production professional, or entertainment superstar, then you can do quite well and live lavishly with easy access to virtually anything your heart desires.

The shopping and dining options here are unlimited and absolutely top tier for those who can afford it. There are also limitless things to do: movie theaters, live theater, concerts, clubs, and bars, live tapings for various television shows, famous and magnificent university campuses such as UCLA, USC, Loyola Marymount, and Occidental College where President Obama attended, along with dozens of other such institutions of higher education, museums, libraries, huge open spaces such as Will Rogers State Park and massive Griffith Park, the Observatory, Gene Autry Western Museum, California Science Center, casinos, professional sports games such as basketball, football (American), baseball, and hockey. Soccer is steadily growing in popularity, but it is nowhere near as popular as in other countries. There is fabulous, beautiful, and interesting architecture all around to roam about and admire. There’s beautiful Marina del Rey, where the luxurious yachts of the wealthy are docked, and where you will find even more restaurants, shopping, and entertainment. There’re world-famous Hollywood Blvd., the Sunset Strip, Beverly Hills, and Bel Air, Disneyland (the original one), Universal Studios (the original one), and other theme parks to explore and lose yourself in! And then, there are the GLORIOUS beaches where sun and fun abound. Santa Monica may be the most famous of them, and the most fun with rides (including a huge Ferris wheel), dining, shopping, and other entertainments. You can enjoy all this and much more IF you can afford it, which is a big if.

But despite the high cost of everything here, Los Angeles is relatively safe considering there are likely 20 or 30 million people here from all over the globe, with probably a third of them being illegal immigrants who have not been vetted by any official immigration agency. There is rampant crime, to be sure, so you have to keep your wits about you and use common sense (such as not strolling the streets at 2:00 in the morning or wandering around the wrong neighborhood), but much of that crime is of the type you don’t really see if you’re not looking for it. Drugs and alcohol, unfortunately, are everywhere. There are horrible people here and absolutely beautiful ones, both in and out. There are followers of pretty much every Faith on earth, with a church, temple, or mosque on nearly every block, as well as many people who believe in nothing.

I hope you can see from this that Los Angeles is as big and diverse as you can imagine, and it can be an absolute heaven on earth for those who can afford it. I forgot to mention the main attraction, L.A.’s unparalleled weather, which is generally mild year-round with magnificent sunshine and ocean breezes most days. The city is dense, intense, and highly urbanized, but simultaneously laid back and very relaxed largely due to its horizontal, rather than vertical development over the decades, giving it a spread-out, low-density feel. Traffic can be horrendous, especially on the 405 Freeway, of course, parking is problematic and EXPENSIVE, and public transportation is the pits — slow, unpredictable, and unpleasant. There are Uber, Lyft, taxis, and many other private transport options, but these are also very EXPENSIVE. It’s best to have access to a car because the land area of Greater L.A. is IMMENSE. From the northern Valley area to the Port of L.A. in the south, it will take an hour to drive the distance at high speeds on the freeway! It’s the same going from the beaches in the west of the city to its eastern expanses.

Some people complain that Angelinos are not friendly nor welcoming, and that may be true, but it may be because we are witnessing our hometown explode from a sleepy “country village” of a city into a gigantic mega-metropolis virtually overnight, which has totally changed EVERYTHING. But, in all, it’s a wonderful place to visit for rich tourists, and can still be a nice place to live even for those of us who struggle to afford it.

Los Angeles is, without a doubt, a wonderful place to visit. It has many fun and exciting things to see and do. The cost of living is very high and it is a crowded city with lots of auto traffic. If you like big city living, this is the place for you.

Someone moving to Los Angeles should know the high price of real estate. Despite the cost of living here, the weather is fantastic and it is quite beautiful. Prior to moving to Los Angeles, I recommend doing extensive research on the different neighborhoods. Someone new to the area should aim to find a home not far from their office because we have heavy traffic here.

Los Angeles is such a diverse city! it is one of the most unique places. Geographically speaking, I can access the beach and the mountains within a range of two hours from where I live. The wide variety of ethnic food in Los Angeles is also great as you can learn about different cultures and their cuisine without having to leave the city! Traffic can be terrible, but apart from that, Los Angeles is a wonderful city.

Los Angeles is a breathtaking place to move with various opportunities. However, statistically speaking, more than 40% of people who move here each year end up moving back home. Some of the main reasons for that is traffic, the cost of living and the people. Los Angeles is known of having some of the worst traffic in the nation and it lives up to that standard. For example, it will take you an hour or more to get to a place that should take roughly 25-35 minutes to get to. This is a deterrent for many people since they’re accustomed to living in a place that has very little or no traffic. it deters them because more time in the car automatically means that drivers will have to fill up their gas tank more often. This brings me to next issue which is cost of living. The gas prices are some of the highest in the U. S due to a governmental tax here and that is only one cost of living! The inflated cost also applies to everything else and L. A. ranks at number three for the highest rental costs, with rent costing roughly $1500 a month. This means that to live comfortably people have to be making $60K+ which not everyone realizes, and people who are not as financially well off are often scoffed at by other LA residents who are. Speaking of people in LA, they aren’t the friendliest people at times. There are a lot of wonderful people here but also many rude, condescending people are well. LA is a very superficial place due to the movie industry and some people really reflect that. Everyone isn’t willing to even say hi in elevator or they beep a driver for not moving at a green light right away. Some people aren’t used to that so it turns them off to the place. I will say that LA is a great place but these are some things worth knowing before moving here.

If someone moves to Los Angeles, they need to consider the awful traffic on the freeways and how that will impact their commute. Public transit is not as well developed as in New York City, which drives many people to rely on their car. I recommend moving to a neighborhood close to the Metro Expo Line if your job is near that track.