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Los Angeles |OT| GAF's Guide to the Greatest City in the Universe

J

jstevenson

Sailor Stevenson
killertofu said:
My cousin lives in Temple City...so I'm crashing here until I can find a place closer.
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right on. you should do that quick.

there's really no good solution for you besides to suffer. unless you can find a gym in the area and drive out there at like 5am, work out until 7.... you'll still suffer on the way home, unless you decide to hang out at happy hours or starbucks or something
 
K

killertofu

Member
jstevenson said:
right on. you should do that quick.

there's really no good solution for you besides to suffer. unless you can find a gym in the area and drive out there at like 5am, work out until 7.... you'll still suffer on the way home, unless you decide to hang out at happy hours or starbucks or something
Click to expand...

There's a 24 Hour Fitness right next to the internship, I thought about it... Is there an actual time that traffic dies down ?
 
J

jstevenson

Sailor Stevenson
Ultrarobotninja said:
I have to intervene as no one posted the right answer yet . Best movie theater is ipic theater in Pasadena : http://www.ipictheaters.com/ipic-locations.aspx
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Their picture / sound is good-to-very good... not the insane you can get at Arclight Hollywood.

Their seats / blankets are of course awesome.

Downside is it's expensive as hell, and there are constantly people moving in the theatre due to ordering food and such.

It's good, but it's not the best (Arclight Hollywood)
 
Z

Zyzyxxz

Member
StopMakingSense said:
I always go to the one in Boyle Heights at Soto and Whittier. There's also one in Mid-City at Olympic and San Vicente, and one in Bell Gardens on Florence Ave.

2.99 Leg and Thigh and Mashed potato deal <3
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Boyle Heights? Hell yeah I'm there at least once a week. Been needing a new lunch spot since I'm tired of guisados now.
 
K

killertofu

Member
How long would the commute be from Echo Park to Santa Monica?

I'm having really no luck finding an inexpensive place to live in Santa Monica/Culver City. I hear Echo Park is an artsy/hipster crowd, and the prices there don't seem too bad.
 
M

MonkeyKing

Member
killertofu said:
How long would the commute be from Echo Park to Santa Monica?

I'm having really no luck finding an inexpensive place to live in Santa Monica/Culver City. I hear Echo Park is an artsy/hipster crowd, and the prices there don't seem too bad.
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About an hour. You're moving through the heart of the city, using street traffic. There's no way it's not going to suck, sorry. Try the Mid-Wilshire district and Koreatown.
 
Z

Zyzyxxz

Member
killertofu said:
How long would the commute be from Echo Park to Santa Monica?

I'm having really no luck finding an inexpensive place to live in Santa Monica/Culver City. I hear Echo Park is an artsy/hipster crowd, and the prices there don't seem too bad.
Click to expand...

Have you thought about the Fairfax, Pico-Roberston area? I'm not sure if rents are reasonable there.
 
beat

beat

Member
killertofu said:
How long would the commute be from Echo Park to Santa Monica?

I'm having really no luck finding an inexpensive place to live in Santa Monica/Culver City. I hear Echo Park is an artsy/hipster crowd, and the prices there don't seem too bad.
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Check out Palms. It's not artsy or hipster and there isn't that much fun here, but it's affordable on the West side. Santa Monica is more fun and way more expensive. Culver City is more expensive, but IMO not nearly as fun as Santa Monica or probably Echo Park either.

(Also, if you don't know about padmapper.com (and they have mobile apps too), get on it. It has apartment listings overlaid on Google Maps.)
 
K

killertofu

Member
As much as I hate the commute, I really love driving the 134 at night...it's a really good view. Coming from a really small college town, seeing all those lights and the silhouette of the hills makes me feel like I'm part of something huge.
 
Z

zulfate

Member
sf2fanatic said:
Grew up on that stuff..

Are you talking about the Pioneer Chicken on the corner of Florence and Garfield in Bell Gardens? Always past by it while at work
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StopMakingSense said:
Nah, I am in Lincoln Heights, and go to the one on Soto and Whittier in Boyle Heights.
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Bwahahaha both of you guys are describing where i used to live at different times in my life. I still kinda live in bell gardens across the street from pioneer chicken, i visit my family in bell gardens once a week. Honestly i never ate there once lol
 
J

joeyjoejoeshabadoo

Member
Anybody familiar with A-Frame on Washington in Culver City? We're planning on going on a Saturday but since they don't take reservations I was just wondering how busy they actually get on Saturday nights.
 
I

Illithid Dude

Member
Wow, never knew this thread existed. This is very exciting.

L.A. is bar none my favorite city in the world. I know that's strange, but L.A. is truly the most unique city I have ever been to. For any other city, one can think of some comparison. New York, as great as it is, is actually, in structure, very similar to Philadelphia, or Seattle, or Toronto. Then there are the great sunbelt sprawl-cities of Houston, Dallas, Pheonix, and even Atlanta. There's the European capitals, the Asian mega-cities, the Latin America resort towns. And then there is L.A. I truly can't think of any city that is similar to L.A. No other city has L.A.s combination of sprawl and urban density, pedestrian activity and car-focused culture. L.A. manages to be both as urban as any east coast city and as auto-based as any sprawlopolis down south. And L.A. even has it's own unique architectural style! (California Modernism if anyone cares) Not many cities lay claim to that. I could go on and on about L.A., but I won't. Anyways, if anyone cares, I'm part of a forum called Skyscraper Page that has a substantial L.A. community. We mostly talk about new development, and urban issues. Catch us at the Downtown Rundown and L.A. Metro threads. http://forum.skyscraperpage.com

Anyways, to answer the guys question on Brentwood/Santa Monica ramen, I think I can answer that, as my neighborhood straddles the border of those two areas (I love just off San Vicente, mere blocks from the 26th St border on the Santa Monica side). Whenever I need my ramen fix, I just go to Sawtelle, where there are plenty of options. Tsujita LA is a personal favorite, though a couple new places have just opened up that I am sure are nearly as good. Also, Century City mall has a surprisingly incredible ramen place in the food court.

Anyways, can't wait to be a part of LA GAF!
 
T

TheKaeptain

Banned
Illithid Dude said:
Wow, never knew this thread existed. This is very exciting.

L.A. is bar none my favorite city in the world. I know that's strange, but L.A. is truly the most unique city I have ever been to. For any other city, one can think of some comparison. New York, as great as it is, is actually, in structure, very similar to Philadelphia, or Seattle, or Toronto. Then there are the great sunbelt sprawl-cities of Houston, Dallas, Pheonix, and even Atlanta. There's the European capitals, the Asian mega-cities, the Latin America resort towns. And then there is L.A. I truly can't think of any city that is similar to L.A. No other city has L.A.s combination of sprawl and urban density, pedestrian activity and car-focused culture. L.A. manages to be both as urban as any east coast city and as auto-based as any sprawlopolis down south. And L.A. even has it's own unique architectural style! (California Modernism if anyone cares) Not many cities lay claim to that. I could go on and on about L.A., but I won't. Anyways, if anyone cares, I'm part of a forum called Skyscraper Page that has a substantial L.A. community. We mostly talk about new development, and urban issues. Catch us at the Downtown Rundown and L.A. Metro threads. http://forum.skyscraperpage.com

Anyways, to answer the guys question on Brentwood/Santa Monica ramen, I think I can answer that, as my neighborhood straddles the border of those two areas (I love just off San Vicente, mere blocks from the 26th St border on the Santa Monica side). Whenever I need my ramen fix, I just go to Sawtelle, where there are plenty of options. Tsujita LA is a personal favorite, though a couple new places have just opened up that I am sure are nearly as good. Also, Century City mall has a surprisingly incredible ramen place in the food court.

Anyways, can't wait to be a part of LA GAF!
Click to expand...

I was there yesterday. Really surprised by it.
 
C

C.Dark.DN

Banned
Looks like I'm moving to LA with an aspiring actor. What location would you recommend living in for them to commute for auditions and stuff and what's the rent like for 3 bedrooms?
 
T

timetokill

Banned
DeathNote said:
Looks like I'm moving to LA with an aspiring actor. What location would you recommend living in and what's the rent like for 3 bedrooms?
Click to expand...

You're gonna need to give us some more info.
3 bedrooms can be very expensive depending on where you're looking, and they're not really that common.

What kind of budget are you guys looking at?
Will you have cars? If so, how many?
If not, do you need access to public transporation?
Where are you planning on working/etc, if any?
 
C

C.Dark.DN

Banned
timetokill said:
You're gonna need to give us some more info.
3 bedrooms can be very expensive depending on where you're looking, and they're not really that common.

What kind of budget are you guys looking at?
Will you have cars? If so, how many?
If not, do you need access to public transportation?
Where are you planning on working/etc, if any?
Click to expand...
I'm not sure about the budget yet, there will be three people splitting rent this fall. One is retiring early from computer science and can keep herself a float for a year at least while she peruses acting. I will save up money before I go and work wherever while I explore the city. The third guy currently works in theater and probably would want to land a job in that.

3 cars would be nice. I might just have a motorcycle tho.
 
T

timetokill

Banned
DeathNote said:
I'm not sure about the budget yet, there will be three people splitting rent this fall. One is retiring early from computer science and can keep herself a float for a year at least while she peruses acting. I will save up money before I go and work wherever while I explore the city. The third guy currently works in theater and probably would want to land a job in that.

3 cars would be nice. I might just have a motorcycle tho.
Click to expand...

My guess is that if your roommates are trying acting/theater then you will probably want to be around Hollywood. However as you get into densely populated areas such as that it may be hard to find a 3-bedroom. You might want to look into Culver City, or Venice, or perhaps even Silverlake to find something. Perhaps even as far as Burbank if you're all going to have transportation.

Main issue is that in more populated areas, having parking spaces along with your apartment is actually kind of rare. Often you will get 1 spot for a 2 bedroom, etc. And the rest will be street parking. Every place you look up will say "ample street parking!" but it is always, ALWAYS bullshit. There is never ample street parking. So storing the cars might be an issue.

When I was renting a 2BR in the mid-wilshire (Hollywood), the rent was frequently around $1800-$2200. 1BRs are around $1200-1800 depending on area/size/quality etc. For a 3BR I'd wager you're looking at $2500+ if I had to take a guess. When I lived there literally every other person you talked to was an "actor/actress" of some kind, but they were all working their day job at restaurants. It sounds cliche but it is extremely common.

There are cheaper areas, such as Koreatown and such, if you are willing to be in a kind of shitty neighborhood.

Maybe some other people will have some recs :)
 
beat

beat

Member
Gawk at the caviar vending machine while you're there! It's tucked away in the little alcove with the public telephones.

I dunno, aside from Bibigo, there's nothing at Century City's food court that really looks that tasty. Maybe I'm just jaded.
 
I

Illithid Dude

Member
DeathNote said:
I'm not sure about the budget yet, there will be three people splitting rent this fall. One is retiring early from computer science and can keep herself a float for a year at least while she peruses acting. I will save up money before I go and work wherever while I explore the city. The third guy currently works in theater and probably would want to land a job in that.

3 cars would be nice. I might just have a motorcycle tho.
Click to expand...

From walking around, it seems to me that all the aspiring actors live in either Koreatown (not nearly as shitty as some people might say) or the area around Wilshire/Fairfax. Good luck!
 
T

TheKaeptain

Banned
FStop7 said:
Century City mall foodcourt has a lot of good stuff.
Click to expand...
They do.

moop2000 said:
Come join us in North Hollywood. We have a funky sign.
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Yo what's your class schedule like? I have class MW this semester. Also, are you the guy in your avatar?



Guys I've been awake since 5 a.m. I had to drive to Fresno after class tonight. My kid is sick. I left at 7 pm and just got to my parents house. Fucking hate that drive.
 
N

NathanMcMahon

Banned
TheKaeptain said:
They do.



Yo what's your class schedule like? I have class MW this semester. Also, are you the guy in your avatar?



Guys I've been awake since 5 a.m. I had to drive to Fresno after class tonight. My kid is sick. I left at 7 pm and just got to my parents house. Fucking hate that drive.
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yeah, that's me. I'm just MW, but the commitment to the Sundial means I'm there everyday.
 
H

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
beat said:
Should I go to AX? I'm a geek, but only somewhat geeky for anime.
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If they do open time again absolutely. Parking is $10-$25 depending where you go and if it's open after 3:30PM I think it's free for the Main Hall (Check if they have it again).

No entry into other stuff.
 
beat

beat

Member
Well, I'd be willing to buy a one day ticket. Not sure I'd get anything out of the panels.

How long does it run on Saturday?
 
F

FStop7

Banned
beat said:
Gawk at the caviar vending machine while you're there! It's tucked away in the little alcove with the public telephones.

I dunno, aside from Bibigo, there's nothing at Century City's food court that really looks that tasty. Maybe I'm just jaded.
Click to expand...

Admittedly I haven't been there in a couple of years but I remember there being some kind of salad place and a Korean BBQ that were good. It's not fine dining but it's light years ahead of a typical food court.
 
A

Alchemy

Member
Question for active drivers, how much of a pain in the ass would it be to commute from Burbank to Santa Monica every day (driving)?
 
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