Considerations for Moving to Los Angeles

[Waddler]

I currently live in Colorado Springs, but am prayerfully considering moving to Los Angeles to pursue screenwriting as a career. I'd like to know what I need to consider. I've never lived outside my home state on my own, so I'm pretty ignorant.

My current income is from SSA disability benefits, which is not fun. I get just under $800 a month, and don't like being subject to the limitations on my income. I'm mentally capable, just not physically agile. My goal is to save up money, put my name on public housing lists for Los Angeles, continue to learn everything I can about scriptwriting, and network where I can.

That said, I'm still working on my strategy, so what considerations should I take into account for moving to LA?

 

[nonaeroterraqueous]

I want to tell you not to do it, but I suspect that's not what you want to hear. $800 a month won't get you anything but an empty stomach around here. Costs are very high. I don't know about public housing, but I haven't seen rent for anything at all as low as $800 per month since about 1999. We've got lots of screenwriters and actors. They come from all over the continent to make it big, and they all end up wandering and living on the streets of West Hollywood. The homeless population, here, is booming like I've never seen it.

I don't mean to suggest that you can't write well. I believe that you can. That's not enough. Granted, you might get lucky and meet just the right person in the right way, but the chances of that are very low, even for someone within the top two percent of the best writers. There are lots of things for an intelligent disabled person to do, and this is not the best of your options by any stretch.

 

[Waddler]

I want to tell you not to do it, but I suspect that's not what you want to hear. $800 a month won't get you anything but an empty stomach around here. Costs are very high. I don't know about public housing, but I haven't seen rent for anything at all as low as $800 per month since about 1999. We've got lots of screenwriters and actors. They come from all over the continent to make it big, and they all end up wandering and living on the streets of West Hollywood. The homeless population, here, is booming like I've never seen it.

I don't mean to suggest that you can't write well. I believe that you can. That's not enough. Granted, you might get lucky and meet just the right person in the right way, but the chances of that are very low, even for someone within the top two percent of the best writers. There are lots of things for an intelligent disabled person to do, and this is not the best of your options by any stretch.

You're right that it's not what I want to hear, but that's okay. I appreciate your candor.

My federally-funded housing program puts people on a waiting list for one of the housing developments in a participating city (Los Angeles is one of them). The rent is based on a household income, so I'm fine with waiting for an apartment, and affording it isn't an issue. When I do begin selling scripts or other writing, I'll eventually reach the cap for the program and have to find a regular apartment. I'm okay with that, too.

I do write well, and I realize that's not enough. It takes connections and availability, hard work, some good circumstances, and more hard work. I've got a friend who has said he'll let me move in with him if I have to come back to Colorado, until I can get a place of my own. I'm not worried about becoming homeless. I'll fight tooth and nail not to end up on the street.

Rent in LA is about two to three times more expensive for a regular apartment than what you'll find here, but I should have no problem affording a one bedroom unit once I get to the cap on my current housing program.

 

[Waddler]

I'm going to call the LA Housing Authority later today to find out if I can put my name on their public housing list while I still live in Colorado. By the time my name is likely to come up, I'll be in a position to move.

For now, the priority is to save money for other expenses, check out the shops, libraries, etc. near the public housing apartment complexes, and keep writing. One question I have: does LA have good public transportation and/or pathways for bicycles? I don't own a car, so I'd be using a bus or a bicycle to get places.