No, not back to New York (not yet at least), but to Downtown Los Angeles. Having spent the last four years (wow, it's really almost been 4 years!) on the Westside near the ocean and LAX, we decided that a change would be good. As would having more space than our 1 bedroom condo offered. Plus, my commute is now 15 to 20 minutes instead of an hour *sigh*.Somewhere between going to Vegas and New York for work, we managed to pack and move all our belongings and cat to our new 2 bedroom apartment and find a renter for our condo. We now have a real dishwasher (not my husband), a washer and dryer and central air in our new place. The building also has elevators, a concierge, a hot tub on the roof, a private movie theater that you can reserve (hello Golden Girls marathon!) and a gym. Thus, amenities are key here.
Our new digs are also in a historical building--the former Subway Terminal Building from 1925--and is often featured on daily guided walking tours, which is kind of cool. In the magnificent lobby, decorated and soaring ceilings, Italian marble floors, mosaic tile and hand-carved woodwork welcome residents and guests to a grander era, and the rich architectural details throughout tell a story of timeless elegance. The elevators still say "this car up," the only thing missing is Bogey and Bacall.
Downtown is definitely a new beast though. We are already enjoying being able to walk to hip restaurants or even venturing out to buy milk without starting up the car. It's more like Manhattan in that sense. However, it's definitely not as dense or safe as NYC. I've found that there are more aggressive homeless people and less cops here. My new building though has a lot of security and guard at the front desk at all times, which is very comforting. Anyway, expect more posts about downtown in the future.
