Video of the Day: Your East Side Moment of Zen
The Big Pink @ El Rey Theatre 11/18/09
If You've Got the Time: Sunday Brunch @ Casa del Mar
The Great L.A. Walk Treks Adams & Washington Today
They Might Be Giants @ Royce Hall 11/14/09
Okay, listen up world: I’m moving to Hollywood. That’s right. I’m living the dream. I’m packing up my bags and my books and my pots and my pans, my clothes and my dishes and my ridiculous second-hand overstuffed lounge chairs, and I’m moving. Ten miles away. Somewhere different, somewhere special, somewhere - cheaper than Santa Monica.
I mean, let’s face it: despite the rosy promise of rent control, the price of Santa Monica apartments inches higher each year – if I stay in my 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom place for another year, I’ll be paying an uncomfortably large percentage of my salary to rent an admittedly pleasant but aging place that’s about 30 blocks from the beach – about as far as you can get from the ocean and still be counted as Santa Monica, so there's really no cachet to be had in "beach-side property."
So I’ve decided to bite the bullet and split the rent on a nice somewhere-to-be-determined one-bedroom with my very special man-friend, who is breaking all sorts of my preconceived notions about men and is actually quite enthusiastic about the prospect of cohabitation.
So the decision has been made: now all I’ve got to do now is this RIDICULOUS NUMBER OF THINGS:
-- find a new tenant for my apartment,
-- find a new place to live,
-- pack up all my stuff,
-- find movers or rent my own truck and find friends to help me move,
-- figure out what furniture to sell and what to keep and what to give away and what to throw away,
-- and finally, figure out how to live with a guy for the first time and share all sorts of terribly personal things like bathrooms and fridges and budgets.
Our deadline is July 1.
Today is May 20th.
Can we do it?
Photo by firemonkeyfish via flickr
Here are the main factors involved: I'm moving out of my place before my lease is up. My current roommate is choosing to stay, so I've got to find a subletter who will be reasonably clean, considerate, and quiet. My roommate is more than reasonably clean, considerate, and quiet, but she will also be working on a dissertation all summer, and so her stress levels will be higher than average.
Next, my guy and I have to choose a new place based on price, size, and location: right now, he’s living in a 2 bedroom in Hollywood, with high ceilings, big bedrooms, and a killer view, but his rent is inching up as well.
I work in Hollywood, he works in Studio City. In order to maintain a reasonable commute time (I’m talking the half-hour mark, maybe 45 minutes at worst), we pretty much have to live in North Hollywood/Studio City, or West Hollywood, Hollywood, Los Feliz, or Silverlake. I’m not averse the whole Glendale/Pasadena thing, nor to Culver City or Westwood. Our budget tops out at $1400, but paying less is always best, especially since we'd like to save money for things like travel and a wide-screen TV. (Priorities!)
We don’t have pets, we don’t have huge parties but we do enjoy a certain amount of rock n’ roll music and late-night Guitar Hero sessions. We really love going to good restaurants, seeing cool movies, walking around eclectic neighborhoods, and just generally adventuring around the city.
We don't have too much furniture between us, but we do have too many mattresses and televisions and Playstations, which suggests that a serious Craigslist campaign will be necessary. We also have a crapload of books between the two of us: in my seven years in the English department at UCLA, I accumulated quite a collection of good literature that I'm fairly loathe to sell (let's not talk about the library books I'm still holding hostage), and he has a similarly extensive collection of mathematics textbooks and sci-fi paperbacks.
Have you ever tried to move a thousand pounds of books? I feel an ulcer coming on already.
So Angelenos: in the next forty days, I'll be needing advice, encouragement, and consolation. If you've got a hot lead on a great moving company, ideas about where to find a super-cool subletter, reasons why YOUR neighborhood would be a great fit for us, or tips on how to scrounge up sturdy cardboard boxes, here's the place to pass them on. I'll be updating you all on our progress: if all goes well, we'll be sitting pretty in a nice new place of our own by July 1st. I think I'll die of happiness - if I don't expire from the stress first.
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whatever you do, do not get a storage unit! if you don't use it enough to warrant putting it in a storage unit, chances are you will not need to use it again! that being said, find an apartment with lots of closets! buy bed risers and shove those books into flat plastic boxes and keep under the bed (I can't throw away books either). visit ikea hacker for good ideas to make ikea furnature work in your space (ikeahacker.blogspot.com)
Try down here on the edge of K-town. It's definitely a different world here but cool. There's plenty of hidden cool hipster bars that you need passwords to get in (I ain't telling !)
And with all the Korean signs you can make it your own Lost in Translation. Suggest north of Wilshire and west of Western. It's less ghetto. I live close enough that when I cross Wiltern, I enter Hancock Park with all the beautiful homes that I wish I could afford.
Oh, there's a Red Line stop on Wilshire/Western and sometimes I just take it up to Hollywood and catch a flick @ Mann's. And if the Red Line had longer hours, you could roll up for some drinks and get back safe & sound via subway.
I moved from La Brea and Fountain to La Brea and 3rd in a span of 4 days.
Found out i had to move on tues, found a place on wed, saw the place on thurs, got the place on fri, move in on saturday.
Best moving company too. 3 guys, $125 an hour = DONE IN 2 HOURS TOTAL.
I'm becoming a big fan of the SF Valley in general... There's a listing on CL that sounds promising for you... $1425 for 2 bd/1 ba...
Open House Today (sun),Go To Apt # 2, All Redone, nu/Granite kit, Carpets/floors, paint , Quiet Bldg, NO Pets, If you have great Credit Come look today, or call 818-762-8243 ,,,5329 Vantage Ave,Valley Village, 91607 That's so close to Studio City and it's also very near the Orange Line which transfers to the Red Line. It's further from Burbank Airport but still close enough that you should make sure you get an apartment with good windows... and since it is in the Valley, make sure you have either central air or a decent AC unit.
A friend of mine will be renting out her place in about 2 weeks (she's moving up to SF for a job). It's a lovely one bedroom on Tamarind just about Franklin. It has one parking spot below it. It's a great location, central to many places in Hollywood and just half a block away from the Bourgeois Pig/Birds/etc and Mayfair market. I think she's renting it for $1,200-1,400. Tell me if you want more info!
~P
If you are looking for movers, I can't speak highly enough of Delancy Street. It is one part of a larger (I think) not-for-profit Foundation. I did a lot of research before I moved and found them through a "moving" message board forum:
movingscam.com. Search the message board forums for comments about them.
Just so you know, you are hiring people who might not have had the cleanest pasts but this Foundation helps them to get back on their feet.
The number I have was good as of last November.
Delancey Street-LA (phone 323-890-2300).
Moving (to me) is always so exciting. Even just across town.
I would say, if you can afford it, hire movers to pack and move you. It is such an awesome thing to do as a grown up!
I also highly suggest checking out ebay and amazon to sell the textbooks and other perhaps unique offerings in your selection. Textbooks, even older ones, are still pretty valuable.
Maybe the book sales will help pay for the movers!
Good luck!
Ummm....K-Town. Yeah....If you're white(caucasion) stay away. They really don't like white folks down there. I have had friends turned away from sertain bars specifically because of there race.
The key to many books is many little boxes. Seems contrary but it will save your back and your mind. Much easier to move, even with all of the trips, and you can go all action figure librarian and reorganize them as well.
I also suggest using towels, sheets, comforters, etc. as cushioning/packing material. Sorta recycling and your things will be protected.
I too recommend Delancy Street - they've moved me twice, I've never had a problem (and I'm a girl and was alone with them) and when you tip them which you'll want to do since they are awesome, fast and polite, it goes as a donation. Very cool.
And as for co-habitating, get the ugly money questions out of the way now. 50-50 (or whatever you decide) is a great idea, but knowing there is a plan for when one of you is sick/jobless/broke keeps things mellow and less stressful.
Also, do tell about your previous place, I'm looking for a sane roommate and can definitely respect the thesis quiet...
The key to many books is many little boxes. Seems contrary but saves your back and you can go all action figure librarian and reorganize them as well.
Use towels and sheets as cushioning/packing material. Kinda recycling.
Delancy Street - they are awesome, fast and polite. They've moved me twice, I've never had a problem (and I'm a girl and was alone with them) and when you tip them, which you'll want to do since they rock, it goes as a donation. Very cool.
And as for co-habitating, get the ugly money questions out of the way now. 50-50 (or whatever you decide) is a great idea, but knowing there is a plan for when one of you is sick/jobless/broke keeps everyone feeling things are fair and less stressful.
Also, do tell us more about your previous place, I'm looking for a sane roommate and can definitely respect the thesis quiet...