Federal government employment in CA Forum

[LaLiLuLeLo]

i find these comments about hobo pee/crappy streets/no parking amusing given that the alternative is san freaking francisco. there's an app for SF that maps homeless poo for you in every neighborhood. jfc.

The alternative is working but not living in DTLA.

[zot1]

i find these comments about hobo pee/crappy streets/no parking amusing given that the alternative is san freaking francisco. there's an app for SF that maps homeless poo for you in every neighborhood. jfc.

The alternative is working but not living in DTLA.

This ^

[bruinfan10]

i find these comments about hobo pee/crappy streets/no parking amusing given that the alternative is san freaking francisco. there's an app for SF that maps homeless poo for you in every neighborhood. jfc.

The alternative is working but not living in DTLA.

This ^

I hear you, but I'm not sure someone who likes "city living" is going to love Pasadena or Culver City, and OP should know that commuting in Los Angeles presents a unique set of challenges. Super necessary to visit (and do more than hit a couple landmarks) to make a decision. I stand by the statement that (against all odds) DTLA is getting more livable by the day.

That said, I 100% plan to move to South Pasadena as soon as humanly possible, and I agree that DTLA is overpriced for what you get. It's just a lot better value than SF is.

[LaLiLuLeLo]

i find these comments about hobo pee/crappy streets/no parking amusing given that the alternative is san freaking francisco. there's an app for SF that maps homeless poo for you in every neighborhood. jfc.

The alternative is working but not living in DTLA.

This ^

I hear you, but I'm not sure someone who likes "city living" is going to love Pasadena or Culver City, and OP should know that commuting in Los Angeles presents a unique set of challenges. That said, I 100% plan to move to South Pasadena as soon as humanly possible, and I agree that DTLA is overpriced for what you get. It's just a lot better value than SF is.

TBH if someone loves "city living" I think DTLA will disappoint. It's gotten better (Whole Foods lol) but still a far cry from being like other "cool" areas in major cities across the country.

[bruinfan10]

i find these comments about hobo pee/crappy streets/no parking amusing given that the alternative is san freaking francisco. there's an app for SF that maps homeless poo for you in every neighborhood. jfc.

The alternative is working but not living in DTLA.

This ^

I hear you, but I'm not sure someone who likes "city living" is going to love Pasadena or Culver City, and OP should know that commuting in Los Angeles presents a unique set of challenges. That said, I 100% plan to move to South Pasadena as soon as humanly possible, and I agree that DTLA is overpriced for what you get. It's just a lot better value than SF is.

TBH if someone loves "city living" I think DTLA will disappoint. It's gotten better (Whole Foods lol) but still a far cry from being like other "cool" areas in major cities across the country.

I dunno, my view may be warped. It's not Manhattan, Chicago, Seattle, or Portland, but it's arguably more vibrant than the downtown-type areas of Minneapolis, Louisville, St. Louis, Sacramento, St. Paul, the hip/gentrified areas of Detroit, and might even give Denver (which similarly suffers from ridic sprawl), Dallas, and Oakland a run for their money.

That's about my universe of cities where I've lived/worked with any frequency, so again, my view may be warped. DTLA gives me the vibe of living in a decent smallish city---plenty of gentrification on display in the Arts District, near the Whole Foods development, etc, if that's what you're into---or there are really cool small cultural pockets (Little Tokyo and Chinatown here can both be awesome), but that's a super personal/idiosyncratic judgment.

[zot1]

I don't know that I would call DTLA livable by the day but that's maybe because I used to live in Santa Monica. Maybe DTLA is for some people, but it was and will never be for me. So yeah, OP, go visit.

[Anonymous User]

Sounds like SF is out of the question on a low 6 figure salary (curiously... what kind of salary should two people make, jointly, assuming PAYE payments on 230k of debt for SF?). What's it like living in the suburbs of LA? I'm thinking Long Beach, Manhattan Beach, etc?

[zot1]

Housing aside, getting a job in one of those cities will be more problematic.

[Anonymous User]

Housing aside, getting a job in one of those cities will be more problematic.

Understood, but I also want to be proactive before I start looking.

[zot1]

Housing aside, getting a job in one of those cities will be more problematic.

Understood, but I also want to be proactive before I start looking.

Yeah but the location of where you get hired seems like it will matter to you since you want to walk and such, so all of this may be moot.

[Anonymous User]

i live alone in a 2br in santa monica on the GS scale. LA is obviously affordable for fed govt employees. just be smart with your money.

also i think a good rule of thumb for fed govt jobs is to apply to any job on usajobs that sounds intriguing, regardless of the city. THEN after interviewing, you can decide if you actually like the city. fed govt jobs are extremely hard to get in in-demand cities when you are not already within the fed govt.