I'm looking at a job in either Los Angeles, CA or Cedar Falls, IA. Does anyone live near either of these places? What's the cost of living like in L.A., specifically Torrance? I kind of like the idea of living near a big city like L.A. but then again I grew up in the country... Someone tell me what to do, haha.

Thanks,

Andrew

Where are you moving from? The cost of living in and around Los Angeles is well above average.

The chart here will give you some idea of what you're up against.

Keep in mind, though, that salaries tend to be higher where the cost of living is higher.

Andrew,
Pretty much all of Calif. is expensive as far as housing goes. Even rent can be as much or more than buying a home in many other states. But we do have great weather. Torrance is fairly expensive because of it's proximity to L.A., really anything near L.A. isn't cheap.

Hey Andrew. I live about an hour east of L.A. Since I grew up out here I don't have the greatest frame of reference of how it compares to other places. The cost of living out here is high. If you're looking to rent an apartment it'll probably run you anywhere from $1000 to $2500 depending on location and how much room you need. Buying out here is another story. Housing has gone through some major issues the past couple of years. We are at a point where price is still very high, but with a ton of people going belly-up on loans, there is a chance of finding something reasonable. Interest rates have stabilized and you'll be able to find a good plan.

Gas is high, but it's high everywhere.

If you crave population density, bad air, and lots and lots of traffic, head on out this way!!

I'm sure others will chime in. Spiffnme (Craig) lives in the L.A. area, and can probably give you a better picture of that area.

With Torrance, you have to be a little cautious where you get the house. Make sure it's nowhere near the refinery...

I'd probably go with a surrounding beach city--Redondo, Hermosa, or Manhattan. Then again, those are also likely to be quite pricey--my parent's home has appreciated a ridiculous amount.

I'm moving from Indiana. The consensus I've gathered is that its a bad idea to move into CA right now. That's OK since my girlfriend hates the idea anyway and I haven't been offered the job there yet but I have been offered the job in IA. I'm going out to L.A. next week for more interviews so it should be fun to visit nonetheless. The position is with Honeywell Transportation Systems if you're interested whereas the IA position is with John Deere Engine Controls. I suspect the offer from Honeywell would not be large enough to offset the cost of living compared to IA disabling me to have the same lifestyle in both places. Hopefully I won't like it there and my decision will be easier!

Thanks for the replies!

Nothing wrong with Deere, my dad was a senior buyer for the Des Moines works and took early retirement. Personally, if you have kids or every will, I would recommend the midwest, if education is important.

Cedar Falls, IA, is the home of the University of Northern Iowa. Waterloo, IA is basically attached to Cedar Falls. Combined it is a very large city. I graduated from UNI, and I believe Deere is actually in Waterloo, unless they have oppened a new plant since I graduated.

You suspect correctly. As a former LA area resident I can say with some certainty that your quality of life and, perhaps more importantly, your ability to save in order to elevate your quality of life in the future will be significantly higher in Iowa than southern California. E.g., I'd expect a single family house on the west side in any neighborhood you'd want to live in to come in at probably a minimum of 3-5x the cost of the same home on a larger lot in IA.

That said, Los Angeles is a *very* fun town. It's a zoo but if you're into that sort of thing there's really no other city in the US that can compare. However all of those entertainment options come with a price. I'd say if you're planning to rent you can live in LA and have a hell of a time on as little as $120-150k/year; if you want to buy a house in a neighborhood where getting gunned down in your front yard is only a moderately remote possibility add another $50k/year minimum to that requirement or anothter 2-4 hours to your average daily commute (not kidding on either point).

If you have or plan to have school-aged children soon you'll want to consider the cost of private schools. Outside of a very few very expensive communities the public schools are dicey. I lived and worked in a fairly decent area and *all* of my coworkers had their children in private schools, typically at $20k/child per year because they didn't trust the public schools to educate their children or keep them save during the school day.

But you're not going to get rich in Iowa, I presume as an engineer given the employers mentioned. In LA there's more than a critical mass of that sort of business and you'll have orders of magnitude more chances to advance in your profession. The value of those opportunities is incalculable and pretty much the only non-entertainment justification I could come up with for living in the LA area. If the cost justifies the opportunity in your mind, go for it! I can pretty much guarantee you'll enjoy it for at least a while.