Why Do Millionaires Like Los Angeles? (Orange, Vista: loft, houses, neighborhoods)

[TheRealAngelion]

LA County is home to more millionaires than any other county in the United States with a whopping 262,800 millionaire households! (and this does not include the value of one's primary residence)

http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/28/news.../millionaires/

If LA is as bad, dangerous, and gang infested as some people on this forum claim, why do the most financially successful and affuent in the land continue to call LA home?

[JerZ]

Originally Posted by TheRealAngelion

LA County is home to more millionaires than any other county in the United States with a whopping 262,800 millionaire households! (and this does not include the value of one's primary residence)

http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/28/news.../millionaires/

If LA is as bad, dangerous, and gang infested as some people on this forum claim, why do the most financially successful and affuent in the land continue to call LA home?

Do you really place the incredibly rich, with sophisticated anti-theft systems in their homes, cars, and kids' Radio Flyer wagons for all you know, who don't have to actually venture into "the bad parts" themselves to so much as pick up dry cleaning, and live in gated communities, on par with the rest of the LA population?

Of course millionaires like it here. It's a high-profile name. Hollywood and Beverly Hills and yadda yadda. It "looks" good to have a certain zip code. And it's always warm out. But do these people have to actually "touch" LA? Nope. So they get all the good...and none of the bad.

Surely you realize this.

[ferretkona]

They like money, no they love money. And money is in CA.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by JerZ

Do you really place the incredibly rich, with sophisticated anti-theft systems in their homes, cars, and kids' Radio Flyer wagons for all you know, who don't have to actually venture into "the bad parts" themselves to so much as pick up dry cleaning, and live in gated communities, on par with the rest of the LA population?

Of course millionaires like it here. It's a high-profile name. Hollywood and Beverly Hills and yadda yadda. It "looks" good to have a certain zip code. And it's always warm out. But do these people have to actually "touch" LA? Nope. So they get all the good...and none of the bad.

Surely you realize this.

There aren't that many gated communities in L.A. itself- that's more common in Orange County and in the farther burbs.(OTOH, the controlled access "security building" is ubiquitous in every LA neighborhood from the wealthiest to the poorest.) And often there are bad areas near the wealthy areas - the hills of Los Feliz aren't far away from the notorious corner of Hollywood and Western, and the Venice canals aren't far away from the Oakwood barrio (the nastiest of the west side's nasty pockets). Marina del Rey is right next to one of the nastier areas on the west side ("Del Rey", although with UCLA buying the Mar Vista Gardens projects for use as student housing that area may get less nasty). The wealthy living "south of the boulevard" in Studio City and Sherman Oaks inevitably would pass through Van Nuys on some occasion. Granted these people probably would stay on the main streets and not wander off into the neighborhoods, but they would pass through those areas all the same.

Not to mention many of the people living in some of the new buildings going up downtown are millionaires - with the harshest realities of the city often down on the streets below or at best a few blocks away.

[JerZ]

Originally Posted by majoun

Not to mention many of the people living in some of the new buildings going up downtown are millionaires - with the harshest realities of the city often down on the streets below or at best a few blocks away.

So what you're saying is, millionaires like living near bad areas and therefore, we should too? After all, all the best people are doing it? ....... (/shrug)

I'm not really understanding the reasoning in this thread so far, but maybe at some point it will all come together. Basically...the idea is, millionaires come here to live right next door to dangerous areas and they specifically choose that over other areas of the country which might not have such a situation, and that therefore the rest of us should stop complaining. I mean the ONLY difference between us and the millionaires is, well, about a million dollars.

No, it's still not coming together........But in the meantime, you state that many millionaires live in these harsh areas. Who? I'm curious. Do you have a link to back this up? I would be interested in reading more about this.

Is the idea that millionaires are no different from average people in terms of being able to assure their own safety? Is that realistic? And that these millionaires are approaching the "bad" areas willingly? Or is it as the OP intimated--that LA really isn't as dangerous as people think, even though what they think is based on the experience of actually living there? To the OP: You ask why so many millionaires would want to live in LA county (which, BTW, isn't the same as living in the heart of LA--you surely know that LA county is HUGE). Well, I'll ask you the same question. Why do YOU think millionaires want to live in LA county? You must feel there are a lot of positives. Are you also aware that many of the complaints people make are from being Joe Average trying to get by on a non-million-dollar income? Do you have stats on what parts of LA county all these moneyed people live in? Because to someone who doesn't live here--they'd see your post, hear "LA" and think the city of LA. Guaranteed.

So I'll leave my post at that question. I have no clue why millionaires would want to be here, other than prestige and the weather. Maybe you have some ideas--and remember, these should take into account that you are almost certainly talking about people who are rich enough to live in a sheltered area and only venture into the city when they choose to--not people who are forced to live where they can in LA County.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by JerZ

So what you're saying is, millionaires like living near bad areas and therefore, we should too? After all, all the best people are doing it? ....... (/shrug)

I'm not really understanding the reasoning in this thread so far, but maybe at some point it will all come together. Basically...the idea is, millionaires come here to live right next door to dangerous areas and they specifically choose that over other areas of the country which might not have such a situation, and that therefore the rest of us should stop complaining. I mean the ONLY difference between us and the millionaires is, well, about a million dollars.

No, it's still not coming together........But in the meantime, you state that many millionaires live in these harsh areas. Who? I'm curious. Do you have a link to back this up? I would be interested in reading more about this.

I wasn't saying anything about emulating anyone, I was saying that they aren't as isolated as some people might think. Nothing more, nothing less. I don't view the wealthy as worthy of emulation or admire them just for their wealth. If anything, I tend to lean in the opposite direction. In the end, ultimately, the rich and famous are people like the rest of us. Guess I'm pretty unmaterialistic for a native Angeleno.

As far as millionaires living in downtown LA, I don't know any names specifically, but given how pricey the penthouses in the new downtown developments are one would have to be a millionaire to afford them. And some of them are in really terrible, dangerous parts of downtown full of gang bangers and drug dealing, not just the gentrified tourist zones. (of course their security is top notch, but they'd have to go out on the streets below at some point.)

Ultimately, people have different reasons for living where they do. I'm pretty sure many of the wealthy living downtown are from the East Coast and want to try to replicate an NYC type vibe in LA, which one wouldn't get in Santa Monica, Brentwood, Beverly Hills, Sunset Strip, Palisades, Westwood, etc.

[JerZ]

Originally Posted by majoun

As far as millionaires living in downtown LA, I don't know any names specifically, but given how pricey the penthouses in the new downtown developments are one would have to be a millionaire to afford them. And some of them are in really terrible, dangerous parts of downtown full of gang bangers and drug dealing, not just the gentrified tourist zones. (of course their security is top notch, but they'd have to go out on the streets below at some point.)

How pricey are they? About? Your assumption is that one would have to be a millionaire to buy them. That's an assumption. I saw being stated basically as fact that millionaires come to dangerous parts of LA proper, electively.

These people are definitely purchasing these penthouses to live in primarily? Not as a second residence or anything? Have they already been bought up? If not, is the expectation that millionaires will snap them up?

I personally don't see expensive places being built as evidence that rich people choose to live there. The purchases haven't even been made yet--right? Or are some of these buildings already up? Edited: Also, you said... Not to mention many of the people living in some of the new buildings going up downtown are millionaires as a statement of fact. Now you're saying you don't know who lives there...just that they're expensive so the buyers would have to be millionaires. So that first statement was really misleading.

I'm not trying to be a hard*ss. I'm saying that this is definitely not evidence that millionaires electively live in dangerous areas. I just can't see it. Then again, it's getting late. I might be totally overlooking something in these arguments. But supposition, assumptions and ideas of possible future purchases don't constitute evidence to me. I'm not getting the argument--I better let it go. It really is just not coming together for me.

[majoun]

would be able to afford a downtown loft penthouse for $3.6 million?

[link]http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=weekend&content=jump&jump=article &articleID=VR1117937340&category=2036[/link]

[JerZ]

Originally Posted by majoun

would be able to afford a downtown loft penthouse for $3.6 million?

[link]http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=weekend&content=jump&jump=article &articleID=VR1117937340&category=2036[/link]

This is someone's primary residence--the place a very rich person wants to spend the majority of his or her time? The link was bad so I couldn't read the article. This is in a dangerous area? Has this property already been purchased? Is this the typical penthouse in this area? If the answers are all yes, then you tell me. Why *would* someone electively live there? That was the original question of the post. You must have some ideas, no?

[majoun]

Originally Posted by JerZ

I personally don't see expensive places being built as evidence that rich people choose to live there. The purchases haven't even been made yet--right? Or are some of these buildings already up? Edited: Also, you said... Not to mention many of the people living in some of the new buildings going up downtown are millionaires as a statement of fact. Now you're saying you don't know who lives there...just that they're expensive so the buyers would have to be millionaires. So that first statement was really misleading..

Millionaires often aren't too revealing about where they live. If I was a millionaire living downtown I wouldn't want it to be known. But these buildings have been going up for the last several years.

Even back in 2000 there were already millionaires checking out downtown:
[link]http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m5072/is_28_22/ai_63604007[/link]