Westside Story: $1.9 million in Mar Vista?

Blogger's note: LA Land diarist "Westside Story" is back -- still searching for a 4-bedroom home in an area with decent public schools, and within reasonable commuting distance of two jobs:

This from an agent trying to sell me a $1.9m top of hill in Mar Vista...

"From where I stand the Real Estate market is humming along and although the pace may have slowed there are plenty of willing buyers and willing sellers. Many people in the Los Angeles area are buying upwardly and using the equity in their existing homes as their deposit or have saved over the years. I think this speaks to what most people hope and strive for and that is their own home. Because to most people a home is a commodity like no other and is more than just an investment it is an investment in the future as well as a place where people build and make their lives and memories.

"Also, in relation to the house on Inglewood and what a good opportunity this could be, a developer built the beautiful Craftsman in the 3700 block of Inglewood earlier this year. It sold within two weeks for just about $2 million. Can you see the potential and possible opportunity?"

Am I really missing something? From where I sit, the reason that we are even considering purchasing a new home is the breathtaking tuition bill for three children in private schools. The LAUSD elementary serving Mar Vista is better than the 98% English Learners/ 90% transiency of the school currently associated with our home, but not at the cost of a $7,000 monthly mortgage payment.

We've been to this house. Love the neighborhood and its proximity to good Japanese groceries, a bowling alley and to our respective jobs. I have serious misgivings about the lack of a park within walking distance combined with the postage stamp of a backyard (no room for the enormous swingset) and living on a street used as a shortcut to Santa Monica.  If the house were one street over and about $989,000 less, it would recieve consideration.

There's actually a house 2 streets over on Grand View of the faux Tuscan-villa type that would be more suitable, but the play area would be in the front yard because the developer put the house all the way to the back lot line.

Thanks, Westside Story.
Read Westside Story's blog here.
Comments? Insights? Email story tips to lalandblog@yahoo.com.

Comments

[Hula Girl]

Jeezus, if you're looking in that price range, why not move to the area with the desirable schools and rent until the market comes down. You could send your kids (and the neighbor's kids) to Stanford on what you'll spend on your house payment - not to mention property taxes and insurance. At the end of the day you'll want to hang with them - not work a second job to make the mortgage.
Have your kids do the math on this one - they'll tell you it doesn't add up.

[brettdl]

You would spend nearly $2 mllion on a house with that many negatives? Hula Girl has it right: rent a house and invest your equity.

[Inland Empire]

Can you see the potential and possible opportunity?"

For the seller, the mortgage company and the real estate agent, certainly.

[Steve]

In CO you could have what you described with a huge backyard, not on a busy street, your kids are safe, your kids can even play in the backyard and public schools that far exceed any private schools for a $1000/mo, free. All I can say is you people must have great jobs. Please keep up the great blog.

[Michael Snyder]

That Realtor should go into politics! Or better yet, a spin like that will produce one heck of a curve ball & the Dodgers need all the help they can get. My advice to any qualified buyer in this market is to take your time. The range you're shopping in is still experiencing modest growth but nothing to pressure a buyer into making a hasty decision. I'd play my cards close to my vest, even at the cost of moving twice (once into a short term rental) in order to get a home that is a "fit" for my family.

[phyllis greenberg]

Just to let you know that I lived here before the 405..My parents bought a house before streetlights......On Corinth near Mar Vista Park....It was purchased for 15,000.....It was the best of times............Now? Its all a clutter......Houses that are too big for the lots so to speak.......It is unfortunate that people here dont really get it...Most of LA history is now gone......You may buy something for a high price however...Who is maintaining any kind of integrity with the remodels? For me? Tacky indeed.....Well...They say thats progress....I say.....You should have been here in the 50's...It was indeed the very best of the best....Sorry...You guys are clueless....

[Mr Income Stream]

1.9 million in Mar Vista...???

Bwwwwaaaahhhhaaaaa, there's a sucker born every minute for sure...

[Rob]

Nice story, here is a better one;

Picture yourself in a boat on a river,
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly,
A girl with kaleidoscope eyes.

Cellophane flowers of yellow and green,
Towering over your head.
Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes,
And she's gone....

[sandiegan]

May I suggest...The Burbs.

"Urban" areas have jobs, excitement, entertainment, exotic food, etc.

Urban areas also have...poor people.

Despite any baloney you hear from the Left or Right, there is one, and only one, metric that counts in K12 school achievement scores:
What percentage of the students' families live below the local poverty line.

Few, if any, student families living below local poverty line= Good School!

More than a few or most student families living below local poverty line= Bad School!

That's it.
No other metric is required to tell the "good" schools from the "bad" schools.

And that IS the reason people move to the Burbs: there are few, if any, poor people there. Therefore, all schools are "good".

You will not find schools in SoCal urban areas that have few students whose families live below the poverty line, except in very expensive neighborhoods.

The fact of the growing gap between the rich and poor.
The Burbs are places where you can still get away from facing that fact.
In the city, you have to confront that fact head on...unless you get a really big mortgage to buy a little bit of Suburbia in the City.

[xtine]

I don't understand your point.
Go two blocks down and put up a fence or a bush or something around your huge swing set.
I'm having a "Why do I care?" problem with Westside Story.

[investorguy]

Steve: you do realize, I hope... hard as it is to believe... that not everyone wants to live in CO? 8-)

[scwolf]

Yes, why not rent? At current market dynamics, values will be depreciating over the next 2 years, and at best stabilizing in 18 months - you won't be realizing any equity appreciation, and all of your payments will be interest only mostly anyway. A $4000/month rental will definitely get you into a great neighborhood while you wait out the insanity. In the meantime, you save on borrowing costs and lost equity.

Why so impatient to buy when there are many great homes for lease at great prices? If there was a time to rent instead of buying, this is it.

[xtine]

Thanks Steve, I'm moving to Colorado tomorrow where I can be a cashier at Wal-Mart.

[watching things]

inversterguy & xtine,

Lighten up on Steve from CO please. Your comments are not helpfull in the discussion. Not to mention maybe...just maybe...he's got a point. Sometimes it appears to people in other areas that sometimes we Californians are chasing our tails when it comes to residential real estate. Next time, bring something to the table.

[investorguy]

Watching: did you not see the smiley face?

I tire of the "why do you live in LA? I live in the boonies and only pay X for a house!" crowd. This is a blog about LA real estate. We all know there are cheaper places to live.

Now what did you bring to the table?

[are they crazy]

If being a cashier at walmart gets me the great house in CO sounds good to me. Where is quality of life in LA anymore? Work yourself to death for a little house/condo and put up with the traffic and noise. People in LA act like there are no jobs worth having anywhere else, along with entertainment, cultural events and shopping. Like no place else has any of that! And that doesn't even consider how many people have stopped doing any of that because it's such a pain to get anywhere. LA is only afforadable for 2% of the population. There are places that pay less for the same job than LA; however, the percentage you lose in pay is more than compensated for by the lower cost of housing. As an added bonus, the quality of life is much better.

[xtine]

I am sorry Watching. I cannot abide being told where to live and what job to have. I cannot accept the smug self-righteousness of out of towners who bought cheap and tell me "You guys must have great jobs." Yes I do have a great job, and I'm not going to trade it for an SUV, a huge backyard and a 4000 sf house, no matter what it costs. My LIFE has to be transportable, not just my mortgage.
(Which is not to say I won't move to CO one day, when/if I can, and when I do, I won't be smug about it)

[jaded]

hey, I can beat 1.9 million for Mar Vista....how about a new tract house in Yorba Linda with no yard for $2.3 million? It was literally a million dollars more what I first thought it would be.

[Inland Empire]

Actually, if you want to see some bad million dollar plus homes, head out to Yucaipa. There you can find tract homes at a million plus that have mismatched fixtures in the bathroom (as in antique/blackened old looking fixtures matched up with chrome??).

[CD]

I also have serious problems with this Mar Vista story, do you think we really care about your oversized swing set and your shopping for a 1.9 million house in this market?
Get a grip !!! Get lost....

[MyLessThanPrimeBeef]

The only way the seller is going to get what he's asking now is if the guy raises his asking price to $3.8 million...I think investorguy might just take it at $1.9 million with his usual 50% off trigger.

[investorguy]

MyLess: thanks for the laugh. Cut it to 950K, and I'll give you 50%

[Steve]

I appreciate the attention and I spent the fiirst 45 years of my life not far from MarVista and escaped to paradise. It is now an over priced hell hole, if you love your kids get out of LA there are so many better places to live a quality life without being owned by a mortgage. By the way, in CO I work for a Fortune 500 company, make over six figures with a 4800 sq ft mini mansion on a golf course payed for, almost Wal-mart. Do a salary comparison to 80525 zip code to LA on Yahoo and you can see in one week you can change your life.

[CT]

Not to gloat, but I moved from LA to Madison, Wisconsin 18 years ago. We bought our current house in 2002. It's about 30 years old, designed by a student of Frank Lloyd Wright, and sits on a 19,000 square foot lot. We have mature pines, maples, a red oak, some yellow birches, and a few shagbark hickery trees. We have good schools, nice neighbors, and plenty of parks. It cost us $230,000. That's why I moved from LA.

[Westside Story- Just call me Maria]

Cut the faux Tuscan to $950,000 and I will consider placing the swingset of doom in the front yard and putting a fence around it. Alas, the developer of the Tuscan villa wants $1,850,000 for it.

[Inland Empire]

mini mansion on a golf course payed for
hickery trees

we kin spel gud heer in LA

[Martin]

There's an interesting pattern on this blog that I can't help but notice. Anytime a person who is looking for a home dares to represent their personal preferences, they are blasted.

If a person wants a backyard that is large enough for a swing set, who are we to argue?

It is not reasonable for any of us to judge whether or not Kate in the Valley wants nicer cabinets ... another person wants a pool ... some one else wants a three car garage ... or demand for better public schools is a priority. Reaction here is largely about one's inability to appreciate that life goes on and some status quo remains whether or not the real estate and mortgage markets are in turmoil.

I know my house is losing at least $10,000 a month in value every month. I'm not happy about that. But that's not truly germaine to my equal concern of having a nice home to live in and enjoy now and long after this "crash" cycles through.

I agree with Peter Vile's position about the current real estate market and how many different stories and perspectives exist. Let us not be so insulting of and violated by those who earned the right to have housing options.

To those who can't wait for the market to bottom out: your time to buy a home will come. You'll care about the size of your backyard when it does.

[Brian]

We should thank all the out of state know-it-alls for their comments.

If they can convince all the people living here who moan and complain constantly about it all the time to actually leave, the rest of us can enjoy our lives here, and we'll get lower home prices as a side effect.

Of course, the know-it-alls will just whine about how all the Southern Californians moving in have ruined everything and inflated all their real estate prices.

[seattlesnoop]

CT, don't worry, I don't think you're gloating, you moved to Wisconsin.
Enjoy your winter.

[Scott]

I have lived in Mar Vista for the last 2 years that I've lived in LA (renting of course) and find it a perfectly lovely place to live. I'm sure I would have loved seeing it in mid century times, as Phyllis illustrated, and it's unfortunate that people don't keep their changes and updates within the tone of the area, but overall it's a great place to live. People are nice, the beach and any kind of commerce you could ever need is minutes away, and for me it's close to work.

That said, real estate wise it's way overpriced just like all the rest of LA, and until it has a $200-250,000 median price as most of LA save for maybe Beverly Hills and Belair should have, you will never see me in a real estate office. Sooner or later it will change (or we'll have square miles full of vacant, boarded homes) then we can buy. I wish the couple in question the very best in whatever they wind up doing.

Having lived in the midwest until my early 40s prior to moving to LA, I will say to all of you thinking of leaving to please think long and hard. A lot of these folks that like to go on about cheap houses and what-not never seem to mention the long list of disadvantages of these areas they've moved to, and quite frankly I don't know how people can be happy anywhere else once they've lived in LA. Just do your research and make sure you really want to do it, before you do something you'll regret.

[Paul]

CT, don't forget all that lovely snow during the winter time: fun to shovel, fun to walk in, fun to drive in! Oh, and I'm sure California beaches pale in comparison to the wonderful swampwater of Lake Manona.

[Ed Vida]

I have an acquaintance in his late 60s and this is the story he told me. In 1962 upon graduated from college he moved to CA. After a few years of hard working and prudent spending he scraped off enough down payment for a house in the high 100Ks. His parents, his siblings and his friends from a Mid West town all wrote to him to let him know how nut he was in buying such an outrageously expensive house.

He's still living in the same house today and he thinks that was one of the few best crazy ideas ever came across his mind. In case you wonder about the value of his house today, if it's put on the market for less than 3M, it would not last on the market over one weekend.

[ManuLa]

"Not to gloat, but I moved from LA to Madison, Wisconsin 18 years ago. We bought our current house in 2002. It's about 30 years old, designed by a student of Frank Lloyd Wright, and sits on a 19,000 square foot lot. We have mature pines, maples, a red oak, some yellow birches, and a few shagbark hickery trees. We have good schools, nice neighbors, and plenty of parks. It cost us $230,000. That's why I moved from LA."

Personally, I'd rather be poor and cosmopolitan in LA (or NYC, or Paris, or Rome) than equity-rich and hopelessly white and petty bourgeois in Madison, WI.

[Mike McDougal]

Scott says: "I don't know how people can be happy anywhere else once they've lived in LA."

It's easy. You can do what I did: Move to Scottsdale. You'll get better schools. You'll still have lots of traffic and the shallow people you've grown used to. And you'll have a massive amount of extra money in your pocket with which to buy sun screen.

[moonkat]

Are people in SoCal afraid of weather? Yes, in winter it snows in Wisconsin. but, remember forced air heating? down comforters? snow boots? snow tires? it's actually lovely to have real weather and a change of seasons; they are a refreshing change from the tepid, boring sameness of the irrigated desert.
I also wonder about the hostile tone of many LA-posters; is the so-called lifestyle so stressful that it is making them that way?

[Steve]

It appears who is getting out are the CA natives who experienced CA when it was paradise in the 60/70s. It is the want to be losers from out of state and the immigrants who destroyed paradise. You want to fix SoCal control the population and pass legislation to keep out non-natives and immigrants from moving in to the state. Sounds radical, yet reality is the influx is not sustainable and none of you renters will ever be able to buy a home in SoCal. Get real, those waiting to time the market and think home prices will fall are kidding themselves.

[David Sims]

Why not buy a house somewhere else as an equity investment and rent it out, and continue to rent in Mar Vista. It's quite simple - you can't afford what you want because of the restrictions you have placed on yourselves. A swing set? Come on! You remind me of the people who keep turning down one house after another because of either their bedroom set or a wall unit being too big. Sometimes you just can't have everything.

[Harvey Tepfer]

As an ex-Californian, I can only sympathize with the housing dilemma in
what seems to be the entire state. The realization that I could not afford
anything worthwhile there at my advanced age prompted the move away.
While I miss certain features of my former home state, my wife and I are
quite happy and content with our brick, 2200 sf home and another bigger home we've rented out that has a swimming pool.
Of course, California has its earthquakes; we get tornadoes, some
winter weather and some extra warm summers. Guess it all averages
out. Growing up in California from the 1940's, I view the changes in the
Golden State as it is now as somewhat tarnished "gold".

[ucrsue]

I've been out of SoCal for ten years (5 in TX and 5 in Phx). But, everyday I read LAtimes.com to keep up.

I just saw an ad for homes in a gated community in FONTANA starting at $500,000. FONTANA . . . FONTANA . . .does it still have the rusty red dust covering everything from the old Kaiser steel plant? It did when I drove through it in 1990.

$500,000 . . .half a million . . .for a ticky-tacky, albeit large, newly thrown up house. Incredible.

[Teresa]

I'd rather shovel snow (we don't get that much here in Philly, anyway) and live in a house rather than a box. I hate winter weather, but it's not the absolute worst thing in the world.

I actually like Delaware beaches better than California beaches. DE beaches are cleaner.

All that said, I fully understand that not everyone can simply pack up and leave California. Westside Story has said she and her husband are chained to the area by jobs, children and other family.

Everyone CAN'T "just move." Not all jobs are portable, and moving long-distance takes a lot of money.

I feel incredibly fortunate that my husband and I were in a situation where we could, especially when I look at our friends who are, like Westside Story, trapped in Cali by things they cannot control.

[Bob]

As somebody who has been privileged to live in a number of places across the country, I can truthfully say that I know why I chose -- and still choose -- to stay here in SoCal after finally making it to the West Coast: it's the weather!!! I know that's shallow of me but so be it. I love it and I will pay whatever it takes to make it work here. Been to Colorado, Madison, Pittsburgh, Chicago and all over -- for me, nothing beats my little part of the sunny Left Coast. Yes, property is expensive but that's called "supply & demand" -- if enough people want to live in an area of limited supply, the price goes up. I guess there must be a lot of folks who feel the way I do about this area, at least enough to keep demand reasonably high even in this time of difficult mortgage lending. Nobody is forcing folks to buy a $1.9 million house on the west side - those people choose to do so because that's where they want to be. Same goes for the guy in Madison or the one in Colorado. Doesn't make one better than the other. But ain't it great that we actually have a choice in the matter? Don't gloat, people. Pick your place -- and your own set of compromises -- and be happy.

[Teresa]

I certainly don't agree about people not being happy anywhere else once they've lived in L.A., Scott, but I DO agree that anyone thinking of leaving should make their decision carefully. I concede that ex-Angelenos are probably more likely to be happy living in or near another city than in the middle of Iowa. =)

The first place my husband and I moved after leaving L.A. was Florida, and that was an unmitigated disaster. We lasted 17 months before fleeing to Philadelphia. We're coming up on two years here and we are satisfied.

Ironically, what caused all of our grief to begin with--what caused us to move to Florida instead of here first--was an unwillingness to deal with winter weather. In Florida, I VERY QUICKLY learned that there are things that are far, far worse than shoveling snow a few days a year. Like being surrounded by racists and fundies.

Drawbacks to the Philadelphia area:

1) Winter weather, though not anywhere near as bad as Wisconsin or even Pittsburgh. Today I've got my AC's on.

2) Summer is a preview of Hell. That is the price we pay for not having to shovel snow more than six or seven days a year. But if you're used to desert weather, you can handle summer here.

3) Eastern time zone. Lakers come on at 10:30.

4) In the suburbs, fire houses insist on using antiquated sirens rather than pagers. In the city itself, this does not apply.

5) No In-N-Out Burger, though we do have Wawa, so that balances out for me.

6) [expletive] car inspections.

There is no job shortage here. The only people working at the mall here are kids, retirees and losers who don't even know how to type. If you can type, you can do better than the mall. (I could NOT say that about Florida...Florida is the Home of the $7.00/Hour Mall Job.)

I'm willing to deal with the things I listed because, for me, they outweigh the drawbacks of living in L.A. That's what anyone thinking of leaving L.A. needs to do: make a list of the bennies and drawbacks of L.A. and your destination city and decide for yourself whether they balance out.

[adam]

Bottom line - There is no better climate on earth than Southern California. We are paying the price to live here. Colorado; big home good schools = plus, cold winter - chipping ice off the car, getting snowed in, cars sliding off the road - No thanks
Don't get me wrong, I want out of L.A. but I am married with 2 kids. The grand parents live here to so there is no chance of a better life for me or my family! Perhaps global warming will solve more problems than it hurts.

[tony]

hmmm-it's how one lives not where that makes the difference. CA is no longer the land of milk & honey, as it once was. Housing prices ARE ridiculously high; light years ahead of income rises. Get less pay more - so what! A family can be quite content in 1000-1200 sq.ft domicile with a small yard. Suck it up and enjoy.

[Hack]

Forbes or some pub just did a survey. The number one state (again) that ALL people in the US say they desire to live in is........California.

That's why people pay ridiculous prices like 2mil in Mar Vista. BTW, ever check out the price of a condo in Manhattan?

It's all about living where you want to live. Oh by the way, I'll bet the $230K house in Madison is now worth, what $231K?

[TR]

Sandiagan,

I hear what you are saying about schools. However, just because Suburbia Public High School is better than Inner City Public High School does not mean Suburbia is actually a good school. It just means it is better than its inner city counterpart. It is a relative comparison. That is the wrong way to look at schools.

I have been doing some serious study on schools since I became a first time father recently. For example, there are only a few public high schools in California that are really good. The rest (even in some of the higher income communities) are mediocre compared to other schools nationally.

[Mony]

I live in a 3500 sq ft house w/3 baths on 20 acres in NE GA. Not really close to anything but deer. We have good roads though and Atlanta is only an hour South. I couldn't afford to live in California but I know it's a beautiful place too. Been there a few times but usually just a stop over on my way to Hawaii. Just paid my property tax and it was $1600 and the county valued my property at $485000. Wouldn't sell it for that though.

[Ragnar]

I also currently reside in Madsison, WI. I saw a graphic recently (maybe even earlier this year on the LA Times) that Madison is one of the few places in the Midwest that sends a significant number of people to California. Having lived in Madison for awhile I can understand why. Although housing itself is affordable, property taxes are brutal. The winter is way long and cold. The lakes are good for boating but not swimming (too much water feeds in and none feeds out). However, the people are generally open, there are a lot of well-paying professional jobs here, and there are literally people here from all over the world, unlike much of the midwest in general. With all of that said, I would like to join the statistics of people who move from Madison to LA. I won't miss the winters, I love being around lots of different people, I would greatly enjoy the many state and national parks and just generally appreciate the vibe of Southern California. There are many things to like about Madison, but there are many things to like about Southern California too. Making a change in the community in which you live, work and play goes both ways. Some are ready to leave CA. I'm ready to move in, yet it's not time for me to buy an overpriced home at this stage of the real estate game (Eventually I would when prices come down a bit). I'm happy in Madison, but could be happier in CA.

[Steve]

Do the math, I spend 1 hour a year shoveling snow, if that, in CO and to be honest I enjoy it because it is such a novelity and an experience I never had in the hell hole, In CO I now have a 15 minute commute. I used to spend 2 hours a day on the 405 to go 15 miles for a cummute from hell. What sounds like more fun. I do not have to deal with any of the array of issues bitched about on these blogs by those who live in the hell hole and the best part is RE is almost free. You rubes have no idea how bad it is and I was a 4th generation CA native who escaped. I got a shocker for you the next phase will be companies leaving the state in masses because of the high cost of doing business. Thanks SoCal

[Inland Empire]

There are plenty of nice places besides SoCal to live. I have lived in two other states despite being a CA native. They were fine, one I may move back to when I retire. Comparing CO to CA or WS to CA is like apples to oranges. There are trade offs to each situation. Live in the place you like best and don't worry about what others want or think. Those who claim others are "trapped" have no imagination to find solutions.

[Courtuser]

I'm constantly amused by the comments from the "L.A. rocks and everywhere else is a hell-hole" camp vs. the "Out of CA, have a ginormous inexpensive house with a better quality of life" camp. Everyone makes their choices and/or sacrifices for the life they want to lead. If you're happy where you are, congrats! Why the need to bash others and justify your decision? I recently visited friends who moved from San Francisco and purchased a lovely 2000 sq ft house in Buffalo, NY for under $200K. Say what you will about Buffalo but they're happy there. Would I be? Probably not. But I would never point a finger at them and say "Suckers! Have fun shoveling the snow!"

[katherine]

As the saying goes: "Wherever you are, it's your friends who make your world." So, I concur with the person who advised giving lots of thought to where you relocate.

We are very happy we moved from Santa Monica (about as good as it gets in LA, in my view) to Tennessee. But, we moved twice. Our first (lakefront) house was in a community of about 1/2 weekend boaters (vroom-vroomers) & 1/2 long-time residents who hadn't traveled much outside the region. We then found a community more to our liking (about 20 miles away) that has a small college, political progressives, artists and an assortment of transplants who are inclined toward original thought.

My advice: contact friends who have relocated and consider moving to those areas.

Of course, we miss our fine friends in SoCal. But, frankly, with LA traffic being what it is, and the hectic lives we led, we see them almost as often now (thank you, Southwest) as we did when we lived there.

[Teresa]

Ragnar, once I've completed my degree (I'm an adult student), I would like to move to an area where there is no snow at all, but only IF I can make it work financially.

My husband and I are both adamant that we are not leaving here to live someplace where we can't afford something better than we have right now, and what we have right now is a small home by the standards of our area (1,200 square feet and a yard).

A couple of months ago, we visited Pittsburgh. There were some beautiful homes for sale next to Grandview Park, overlooking the city. Even though Pittsburgh has horrific winter weather, I would consider moving there if I could afford a house like the ones I saw.

After the awful experience we had in Florida, we're just not stuck on the weather anymore. We'd like to live someplace where it never snows, but not unless that area offers more than just, "It never snows here."

Trust me, the fact that it never snows in Florida means absolutely nothing. Living there is so miserable, you never even get to enjoy the nice weather.

I'm obviously not the only one who's not stuck on the weather. NYC has much worse winters than Philadelphia does, and there are throngs of NY residents moving down here to escape the outrageous housing prices there. Compared to NYC, LA is cheap.

[John T Watts]

In your earlier blog you said you had a 30 minute commute to secure jobs in Santa Monica and Larchmont village. You did not say what sort of jobs they are. It is possible that people might discuss the issue of moving the entire business to a more affordable yet desirable area. This would not be possible for all employers. But it would for some. You never know, the employer might already be considering such a move and talking about it might help them make up their mind to do so. Some of your fellow employees might like the idea as well.