Daughter and her friend move to LA in the middle of a pandemic (1 Viewer)

[SoBeDad]

My youngest daughter, late 20s, and her girl friend (not romantic) just moved to LA, without a job, with a few months of money in the bank and with few contacts (her friend's brother lives there).

They've been talking about this move for a year. They view LA as a paradise for weather, liberalism , diversity, veganism, and perhaps THC and other enhancers. They believe there are better jobs in LA than in Miami, which is probably true, but the COL and taxes are high.  My daughter has done campaign work (what better place than Florida) and worked as an associate in the marijuana industry - she's passionate about her work, often too much, but seems to get bored or frustrated after a year or so. She was the only budmaster from Florida  in Green Entrepreneur's recent magazine.  I told her the timing of the move to LA could be better.

First thing is to find a place to live. She and her friend are at an AirBnB near USC. They've looked at places near downtown LA (Belmont Station) but are also looking in Korea town. They want a 2 BR/2 Bath for $1000 each, including utiilties - Belmont is in the range. Oh - she has no car but her friend does, so she plans to use uber and public transportation initially.

Any suggestions?

 

[Grace Under Pressure]

Get transportation.

 

[SoBeDad]

Get transportation.

That's what everyone says about LA. That's why she wants to be centrally located.

 

[Buffaloes]

budmaster shouldn't have trouble finding work just about anywhere. even Louisiana

 

[acarey50]

That's what everyone says about LA. That's why she wants to be centrally located.

It's L.A. - not really such a thing as centrally located, it is all extremely spread out. By the time you add up Uber and public transportation and the added time for those options, it will likely work out cheaper (and much less frustrating) to get a semi-decent used car.

Not saying it can't be done without your own reliable transportation, but there is a reason it is one of the first things anyone suggests when moving to southern California

 

[Buffaloes]

non shticky answer, this seems like an awful idea

 

[nirad3]

I live in the area and have friends in the industry.  It's highly competitive (no pun intended).

I would recommend getting transportation.  Too bad I'm not closer to getting myself a new ride, otherwise I'd offer up my 2004 Corolla.  

Best of luck to her.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Born and raised in LA. This is a bad idea.  Sorry. She will want transportation.  Those neighborhoods are ok, not great, on the safety side. Known is probably the safest. Why are they by usc?  Also not a great neighborhood. Cheapest place?

 

[EYLive]

Best of luck to her. It's hard to move here essentially starting from scratch.

 

[Cold Dead Hands]

Never underestimate the allure of wasting the best years of your life working as a waitress, hoping for something better, while subsisting somewhere around the poverty level with six other poor, idealistic, young dreamers sharing an overpriced 2 bedroom apartment in a terrible neighborhood because the weather is nice and there is an off-chance that Leonardo DiCaprio’s second cousin notices you, and then everything is golden. 
 

Youth is wasted on the young.

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

Have either spent any extended time or even visited LA?

Have they lived together before?

Are they attractive?  Perhaps find someone to take care of their expenses.

Are you prepared for the real possibility she asks to move back in down the road?

Hope they're ready to bust their asses and possibility of having to do anything/everything for money. I can promise you'll find a lot more people willing to hustle (especially now) in LA compared to Miami. Sometimes change of scenery will do wonders for motivation  but obviously now is one of the most difficult times for employment opportunities. Giving up because of boredom/frustration isn't going to be an option and surviving in LA. If only had a few months worth of expenses in the bank, LA (or other higher COL area) would scare me to death during COVID. The worst is yet to come. Lot of folks being propped up right now with FED unemployment/stimulus.

Good luck.

 

[eoMMan]

Any other skills aside from marijuana?  Did she go to school for anything?  Would she go back to school for something she'd enjoy (that would produce an income)?

 

[Ignoratio Elenchi]

 All that said, the time to do something like this is early 20s... Either now or never and live the life of regret. It might be hard but she will absolutely learn something and gain from the experience either way. You'll probably be surprised when you see how much she'll grow up in a year. 

it’s obviously a terrible idea but sometimes we need to learn these lessons ourselves.  

 

[Foosball God]

I'll go off the board and say "Good for her."  This is absolutely the right time to do this kind of move, pandemic notwithstanding.  She's young and hopefully has little to no debt.  There a lot of experiences I could have had if I had been a bit more brave when I was younger.

 

[SoBeDad]

Thanks for the advice. She and her roommate have known each other for 2 years and lived in each other's apartments for about a month while between leases. For now, they get along fine. She has a bachelor's degree from FSU in psychology & environmental studies,  which is basically policy. Above average gpa. No debt. She applied for some environmental jobs out of college, but most wanted some engineering or technical background. She was one of 4 people managing the outreach staff in Hialeah for the Hillary campaign, the loss hit her hard. She could've eventually managed an medical marijuana office in Florida, IMO, but was turned off by corporate decisions and quit right before the pandemic. She was a Google search engine evaluator for a few months, that's a job where humans try to guess what people are really searching for. She's kinda a free spirit, some ADHD and depression, which have a big impact on one's potential. Great writer and verbal skills, but doesn't want law school. 

She has an old 2006 Camry, below average shape, which she's leaving for her half-brother in Miami. I'm not sure it would've made the trip from Miami. In LA, she's willing to work almost any job in the beginning, if there are any. Maybe this experience will help her to mature, or maybe she'll end up in a commune. 

 

[El Floppo]

If things line up just right, what exactly does she see doing for money (dream, but realistic dream, job).

Worst time in history to he doing this kind of thing due to pandemic/economics...but agree with others that it's the best age in her life to do it. And agree with boot that even in abject failure (she'll be fine!), it will be a profound learning experience that will help form her life.

 

[Angry Beavers]

why not? nothing ventured, nothing gained. 

 

[beer 30]

I'll go off the board and say "Good for her."  This is absolutely the right time to do this kind of move, pandemic notwithstanding.  She's young and hopefully has little to no debt.  There a lot of experiences I could have had if I had been a bit more brave when I was younger.

And now for something totally different...

Happy birthday Foos 

 

[SoBeDad]

Thanks again for the feedback. For some people, real-world experience is better than the classroom. 

Because she and her friend are currently without jobs, both dads will sign on as if we're co-occupants - the leasing office said that would be the fastest way to get approval to lease. They both have 700+ credit and a combined $15,000 in their bank accounts, but requiring employment makes sense. 

 

[coyote5]

You're a better man than I.  If my late 20s daughter up an quit her job with nothing lined up to replace it, and then decided to head for California with a couple of months living expenses and asked me to be on the hook if things went south, my response would not be so favorable.

Now, in all fairness, I don't have a late 20s daughter, only a pre-teen son.  So while I feel strongly now that I would not offer the financial backstop, maybe I feel different 15 yrs from now

Good luck to your daughter 

 

[huthut]

A dumb question, but what is a budmaster? I assume it is more prestigious than a run of the mill weed dealer? Does LA have a shortage of them at this point? I am not sure how easy it would be to get into that industry or if it has "devout" fans willing to work at a discount, driving income down. I know video games are similar, where the pay is significantly lower than comparable programming jobs because tons of people are excited about making video games as a fan, while less people grow up dying to program using Salesforce or whatever. 

 

[Foosball God]

A dumb question, but what is a budmaster? I assume it is more prestigious than a run of the mill weed dealer? Does LA have a shortage of them at this point? I am not sure how easy it would be to get into that industry or if it has "devout" fans willing to work at a discount, driving income down. I know video games are similar, where the pay is significantly lower than comparable programming jobs because tons of people are excited about making video games as a fan, while less people grow up dying to program using Salesforce or whatever. 

Think of it like a brewmaster at a brewery.  They would cultivate the plants and try out different hybrids.