[Osnabrueck]

Originally Posted by Luwalira

So..........around how much can insurance cost me annually for a cheap car. I'm right now concidering if or if not to buy a car when I move over there.

BWAHA HA HA HA HA!

Oh Lu! You're crackin' me up man. You have to have a car in LA. There's no two ways about it. If you don't have a car you mind as well just live in a ditch, because even the most simple tasks will require you to drive somewhere.

LA is a zoo that's spread out so wide, and blighted by so much traffic that a simple drive down to the dry cleaners or 7-11 can take you a half hour.

I drive a an '88 Honda Civic and the insurance costs me about $700 a year or so. You can expect to pay roughly the same, regardless of the jalopy factor.

[Osnabrueck]

Originally Posted by Deutsch

Not buying a car and trying to get around over here isn't such a great idea unless you plan on working and living in the same general area.

I live so close to my office that I walk there every day. However, without a car the only place I have access to is the local strip mall. It's good for having a liquor store, a Chiropractor and Japanese fast food, but I certainly can't sustain myself without driving out somewhere.

Unless you settle down in a particular place that just so happens to be within arms reach everything you need, a car is absolutely essential. And even if you think you're well situated, the lack of a car will immediately give you cabin fever, because anything you feel like doing outside of your routine will invariably require you to drive.

[Centurion]

Originally Posted by Osnabrueck

BWAHA HA HA HA HA!

Oh Lu! You're crackin' me up man. You have to have a car in LA. There's no two ways about it. If you don't have a car you mind as well just live in a ditch, because even the most simple tasks will require you to drive somewhere.

You aren't the first one who have told me that. I have a few buddies over in the US and one of them who moved over there just 2 weeks ago told me that there is no way you can get you pimp game on with girls if you don't have a car. I'll probably be buying a $1000-1500 car.
After some heavy thinking and refelction I have decided that I want to study at the univercity of Fullerton which is less then an hour from LA. Although I want to live in LA I haven't manage to find a big and attractive college located aroudn hollywood. The type of accomodation I'll go for is probably a furnished apartment in side some compound/complex.

[Osnabrueck]

Ha ha! Fullerton? No way man, them's my stompin' grounds. I grew up in Anaheim.

Send me a PM sometime. Maybe I can answer some questions for you.

[gustavo]

Originally Posted by Osnabrueck

It's all a matter of where you work, where you can live and your frame of reference.

There's gobs of people in LA who live in sheer misery with their day to day routine, and there's other people who gleefully tune out their ridiculous commute, sit back and enjoy the weather.

I got used to living in Berlin and LA is starting to drive me up a wall, despite the fact that I landed a "couldn't ask for more" job in a decent part of town. I just miss the street life and the sense of community, of which LA has none - although I'm sure there's plenty of folks who would beg to differ.

Of course, LA is pretty bitchin' if you have conspicuously deep pockets, but right now not even a mild fortune can buy you the good life. I'm sure that'll change in a couple years' time.

Of course, speaking about LA as a city is erroneous in and of itself. The place is just too damn huge and spread out. Certain parts really turn me on, and other parts achieve a level of sheer ugliness that defies the imagination. Still - the amount of time Angelinos are willing to rot away in their cars on a regular basis is astounding. I'm surprised we haven't had trafic riots by now.

I've read this hole thread just a little bit too late, but a interesting post. Thanks for your insight view. Do you expect that the state california will establish public transport service , since the states will face higher energy prices?
And what will happen to all these commuters when you have $5 per gallon?
It seems that your point of view is a little bit influenced by your experiences
living in Berlin etc. Normaly it's not very common to rant about LA traffic jams and ....

[Osnabrueck]

Originally Posted by gustavo

I've read this hole thread just a little bit too late, but a interesting post. Thanks for your insight view. Do you expect that the state california will establish public transport service , since the states will face higher energy prices?
And what will happen to all these commuters when you have $5 per gallon?
It seems that your point of view is a little bit influenced by your experiences
living in Berlin etc. Normaly it's not very common to rant about LA traffic jams and ....

First - The Los Angeles area has plenty of public tansportation, but there's so much area to cover - from Orange County to Riverside County to the Valley, that it barely makes a dent. Just think about the Ruhrgebiet, then multiply that by 4. That's how massive and sprawled-out Southern California is.

Since World War 2 or so, the entire Los Angeles area was grown around a freeway transport concept. It will take decades to change over to mass-transit, and in most ways that the push to do so is impractical and counterintuitive. We already have a massive freeway system, so why not just roll with it? Folks like myself cope by moving extremely close to work.

Secondly - If gas hits $5.00 a gallon, commuters will just grin and bear it, just like they've done with gas well in excess of $3.00. 5 years ago, the thought of $3.00 gas was outragous, but here we are and folks seem to be taking it in stride.

If there's been any fallout, its been a softening of the truck and SUV market, and the rising popularity of subcompacts and hybrids. Gas, no matter how expensive, will never effect the LA's congested freeways. People just go on with their lives and spend more at the pump.

For a long while I had a commute that cost me 2 to 3 hours a day. After I went freelance and moved to Germany I vowed that I'd never put up with such nonsense ever again. And I don't.