I do iOS dev work, so I considered SF, but maybe 20 years ago...
So true. I live in a pretty ordinary SFR (that's what I wanted), but it's a trip to go to friends' houses and see what other people have been able to do.
Horse properties where you stable your horse in your back yard and go riding into the mountains that rim the city. Totally unique view houses clinging to hillsides in Hollywood. Converted warehouses with 10K SF in Frogtown by the LA River (perfect for a sculptor or a tinkerer). Properties on National Forest Service land in the forested valleys in the San Gabriels. Freaky old cabins built in the 1920s right on the edge of Elysian Park or the Arroyo Seco.
It's not the luxury or the money (I did not mention any beach houses). It's the uniqueness. If you have your nose to the ground and care about such things, you can still score one of these places on a middle-class income.
live: http://calheights.org
Long Beach is both a great city to live in and, increasingly, a great place to work - not only if you work remotely, but if you want to work local. We have a great and growing tech scene, increasingly awesome food and drink, and a long history of arts, music and community.
PS, hi Dan! Great to run into you again (and again).
the most common complaint about LA is that it is semi-urban and there's too many houses instead of highrises.
It's a rumor we spread to keep people from moving here. :-)
In LA, if you're going to live on side of the city & work on the other, you definitely need a car.
However, if you live near were you work, you definitely can get away without one. I've lived in Santa Monica, West Hollywood, & Pasadena (each for different jobs). I still had a car, but I tend to use it 1-2 a month, to do things like pick up friends from the airport, roadtrips to Vegas & what not.
It's definitely possible.
* The bus system and rail is better than many people seem to be aware -- if you live/work near a good line you can commute as quickly as an auto commuter (and sometimes quicker). Once you have to make multiple transfers or otherwise bridge a gap, speed of transportation goes down fast.
* Bicycling is possible, but the quality of bike accommodations varies widely and so does the consideration afforded cyclists.
* Real estate costs here are lower than San Francisco and New York but still far from sane for the median wage... even modest homes are often much more expensive to rent (let alone buy) than you'd think.
...and significant markup in housing costs, no?