Moving to Los Angeles? 13 Reasons You’ll Love Living Here!

Thinking of moving to Los Angeles? If the city’s population is any measure of how much people like it, then there’s substantial evidence that living in Los Angeles is pretty great. It’s home to 3.9 million people, and 18.7 million people reside in the L.A. metro area. But what is living in Los Angeles really like: the people, attitudes, culture and economic opportunity? Can you hack big city living? Do you like warm, sunny weather? Then here are 13 reasons moving to Los Angeles may be good for you!

For anyone moving to Los Angeles, or considering the move, you can also jump in and join the conversation on Facebook with some local Angelenos.

People You’ll Meet in Los Angeles

L.A. is a melting pot on a grand scale. Southern California is ethnically and culturally diverse; the people who live here come from everywhere. To be precise, they come from 180 countries and speak 140 languages. If you move to Los Angeles, your neighbors might be from half-way around the world or the next state over.

Richard Wyatt’s “City of Dreams/River of History” at Union Station.

Being a newcomer to Los Angeles is nothing new. Starting with contact between the area’s First Peoples and Spanish explorers in 1542, to the first settlement in 1781, and all the way up to present day, L.A. has consistently grown via an influx of immigrants.

That’s why there are as many versions of Los Angeles as there are Angelinos. Each have their reasons for coming here and perspectives on why it’s a great place to call home. The West Coast has always been a place for dreamers and entrepreneurs. Los Angeles is still that way today, the modern American frontier.

Quick fact: Los Angeles does not have a majority population.

• 47.9% Hispanic or Latino
• 27.5% White, non-Hispanic
• 13.7% Asian/Pacific Islander
• 8.1% African-American
• 2.8% American Indian/Others

Source: U.S. Census Bureau – 2013 American Community Survey

Los Angeles Lifestyle

First Impressions, Living in Los Angeles

One of the first things you’ll notice, after moving to Los Angeles, is the alarming number of people hanging out in cafes during business hours. You might ask yourself, “Why are so many people out-and-about on a Monday at 11:00 am? Does anyone work in this town?”

Many jobs in Los Angeles – from entertainment to fashion – aren’t typical, year-round, 9-to-5 gigs. For example, people involved with theater plays, films and television shows work seasonally. The production side of the entertainment business has stretches of downtime (weeks or even months), giving folks a lot of freedom. You’ll see a lot of people roaming around L.A. when you’d normally expect a city’s inhabitants to be hidden away in an office building.

Plus, not every occupation even requires an office; you’ll see a lot of writers pecking away at their laptop keyboards in cafes. Actors tend to move around during the day, too, going to auditions and then earning their rent money waiting tables at night.

You’ll also come to realize that not everyone here works in “the industry” (synonym for the entertainment business). There are plenty of other employers and job opportunities in town, covered below.

Casual Attitudes

If you’re moving to Los Angeles, no doubt you’ll notice the laid back West Coast style. The chill attitude prevails everywhere, regardless of position or profession.

The dress code here is casual. People go to work and go out in jeans. T-shirts and flip flops are commonplace. You might even say the casual dress code here is a form of camouflage. You never know who that guy sitting next to you in the dive bar — with a scruffy beard, wearing the jean jacket — might be. He’s probably big-time producer. Watch him when he leaves. He’ll be the guy in the valet line picking up his Range Rover.

You think I’m kidding about valet parking at a dive bar? We even have complimentary valet atDenny’s!

In spite of the laid back attitude, people here do manage to dress nicely. After all, L.A. is home to very influential fashion designers and apparel manufacturers. The city is rife with fashionistas.

Being laid back has a few drawbacks. Angelinos are known to be flaky. It’s normal for people show up late to parties or not show up at all, even if they’ve RSVP’d. “Hey, man, I was going to show up to your party but the swells at Zuma Beach were epic and we surfed past sunset.”

Healthy Living

Swing your yoga mat in any direction and you will hit a yogi or yoga studio. They are everywhere! If it’s healthy or trendy, you’ll find it in Los Angeles. Need an organic juice fix? There’s a juice bar right around the corner. Want to join a Crossfit gym? Which one?

L.A. is the kind of place that encourages anything new and healthy, a mindset that is fairly typical for the entire West Coast. Depending upon your tolerance for trendiness, you might find the constant introduction of the latest diet and exercise fads as a small, regular annoyance. People here love to try and talk about “what’s new.” Here’s a re-usable joke; one to keep in your quiver and pull out whenever you need it. Just substitute any “healthy lifestyle” word below:

Q: How do you know your friend is [vegan/paleo/loves kale/does Crossfit]?
A: They’ll tell you.

Fads aside, one thing everyone can agree upon is the value of a farmer’s market. L.A. has a ton of them. In fact, there are so many, the Los Angeles Times created a searchable database.

Given the combination of healthy lifestyles and a production mindset in this town, one would have to believe the parody video “Yoga Girl” was inevitable. Watching it is worth every second, and a few laughs.

L.A. Traffic

Sitting in traffic is a big, unfortunate part of living in Los Angeles. Public transportation here is barely serviceable. While the City of Los Angeles is increasing the number of subway lines and ridership slowly increases, cars are still the modi operandi.

“Traffic” falls under the “lifestyle” section of this article is because you will spend a lot of your life in your car, stuck on the 101, 405, 605, 110 or 210 to name a few. Oh! That’s another thing: people here refer to freeways by number, not by name.

Living in Los Angeles means dealing with congested traffic all the time. Freeways are jammed with normal Monday thru Friday commuters but don’t expect any relief on weekends. People drive everywhere, every day. You can easily get stuck on the Southbound 101 on a Saturday morning. Here’s traffic for a typical evening commute. For perspective, the scale for the image below is about 50 miles wide.

Gnarly traffic makes getting together with friends for a drink or dinner harder than it would be in San Francisco or New York. Los Angeles is very spread out, which affects everything. Want good food and a place to hang with your pals? You can have it, but you will work for it. In New York or San Francisco, you’re never more than a short walk or a couple of subway stops from a great, casual neighborhood restaurant or bar. In Los Angeles, you will get in your car and drive for a night out. Going anywhere takes effort.

Quick fact: 68% of people in LA drive to work alone.

The Food Scene in Los Angeles

Now that you know the kind of effort it takes for a night out on the town, let’s talk about the food itself. Every major city in the United States has expensive restaurants you can go to for special occasions. Los Angeles has no shortage of places to throw around money on fine dining.

But a better measure of a city’s food scene are the “everyday” places you meet friends or co-workers to relax. Even though going out in Los Angeles requires travel, don’t fret. Your efforts are rewarded by L.A.’s best neighborhoods — where you’ll find pockets of ethnic and mom ‘n pops restaurants — that blow other cities out of the water.

Some neighborhoods are the cultural focal point for certain ethnic groups, while other areas are where people live. To clarify which is which, the list below includes both where appropriate. Here are some must-visit neighborhoods, rich in gastronomic opportunity.

• Thai Town – Thai
• Koreatown – Korean
• Boyle Heights – Hispanic
• Little Ethiopia – Ethiopian
• Tehrangeles – Persian (Tehran + Los Angeles = Tehrangeles)
• Little Armenia (or Glendale) – Armenian
• Little Tokyo (or Gardena or Sawtelle) – Japanese
• Chinatown (or Monterey Park) – Chinese

Koreatown is home to many Korean BBQ joints. Many are All You Can Eat (AYCE).

There are a couple more things you need to know about the Los Angeles food scene that set this city apart from all others.

Sushi? No other city in the United States compares to the availability and quality of sushi found in Los Angeles. You will not find better sushi outside of Tokyo. Period. While differing opinions on sushi are your constitutional right, no intellectually honest person would dare waiver from the thought that LA is not sushi heaven.

Pizza? New Yorkers living in L.A. complain about the paucity of good pizza here. Getting a slice in Los Angeles is not the same experience as it is in NYC. New Yorkers frequently and repeatedly air their pizza grievances. Yet if they leave for any period of time, they’ll admit how much they miss L.A.’s amazing sushi, Thai food, tacos or Korean barbecue. If you’re moving to Los Angeles from New York, you’re trading away good pizza but getting many other culinary treats in exchange. It’s a very good trade. Your East Coast pizza isn’t going anywhere; you can get a slice on your next trip home for the holidays.

Burgers? What’s the first stop an Angelino or savvy tourist makes when they fly into BUR or LAX? In-N-Out Burger! Even vegetarians living in Los Angeles admit their #1 Kryptonite is stuffing one’s face with a “Double-Double, animal style.” Check out In-N-Out’s not-so-secret menu that lets you modify an order to your liking.

Working in Los Angeles

When you think of Los Angeles, show business might be the first thing that comes to mind, but the city is economically diverse like its people. This is the place where technology and fashion entrepreneurs grow their businesses from scratch into global brands. Big brands you know and love have deep roots and are headquartered here, ones you know and love like Tesla, Nestle, Honda and Dole Foods.

Here are the major sectors of economic activity in L.A.:

• Entertainment
• Information Technology
• Aerospace & Defense
• Fashion
• Bioscience
• Hospitality & Tourism
• Trade
• Marketing, Design & Publishing

The Entertainment Business

When you peel back the most visible, outward facing layers of the entertainment business, you’ll realize most jobs in “the industry” are behind-the-scenes.

Motion picture studios and theme parks have all the familiar big-company departments like accounting, human resources, facilities management, fleet management, etc. These are the everyday occupations that make LA’s entertainment industry fire on all cylinders. Studios are staffed like any other large enterprise.

After living in Los Angeles a few months, you’ll start to realize how massive the entertainment industry really is. It employs a lot of people, not just the entertainers you see in the spotlight. Your neighbor to the left might be a music composer and the neighbor to the right might be a studio electrician.

Information Technology and Sciences

The tech scene in LA is another driver of economic activity. It is home to thousands of internet startups and large, long-time technology powerhouses. Biotech and aerospace companies employ thousands of scientists and technologists. New era space travel company, SpaceX, employs over 4,000 people.

SpaceX is redefining how we think about space travel and privatization.

Fashion

Los Angeles is a major hub for fashion.The downtown Los Angeles Fashion District is home to 100 blocks of independently owned retail and wholesale businesses. You will find designer showrooms, boutique stores, all the way up to the campuses of large apparel companies like GUESS and American Apparel.

Trade

Los Angeles is an international city for both cultural diversity and trade. The Port of Los Angeles and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) move billions of dollars in products and millions of passengers through the area each year.

Quick facts:

• The Port of Los Angeles imports and exports $1.2B worth of goods each day.
• The adjoining Port of Long Beach, second in the nation only to the Port of Los Angeles, moves $100B in annual trade.
• Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) moves 75M passengers each year.

Los Angeles Weather

Los Angeles is known around the world as warm, sunny place. The weather here is factor that contributes to the area’s natural beauty. Hardly a day will pass where you won’t spot native exotic flowers such as Bird of Paradise, Jacaranda, Hibiscus and Bougainvillea. Here’s a look at the average monthly temperatures in L.A, high and low.

What a lot of folks don’t know is that it’s a sprawling metropolis built on a desert basin. Without an aqueduct piping millions of gallons of water into the area, Los Angeles would most certainly be uninhabitable to millions of its residents. We don’t get much rain.

Data courtesy of Weather.com

Mediterranean Climate

The L.A. Basin also happens to border an ocean, which gives it a unique climate. Where deserts and oceans collide, weather systems mashup to create a Mediterranean Climate.

The climate in Los Angeles is characterized by warm days and cool nights. That’s because cooler ocean air moves across the L.A. Basin when the sun goes down, providing a bit of welcome relief during the hotter summer months. Los Angeles is one of the only major cities in the world where you can enjoy a comfortable Mediterranean climate year-round.

There are several microclimates, too. Ocean communities are generally cooler than inland areas. The San Fernando Valley is hotter and drier. Neighborhoods that are 5 miles apart can vary in temperature by 10 degrees or more. It could be 65 degrees in Santa Monica, 75 degrees downtown and 85 degrees in the inland valleys.

Occasionally, Santa Ana winds kick in and push the area’s prevailing winds in the opposite direction, moving air masses from drier inland areas across the L.A. Basin to the Pacific Ocean. Santa Ana winds are active mostly in the fall months and bring drier air (i.e. very low humidity) to the city. Fall here is dry and comfortable.

Quick facts:

• 292 annual days of sunshine
• 35 annual days of rain
• 72 degrees average daily temperature

Fog and Smog

Angelinos sometimes wake up to foggy skies, created by ocean air that moves inland and settles over the basin at night. Fog typically burns off by mid-day, depending on how near or far you live from the ocean. The extra moisture in the air combines with car exhaust to produce the region’s infamous smog.

Due to aggressive California emission standards, there’s a lot less smog here than the 1960s and 70s. Days of thick, brown smog layers are fewer and farther between. In fact, they are now rare. While low to medium air quality is a fact of life here, the former era of itching and tearing eyes are mostly a thing of the past.

Things to Do in Los Angeles

The always-sunny weather in Los Angeles inspires people to get outside. As a world-class city, living in Los Angeles means you can also get your fill of art, music and culture. Whatever you’re into, indoor or outdoor activities, you can find them here. Any day or night of the week you will find something to do in Los Angeles.

Southern California Beaches

One of the first things people take advantage of, after moving to Los Angeles, is venturing to a local beach. Beaches here are perfect for running, walking, cycling, volleyball, surfing or rollerblading. If you just want to pull up a lawn chair and read a book or get a tan, that’s okay, too. Malibu Beach is great for celebrity sightings, Venice Beach for people watching and Manhattan Beach for surfing.

Mountain Ranges

The Los Angeles Basin is surrounded and divided by mountain ranges. The Santa Monica Mountains split L.A. County into sections north and south while the San Gabriel Range borders the Eastern edge. You can go from 9 feet below sea level to heights of 10,800 feet with a short drive and little hiking.

Angelinos love hiking. Runyon Canyon is perfect for a quick glute workout but can get crowded. You’ll find more space, fewer crowds and 53 miles of trails in Griffith Park. No matter where you hike, trails in Los Angeles reward you with incredible views. There are over 300 public parks in the Santa Monica Mountains so no one is going to run out of room to roam anytime soon. People new to the area are often surprised at the amount of land that is open and available for public use. The image below shows the Santa Monica Mountains from the Pacific Palisades to Glendale.

Hiking in Los Angeles is a popular activity. There are many hills and trails to explore.

Griffith Park is 4,310 acres of fun. It’s home to Los Angeles Zoo, Greek Theatre, Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood Sign. Much of the park is untamed, and you can cross paths with wild quail, rodents, spiders, foxes, coyotes, rattlesnakes and deer. You might even see a mountain lion. If hiking isn’t your cup of tea, horseback tours are available daily.

Nightlife

Each neighborhood has its flavor of fun, from West Hollywood and The Sunset Strip to the recently revitalized Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA).

Music fans might get lucky and catch big, well-known national bands playing smaller clubs on “The Strip” made famous in the 1960s. Rock out at clubs like Whisky A Go Go, The Rainbow and Troubadour. If you don’t catch your favorite band ripping up a small club, just know that every artist plays L.A. Whether they play a small club or the Hollywood Bowl, if your favorite band is on tour, they’re coming here.

Or maybe you’d rather take things into your own hands and sing your heart out at a karaoke bar in Koreatown?

If you’re a fan of classic cocktails (e.g. a properly made Manhattan or Old Fashioned) and dimly lit art deco rooms, moving to Los Angeles could make you very happy. DTLA is where the best bartenders in the city ply their craft. If you’re really lucky, someone might let you into a modern speakeasy. 

Art & Culture

L.A. County is home to 100 museums and range from those that specialize in fine art to La Brea Tar Pits, where you can see fossilized dinosaur bones.

Large music venues include Disney Concert Hall (home to L.A. Phil) as well as the very popular Hollywood Bowl and Greek Theatre.

Getty Center (“The Getty”) is one of the world’s largest art organizations a favorite museum for many Anglinos. Housed on a 24-acre hilltop campus, overlooking the L.A. Basin, The Getty is home to two things: 1) One of the best views of Los Angeles, and 2) A world-class art collection. Best of all, it’s free! The Getty is funded by a very large trust. All you have to do is pay for parking, then hop on a tram ride up the hill. People spend the whole day taking in amazing art and city views.

You can also catch major plays and musical productions at Pantages Theater, Ahmanson Theatre and Geffen Playhouse. Smaller theaters dot the city where you can see up-and-coming performers as well.

Spend an evening perusing local art galleries and rubbing elbows with artists at any one of 16 art walks in the area.

Sports Teams in Los Angeles

Los Angeles is home to collegiate and professional sports teams. If you love attending live sporting events, you’ll have plenty of choices living in Los Angeles.

Football
Do you like tailgating and spending a Saturday afternoon watching college football? Catch Pac-12 Conference powerhouses USC Trojans or UCLA Bruins tear up the turf in the L.A. Coliseum or Rose Bowl, their respective home fields. If NFL is more your style, you can cheer for the Los Angeles Rams, who recently returned to L.A after a 20-year absence.

The Rose Bowl is home to the UCLA Bruins and the annual Rose Bowl Game.

Baseball
Los Angeles has been home to the Dodgers since 1957. Baseball games are a relaxing way to enjoy a warm summer night, cold beer and a Dodger Dog, the official team hot dog, and a decades-long tradition.

Basketball
Los Angeles is home to three professional basketball teams. NBA teams Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers are crosstown rivals, both competing in the NBA’s Western Conference, Pacific Division. They share the same home court, Staples Center, along with WNBA team, Los Angeles Sparks. Staples Center is a modern, comfortable arena with several VIP amenities for both sporting events and concerts.

Hockey
L.A. Kings is another hometown team that calls Staples Center home ice. If you’re moving to Los Angeles from the East Coast, you won’t have to give up live hockey. West Coast fans are die hard supporters.

Soccer
If professional soccer is your cup of tea, L.A. Galaxy is the area’s MLS team, chartered in 1996. They play at StubHub Center in Carson.

Los Angeles is so big and diverse; you might even find yourself checking out Polo or Roller Derby!

World-Class Education

Moving to Los Angeles gives you access to exceptional postsecondary academic institutions. L.A. is home to world-class universities and colleges. Schools here lead the way in research and academic disciplines. L.A. is a great place to earn your college degree or beef up your curriculum vitae with a masters or Ph.D. Here are the big-time postsecondary schools in Los Angeles:

• University of Southern California (USC)
• University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)
• California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

Annual Events in Los Angeles

When L.A. throws a party, the whole world watches. Even before moving to Los Angeles, you’ll know many of the city’s annual events by name. L.A is host to major entertainment award shows, like the Oscars, no doubt you’ve watched on TV.

But did you know L.A. is home to the largest Halloween party in the world? West Hollywood’s Halloween Carnaval draws an estimated 500,000 revelers to Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood. Get decked out in your Halloween costume and join the party!!

Here’s a rundown for some of the large annual events in Los Angeles:

• L.A. Marathon
• Tournament of Roses Parade
• Rose Bowl Game
• Golden Globe Awards
• Grammy Awards
• Academy Awards
• NoHo Theatre & Arts Festival
• L.A. Film Festival
• L.A. Pride Festival
• July 4th Fireworks Spectacular – Hollywood Bowl
• Emmy Awards
• Halloween Carnaval – West Hollywood
• L.A. Auto Show
• Hollywood Christmas Parade

More Interesting Facts About Living in Los Angeles

• From 1901 and 1963, before LA became known for huge freeways jammed with cars, it had a complete streetcar system, the Los Angeles Railway.
• Built in 1901 and billed as the “shortest railway in the world,” the 298-foot Angels Flight still operates today. You can even use your Metro pass to pay for the short ride up the hill from L.A.’s Historic Core to Bunker Hill.
• Capital Records is located in the world’s first circular office building, designed to look like a stack of LP records. The topmost light on its rooftop blinks in Morse code and spells “H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D.”
• The Hollywood Sign was originally an advertisement for a real estate development in the Hollywood Hills from 1923 to 1949. The L-A-N-D letters are obviously no longer there but the neighborhood below in Beachwood Canyon still bears the name Hollywoodland. A trust maintains the sign.
• Griffith Park is one of the largest municipal parks in North America, sporting 53 miles of hiking trails and even has a horse ranch. You can take a horseback tour seven days a week.
• Griffith Observatory has working telescopes. After the sun goes down, visitors can take a turn viewing the rings of Saturn. It’s also where the Apollo astronauts learned how to navigate the stars.
• L.A.’s steepest street has a 33% grade. It should remain the steepest for a very long time because the city has limited street grades to about 15% since the 1950s.

Final Thoughts: Moving to Los Angeles

Hopefully after reading this, you’ll conclude that Los Angeles neither monolithic in terms of the people who live here or the work they do. Nor is the landscape a barren urban jungle of concrete and cars. In fact, this city is quite livable and downright fun and interesting. There are so many museums, activities, sights, sounds and foods to discover and enjoy. Living in Los Angeles is never dull.

Source : https://www.rubyhome.com/communities/moving-to-los-angeles/

Written by 

Tony Mariotti