You Need a Car. And Insurance.

People who have never been to LA have no idea what it's like. (Duh. What a dumb sentence. But stay with me here.) LA is unlike any other major city you've ever been to.

Most great cities like DC and NYC and SF have FANTASTIC public transportation. LA does not. This is a city you NEED a car in.

A Hawaiian sent in this question:

I am planning to move to Los Angeles but I heard that you can't really get around without a car and the second is that all newbie actors should live in Studio City because that is where the studios and casting agents are but I don't want to live that far from Downtown/Westside of Los Angeles my question is are both of those beliefs about Los Angeles true.

You really can't get around without a car. I mean, you CAN, but it's extremely difficult. And what if you get 3 auditions in one day? Your first one is in Santa Monica, the second is in North Hollywood, and the third is Mid-City, THEN, you have to get to your job in Studio City. Allll by bus. And there's a concert at the Hollywood Bowl. WHAT DO YOU DO?!

The problem is, none of the above means anything to you, because you've never been here. You're from Hawaii, where rush hour is non-existent. Most mainland cities with rush hours mean that the freeways are 20-30mph from 6-9am and 4-7pm. But here in LA, the only time the freeways aren't stop and go are random times. 2pm on a Sunday? Stop and Go. If you're also at the mercy of our pathetic public transportation, you're screwed. You need a car.

I live in Studio City. There's Universal Studios and CBS Radford here in town. Next door in Burbank is the WB and the Burbank Studios. But there's also studios in every other part of town. And commercial casting? They're everywhere except Downtown.

And Downtown and the Westside are not next door neighbors. That's like me saying I want to live in Kaanapali so I can bike to work in Oahu.

The problem here is that you didn't do your research, and you're listening to other people who have either lived here ages ago, or have never lived here. 

Read the blog. You need a car and at LEAST 10 grand to move here. And that money goes by with your first month's rent and deposit very, very quickly.

Go to losangeles.craigslist.org and look at apartments in your price range. Check out a map or any other gazillion articles on the web about wanting to move to LA. LA is a city with a 30 mile radius. It's HUGE.

If you can, I would strongly recommend coming out here with a friend to visit for a week. There's plenty of hostels and you can get an idea of what the city is like, what the people are like, and if this is the right place for you.

Good luck!