Question:

Hi Mr. White,

I’m moving out to Los Angeles after high school to pursue acting. I was wondering how I should approach finding a place to live when the time comes.

As of now, I plan on finding a decently affordable place on craigslist with a roommate (and yes, I’m aware of all the scams.) Would it make sense to fly to LA, stay in a motel until I find a place and then move in? I also plan on having $12-15K saved by the time I head out there, so I would find a job after I’m there. (Of course, I would use that money very frugally – rent, groceries and gas.)

Another thing is the location of the acting classes I’ll be taking and where I live. I’ll probably be taking 3 classes a week, and acting studios are obviously all over LA. So is there somewhat of a central location that I should move to for commuting to the different areas of Los Angeles for classes?

Thanks!

Michael

Answer:

Hi Michael,

Thanks for the email.

As to moving here, here’s the best advice I can give you.

Studio City is a great place to live in the Valley and you will be pretty close to a lot of other new actors, Hollywood and a bunch of good acting schools.I actually lived there up on Sunshine Terrace for quite a few years.

As far as the valley is concerned, I think Studio City is probably one of the best places to live. It’s definitely not close to the beach, but it’s about 10-15 minutes from the middle of Hollywood and very “audition commute” friendly, as quite a bit of casting goes on in the valley and Hollywood.

However, most of the “good” stuff you’ll want to be auditioning for will be happening in LA, especially on the West side. For just getting your feet wet, Studio City is nice, but you may want to consider living in the LA basin as well.

Some nice areas are the Miracle Mile, West LA, West Hollywood, even Hollywood is getting better these days. No matter what, you’ll be commuting in some fashion. For me, being kind of central to the whole city is better, not to mention that it’s about 10-15 degrees cooler in the summer.

But a lot of actors do live and train in the valley, and it’s definitely more convenient as far as just day to day living is concerned. Hollywood is more crowded, more urban and less convenient for the most part, but it’s more central to everywhere that you’ll care about as an aspiring actor, you will be close to a lot of other new actors as well and a bunch of good acting schools.

West Hollywood scoots you a little closer to the West side schools and auditions and can be a little hipper / cleaner / more upscale. It all just depends on what you’re used to, how adaptable you are and what you want as far as convenience.

Things like parking can kinda suck in Hollywood, but not be so bad in the valley. But, when you’re going to class and you have to sit in crappy freeway traffic to get over the hill, that kinda sucks too. Me personally, I don’t really care for the valley, though I lived there for a long time.

The East side is a lot better for bands and musicians I think, but it can still be pretty cool, just kinda hard to get around sometimes. Places like Silverlake, Los Feliz and Echo Park are pretty cool, but edgier and rougher around the edges.

So, my descending list of groovy places to live, for a first time mover that wants to act are:

West Hollywood

Hollywood

West Los Angeles

Miracle Mile

Santa Monica

Silverlake / Echo Park

Los Feliz

Studio City

Toluca Lake

Valley Village

North Hollywood

Hope this helps and best of luck out there!