[CaP7]

Still waiting for alternatives in the U.S.

[Tex Pro]

No offense, Truth, but those aren't really nice apartments.

CaP7 was talking about a dude making $100K living in a $1,500/month pad. If I was in LA making six figs, a nice 1BR would be closer to what I quoted.

[Tuthmosis]

(08-22-2014 12:31 AM)The Texas Prophet Wrote:  

No offense, Truth, but those aren't really nice apartments.

[Tex Pro]

[CaP7]

An extra $300/mo is only $3,600/yr. And studio city has tons of hot chicks living there while being a$15 uber ride to Hollywood.

The example isn't that far off.

Excluding the nicer starter house, where else can you go in the US with better opportunities to maximize disposable income while still preserving lifestyle?

[Easy E]

Leave the USA. Much greener pastures elsewhere. 1,500 USD per mo. in most of the EE or SA will get you luxury accommodations.

[Brosemite]

(08-22-2014 01:01 AM)Easy E Wrote:  

Leave the USA. Much greener pastures elsewhere. 1,500 USD per mo. in most of the EE or SA will get you luxury accommodations.

Great pt...but I think he was referring to people that are not location independent and relying on the US grind....much like myself.

[Veloce]

First off it's kind of dumb to be talking about California as if it's all the same. I've gone on probably 30-40 road trips throughout the state and it blows my mind all the different places you can see.

I'm born and raised here, lived here my entire life, and don't see myself moving to any other state. If I uproot, it'll be to move to another country. If you're location independent, California would be a stupid place to be.

Everything Cap7 has said is pretty much spot on.

Been in L.A. for 14 years or so. Life has only gotten better, but mostly due to internal things. I'd say I've got a pretty sweet pad in mid city for $1540. Custom tile, stainless appliances, washer/dryer in unit, full kitchen, parking spot, great water pressure. Try finding this NY or SF, it'd be a joke.

Life in L.A. has always been a love/hate relationship. I'm currently in the upward spiral. Been hitting the gym, just got a new job that has insane potential, still stacking cash, overall life is good.

There are plenty of things to hate about this place. Also plenty of things to love. It's all up to you if you can learn to ignore the shitty things and fill your life with the cool things.

You better be good at what you do and know how to hustle. 100% agree this is not the place to come to be average. But you know what, even if you are you'll be okay. Most of the people I meet here are fucking average. Just goofy ass waiters with a dream of making it big, but those goofy ass waiters can make $200-$300 cash for a 6 hour shift at a decent restaurant. Enough to share an apartment with another goofy waiter and enjoy the weather and fucking your female coworkers.

Yeah the high speed train thing sucks, but maybe not. In 15 years I might be getting hammered in the club car going 220 MPH with a '99 Cristal and hauling ass to SF to party with some bed-wetting liberals. Who cares? Drought might get worse, might be completely alleviated in one rainy year, and noone knows for sure. In the 33 years I've lived here I've seen droughts that last for years and then one good rainy year fills up Lake Cachuma and Castaic and everything is cherry for another decade.

The women suck but it's the U.S. It's understood that dating in L.A. is a shitshow and expectations seem to be pretty low.

Downtown continues to blow up and it seems like every weekend I'm down there, talent continues to improve and ratios do too, although it seems like most chicks are out on dates. Still, compared to what downtown was like 10 or even 5 years ago.

If you want to buy a house you can get a 3 bedroom house with a backyard and 2 car garage for $500K in Eagle Rock. It's a bit of a hike but it's certainly doable, and something I'm considering. Otherwise $500K gets you a 2BR condo on the westside with secure parking and a pool. Not bad either for a major city.

I've got a close friend that just moved to Boston (from L.A.) for a job and he's fucking miserable. He texted me photos of his apartment that he pays $850 for a bedroom in a unit he shares with 3 other people. It's a complete shithole. In L.A. he was paying $500/month for the entire basement of a house in Los Feliz. With a little elbow grease, new paint, fixed plumbing, and a little decorating he converted himself a nice private bedroom that he used to bang slutty hipsters on the reg, and had full house privileges including a sick back patio with a fire pit, bbq, full backyard, a wet bar, the works. He's dying to come back.

This place is so huge, that there are still crazy opportunities for unique work/living situations, you just have to be creative, persistent, and patient. The first year or two living here sucks, and many people don't make it that long. I just got out of a 2 1/2 year rut at a previous job that left me feeling pretty shitty about this place, and then one day I got a phone call for a popping hotel group that could potentially bring me a tidy amount of fame and fortune. Life is good.

One last anecdote. I was a line cook at a very upscale Italian restaurant in Brentwood, and there was a server there I worked with. He must have been in his early 40s. He was an aspiring actor of course. He'd been struggling for 20+ years trying to make it in L.A. He was the usual jaded actor/server that are a dime a dozen here.

Well, one day he got a call back and landed himself a recurring role on Mad Men. Just like that. The guy gets middling gigs for 20+ years, struggling to make a name for himself and waiting tables the whole time, and then one day he gets the golden phone call and now his career has taken off.

Persistence, and patience. They're crucial here if you want to make it.

[Easy E]

(08-22-2014 01:22 AM)thedude3737 Wrote:  

Well, one day he got a call back and landed himself a recurring role on Mad Men. Just like that. The guy gets middling gigs for 20+ years, struggling to make a name for himself and waiting tables the whole time, and then one day he gets the golden phone call and now his career has taken off.

Persistence, and patience. They're crucial here if you want to make it.

Jon Hamm?

[Veloce]

ha no. Not a principal role. I think he got 7-8 episodes

[Travesty]

Can anyone give a quick pros cons of San Diego vs. LA for 30+ guys?

Demographics, quality, ratios, logisitics, coin needed etc. Haven't lived in either, visited both many times. Not sure.

The LA bad talk on the chicks here is big, seems like there are still so many opportunities between online game etc...

Slubu's posts scared me straight though.

Sometimes I think SD/Gas Lamp could beat out LA if you don't have bigger coin and connections.

[la_mode]

Never been to San Diego, but here's a quick breakdown of LA.

- Online game is normal, still seen as odd (besides Tinder) in most places
- There's a plethora of 8/9s online
- Guys that would be beta pansies in skinny jeans often outdo the traditional alpha
- You can't always tell who is gay vs straight, the lines are sort of blurred since it's one of the few places straight guys can be truly stylish
- If you're working at a restaurant/bar past age 30...no big deal
- Time sort of flies, there's always "tomorrow"
- Weather is a bit overrated, as in winter it can get sort of cold at night
- The revolving door of people from other states/countries make it easy to meet people without having an established group

SD from what I've heard is more of a "beach culture" (what most expect in California), but you can find that in Hermosa/Redondo/Manhattan without having to go far from LA

[Travesty]

(08-22-2014 02:29 AM)la_mode Wrote:  

Never been to San Diego, but here's a quick breakdown of LA.

I was referring more to straight gaming opportunities.

As a 30+ guy earning ~$100k a year. Which would provide a better shot at banging the most 7+ 18-35yo women if you lived in the best affordable place with logistics in each?

Is there a place in L.A. you can live at that rivals the logistics and opportunities of Gas Lamp or PB? Day game included.

Santa Monica is mentioned often on this board and I have read of a lot of mediocre nights out with a lot of attitude filled 6s and trips to Bungalow with zero results. If you have hook ups and coin for Hollywood clubs things can be good. I won't have that.

I've been out to Hermosa. Santa Barbara nightlife seems multitudes better. Hermosa reminded me of OC beach nightlife. Nothing to write home about.

Gas Lamp seems to win in this case from a pure game and logistics perspective.

[Handsome Creepy Eel]

(08-22-2014 01:22 AM)thedude3737 Wrote:  

One last anecdote. I was a line cook at a very upscale Italian restaurant in Brentwood, and there was a server there I worked with. He must have been in his early 40s. He was an aspiring actor of course. He'd been struggling for 20+ years trying to make it in L.A. He was the usual jaded actor/server that are a dime a dozen here.

Well, one day he got a call back and landed himself a recurring role on Mad Men. Just like that. The guy gets middling gigs for 20+ years, struggling to make a name for himself and waiting tables the whole time, and then one day he gets the golden phone call and now his career has taken off.

Persistence, and patience. They're crucial here if you want to make it.

You know Salvatore Romano?

[Akula]

(08-21-2014 05:01 PM)Travesty444 Wrote:  

Lived in Chicago as well and visited recently.

Great down to earth people. Good logistics. Tons of down to earth white 20s mid 6s to mid 7. Good cost of living. Lots of short sweet blondes which I love.

I think before 40 I'd rather be in Chicago than NYC for costs. After 40 if I am in the game still I hope to God I am abroad or location independent!

I'll be visiting a friend in Austin within the next year, I will try to get out to Dallas on that trip. To see what's what.

I love Chicago and it's a great place to raise a family but I question whether most Californians from SB or LA could stomach the winters there after living in such a warm climate for so long. Chicago winters are worse than NYC for sure and just drag on and on - into May many times. Wondering how many winters you spent there and what you thought. Have close friends and family that complain about it all the time. But awesome city absent the weather.

Other than the weather Chicago would be one of the better places to live in the US.

(08-21-2014 05:14 PM)Jack198 Wrote:  

"Having offices in" results in a few people doing really well while the great unwashed hurl rotten tomatoes at their company sponsored busses. Not necessarily a good indication of a vibrant economic future beyond a few gated communities. Many companies are seeking to go elsewhere for taxation and quality of life concerns. One need not stay in Silicon Valley to be high tech nowadays.

Interesting comment and increasingly true I think. This was pointed out in Ireland during the early 2000 "Celtic Tiger" book and I think once that bubble popped they realized how few people had benefitted from their tech boom. I think California tech is a different animal though, and there are way more real jobs & startups there, but it would not suprise me at all to see more and more get outsourced to other parts of the US, India, the Philippines etc. It's going to happen more and more. In finance you already see a lot of the clerical/IT/administrative jobs in the banks in London and NYC get oursourced to India or wherever and that trend will only continue I think.

[la_mode]

Chicago & Dallas are culturally more similar to each other (even with the strong Southern influence in Dallas) than either are to LA.

All 3 have international airports and good shopping, but that's where the similarities end.

[Feisbook Control]

Victor Davis Hanson's writings on California are pretty interesting. It sounds like inland California is pretty dystopian, a world away from the coast or the north.

[Jaydublin]

(08-22-2014 02:29 AM)la_mode Wrote:  

Never been to San Diego, but here's a quick breakdown of LA.


- Guys that would be beta pansies in skinny jeans often outdo the traditional alpha

Is this true? I see this all over the forum but it is hard to believe. I can understand them getting girlfriends but to they pull different girls by the week?

[Jack198]

(08-21-2014 05:59 PM)Uzisuicide Wrote:  

California should split up into 3 different states. There are groups trying to do just that. Good luck I know it's a long shot.

All that would do is create four new left-leaning senators to ensure an even greater flow of federal money to the left coast than already heads that way.

Grant them their independence from the US and don't look back.

[blacknwhitespade]

(08-21-2014 04:36 PM)Travesty444 Wrote:  

I am already planning my evac plan to NYC, Chicago, Vegas, Dallas, or maybe if I really get my act together abroad once I age out of Santa Barbara in the next 3 or 4 years.

I thought about San Diego, my gut tells me to go elsewhere. After living in SB I could never go somewhere like the Bay Area. The pussy decline on top of my aging would bury me lol.

LA is just like an upgraded OC imo. Still spread out, expensive, traffic, and has less cliques in some ways and more in others.

I think L.A. would be great at 40+ if you have some coin an do online dating, yoga game, daygame with 30+ chicks. I'd bet the 30+ talent in SoCal is better than NY. Has to be the best in the country other than maybe Miami Latinas. Less city stress all year weather to be active outdoors. Pre 30 for chicks access in NY seems much easier.

Yeah, take a hard look at some other options while considering Los Angeles. Unless you've got some serious $$$, know some big deal people, you'll find L.A. to be somewhat overrated for a 20s/30s middle-class, young adult male. I'm not saying there's not possibilities there or that you wouldn't have a good life there. Just beware of L.A.'s inherent problems. The nightlife is plastic, totally parsed. It takes forever to drive anywhere. The 20-something females are overrated imho, at least 2/3 of the under 30 female population of Los Angeles are short, fat chicana hood rats and trashy failed-actresses from Iowa, or somewhere. Get further out into the valleys or OC and it's the standard all-american so cal girl: hoodies, yoga pants, flip-flops, likes to play volleyball... Go to Miami if you want hot hispanics. Go to Chicago or New York if you want a CITY MOTHERFUCKERS with real nightlife, day game and night game opportunities and a solid, diverse variety of hot women running all over the place.

So Cal def has the hottest, dirty 30s and 40s MILFs looking for fun, though. Your choices are mall game, yoga game, dance classes, the internet and house parties (*if* you can break in with the right people). I love the liberated 30-something So Cal Asian babes, talked to one briefly in the TSA check line last time I was at LAX. Was about to escalate/close when the line suddenly sped up and she went through a different scanner and could not find her on the other side. The one time I actually want the TSA security guards to keep the line moving slow and the shit heads speed it up.

[Basil Ransom]

Among my biggest beefs with LA women is just how passive and indifferent they are. Making any effort in the realm of sex and romance is just too much to ask of them. A lot of these girls have jobs with long hours, and you can tell they get off on it - the strenuous job gives them a sense of cosmic significance, that you are a unique snowflake and the world would stop turning without you. In the same way, stacking their schedule to the brim has the same effect - it keeps the spiritual emptiness at bay. These girls love to bray about how they have no time to date seriously or read but are always going out for brunches and doing netflix marathons.

Maybe this goes for everywhere, but your best bets for gaming here always lie with girls who are on the social fringes, or are 6-7s.

I may spend a few months in a state nearby later this year, will have to report back with my findings.

"I'm not saying that the lifestyle here in CA is free. We give up a lot of traditional "comforts" in exchange for the weather, outdoor sports year round, girls, and entertainment. "

This is more an intellectual matter, but this is classic California 'thinking' - that this place more or less has to suck in some ways because it's awesome in others. In reality, the reasons why it sucks are because of choices California's electorate has made, and the reasons why it's awesome have almost nothing to do with that. I.e. the politics of California makes things almost uniformly worse, and rarely better (better public transit options are an exception, but still small).

[DVY]

@Tuth Lmao, thats right next to my work

[OGNorCal707]

I been hanging out in them golden green Northern California hills... All I know is I'll take California... the cities, the beaches, the mountains and the forests, over any flat ugly "fly over state" any day. Moan and bitch about leaving the U.S. all day, but 90% of you probably won't even move out of the city or town you living in. High taxes, high cost of living, etc., it all comes with the territory. California is a big ass state though, you can find all kind of different scenes if you put in the time and work and meet the right people, it's not just SoCal and the Bay Area. I'm renting 30 acres with a cabin for $2000 a month, not some place I'd want to live year round, or forever, but it sure is a nice little "summer get away."

[RexImperator]

(08-22-2014 04:34 AM)Feisbook Control Wrote:  

Victor Davis Hanson's writings on California are pretty interesting. It sounds like inland California is pretty dystopian, a world away from the coast or the north.

You can get real cheap deals on property next to the Salton Sea!

[blacknwhitespade]

PROs of California:
-multicultural, statistically excellent variety of exotic females to choose from
-women stay in shape in better part, lots of hot older women
-beautiful natural scenery
-convenient weather, year-round outdoor lifestyle
-day trip/weekend locations: Carmel, SB, PCH, Joshua Tree, Wine Country, Mojave...
-Close to Hawaii
-Pacific Ocean, good beaches in OC and SD
-Good flow in/flow out of new people to meet
-Lots of job opportunities for creative types (engineers/scientists, artists, entertainers, writers, etc)
-San Diego harbor, Navy yard and air museum
-San Francisco is a bangin city
-Old Town Pasadena is a bangin city and what downtown Los Angeles should have been.

CONs of California:
-horrible politics: overregulation, taxes, feminism, nanny statism reaching level 10
-high cost of living, ridiculous property values
-poor customer service (at least around LA)
-suburban sprawl
-freeway traffic
-lots of pretentious people, nouveau richies and wannabe richies
-angry leftists
-the wannabe "industry" people in hollywood/west LA are the worst people on the planet.
-Scientology
-hippies, and other freaky people into weird religions/hippy shit.
-Most So Cal suburbs are as bland as any other generic suburb in America.
-Lack of seasons/precipitation in So Cal gets pretty monotonous after a while