There are pros and cons to living in a slew of cities, but if you’re considering a move to Los Angeles we hope you’ll find this page useful. With a majority of Hollywood Hawks living here, we hope to update this page often with information, articles, and words of wisdom.
The best things about living in Los Angeles are the weather, diversity of people, weather, variety of things to do (you truly could surf in the morning, ski in the afternoon, then go to a vineyard for dinner that night), weather, and the abundance of jobs in the entertainment industry.
The worst things about living in Los Angeles are the cost of living, crime and traffic.
More than any other American city, people love to hate LA. But, as so many Angelenos can attest, the reputation of “LA” doesn’t really match the reality. Sure, there are definitely the very shallow amongst us, and there are certain “characters” to look out for. But overwhelmingly people are kind and friendly, many of whom have come to town from other states or countries. This is a city of dreamers, for all that’s good and bad about that fact, it just is. It’s also what you make it. So, whether you like being close to the beach or a hiking trail, want to live in a walkable and lively urban area, or enjoy a more suburban lifestyle, Los Angeles truly has it all.
HOW DO I FIND AN APARTMENT? 
A couple months before you hope to move to Los Angeles, you should join the Los Angeles Jayhawks Facebook group. Oftentimes, fellow Jayhawks are looking for roommates or know of apartments available for rent. If something with a fellow Jayhawk doesn’t work out, these are the best websites for apartments:
WHAT AREA SHOULD I LIVE IN?
With a city as spread out as Los Angeles, there are many different communities within Los Angeles and they all have their own personalities, advantages and disadvantages. However, before anyone starts to wax poetic about why you should live in their area, they’ll ask you the big question: where will you be working? This is important to know because most people will advise you to live close to work. It’s a quality of life thing. However, since most of you won’t know where you’ll be working, I highly recommend finding a temporary living situation for the first month or two if you can. There are plenty of sublet possibilities here and it’s a good way to get comfortable with the city. However, if this isn’t a possibility, I’d suggest to live as centrally as you can afford. Since most of you will be moving here to work in the entertainment industry, and most will be freelancers, live as close to the major studios as you can. The area within the circle of this map, give or take (click on radius map for larger view) shows the most concentrated area of television and movie studios, post houses, etc.
Of course, there is work all over this city, so living in this general vicinity might not be great if you land a job in Santa Monica or Redondo Beach. It merely serves as a starting point to begin sniffing out areas that are more likely to be close to work, safe and reasonably affordable.
With that said, let’s take a closer look at different neighborhoods and hear from Hollywood Hawks about the pros and cons of each.
Click here for neighborhood recommendations.
GOOD ARTICLES (click title to read):
So you’re moving to Hollywood
Advice on moving to Los Angeles
HELPFUL WEBSITES:
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