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From: mab@ttidcb.UUCP (Michael A. Bloom)
Newsgroups: net.misc
Subject: Re: Helpful Hints for moving to California
Message-ID: <169@ttidcb.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 6-Oct-84 07:49:21 EDT
Article-I.D.: ttidcb.169
Posted: Sat Oct  6 07:49:21 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 7-Oct-84 10:33:58 EDT
References: <4343@fortune.UUCP>
Reply-To: mab@ttidcb.UUCP (Michael A. Bloom)
Distribution: net
Organization: Transaction Technology, Inc. (CitiCorp), Santa Monica
Lines: 173
Summary: 

In article <4343@fortune.UUCP> preston@fortune.UUCP (Carol Preston) writes
about her experiences moving to California.  Some of what she says may
be peculiar to the Bay Area.  I had different experiences when I moved to
the L.A. area from New York.

>	Deposits :
>
>	1. Pacific Gas and Electric.  Get a letter of credit from your current 
>	utility company.  If you can't get one until after you pay your final 
>	bill, write down their telephone number so that you can call them and 
>	ask for one later.  Shortly after you arrive, you will receive a bill 
>	for a $70 deposit, since you haven't had service with them recently.

>	2. Pacific Bell doesn't require a deposit if you give them your
>	Visa or MasterCard number.

Before moving here (in February 1977), I lived with my folks and never
had any utility company credit. I did not have to pay any deposit for gas,
for electricity, or for my phone.

>	3. Security Deposits.  My apartment required a security deposit of
>	$400.  I don't know if this is usual or not.

I've lived in four apartments since coming to California.  The first was
in Anaheim, where I paid 195.00 for a 1 bedroom/nicely furnished/utils paid
in a good area. The security deposit was 110.00

The second was a furnished one bedroom apt in Hollywood, which also
cost 195.00, utilities paid.  This place had a swimming pool which was
condemned by the city shortly after I moved in.  I moved out very
quickly.  Discovering what Hollywood car insurance rates were like was
an important factor.  The security deposit there was one months rent.

The third was a furnished one bedroom in Glendale (ten minutes from
downtown L.A) which had two swimming pools (having at least one is 
common for L.A. area apartment buildings) and gas barbeques.  This
cost 205.00 and went up to 260 before I moved out in 1980.  The security
deposit was 170.00

I've always gotten my security deposit back.  The only hassles I ever
had were with the apt in hollywood.. While there was no question of
my right to the deposit, I had to fight pretty hard over the phone
to motivate the management company's business office to do the tedious
job of putting it in the mail.

At the Glendale apt., not only did I get the deposit back, but the
manager *gave* me most of the furniture that had originally come with
the apt., as all of the furnished apts were being converted to
unfurnished there.

I then moved into my current 1 bedroom unfurnished apt in Northridge,
(a college community, about 20-25 minutes from downtown) which cost
335.00 with no utilities. Four years later, my rent is 410.00.  This
seems to be about 20.00 below par for the neighborhood.  The security
deposit here was last months rent (@335.00)+200=535, for a total of
835.00 initial outlay.  It is a fairly nice building. The pool is kept
clean, and they have gardeners in several times a week.

>	Cars and Licenses :
>
>	1. If your car needs any work done, you may want to do it before you 
>	come here.  Labor charges in the Bay Area are around $50 per hour.
>	Nowadays it seems like labor costs more than the parts.

True for L.A. too.

>	2. You may want to renew your license plates (tags) in your current 
>	state.  The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) told me that I didn't 
>	have to purchase California plates until my current ones expire.  The 
>	cost of plates is based on the value of your car.  I paid $195 for my 
>	1982 Mazda 626.

While I don't have a California Drivers' Handbook in front of me, I
believe that there is a time limit (like a month or two) for registering
in California, that begins the day you establish residence.  When I bought
my Plymouth Volare new in 1977, I paid a 97.00 registration fee.  This was
for a 6000.00 vehicle.  It decreases each year as your car depreciates in
value.  I just got a renewal notice asking for about 35.00.

>	It is necessary to pass the SMOG (exhaust) 
>	inspection before you can get your license plates.  This can be done
>	at many local gas stations ($25-$30).

This will be expensive for out of state cars that don't have catalytic
converters.  Platinum does not come cheap.


>	3. When you apply for a driver's license(DL), they take your current 
>	DL (they don't give it back) and give you a temporary one that expires 
>	after 60 days.  Supposedly your 'real' DL will arrive via USnail within
>	60 days. The temporary DL is just a piece of paper and doesn't contain 
>	you new DL number, nor your picture.

It took a little over a month after I traded in my N.Y. license.  What I found
really hurts is that most car rental places wouldn't rent to an individual
with only a temporary license.

>	Another thing,  if they lose your license it 
>	will take a long time to get one.  They lost mine.  They don't like to
>	issue a new one and try to trace down the one that was lost.

I misread this on first reading to say "if you lose your".  It's not so
bad if you are the one who loses it rather then they. I lost my license
once, and had it lifted (along with my wallet) another time.  Both times
I had a new license within 45 days.

Before you take your test, pick up a copy of the state drivers manual at
the DMV.  This will help greatly.  Be especially wary of numbers contained
within.  The test is multiple choice, and if you are familiar with another
states laws, something that is correct (and clicks in your head when you
see it) in another state, may be different here.

>	2. Car Insurance.  I can only tell you relative to what I previously
>	paid.  I am female, single, 25, and no accidents in the previous 3 
>	years.  When I lived in Massachusetts in 1982, my insurance rates 
>	were $700 per year.  In 1983 in Michigan my rates were $400 a year.  
>	The rates I was quoted here were around $400 a year.  Rates are not 
>	regulated (as they are in Massachusetts) so it is wise to shop around. 

Insurance rates also vary greatly by zip code.  When I first bought
insurance in Anaheim, my rates were about 700.00 a year, at age 20.
When I moved to Hollywood, this jumped to 2000.00 a year.  Of course,  
I moved out of there in less than two months.  In Glendale, I paid just
under 800 a year.  (it would have been twice that if I had lived across
the street in another zip code). This went up to 900 a year when I moved to 
Northridge,  and is now just over 600.00. (Since I'm over 25 now)


>	3. Food.  I was pleasantly surprised at the availabity of fresh fruit
>	and produce.  The price of this is cheaper than anyplace I have lived.
>	Plus, I have been to some roadside stands where produce and fruit is 
>	really cheap.  The price of meat is more expensive than in the Midwest 
>	but cheaper than the East Coast.  There is no bottle deposit law, so 
>	the price of soft drinks and beer isn't as much as in the states that
>	have that law.  I don't off-hand know what the liquor tax is.  If you 
>	would like to compare the price of anything, send me mail about what 
>	you want the price of.  BTW, the grocery stores that I have been to 
>	have a large selection of mexican, chinese and japanese food.

Most Hughes markets have an especially good selection of oriental food.
Also prices in above average to good restaurants are slightly over half
of what they would be in New York.


>	2. Most banks are only open from 10-3.  Some have drive up tellers
>	that have longer hours.  There are 24-hour machines, but they are
>	pretty sparse.  Usually each bank has about 1 per city.  

In L.A. you can usually find an automated teller for a given major bank
within a mile or two in most areas.

>	3.  As far as I can tell, good pizza parlors haven't made it this
>	far west.  Lots of excellent ice cream and relatives (gelato etc. )

Alas. A Good Pizza is hard to find.  There are, however some pretty good
places in Hollywood. And one or two in the San Fernando Valley.  The first
pizza I had out west was at a chain called "Shakey's"  My first comment
to one of the friends I was with was: "This tastes like frozen pizza".
The response I got was "I NEVER eat frozen pizza".  Best to view California
pizza as a regional variety, and aqquire a taste for it, I guess.  It's
not really pizza, but if you can accept that it is something else, you 
might find that it's pretty good for the something else that it is.

Good luck if you decide to move out here.  There's lots to be said for
California besides woody allen's remark about the only cultural
advantage being that one is able to make a right turn on red.  (Even
the laws on that are changing...)

Side note to Carol:  Welcome to California.  btw, do you know if fortune
will ever add job-control to their kernel?  Ive heard some rumors....
-- 

--    Michael Bloom 	---  {philabs,trwrb,cadovax,randvax}!ttidca!mab