I have had a few people reach out with questions about living in Los Angeles vs. New York as it seems quite a few people are considering relocating during this time. I moved to New York after I graduated college and lived there for almost 5 years. I was then given the opportunity to relocate to Los Angeles with the company that I was with at the time. Court and I’s moms grew up in LA and we would spend our summers here with our poppa (grandfather) and I always dreamt of living here when I was older. Many of you have asked about the biggest differences between the 2 cities so here are some of my thoughts!
To preface, I truly believe I wouldn’t have gotten to where I am in my career if it wasn’t for New York. I worked my ass off. But as I got older, I wanted to try something different and LA was the next logical next step.
Transportation
In NY, I took the train everywhere and it’s just so much more convenient. Aside from that, I don’t actually find the traffic/transportation to be too much different. Same for both cities, it depends where you are trying to go and what time of day. When I first moved here, I Uber pooled and scootered (lol) everywhere for the first few months. Ubering is actually a bit cheaper here and once Uber pool starts again (I believe it has stopped because of the pandemic) it’s extremely cheap. However, I lived about 20 minutes from my office so I had to buy a car because it ends up being the most economical way to get around. I lived in West Hollywood and reverse commuted to Atwater Village so I was never in traffic. While I really miss taking the train, I have also found refuge being in my car by myself listening to a podcast and drinking my coffee. I think it just depends the way you look at it!
Weather
I think we all know this one but LA has literally the best weather in the world. One of the big reasons I moved from NY is I get really bad seasonal depression and was so tiered of being cold for the majority of the year. In LA, you can basically be outside all year long. There really aren’t seasons here so honestly, it’s quite easy to forget what month you’re in (haha)! However, there is nothing like Fall in New York – nothing. I missed Fall so much last year that I drove a couple hours Northeast to the mountains so I could throw on a cream sweater and partake in all of the apple picking and cider tasting.
People
I found it really easy to make friends in New York because typically everyone is looking to expand their network. I made some of my closest friends in New York by just going up to them at events and starting small talk. In LA, I would say it’s a bit more “cliquey” and I am usually the one reaching out to people to network. I remember when I first moved here, I was emailing a bunch of different publicists to get coffee or drinks (something we did weekly in NY) and they would say “wow we’ve never really had influencers reach out to us for coffee.” I definitely ended up making some really great friends here but I think it took a bit longer and was a little harder than I expected.
Work Life Balance
This was one of my biggest goals when I moved to LA. I really didn’t have a work life balance in NY and could just feel myself burning out (though I don’t regret it). I think people really value their time off and make a point to have a work life balance. It’s a GREAT thing if you are looking for that. On the flip side, if you crave the hustle and energy, I have personally found that harder to find here. My first few month living here, I was so confused when people would take hours to email me back as I was preconditioned to receive emails back within minutes in NY. Personally, I am soooo happy that I started my career in New York because I feel like it gives me a bit of an edge but if you are at the stage in your career where you are looking to slow down a bit and have more of a life outside of work, I think Angelinos really value that.
Housing
I have found that you can typically get a lot more space in LA for the same budget range. Since LA is so much bigger (both a good and bad thing) homes are typically larger and not as condensed. Because of the pandemic however, I know that real estate is really different than it was before and think you can get really good prices in both cities. As you guys probably saw on IG, Court got an amazingggggg space in Brooklyn for a great budget so I think the market is definitely really good for renters rights now in both cities.
Let me know if you guys have any other questions I can answer!
xx
Kelly
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