Moving to LA end of July - Advice Needed PLEASE
 

:eek:
Any links to where I need to start with regard to moving myself and two children to LA by the end of July (my husband goes this Sunday). Have no idea where to start first (the company will be arranging our visas). Am really looking for any practical advice. Any responses would be very much appreciated!

Re: Moving to LA end of July - Advice Needed PLEASE
 

Sheesh, where do you start..are you sure you want to move to LA? haha..just kidding..I live in San Diego, much nicer:) I'd recommend googling the city and county of LA, they have all sorts of tips on moving into the area. I would also call the police agencies and look at their websites..be careful what part of LA you move to..

If you'd like i can attach links to various sites..

SOCal is a great place to live (dont believe the TV rubbish).

Re: Moving to LA end of July - Advice Needed PLEASE
 

Remember to CHECK THE SCHOOLS. The public school system here is devolved into districts, your children will go to the school in the district they live, and all districts are NOT the same. So get a list of houses, apartments, whatever, find out the school districts which they fall under, and look up their statistics

Re: Moving to LA end of July - Advice Needed PLEASE
 

Hallo from LA:)

First, what part of LA are you moving to? LA is huge and you need to be focusing on neighborhoods rather than LA as a whole.

Think about where your husband will be working, and how long he is willing to commute for.

Depending where he work's will have a big impact on the traffic. My husband and I work similar distance's away from home but in opposite directions. It take's him 50 minutes to drive to work, for me it's 10 minutes. You need to think about time rather than distance.

Once you have an area that is commutable, google the areas, or post them on here, a few of us know LA quite well. There will be some places that you will want to rule out immediately.

Use Great Schools, to do research, how old are your kids? Again lots of people on here have moved their kids, me included.

http://www.greatschools.org/

Email the school's you like and try set up an appointment to look around for when you arrive in July (maybe difficult as its the holidays).

Craigslist is a good place to find rentals if that's what you are doing. Personally I would suggest finding the right school before committing to a house.

Make sure the kids are up to date with their immunisations, they will also need Hep which isn't given in the UK. Get all your medical records to bring with you.

I've been in LA 2.5 years now and have an 8 year old. If you want to PM me any questions please feel free.

Re: Moving to LA end of July - Advice Needed PLEASE
 

Make sure to establish your professional and social network in LA quickly by joining Brits in LA on Facebook, the local British Chamber of Commerce and similar organizations. Don't wait to go to events until you are all settled in as many do, but take time to as soon as possible as everybody will have a good advice, good contact etc that can make a huge difference for you.

Re: Moving to LA end of July - Advice Needed PLEASE
 

Where is your husband going to be and is he going to give you any help with the move?

Re: Moving to LA end of July - Advice Needed PLEASE
 

Gosh guys, thank you all so much for your advice. I'll be doing the move myself (oh dear God) as my husband goes tomorrow. He will be working for Tesla at Hawthorne. We were hoping for Redondo Beach?:confused:

Re: Moving to LA end of July - Advice Needed PLEASE
 

Are you being transferred or is it a new job for him? Have you visited the area?

Also what ages are your children?

Re: Moving to LA end of July - Advice Needed PLEASE
 

Whoa! Tesla Motors? What an excellent company to get a job with! Congratulations!

Please do make sure that you remain informed and knowledgeable about your visa and immigration situation. It's an important part of your life, more so than schools or neighborhoods, and you need to understand it.

I'm a little surprised that a company like Tesla has left the move to you. Normally an employer like that would handle the move.

Re: Moving to LA end of July - Advice Needed PLEASE
 

I've lived all my life in L.A.. Grew up in the San Fernando Valley and have lived in Echo Park/Silverlake/Los Feliz since 1979. So not that familiar with the South Bay area other than the South Bay Curve.

However, on the schools -- one should visit the school and talk to parents there. Statistics do not tell all the story. I'm of the opinion that that the kids will excel almost anywhere, given the right guidance. And the primary guidance should be from the parents! The recent death of Jaime Escalante [Stand And Deliver] has really brought this forward. The kids at Garfield had parents who did not get involved and it took one inspired teacher to make a difference.

Re: Moving to LA end of July - Advice Needed PLEASE
 

I don't know much about that area, although we liked Manhattan Beach and were considering it when we first came over. It has its own school district but housing is pretty pricey and as one of my husband's colleaugues put it, "It nice area but it near not nice area."

Re: Moving to LA end of July - Advice Needed PLEASE
 

Are your company paying for and arranging shipping of your furniture and possesions? Is this a transfer or a new job?
If you have to arrange the shipping yourself then use the search facility at the top of the USA forum and search for shipping, removals etc, there are lots of threads about that.

The info you've been given from dbj1000 about visas is sound advice. What visa are you travelling on and have the company agreed to pursue greencards for you once you get here?

Try www.city-data.com for more specific info on neighborhoods and schools. As others have said the school ratings don't tell the whole story.

Have you booked your flights yet? got the visas in hand yet? (I guess so if your husband is about to leave)

Re: Moving to LA end of July - Advice Needed PLEASE
 

My husband came over to the US 3 weeks before I did and I was left to pack everything myself and get our 2 young kids over myself. I survived it and I am sure you will too but make sure when you get over that hubby gets you something nice to thank you for doing everything! How old are your kids? Mine were 4 and 6 when we came over and luckily the crew on the plane were great as were the staff at the airport (we connected in Houston). If you are bringing extra bags it is cheaper to pay for them online rather than at the airport. I flew Continental and saved quite a bit by doing that. Of course I should have paid more at the airport and 4 of my bags were over the max weight but the check in lady told me not to worry about it.

Re: Moving to LA end of July - Advice Needed PLEASE
 

I'm currently in LA. I don't know the city but my first impression of the traffic is awful. My only advice would be to try to minimise your driving commute to as short a distance as possible.

Re: Moving to LA end of July - Advice Needed PLEASE
 

Well I moved out to Palm Springs nearly 4 years ago. It's such a fantastic place to live and I feel I'm on vacation 24/7 even though I work full time!! LA can be very daunting (I dislike LA intensely) but there are some great "village" communities - a friend of mine lives near Redondo beach and that seems to be a great area. Most of all, enjoy the wonderful blue skies and sunshine - as I sit here at 8.30pm, it's 90F with hardly any humidity. I love the desert.
Philip