September, 27, 2003 archives

disney hall is the new exciting building in downtown los angeles. too bad this area is so cut off from the much livelier area around the grand central market.

near the mark taper forum. if there is a wifi hotspot here, it would be an awesome place to work.

oh, the cars on the gold line are the same as on the green line, too. i like the cars on the red line more. the driver on the ride out to pasedena was funny, slowing down to point out some sights. the one on the way back is using the prerecorded station announcements. much less entertaining.

the gold line turns out to be a lot like the green line at the end: stops in the middle of the highway, with parking for park-and-ride. it does have a stop near old town pasedena, if you're into that sort of thing.

• one bedroom plus space for work area (another room, an alcove of some sort, whatever)
• reliable high-speed internet service available (dsl preferred)
• close to grocery store/shopping
• close to metro red or gold line
• on-site laundry
• kitchen with ample counter space, gas range
• close to library
• close to good grocery store (something non-big-chain)
• close to gym
• directv-ready
• morning light
• hardwood floors
• private view
• good t-mobile gsm signal

i may keep adding things to the list, but these are the things that came to mind first. it is roughly prioritized.

right now, i’m leaning about 80% in favor of giving notice and forcing a serious search for new living arrangements.

as you might have guessed from the pictures, i spent time yesterday cruising around on the red and gold lines checking out some of the neighborhoods around various stations.

the places i think i’ll end up looking: downtown los angeles, los feliz, hollywood, north hollywood, and near the beach in san diego. that is roughly in order, although san diego is more of a wildcard than anything else. even though i’m totally unconstrained on where to live, thanks to my work-from-home job, there aren’t really any places outside of southern california that interest me enough to make up for the fact i would not have time to look into them seriously over the next month.

buying a house is not something i’m considering. although i’m not thrilled about paying rent, i’m also not necessarily planning on living in my next place long enough for buying a house to be anything other than a losing proposition given my expectations for the housing market. there’s also the little factor of my not really making or having enough to buy a house i’d want to live in.