Looking to move to L.A. from Dallas, TX.  I know...before some of you tell me I'm crazy, I understand the repercussions.  

Things I am aware of:
Higher rent
Higher gas prices
State income tax
Strict gun laws
Lots of liberals

As much as I enjoy my guns, they are not a priority in life and I am choosing to relocate somewhere that I am able to better enjoy other activities.  I have been there three times since August 2016 and would really enjoy the hiking, desert off roading, mountains, beach, and just the larger feel of L.A.  (Dallas is starting to feel small for me)  I work in IT as a network engineer so jobs don't seem too difficult to come by.  

Anyone else care to add their PROS/CONS that I may not have thought about?

Well u can move To a county that issues concealed carry permits in CA.
If you have or want NFA FIREARMS that will be tough .
State income tax but hopefully u will make more money in CA.
Can still own semi auto firearms.
off roading
great weather in S.CA.
PLENTY OF GREAT LOOKING WOMEN
PLENTY TO DO


TEXAS DIDNT HAVE OPEN CARRY UNTIL RECENTLY AND U STILL NEED A PERMIT - AND DIDNT HAVE CONCEALED CARRY UNTIL 1994

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=1236204

10 ROUND MAG limit but i love to sell normal capacity mags to californians when they come the arizona gun shows - of course they store their mags in arizona for when they come here to shoot

fun times ahead

Do not underestimate the importance of and negative effects from over-crowding.  There are just too many people here,... too many.  

For example, this adversely impacts traffic to such a degree that there are places to go and things to do in which I do not participate because the commute times are just waaaay too long.  Basically, I get out of here every chance I get.

Be sure to properly assess the economics of moving here.  For example, property tax rates (%) may be lower but the cost of houses is higher so the net tax paid may not change much.  The high cost of housing also forces many into very long work day commutes, eating time (2 hour/day) and money (car, car insurance, wear and tear, maintenance, tires,...) by the bushel.

Over crowding also means one hour wait times to get into the better eateries.

https://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/springfield-armory-m1a-762-nato-national-match-trigger-706397905934.do?sortby=ourPicksAscend&refType=&from=fn

More traffic and more A-holes.

No NFA items.  All I have is a 16" barreled AR-15 and a pair of glocks.  I do have my CCW for Texas but I guess that wont help me in getting one in Cali.  

I'll probably end up renting an apartment in the Culver City area since a few jobs I am talking to...one is there and the other is supposed to be a 20 min commute to West LA/Hollywood area.

Is it difficult to get tags for my vehicle?  It's an 01 4runner.  Easily passes smog here but I know they are crazy out there.

"Los Angeles," population, for the most part is in the L.A. Basin, San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley, Orange County and Inland Empire and has been creeping out through the passes into the desert and into the Ventura County valleys as well.  Living in one of the valleys and working in one of the other valleys creates it's own set of commuter nightmares.

Pretty much anything you might want as a part of city life is available in the greater Los Angeles area.  It is extraordinarily diverse in all the positive as well as negative ways.  And it's not Chicago, San Francisco or New York. And with effort and planning, as you are aware, you can get out of the city for non-city pursuits as well.  

As sucky as it can seem at times, and for good reasons, businesses leaving aside, the population continues to grow in California.  More people like it here than don't.

In agreement with Trollslayer. Traffic has gotten worse in the past several years. I have lived here in Los Angeles for the past 18 years. With increased housing construction in outlying areas, more people move into those areas and commute. In contrast, the highway situation remains the same. Add a freeway incident, such as a shooting or fatal traffic collision snarl traffic for miles and hours.

I live 20 minutes from work now in a worse neighborhood than a nicer neighborhood farther away. The sanity saved in commute time is worth it to me.

There is a lot of gentrification going on in some of the neighborhoods as well.

I plan on working here another 8-12 years and I'm out of this place. Though I will miss the diversity and beauty of this state, I can't stand the traffic and politics of it.

States NFA Key

MG
Machine Gun
SI
Sound Suppressor (Silencer)
SR
Short Barreled Rifle
SG
Short Shotgun
AOW
Any Other Weapon
LBDD
Large Bore Destructive Device
EXPDD
Explosive, Incendiary Or Poison Gas Destructive Device


MG   SI   SR   SG AOW LBDD EXPDDComments

Y --- - N-- Y---Y--  Y---------Y---------Y-----Requires discretionary and rarely issued permit for MG, LBDD OR EXPDD from state Dept. of Justice; no AOW pen guns; C&R SG, SR only)



A Note about NFA Weapons and California

As a general rule the definitions of NFA weapons, as regulated in California, track exactly the federal definitions, and categories.

Cal. Penal Code Sec. 12020(a) prohibits the possession of, among other things, AOW's (Any other Weapons) and short shotguns and short rifles. Subsection (b) lists exemptions to the application of (a).

Subsection (b)(7) of section 12020 exempts any "firearm or ammunition" lawfully possessed under federal law and on the C&R list. Subsection (b)(8), exempts ALL AOW's except "pen guns." Subsection b(2) is the exemption for the movie permit for short shotguns and short rifles with the procedure for its issuance found at section 12095.

In short, Californians can legally possess any AOW, except a pen gun, as long as it is possessed in compliance with federal law, and as long as it isn't classified as an assault weapon (SB 23 treats some semi-auto pistols with dual pistol grips, AOWs under federal law, as prohibited assault weapons). Likewise they can possess any C&R listed short rifle or short shotgun.

Short shotguns and short rifles are defined at (c)(1) and (c)(2) respectively; the definitions are essentially the same as federal law. HOWEVER, unlike the feds, California courts have ruled that the length of a rifle with a folding stock is measured with the stock folded, not extended, as the feds do. So a gun that is not a short rifle under federal law may be one under California law. See People v. Rooney, 17 Cal.App.4th 1207 (1 Dist. 1993).

Any firearm whose possession is otherwise prohibited by subsection (a) is ok, under b(7), if the gun is a C&R one and lawfully possessed under federal law. This would not provide an exemption to the requirement for a state permit for a machine gun, as 12020(a) does not regulate mg's. That is section 12220 (ban) and 12230 et seq. (permits). Rules for DD's are at section 12301 et seq. Silencers are regulated at section 12500 et seq. The state Department of Justice has discretionary authority to issue permits to possess DD's or machine guns, and does not issue them to collector-civilians. Civilians are totally prohibited from owning silencers.

10 round magazines in California and the ar15 will have to configured into an non assault weapon style firearm  --www.franklinarmory.com dfm magazine

https://www.franklinarmory.com/products/franklin-armory-10-round-dfm

Con- traffic
Con - Traffic
Con - TRAFFIC
Con - cost of living
gasoline  $$
food        $$
RENT     $$$

note on traffic, what is stated as a 20 minutes can vary greatly depending on time of day and other factors.  
My commute is 55 miles one way Costa Mesa to Burbank,
My commute time varies from between;
48 minutes for a low (early morning leave by 6am, late evening leave after 8pm)
2.5 hours for the high (leave between 7am to 10 am. afternoon/evening leave between 2pm-7pm)  
with  accidents and construction  I've had as bad as a 3.5hr one way commute.
My average is a bit over an hour. I always make better time on my motorcycle but have done well in my 4x4 with early & late leave times.

I work with people  who live within 10 miles and they have a 30-45 minute commute due to poor freeway access and surface street traffic.  what saves me is both work and home are less than a mile from the freeways.

Tags for your vehicle should be no problem as long as it is in decent mechanical condition.

Plan your commute.  That will be #2, after getting a job.

Living within LA proper is expensive.  Very expensive.  So most commute. Keep your commute short and liveable to keep your sanity.

Good offroading and public land is at least 90 minutes away from DTLA.  You may want to find work and housing somewhere inbetween DTLA and open spaces.  That will seriously improve your housing options and can help avoid commuting.

OTOH you can live and work in DTLA but a single family house will be but a dream, and you will fight your way everywhere else.

Anyways, plenty of options.  Find a good job first, then we can help you with where to live.

Culver City is not 20 min from Hollywood. What's ur rent budget op? I commute from Rancho Cucamonga to Hollywood most days but other I get lucky and stay at the gf house in Sherman oaks. LA is amazing and is will be the hottest place to move to shortly...that means high rent. Check out Netflix and Viacom as they just relocated to Hollywood. Shoot me a pm if you have any questions.

I live west of Culver City (Playa del Rey) and commute to Bev Hills and West Hollywood regularly.

I take surface streets and can get there in 45-50 mins during rush hour. Waze is the shit.??
But  it can regularly take over an hour to get back home.

In addition to Culver City, check out Mar Vista,  Westchester (stay East of Sepulveda) or even Burbank if you're looking at working in Hollywood.

Traffic just sucks. Leave early and hit the gym before work.

I was looking around at apartments around in areas west of downtown all the way out to culver city and it seems anything decent is about $1900 a month for a one bed room.  After doing the math with income taxes, both state and federal...even if I were to find a place for $1700, I would have to get and increase in pay of $18k from what I am making in Dallas, and that's just for me to break even in comparison to money I have left over after rent/bills now.  I guess I will just have to wait and see if the company makes me an offer with the salary I need.

At least with Trump President, you wouldn't have to deal with the traffic problems every time Obama flew in for a Hollywood/Westside fund-raiser.

ACTUCALLY THEIR ARE PROBABLY ABOUT  15,000,000.00  CONSERVATIVES IN CALIFRNIA MORE THAN MOST STATES - THE PROBLEM IS THE LIB OUT NUMBER THE CONSRVS
WITH 40,000,000 MILLION PEOPLE IN THE STATE -

WYOMING ALASKA AND VERMONT  DONT EVEN EQUAL 2 MILLION PEOPLE I BELIEVE --   AND MILLIONS OF CONSERVATIVES HAVE MOVED TO ARIZONA UTAH NEVADA -- BECAUSE ARIZONAS POPULATION IS 40 % CALIFORNIANS -- CALIFORNIA HAD THEIR NUMBER ON SALES OF GUNS LAST YEAR ---THEIR ARE MORE GUNS IN CALIFORNIA THAN MOST STATE JUST BECAUSE OF THE POPULATION

     I TYPE IN CAPS NOT YELLING

I like caps (easier to read with failing eyesight) but it isn't accepted practice anywhere and never has been (it's not just a youthful, social media thing).

Really..............

Really

If I were shouting, "Really!" you'd know it.

I was in the inland empire, Rancho Cucamonga, for about 4.5 years and the traffic continued to get worse over that time.  I traveled 30 miles toward LA.  About 45-50 min in the morning and an hour in the afternoon.  Audio books were my friend.  It didn't bother me much except Friday afternoons when the commute home was at least 50% longer.

I have to say that total cost of living in Ohio is not incredibly less.  My house is have the cost and taxes are higher than CA.  We also have city taxes and school district taxes and 7% sales tax.  Gas is cheaper and housing is cheaper.  Most other stuff is close.

Try to live in reverse traffic if you can.

There is everything to do there.  Our family misses the outdoor activities terribly.  We loved to hike in the mountains, go to the beach, try new restaurants....  The shooting match circuit dwarfs anything I've seen anywhere else.  Gun laws suck but if you have to go you can have fun.

Edited to say I learned to love the Mini-14 in CA.

If you are hoping to find a place on the west side for "$1,700-1,900".....good luck. You MIGHT find a studio for that amount.

Your commute to Hollywood from Culver City won't be 20 minutes. Not even close.

Car insurance/sales tax/registration/etc will eat you alive.

Take this from someone who had to live in LA.

I'm coming up on my two year Caliversary after moving here from Detroit.

PROS:

The weather is perfect. (Michigan gets the worst of both worlds. Hot, humid summers and frigid, snowy winters.)

The landscape is amazing (Michigan is flat as a pancake, but here I've got mountains, beaches, deserts and more within an hour or two)

I've never seen so many consistently beautiful women concentrated into one area as I have in LA.

There is something fun to do every single day of the year, oftentimes for free.

Car insurance is literally half as much as it is in Michigan, and four times cheaper than in Detroit proper.

The car culture is second to none, and if you like to drive fast, challenging roads the LA basin is surrounded by them on three sides.

As stated above, LA is a veritable cornucopia of amazing ethnic food. (though I miss Lebanese and Polish food. Lots of Persians, not so many people from elsewhere in the Middle East)

CONS:

Obviously traffic.

The rent is higher, but compared to the Midwest overall cost of living works out to be about the same since you don't have to pay for heat, in my case my car insurance is much cheaper, and it seems that I pay less for electricity out here as well. This will of course differ depending on where you're moving here from.

People have no fucking clue how to drive. I have never been passed on the right more in my life. There is absolutely no lane discipline whatsoever, and even if the roads are relatively clear half of the people drive 5-10 MPH below the speed limit (in the left lane, naturally. In a Prius 95% of the time) (the other half are driving 60-70 MPH above the speed limit in the right lane). If you live in a neighborhood with on street parking, figure 87% of people will take up two car lengths to park, ensuring that you'll park literally 4-5 blocks away from your home.

I live in Long Beach, so I thankfully don't have to worry about this too much, but the rich white people in LA (especially the West side) are fucking insufferable pricks who lack any consideration for anyone other than themselves. Especially when they're behind the wheel (of their spotless G-Wagen that has 40-series tires and has never seen so much as a speck of dust, much less the mud it was built for).


But for all the stuff that drives me batty about this place, I genuinely love living here. I have zero motivation to move back to SE Michigan. (though Colorado and Tennessee are persuasive..)

So much truth here!

But you don't have anyone DWA.  Driving while Amish.

4th generation Angeleno

Cons - traffic and crowding

Pros of course close to Central Coast, Sierras, deserts

There is a level of a lot of things that are just below the tourist stuff.  The museums, all kinds, The Jeffersonian aka Exposition Park  probably second only to the Smithsonian for a complex of several top notch museums., Gene Autry Western Museum (real and movies), Reagan and Nixon Library, live theater in Hollywood often with big name leads, concerts of all kinds, etc

Then there's the LA Eclectic and Wierd - Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Coca Cola plant on Central, Farmer John plant on Soto..  Arts District downtown between skid row and the river.  Murals, and you'll think you've been there before, well you have movies and TV locations

5-7 hours drive to Vegas, if minimal traffic.  6 or so to Yosemite 5 to San Luis Obispo area.

Sports - Dodgers, Angels, Kings, Ducks, Clippers, Lakers, USC, UCLA, Rams, Chargers

Property Taxes - Prop 13 - 1% of value based on last sales price.

Sales and Income taxes, well not as bad as New York and New Jersey, but up there

Don't for get that in Kali you will have INCOME TAXES.

Also, you will be constantly hearing of "Proposals" and "Legislation" to take your money away from you and give it to someone else.

You'll have to take bags with you to the grocery store or pay $.10 cents each.

You'll pay "California Redemption Value" ("CRV") on most cans and bottles that are used for soda, juices, teas and coffee.

You'll be restricted on where you can go "Off Roading".

You'll have to be prepared to encounter "fresh of the boat" types everywhere you go, your neighbors and fellow drivers
on the roads in on the streets.

I was born here (1961) and am anxiously waiting to bug the hell out.

I would forget about bringing in ANY "assault rifle".

You did NOT own them IN California BEFORE future sales were forbidden.

Make sure you know what you can bring BEFORE to bring them.

One thing to also consider in your budgeting is the cost of Federally-mandated health insurance in the LA market place.  I have no idea how this compares with Houston but there may also be a cost differential there, as well.  

Best to check the other insurances, as well (auto, life, dental, home owner's/renter's insurance,...).

Regarding the registration of your vehicle and its smog certification - go to the dmv.ca.gov web site.  A little searching there will show you what you need to know about whether your vehicle can be registered here.  

For example, lift the lid on the engine compartment and look for the sticker.  If it says 48 state compliant (or some such, check the DMV web site), you are good to go.  

You'll need to pass a CA smog test prior to registering it.  

If you are a AAA member, the entire transaction, including new plates, can be done at their office.