Accomplished a personal goal

[shamoo]

I don't have many posts here, but I wanted to share a personal accomplishment that passed a few days ago. Nobody probably cares, but I figure I'd throw this out there...

As a background, I have lived in New Jersey essentially all my life (32+ years) and this tri-state area is all I really know. In fact, this place isn't half bad. I'm a little over an hour away from Atlantic City, 30 minutes away from Manhattah, and the beach is well...everywhere. Jersey Shore, y0!

Anyway, almost since I was old enough to walk, I would visit family in Southern California (Irvine) once a year until I was ~16 years old. The weather is gorgeous, the people are good looking and friendly, everything is clean, etc. Since then my dream was to live and work in California. Had a few girlfriends here and there, broke up, got depressed, wanted to get away to CA, didn't do anything about it, found another girlfirned, broke up, etc. It was an endless cycle for about 15 years.

Fast forward to recent events. I was able to buy a nice car and own my own townhouse. My parents moved to California and I was left here alone. Realized that my curent situation was comfortable and easy, but I wanted more. It was time to do something about it. I used my networks and contacts to get some interviews at a great company in Los Angeles. As of a few days ago, I got my offer. w00t!

The company's relocation package will get me there nicely with some temporary housing until I figure out what to do with my home in Jersey. Personal goal accomplished! I can't wait to get over there and start a new life. I really envy all you guys in beautiful California. I know a lot of you guys get tired of CA, but from an occasional visitor throughout the years, CA is an awesome place. You should consider yourselves lucky.

If you're still reading...

I only get one month of temporary corporate housing, but after that I'm on my own. I'm looking for places (suburbs) outside of LA that I can live that isn't too expensive (<$500K home) and where traffic into downtown won't make me want to stab myself repeatedly.

Not sure what to do with my home in NJ. Rent? Sell? I have a realtor coming this weekend to discuss some options with me.

Looking forward to attending a few meets and those famous "Cars and Coffee" I see pictures of all the time. I'm an avid cyclist (road and mountain) and from the looks of things you can basically ride all year. Also started riding motorcycles again. I have a Yamaha R6, but I hear it's difficult to register vehicles with <7,500 miles in CA from out of state. No idea. Might sell here and get the Ducati 1100S I've always wanted. I hear CA is the only state where you can lane split. What now, traffic?!

Thanks for reading!


Personal goal #2 is in progress...Porsche 911 Turbo.

[THE TECH]

Congrats man!! Having been born here in CA and lived here 99% of my life, I would never leave unless I had to. Too many good things here.

Yes, traffic sucks but in the end, I think there are more good things than bad.

You can def bike all year long.

Welcome to CA!!

[chris s]

Congrats to you bro! Good stuff...

[rhouck]

Congrats! I finally made it out here last month myself after a decade trapped on the east coast... so I can understand the excitement

[bsiciliano]

Now it is time to get an E93...

I grew up in LA. As for where you should live, it may be hard to get a place for under $500k, that's close to DT and not in a somewhat sketchy area. If you rent, I would try something in Miracle Mile. It is in the middle of everything. 20 mins from DT, beach, airport, hollywood, etc.

[Raz@Gintani]

That is awesome, Congrats! Probably the best feeling in the world. You should come down to our shop once you're down here. I honestly don't think I can ever leave California, love it over here. As far as traffic goes, in all honesty, get ready to always be surrounded by it, Its getting harder and harder to find good routes.

[PKL]

I like you have wanted to move to CA my entire life, well basically since I was 16. It took me 11 years, moved here 4 months ago.

I LOVE it.

If you are going to work downtown, I suggest living as close as possible. Maybe in Hollywood. Traffic to downtown can be really rough.

Welcome!

[Bluesummer]

congrats!

[E90///M3`]

congrats sir!

[90210Wrap]

Congrats! Welcome to So. Cal

[SD-E93-11]

Congratulations - after you get settled you should visit San Diego "America's Finest City".

I did the east coast to west coast move myself back in 2000. Not from Jersey but Lived in Deal, then Monmouth Beach for a couple years prior.

Couple points:
You should consider driving cross-country - something I think all Americans should do at least once in their life - particularly in a M3 - even more so if someone else is paying for gas .

I lived in LA for two years and highly recommend living in Downtown itself. Clean, safe, quiet when you want it to be - north end. Convenient to much of LA and often a 'reverse-commute' traffic situation. If you're looking for temporary housing I suggest Bunker Hill towers. It's upscale, great apartments, great view, best communal parking garage I've seen personally. Your m3 will definitely not be the nicest car in the garage (a good thing imho). NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH PROMENADE TOWERS across the street (sorry if any boarders live there).

Echo the poster above about switch to e93. From your sig line it looks like you're partial to convertibles.

Good luck and welcome.

[Bart@AUTOcouture]

Congrats man, enjoy it out there!

[Its_lobelt]

Congrats on the move. You can live in the San Fernando Valley and take the subway to downtown. The North Hollywood station is in a great area with lots of single family homes, condos, town homes surrounding it.

[NATTYY]

Congratulations on the move. Moving to California in particular Los Angeles is at the top of mine and my fiancés personal goals.

Last year we flew to Los Angeles not once but twice we loved it so much. After experiencing it I cannot wait to get a chance for us to relocate there. So much so that we have decided not to buy a house (currently rent) in the anticipation of moving.

I just have to figure out what's the best way for us to be allowed to live in California coming from Australia. Ive been told to try a "working visa" but the problem is finding a job in L.A

John.

[JusCruzin]

Buying a home for less than $500k is not realistic in most parts of LA. Prices have come down a lot, but you probably still need $750k in a decent neighborhood, and often much, much more than that. Just being realistic. In any event, I would start by renting a place until you get a better sense of LA's many neighborhoods. It's hard to overstate just how vast the LA metropolitan area is, so you should give yourself time to check out different neighborhoods before focusing on a place to buy.

[shay2nak]

yes, you can lane split here. Don't know why it would be difficult to register a car here. That 7500 mile rule is reminiscent of the rule for Diesel powered cars. Not sure that is valid now any longer.

Why do you think the song says, "I wish they all could be California girls?"

[shamoo]

Originally Posted by THE TECH

Congrats man!! Having been born here in CA and lived here 99% of my life, I would never leave unless I had to. Too many good things here.

Yes, traffic sucks but in the end, I think there are more good things than bad.

You can def bike all year long.

Welcome to CA!!

Thank you sir! I used to visit family all the time and every time I go, I wished I could stay. NJ is great, don't get me wrong...but I think I would like CA better personally.

Originally Posted by chris s

Congrats to you bro! Good stuff...

Thanks!

Originally Posted by rhouck

Congrats! I finally made it out here last month myself after a decade trapped on the east coast... so I can understand the excitement

So how do you like it so far?

Originally Posted by bsiciliano

Now it is time to get an E93...

I grew up in LA. As for where you should live, it may be hard to get a place for under $500k, that's close to DT and not in a somewhat sketchy area. If you rent, I would try something in Miracle Mile. It is in the middle of everything. 20 mins from DT, beach, airport, hollywood, etc.

I've had two S2000s in the past, but rarely used it. I might have to revisit having a convertible! I want to work on saving for my next goal. Porsche C4S or turbo (vert of course!) As for renting, I have spoken to my cousins and a few family friends. I'll be able to rent from them.

Originally Posted by Raz@Gintani

That is awesome, Congrats! Probably the best feeling in the world. You should come down to our shop once you're down here. I honestly don't think I can ever leave California, love it over here. As far as traffic goes, in all honesty, get ready to always be surrounded by it, Its getting harder and harder to find good routes.

Every time I'm browsing through this forum, all the shops are in CA. I'll be sure to stop by and see what you guys have. I'm usually not bothered my traffic, but I have heard that CA traffic is something else alltogether. We'll see!

Originally Posted by PKL

I like you have wanted to move to CA my entire life, well basically since I was 16. It took me 11 years, moved here 4 months ago.

I LOVE it.

If you are going to work downtown, I suggest living as close as possible. Maybe in Hollywood. Traffic to downtown can be really rough.

Welcome!

Thanks! I'm glad you love it. Hopefully I'll be the same way. I did do some research on that new Metroline. It appears to be pretty nice and maybe I could do an Irvine to LA commute. Seems to be ~1 hour.

Originally Posted by SD-E93-11

Congratulations - after you get settled you should visit San Diego "America's Finest City".

I did the east coast to west coast move myself back in 2000. Not from Jersey but Lived in Deal, then Monmouth Beach for a couple years prior.

Couple points:
You should consider driving cross-country - something I think all Americans should do at least once in their life - particularly in a M3 - even more so if someone else is paying for gas .

I lived in LA for two years and highly recommend living in Downtown itself. Clean, safe, quiet when you want it to be - north end. Convenient to much of LA and often a 'reverse-commute' traffic situation. If you're looking for temporary housing I suggest Bunker Hill towers. It's upscale, great apartments, great view, best communal parking garage I've seen personally. Your m3 will definitely not be the nicest car in the garage (a good thing imho). NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH PROMENADE TOWERS across the street (sorry if any boarders live there).

Echo the poster above about switch to e93. From your sig line it looks like you're partial to convertibles.

Good luck and welcome.

On the weekends when I'm off work, I'll definitely be exploring. I anticipate I'll be using several tanks of gas the first few weekends.

I did think about driving cross country, but the way things turned out with leaving my current job and starting the new one (and packing my house/selling it in between) I didn't have time. I may consider flying back and renting a truck to transport my stuff to CA, but I'm not sure.

I'll look into those places you mentioned, but I may be renting with some family.

Originally Posted by Bart@AUTOcouture

Congrats man, enjoy it out there!

Thanks Bart! Now you won't get to install the supercharger in my car! Heh.

Originally Posted by ROB_S2K

Congrats on the move. You can live in the San Fernando Valley and take the subway to downtown. The North Hollywood station is in a great area with lots of single family homes, condos, town homes surrounding it.

I'll definitely look into it. Thanks!

Originally Posted by NATTYY

Congratulations on the move. Moving to California in particular Los Angeles is at the top of mine and my fiancés personal goals.

Last year we flew to Los Angeles not once but twice we loved it so much. After experiencing it I cannot wait to get a chance for us to relocate there. So much so that we have decided not to buy a house (currently rent) in the anticipation of moving.

I just have to figure out what's the best way for us to be allowed to live in California coming from Australia. Ive been told to try a "working visa" but the problem is finding a job in L.A

John.

John, I hope things work out and your goal works out. I'll tell you how things are from my end in a month. I think getting your foot in the door in California is the first thing. If you have a good education and some good experience, finding a job shouldn't be too difficult. Although these days, you never know. Good luck!

Originally Posted by JusCruzin

Buying a home for less than $500k is not realistic in most parts of LA. Prices have come down a lot, but you probably still need $750k in a decent neighborhood, and often much, much more than that. Just being realistic. In any event, I would start by renting a place until you get a better sense of LA's many neighborhoods. It's hard to overstate just how vast the LA metropolitan area is, so you should give yourself time to check out different neighborhoods before focusing on a place to buy.

You're right. This is what I've seen from researching online. I've been looking in Irvine and there are nice 2 bedroom homes w/2 car garages for ~$400K. My parents recently got a place there. I'm being paid a lot more in the new job, but I'm still single (single income) so finding a nice home might be difficult. Sucks that I'm moving from NJ (medium to high priced homes) to CA (even higher priced homes) instead of some place like South Carolina or Texas. I have friends in Texas with mansions that are like $180K.

Originally Posted by shay2nak

yes, you can lane split here. Don't know why it would be difficult to register a car here. That 7500 mile rule is reminiscent of the rule for Diesel powered cars. Not sure that is valid now any longer.

Why do you think the song says, "I wish they all could be California girls?"

Hm, well that's good. I guess it was something I read on the sportbike forums. Thanks for the info!

[My 10th BMW]

Check out Culver City.
It's only 10 miles from downtown and a very easy commute.

[quickv3]

Congrats! I would totally hit you up if I lived in SoCal, but I'm up North about 500 miles. I used to live down in San Diego area until not to recently, but work brought me back up to NorCal for now. Anyway, good luck and enjoy it out here.

[chmura]

Congrats on your new job!

I live in North Orange County, Fullerton area. You might want to consider moving to Orange County even if you work in downtown LA. I work in LA as well and I take the Metrolink train to work everyday from Fullerton. Its only 45 minute train ride into downtown LA. I only drive 10 miles round trip to and from the train station. Been doing it for years and I love using the train. The only problem is if your work is close to the train station in LA or not. PM me and we can discuss this further if you want!

I just purchase my first home last year and I love living in OC.

[freshwhite335]

Originally Posted by bsiciliano

Now it is time to get an E93...

I grew up in LA. As for where you should live, it may be hard to get a place for under $500k, that's close to DT and not in a somewhat sketchy area. If you rent, I would try something in Miracle Mile. It is in the middle of everything. 20 mins from DT, beach, airport, hollywood, etc.

Love my rental at Palazzo East in Miracle Mile. It really is the perfect location, you're in the middle of everything and close to both the 101 and the 10.

[piloto]

Welcome to socal! Definitely visit Cars and Coffee on Saturdays, and get your car out to the track...during "winter."