Never in a million years

11 years ago I made the bold decision to pack up all my belongings and move from Connecticut to Los Angeles.

It made a lot of sense at the time.

Rents were relatively cheap.

Warm weather year round.

Younger people and plentiful jobs in entertainment.

Better dating prospects?

However, things have changed.

Ballooning unemployment and rising housing costs have created the perfect storm of strange in Los Angeles. Of course, I'm sure things are strange/sucky everywhere but LA to me seems particularly 'off'.

And come to find out, friends have said I've been unhappy/griping about LA for the past 3 years. Wow, really? 3 years is a LONG time.

I guess it amounts to a few things. I mean, who would want to give up the California lifestyle? The weather? All the things to do. You can hike, bike, run, walk, play tennis or golf outside, year-round in Los Angeles. And let's not forget work. I've worked my ass off for 11 years, building up 2-3 different businesses. Throwing that all away is no easy decision. So thank you to those of you that have been caring, concerned and have read this blog! I know I probably haven't been the "funnest" person these past few years - but we've never been through such tough times in my lifetime anyhow!

Now, unless you bought real estate 5+ years ago, LA is pretty ridiculous for a number of reasons. I mean, sure, some areas in LA are affordable (??!) but in CT you can buy a house for $300-500K. In LA, you can barely find a decent condo for that price. And CT gets you good schools and a safe area. Oooh but the weather....if they could just do something about the weather back east...

I've realized lately that everything in life is a trade-off.

In LA, you have annoying traffic to deal with 24/7. It's pretty unavoidable.
In NY, you have annoying weather to deal with 24/7. It's pretty unavoidable.

Neither one are going away anytime soon.

In LA I've always felt like things were "dirty" - anytime I go out in almost any part of the city, I feel like I need a shower after. Esp. Hollywood.
In NY I don't feel dirty. Sure, places are cramped, but for some reason, unless I've taken the subway, I just don't feel the need to shower after a night out in NYC.

Anyhow, if you'd asked me 20 years ago if I would be living in LA, working in the music/entertainment business, I'd say "no way".

And if you'd asked me 10 or 5 or even 1 year ago if there was any way I'd ever consider moving back to the east coast, I'd have said "no way".

However, you get older, people move on with their lives - they get married, and have kids. And while that seems to happen everywhere, as you get older and go out and "do less stuff" - where you live seems to matter less. At least in terms of the weather. I mean, it's not like I go surfing every day.

Never in a million years did I think I'd be moving back to the east coast.

But things change.

So, we'll see.

The last thing I want to do is move 3,000 miles away only to find that in 6-12 months, things in LA and CA improve.

The last thing I want to do is stay in LA only to find that in 6-12 months, nothing in LA or CA has improved. And I'm still miserable.

See, it's not an "easy" decision.

I just hope I make the right one.