LIVE WITH STRANGERS AND YOU JUST MIGHT DISCOVER YOURSELF

I remember when I rented my first apartment in LA. I lived on the second floor of a typical west LA apartment building. None of my neighbors, aside from the initial “hi-who-are-you-how-can-I-help,” seemed to show much interest in me or the problems I was having that everyone experiences when they first move away from their parents. But thinking about it now, I can really say that I took getting advice from friendly neighbors for granted.

I guess I was naive. What I needed, like all people who try to make it in a new city, was human connection. There were times when I got down because I missed a job opportunity, had a fender bender and didn’t know the ins and outs of insurance policies and got screwed, etc. when I could have used more helpful tips. To make a long story short, I managed to survive this far. But it could have, and perhaps should have, been easier if I were only able to break the wall of silence between me and my neighbors. What I should have done was sublease a room.

As a sub letter in a big city, there is a big chance that you are living with someone who shares the same ups and downs. And that is fertile ground for opening up about your woes.

Three out of four pieces of advice given here on the Huffington Post center around connecting with others. For those with no family connections or friends in a strange and new city, sometimes the only option is to open up and connect.  This is survival mode. But this isn’t always so easy for everyone, which is what makes thriving even more difficult for so many here. In the social media age we tend to think we are connected but in actuality only connect on the most superficial of levels (often mindless text and images devoid of context). Living with someone new and like-minded is the ultimate advantage of stripping away the layers of defenses and being open to new experiences.

Wanting a great apartment when you move to LA is perfectly normal. Wanting those invaluable connections, especially in the arts and entertainment fields, doesn’t have to be a separate pursuit. As an LA newbie, your rental options are limited to an extreme when you arrive: you’ve got limited funds, often a credit problem, debt up your a$#, and you haven’t bought a car yet. “Advice after mischief is like medicine after death,” as goes the Danish proverb. And too many people who have planted their feet in LA have gone back to their native cities because they didn’t have anyone to tell them what to do until it was too late. Shared living is sort of the antidote to hasty lifestyle choices in a new city, particularly in a perception-oriented climate like LA.  And when people save us from the fire, we want to give back to others; the struggle continues.

When you’re down, the idea is to not stay down. Those who show resilience are worthy of our respect because we love survivors. They make for great stories, and we want to be one of them. In order to thrive and become a success, you have to first survive by connecting with others in your immediate environment. Subleasing and/or shared living is the new industry mixer and community council meeting wrapped up in one. In each separate event, you work to improve your status at work and at home. But when you bring them together, you gain that much of an edge as an LA newbie.

–Nir Dayan

Is Your Neighborhood being Gentrified?

Gentrification has been an outgrowth of housing crisis since the onset of the Great Recession. We previously highlighted the gradual process for gentrification in this post HERE. Employment scarcity has pushed a lot of people out of the suburbs who bought homes on cheap credit and then lost them. This has made rental inventory scarce and pushed younger people to cheaper apartments in low-income, mostly minority neighborhoods, further gentrifying them.

Society has pointed to gentrification as a source for housing inequalities for decades: snobby yuppies moving in and ruining authentic traditional cultures and ethnic communities (Who can forget the line in Do the Right Thing— “Mother&%$# Gentrification!”):

But wait a minute……an article on NPR online helps us to rethink the logic of gentrification.

According to the article, a once-crack-plagued neighborhood in Washington, D.C. has been a shining example of how the original residents of an urban neighborhood have benefitted from the arrival of outsiders. Today, we don’t blink an eye when we call them “hipsters,” but back in the eighties they were called “gentrifiers.” The point is debatable, but some are reporting that  the original poor/working class residents of bad neighborhoods have just as much to gain from having gentrifying (often white) educated people moving into their areas. Honestly, this piece seems to have been written with some kind of pro-big development agenda because the positive outcomes it cites are kind of fuzzy to begin with:   migrants taking care of their private spaces and their facades, and that, in turn breeding construction of health food superstores down the street. Huh? So, the original residents didn’t clean up their stoops? What’s undoubtable is that the subletters keep migrating and the new apartment complexes seem to follow promptly, forcing a new wave of alternative renters to find other neighborhoods to gentrify.

For those old-time renters in urban centers like Washington DC, New York and Los Angeles, the a great advantage from gentrification over the years has been rent-control. Rent control limits the amount a landlord can increase the rent, and if you are renting an apartment that is rent controlled and you have been living there for many years, you just might be paying much lower than market rent.

Renting an apartment in Echo Park, for example, in 2014 at 1989 prices doesn’t sound too bad. Not only do you have a discounted apartment you’re living in, but you’re enjoying all the benefits of gentrification: a safer environment, more convenient stores, an active neighborhood. But you also watch as your once culturally vibrant neighborhood becomes diluted in a way.

It’s true that generally those footing the bill for the differences in quality of life are the new residents who take up an apartment at market rent, which can be as much as 50% of the average income in a city. Their decision, of course. That is why many of them resort to co-op and subleasing together, either with friends or through online communities like subleasehub.com.

To these people, the hipsters and newcomers, gentrification is obviously a good thing. The old-time residents, of course lose out on the feel of their once vibrant communities that are now sort of kitchy shells of their former selves.

–Nir Dayan

Is Trendier Glendale Getting Eaten Up by LA?

The retail nut in all of us loves a neighborhood with accessible malls, it seems. That’s how most Angelenos want their neighborhood to feel like, according to Curbed. The best “nabe” of 2013 beat out the just-as-trendy-but-more-artsy Downtown districts by a margin of 60-40. This would mean that people are still predisposed to having giant clothing retailers and kiddy-shops within short-driving distance of their homes. Or does it? Glendale, long known as a suburban family counterpart to neighboring Los Angeles, is becoming more and more popular for younger urban singles then it was before. This is mainly because those priced out of Silverlake and Atwater can go to Glendale’s peripheries. There are streets that meet the “see and be seen” feel, as well as neighborhoods with views (such as Adams Hill) that compete with the Hollywood Hills.

Take the new bars and restaurants popping up in Glendale, such as Brand 158 and  The Famous. Brand 158 is a concept pizzaria with a full bar. The owner of the new place is Cyril Kabaoglu, who is known in the industry for doing Los Angeles pop-ups. The Famous is a bar with a vibe that can compare with any hip Los Angeles drinking spot, with live jazz music and hip ambiance.

The subleasing  market (rooms and co-ops) in Glendale is also taking a page out of the Angeleno playbook. Renting rooms, spaces, and subleasing was not always a popular option, mainly because of inventory: most houses and apartments were occupied fully by families with long established cultural footprints in LA. These communities were diverse, including  Armenians, Philipinos, Thai, etc. Sharing their homes with strangers is as uncommon in these cultures as it is common with people who have come to Glendale recently on their own.

However with the new influx of “cool”ness Glendale is getting, more people will be occupying spaces in the this city and establish an environment where more individuals looking for short-term space can live there. I believe this will help increase Glendale’s popularity with potential renters and add another dimension to the city’s demographics . After all,  more diverse renters coming in to Glendale would otherwise be living in the eclectic Atwater/Silver Lake area.

Prices are a bit cheaper than in Silver Lake/Atwater as well, and are comparable to Eagle Rock and Highland Park, ranging from 600 for a basic room to low 700s with private bath. If there are special requests by the resident, such as females only, rooms can go down to 4-500. Negotiating the price, I believe, is more flexible as well, as currently there are not as many people looking to rent spaces short term in Glendale as there are in LA.

Meanwhile, I’m wondering myself what will fill Nordstrom’s vacated space at the Glendale Galleria. If it is going the way of LA, may I suggest a loft space for art galleries and musical festivals?…please?

–Gad Zigdon