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Are you after a view? Or do you just like tall buildings?
I like my buildings like I like my women, tall, new, beautiful, and well amenitized.
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Wilshire Blvd. in Westwood is probably the closest thing to a Manhattan/Chicago vibe (stretch between Santa Monica Blvd. and Sepulveda). Also, few pricey exclusive high-rises on Avenue of the Stars in Century City.
Santa Monica
There are some stellar apartments on 9th and Fig corner across from the Original Pantry
Also, there are some really artsy lofts in the little tokyo and fashion districts with solid views
I avoid the west-side because I'm not a fan of the people that frequent those social circles these days. I'm much more of a Glendale hills man myself, I have a view of Westside, Catalina (when smog isn't bad) DT Glendale and DTLA
That's the best part of LA, you can pick whatever life you want - be a beach bum in Venice, sophisticated richie liberal in Santa Monica, be sceney in West Hollywood, yuppie in Brentwood, hipster in Silver Lake, live with the aspiring actresses and models in mid-wilshire, get some friends and take down a house in the hills and live like a successful actor, be all urban in DTLA, be a grimy creative in the arts distrcit. I can go on..
I'm a real estate broker in Southern California and this is an excellent description of the Los Angeles area. Consider getting your license for some extra cash itsanumbersgame
i also think it depends on where you work. most people i know try to live close to work, esp given how bad traffic is. for example, no one would live in silver lake when they work in santa monica
Mostly true, but with some people you'd be surprised. One place I left out was South Bay, I know a lot of people that live there that work all over LA. Some people even live in Santa Barbara and commute to Santa Monica, but overall I agree with you.
Recommendations for areas to live if my job is in Vernon? Are there lots of people that live in DTLA? Heard that there's a big homeless problem but not sure if it's any worse than what you see in other major cities..
Everyone forgets the South Bay, it's okay.
How is the IB/Finance community in LA? Just curious
Very tight knit, everyone knows everyone, but surprisingly large in number.
There is actually more finance in LA than people would think. Centerview and Moelis have a large presence there. There's a ton of buyside as well: Oaktree, Gores, Platinum Equity, DoubleLine, TCW. I'm sure I'm missing other names.
Unlike Seattle and SF, LA is not singularly dominated by a single industry. Although "entertainment" obviously has a large presence, there are lot of different types of jobs under that umbrella. Doing strategy for a major motion picture studio is not the same as being a struggling actor, for instance.
Sounds interesting. As EU/UK national, how difficult could be to land a job in LA?
Regardless of what you like in terms of scene if you spend a lot of time in the office that should be your major decision point. The Wilshire/Westwood corridor is as mentioned below the closest you'll get to NYC/Chicago but LA is really a lot of cities within a city. The traffic is no joke on weekdays and seems to have no rhyme to it. Sometimes you'll jet through the westside of the 10 and other times it's a parking lot. Same with Sepulveda pass and the 101. Other thing to consider when asking why no high rises is the vast majority of LA is zoned for low density/low-rise but this is changing.
So do a lot of analysts/associates live downtown? Are there any finance hangouts that everyone tends to congregate at?
90% of LA bankers are in Century City; exceptions include BAML (Westwood), Citi and Lincoln (Downtown), Guggenheim (SM). Most juniors live somewhere nearby, a lot in Westwood/Brentwood/Century City.
"Hangout" spots are mostly places in and around the Westfield mall. For outings people go to bars and restaurants in Culver, Brentwood, Santa Monica.
Agree with this. Most of the well-know PE firms are also on the westside (SM, Century City, Beverly Hills) except for Oaktree (DTLA).
I use to live in the Wilshire corridor - you pay pretty a steep premium there, primarily for location of being in "the corridor". Only issue is there isn't a ton to do in the immediate area. Moved to Santa Monica after a year there - not much better $ wise on rent but at least you're in the immediate vicinity of plenty of things to do.
Also, thoughts on living in Orange County?
Where in Santa Monica do people live?
If you work anywhere in LA, living in OC will be out of the question unless you're okay with routinely commuting 1.5 to 2 hrs each direction.
People live all over Santa Monica, it just depends what you're looking for. You will probably spend your time spread all over Santa Monica regardless of which part you live in. Most of the nightlife and restaurants are downtown, on main street (south of the 10 near the water), or in Venice. It generally gets nicer the more north or west you get. The eastern part of Santa Monica or in Brentwood will give you the best access to the rest of LA.
The most northwest part of Santa Monica is probably the nicest and on the quieter side with some restaurants on Montana.
Downtown SM will feel the most like you're in a real city with walkable shopping, restaurants and bars and also has most of the new apartment buildings but can get touristy during the day and traffic can be rough at times. It is also semi-walkable to main street (far but doable walk, quick uber).
Main Street area is closest to the nicest beaches and also boarders Venice. Also has a lot of the nightlife. This area generally is pretty expensive though with mostly outdated apartments.
Living in the north east part of Santa Monica/in Brentwood gives you the best access to the rest of LA (like Westwood or West Hollywood) but is not walking distance to the beach or major nightlife. There are a few bars on Wilshire or Santa Monica Blvd in the area that are good for weeknight drinks and you will be a 5-15 min uber to most of the west side hot spots on the weekends.
I'm in Venice. Life is relaxed, women are beautiful, and everything is perfect. I miss New York's architecture and her public transportation (unless im going from manhattan to queens).
Sigh. I would love to move out to LA at some point. Getting up at like 5:30am to work market hours would suck though
You'd have to get up around 3:30 AM to be mentally prepared for the 5:30 AM work hours.
I can't imagine having to work at PIMCO's Newport Beach office. I'm not a morning guy at all, so that would be a nightmare.
yea that is not for me fam
Santa Monica. I've found that I really prefer the people/vibe on the west side (Santa Monica, Brentwood, Venice, Westwood) versus West Hollywood/Hollywood/Beverly Hills or downtown. Plus a lot of the finance jobs are in Century City or Santa Monica which makes the commute relatively easy for LA which makes living here so much better. Even if you work downtown, it only takes 20ish minutes to get to Santa Monica if you work past 7pm which I'm assuming is most people here. There are a lot more "normal" people (younger people that went to a good college and have good jobs and know how to have fun). The West Hollywood crowd tends to be more of the stereotypical, pretentious LA vibe. Downtown is getting cooler but still doesn't feel like a great place to live. I hope one day I can land a job in the south bay and live in Manhattan Beach, but at this point I wouldn't deal with that commute to live there over the west side.
The only place you will find an area with high rises that actually has walkable amenities is downtown. Not the best place to live yet, but they are tripling the amount of apartment/condo units downtown in the next few years. There are also lots of nice restaurants/bars popping up. Could be a great place to be in 3-5 years, but right now I don't think it has the same vibe in terms of people/nightlife as the west side or WeHo does. The Wilshire corridor has lots of nice high rises but there isn't exactly a lot to do within walking distance to them. Living there would provide great access via uber to either Santa Monica or WeHo if you like splitting time between them on weekends. Downtown Santa Monica sort of has that city vibe but it can get pretty touristy during the day with heavy traffic.
Thanks for this summary. I'm very partial to high rise buildings because I like the convenience and the amenities they offer. So would this basically limit me to downtown? What is the Wilshire corridor?
From my understanding, the morning traffic is horrendous if you live in westside and work in downtown. Century City is a lot closer, so it probably won't be as bad.
You can find plenty of new apartment buildings with amenities on the west side. They just won't be all clustered together like a typical city. For example, check out the AO in Santa Monica http://www.aosantamonica.com/
Said this below, but I would say people with finance/real estate/consulting jobs downtown will primarily live on the west side. Depending on your hours, the commute can be pretty easy. Leaving at the worst time should take 45-60 minutes except for the occasional nights when there is an accident. That can get down to 15-20 min depending where on the westside you leave and when you are on the road. Traffic is easy until 630/7ish in the AM and gets easy again after 7pm.
If you really wanted to, there is also the Expo line that runs from Santa Monica to Downtown. Takes probably an hour each way. If you work past 630pm though, I'd just opt for the car and save yourself the headache.
It's actually not a bad commute from Santa Monica / Venice to downtown. It's a reverse commute - there is a big influx of office workers into Santa Monica every morning since there is a lot of office space and housing is expensive. Commuting from the west side to downtown isn't ideal, but it's a heck of a lot better than commuting into the west side. I did Venice to downtown for four years.
The Wilshire corridor is essentially a ~1 mile stretch on Wilshire that starts in downtown Westwood (around UCLA and immediately off the Wilshire eastbound exit on the 405) and ends just west of the LA Country Club (at the start of Beverly Hills). Location wise it's great if you're working in Beverly Hills or Century City. I lived in a high rise there for a year. Pricing is pretty steep for one bedroom units. Also, the more affordable options there tend to be in older buildings that have not been renovated as much. There also isn't a ton to do in the immediate area (walking) since it's essentially a mile stretch of high rise apartments/condos. I'll be frank -- there are better neighborhoods to spend your money on rent if you're young.
Commute from the westside to downtown is rough. Depending on where you're located in the westside, you'd likely be taking a mix of the 10 freeway and surface streets to get there. If you're asking about the opposite (living in DTLA and commuting west), I can't say I know anyone who actually does that. My friends and acquaintances that live in DTLA only do so because they work there.
Live on whatever side of the 405 Highway that you're working on. That's the best advice to give.
Commuting from westside to downtown in the morning is a reverse commute. In the morning it will take 45ish minutes if you are starting work anywhere between 8am and 9am. Or get a membership at a gym downtown and workout in the AM. If you leave before 630am you can get there in 20ish minutes. There are tons of people that work downtown and live in Santa Monica. It will take you 45 min to an hour to get home at night if you leave before 6pm. Around 630pm traffic starts dying down pretty quickly and by 7:15pm you should be able to get home in 20-25ish minutes. After 8pm it's a breeze and actually pretty enjoyable ride home.
The reverse direction (downtown to westside in the morning, westside to downtown at night) is one of the worst commutes in LA.
Very helpful info.
Now, the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT question: best place to live in and hang out to meet hot girls? I assume prestige does not matter too much with LA women? (opposite of NYC).
Due to how spread out LA is, you really have to like where you live as you are going to be spending most of your free time there and going out there. Nothing kills the vibe of a good pre-game like a 30-45 minute uber ride. Having friends outside of your neighborhood helps as it gives you a home base for going out in other areas. I'm partial to the west side/south bay as I like to be walking distance to the beach, and I tend to like the people better in those areas. You can for sure find high rises/doorman buildings in Santa Monica but you are going to pay for it, I saw a building showing 1br @ 7K a month. I'm not willing to pay that, but I am sure they will get it from somebody.
Working market hours in LA will take years off your life, you are just not meant to get up at 4:00, does not matter how long you have been doing it or what time you go to bed you still feel weird every morning. The community of people on market hours is pretty tight as your schedule kinda forces you to hang out with each other. Who else is going to be able to go surfing or play volleyball @ 4pm on a weekday.
Those hours are certainly true for asset management but banking is normal hours.
Moved to LA last October. Work was crazy busy so I haven't had as much time to go out, but it's definitely a totally different vibe from NYC or Chicago. I miss the big city, but the weather and lifestyle here are hard to beat. One of my biggest issues with LA is the lack of top notch jobs, at least not on par with NYC and SF.
When LA got built decades ago, it grew out (lots of space), the lack of skyscrapers was due to Earthquakes. By the time technology made it easy to build skyscrapers in earthquake zones (think Tokyo), LA was already built. It's sloooowly changing, but LA loves their car culture. Plus, no one is selling their land to allow for high speed metro lines. Density is shunned on the west coast, everyone preaches green technology and sustainability, yet no one is willing to adopt a high density lifestyle (pretty soon LA will spread out to Palm Springs lol). Elon Musk wanted to build an underground system to transport cars, not an underground metro system in LA. You know why? Because billionaires don't want to share the metro with common people (unlike NYC where the subway acts as a great equalizer).
So no Bladerunner anytime soon
Here is the best house in Los Angeles:![gta](a href="https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/gtawiki/images/f/f1/DeSantaResidence-GTAV.png/revision/latest?cb=20170308091811">https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/gtawiki/images/f/f1/DeSantaResidenc…</a)
LA drivers.
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