Moving from NY to California...

Quote from LivninSC : WTF are you guys talking about? Like stopping at a stop sign, not exceeding the speed limit, going 25 mph in a school zone, breaking when the light is yellow and you're not gonna make it, etc.. It's not all Mad Max on the east coast turnpike ya know...

For traffic lights yellow means slow and red means stop.

Stop signs means slow unless there are other cars or possible police presence.

Quote from impact1400 : I do have one question -- is it necessary for me to trade in my New York license and get a California driver's license? Would it be better to have a California ID for easier proof of residency? How about if I wanted to change my voter registration to the state of California?

You have a certain number of days to get new license plates but when does the clock start ticking? Try not to check in, like getting parking or other citations. I am cool with the cops, because if you are nice you are more likely to get off with a warning, but man I feel those parking guys are after me. They will wait for your meter to expire, will ticket minutes into/just at end of street cleaning, they will mark the same street a few times a day for time limit and they will ticket the same car day after day.

Your vote does not count. It is all Democrats all the time. WTF are you coming to CA--L.A of all places???

If you insist on changing your voter registration be prepared for jury duty. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Quote from pjoseph : I grew up in both NY and North Jersey, after graduation about 6 years ago I got a job that transferred me out to CA. I actually live in the Glendale area and love it. A car is most likely a must, and yes traffic is horrible but you will figure out which roads to avoid and when. The weather out here is just amazing; I could not deal with those winters now after living here. I basically go back once a year during Christmas time and thats it. I would say good places to live by me are, Glendale, Pasadena, silver lake, studio city, Montrose. not sure on budget but if renting a descent 1 bedroom will run at minimum $1,100/month in places i listed above.

West Hollywood is also nice. That and Santa Monica are some of the few places where basic necessities are within walking distance. It is recommended to have a car and a must if you chose other areas. It can be an 10yr old Honda for $5000 which may be worth a thousand less two years later when you sell it.

Quote from Scampsters : Public transit system in Los Angeles is great actually guess you never tried using it. I easily got from Pasadena up to LAX on mass transit. Infact on many of the freeways there are bus only lanes. OP short and sweet posts are often a 'just being lazy' thing in this kind of case more details are important. please expand the first post. When we moved from Columbia MO to San Francisco we took a car carrier and whatever would fit in the trunk. My pythons aquarium took up most of the back seat. This more a lounge question or maybe travel deals and discussion type post also.

Every time I return from the east coast I want to take public transportation. I once tried on something that couldn't go wrong considering it was one bus until the last stop and back, but apparently on the way back the bus will not always pick up from that (first) stop and I gave up.

If it is one bus and it is Metro Rapid [metro.net], then a bus makes sense. I would still get a car just in case.

Quote from impact1400 : Summary for people revisiting this thread: -I am moving from NYC to California (greater LA region). It's very likely I will only be in California for 2-3 years. -I've been doing research and I haven't seen the greatest options for used cars under $10K. Anything $10K or over I would probably finance through my credit union -Wondering if I should consider leasing a car to try to get away with spending less money... -Gas prices suck, but I am aware of what's in store for me

Quote from impact1400 : Didn't know that one would need to buy the car at least a year in advance. Good info to have, although I'm pretty certain I'll be getting a car in CA. As for the public transportation, I definitely would have no problem using it. However, I'm probably going to be living in the suburbs and working at driving distances, so the car is a must have.

I have no problem using it either--in NYC!

Welcome to California. Such a lovely place, such a lovely place, such a lovely place [youtube.com].

Quote from mantequilla : A word of warning about this option. If you do this to save on sales tax, you need to buy the car at least a year in advance. Otherwise, when you go to register your car in California, you'll be hit with the sales tax here anyways. Also, if you live LA in the city (not the suburbs), public transportation is not bad. A 30-day Metro pass runs you $75. If you compare that to owning a car, even a used car, you'll need to pay for the car, gas, maintenance, insurance, parking fees (depending on where you're living and if you can get a parking spot), etc. Now if you're talking about the suburbs, you can get around on public transportation but let's just say it's much nicer to have a car. Hope this helps.

Hence why I said it was cost about 10% of the sales price to register in California.

Moving to Cali? Sorry..

Quote from dzap : If you get a motorcycle. Enjoy dying in about 2 months.

Why do people like you even post crap like this?