Butch 19
Go cart Mozart
not really, but "Cali" certainly is.
I have lived here my entire life and I have not heard a single person call it "Cali" (I've only seen it on HF)
... and then there's NoCal (which we so rightly haaaaate!)
23 year old thinking of moving to Southern California
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not really, but "Cali" certainly is.
I have lived here my entire life and I have not heard a single person call it "Cali" (I've only seen it on HF)
... and then there's NoCal (which we so rightly haaaaate!)
William H Bonney
Registered User
I agree with those that told you to do it. If it's something you want then it's worth the risk. If it doesn't work out, so be it, but at least you'll know you tried and you can move on to the next chapter.
Hope it all goes well.
Hope it all goes well.
Agreed.
Also, if I can suggest another neighborhood to look into, I would suggest Lakewood. I go to school as a Mech. Engineer at Cal State Long Beach (which has one of the best Engineering departments on this side of the country btw) and the commute as I said in my first post is only 20 minutes max on surface streets. The city itself is just a giant suburb, but it is really damn nice. If you're curious about hockey, well that's covered too as I live about 10 minutes away from Lakewood Ice which is a facility with 3 ice rinks and I believe is sponsored by both the Kings and the Ducks. Lakewood and the surrounding cities (Cerritos, Hawaiian Gardens, Norwalk, etc) have a lot of giant malls with restaurants in them so it might be a bit eaiser finding a waiting job if that's what you're looking for.
Reaper45
Registered User
Reaper45
Registered User
Only people not from California call it Cali. We hate when people refer to it as such.
- Aug 24, 2011
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Talking to my dad about this while being as subtle as humanly possible, i asked him what the job perspectives were for engineering in California. He basically said,
Is that true? Obviously you're not done with school yet but has it been relatively easy to line up any internships and what not in California? I'm not sure if i'd stay in California after school and work there but its always smart to know as much about my situation as possible.
Also, note to self: Do NOT say "Cali"
KingLB
Registered User
- Oct 29, 2008
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I went to CSULB (Long Beach State) and recently I had 4 friends graduate with varying engineering degrees....it took all of them no longer then 2 months to find a job...an few got internships first and another has gotten like 5 interviews...really shouldn't be a problem.
Also you keep mentioning being able to afford rent...it depends on what you are looking for...if each of you want your own room/bathroom its gonna be more expensive....but if 2 guys split a one bedroom you could find a decent 1 bedroom for 800-1K no problem in a decent area. If not 2 bedrooms in a nice area (my experience is Long Beach) is gonna run you around 1200-1400...even then I have a few friends that split a 3 bedroom (each have there own room, 2 share a bathroom) and their rent is ~ 1400 and not in a bad area...just not the greatest building.
Also you keep mentioning being able to afford rent...it depends on what you are looking for...if each of you want your own room/bathroom its gonna be more expensive....but if 2 guys split a one bedroom you could find a decent 1 bedroom for 800-1K no problem in a decent area. If not 2 bedrooms in a nice area (my experience is Long Beach) is gonna run you around 1200-1400...even then I have a few friends that split a 3 bedroom (each have there own room, 2 share a bathroom) and their rent is ~ 1400 and not in a bad area...just not the greatest building.
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I just want to be able to live comfortably and to have a place thats not going to gross girls out when i bring them back to my place : )
Like KingLB said, if you split the costs among a few people renting an apartment or a house in my case is pretty reasonable. I live with 5 other guys that I met dorming my first year at Long Beach. Two guys have rooms to themselves and the other guys (myself included) split a room. The guys who split a room only pay $390 a month and the guys who live in a room by themselves only pay like 30 dollars more. Bills are pretty reasonable among all of us as well. I only pay 80 to 100 dollars in bills on top of my rent.
As far as the career is concerned, the South Bay/Long Beach area is the prime location for engineering majors to find jobs and internships. Boeing and Northrup Gruman are near-by as are a wide variety of other engineering and manufacturing companies. I have friends who have been interning at Boeing and make about 25 dollars an hour on CAD drawings, so there's opportunity out here.
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Reclamation Project
Cut It All Right In Two
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I guess a way to simplify all of my questions would be this...
If I move to California would I be able to have a fun and comfortable life while I finish school?
If I move to California would I be able to have a fun and comfortable life while I finish school?
DocWest
Rock Bottom
Reaper45
Registered User
Buddy The Elf
Kings!
There is definitely a way to do that. Find roommates or room to rent. I know a girl who just moved to Long Beach and pays $675 a month for a Studio apartment all utilites included (except cable TV). She lives about a mile from the beach and the area is decent (about a mile from CSULB in the other direction). I'm a big fan of Long Beach but if you moved to a place like that, you could find affordable rent as there are always college kids looking for roommates and the City actually has a decent bus system. The bus system will connect you to the Blue Line which can take you to a bunch of different areas without a car until you could afford one.
The Big Giant Head
Registered User
Yea but for 675/month, whats her neighborhood like?
If you're downtown or if you're near the college...long beach is beautiful. But if you go inner-city long beach you better bring some running shoes...a huuuuge chunk of that city is garbage. My company has clients out there that i have to see occasionally and i spend as little time as possible there. Thats probably a good rule of thumb...if the rent is cheap and it seems to go to be true, it probably is or there's some kind of catch. You really need to pay attention to the neighborhood you're looking at moving in to because cheap rent apartments are usually in crappy areas.
Buddy The Elf
Kings!
Yea but for 675/month, whats her neighborhood like?
Thats probably a good rule of thumb...if the rent is cheap and it seems to go to be true, it probably is or there's some kind of catch. You really need to pay attention to the neighborhood you're looking at moving in to because cheap rent apartments are usually in crappy areas.
It is fairly close to the college east of Redondo Ave (between Rec Park and Redondo off 10th street). If you know the area, that isn't exactly "the hood". I said it was in a decent area to clarify that. You certainly don't have to worry about getting shot there that is for sure. Maybe a random lurker here and there. People don't seem to realize that Long Beach is a very large city geographically and the bad areas are confined to a pretty specific area. Long Beach has plenty of nice/safe neighborhoods and is very affordable. In fact, it is cheaper to live where I live now than when I lived in a tiny apartment in Claremont.
In general everything on the east side of Long Beach is what I would consider a "good area". Better than Downtown LB which you suggested was a good neighborhood. Downtown LB is gentrified but you still have homeless and lunatics roaming the streets all hours of the day. The areas to say away from are north of Downtown and clear to the 91 freeway.
I've lived in the Belmont Shore and Belmont Heights areas of Long Beach for 6 years now and never witnessed or been a victim of a crime. I've never seen a fight at a bar (but I know that is starting to change on 2nd street and I rarely go down that way anymore). I actually had my car hit on the street there and a person actually left a note with their info. It is the first place I've lived where neighbors are friendly to each other and actually get to know each other. It is a real nice community depending on the neighborhood and is by far the most affordable place to live by the beach. If you are patient and look around, you can find sweet deals on apartments/houses for rent and live in a place where you can walk or ride a bike to do just about anything including go to college. There are both the Cal State University and a Community College in Long Beach. The community college is up near Lakewood where that guy offered him a room to rent.
In general, I'd say yeah, be weary of cheap rent in most places including Long Beach. I think the reason you find cheaper rents in Long Beach is due to the sheer volume of rentals and the amount of turnover they have from college kids each year. The propery values aren't all that depressed but there are always a ton of rentals and the most desirable areas charge a premium and if you are willing to move a few blocks away from those areas, you can save tons. I went from Belmont Shore (Livingston and Ximeno) to Belmont heights and my rent went from $1850 to $1200 for a nearly identical place. I had 2 bed/1.5 bath, laundry in unit and a garage at both places.
/live in long beach commercial
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Rumpelstiltskin
Serial Ruminator
To piggyback on this: Greater LA actually has an underrated public transportation system IMHO. It's not as expansive/thorough as those in, say, Portland or Chicago (then again, Greater LA is laid out much differntly than those places), but it'll take you to most of the places you'd want to go, relatively cheaply and safely. For instance, from downtown Long Beach, you can get to downtown LA (jobs/Staples Center/entertainment/clubbing/whatever), Orange County (jobs/airport), or Western LA County (restaurants/beaches/airport) without having to drive a single block. For conveieince sake though, ultimately, you're going to want your own vehicle.
Oh, and City Data Forums is a great place to get more information regarding your situation: http://www.city-data.com/forum/california/
- Aug 24, 2011
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I have a great relationship with my parents and in about 2 motnsh they'll have finished off all of their car payments. Its not a certainty, but i bet if i asked them to atleast help me out with a car they would.
What do people in their 20's do for fun down there? I'm too old for frat parties and beer pong.
What do people in their 20's do for fun down there? I'm too old for frat parties and beer pong.
Bars, go to sporting events, clubs, movies, I guess. There are a ton of museums, parks, and hot spots all over LA. I'm a bit of a boring guy though. I usually just drink with the guys I live with.
KingsCorona
Registered User
- Dec 18, 2009
- 1,065
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Not really, but I don't know anyone who is actually from here that uses that term.
Just don't say "Cali" :p I have some friends from the south who use that name habitually and it just sounds lame.
Edit: I see now that you've already been adequately warned, lol
Also, I agree with this.
The L.A. Metro rail system has improved by leaps and bounds over the last few years and it continues to get better. It runs to most of the places you'd really want to go and trains typically run every 10 mins or less. The difficulty in L.A. is that the city is very sprawled out so it's hard to cover with public transport, but the Metro does a good job of hitting the important stuff.
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Hey! Back again! Just wanted to thank all of you for being so helpful. I appreciate it a lot.
Meeting with 2 other friends today to seriously talk about moving down there. Looking at some apartments but also some houses to rent.
http://www.zillow.com/homes/los-angeles-ca_rb/
Its tough trying to get excited because i dont really know what the crummy areas of LA are. Obviously Compton and the obvious ones. But i see places like "Torrance" and "Warner Ridge" and i have no idea...
Meeting with 2 other friends today to seriously talk about moving down there. Looking at some apartments but also some houses to rent.
http://www.zillow.com/homes/los-angeles-ca_rb/
Its tough trying to get excited because i dont really know what the crummy areas of LA are. Obviously Compton and the obvious ones. But i see places like "Torrance" and "Warner Ridge" and i have no idea...
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