Alfa Romeo Forums banner

Moving to S Cal with 87 Spider. Need advice.

13K views 130 replies 14 participants last post by  jmnegrin 
#1 ·
Hi People,

Searched "smog test" with no results. Will be coming to LA by next February and thinking ahead of it all......have a 87 spider with no mods except a home made AAV valve (choke cable/heater line valve). Whats the deal with smog testing out there? Do I have a good chance to pass? If not, man, Im gonna have to store the car at home in FL...

Thanks, People.
Sr
 
#89 ·
...hour and a half from LAX to say, silver lake/Miracle mile...
Can be done in 30 minutes. More like 45 minutes to an hour.

...book a hotel. No rock bottom bedbug infested/broken springs in matress places. Moderate...
Can you be more specific on the area you need? Could help in recommending a place in the area you're going to be the most.

Oh.....kinda a unrelated issue, but as our alfa leaks a few drops, couold that be a big deal with say, a Landlord/Cali pollution laws?? A garage is not guaranteed, so a cardboard under the car may not be practical outside......
Wouldn't even worry about the leaking anywhere you find. I would really try to find a place with covered off street parking. The parking spot is the more important, covered is a plus. I know you say its not guaranteed, but he will appreciate more than you can imagine, a reserved parking spot.
 
#91 · (Edited)
Sorry didn't get back to you sooner. Had to run to Silverlake, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and then back up into the Hollywood Hills. Long morning.

So after thinking about it for awhile, I'm thinking you'd see a more realistic driving time of about an hour from LAX.

Hotel wise, maybe check out this place

Quality Inn

Never stayed there, but go by there every day. Used to be a Holiday Inn Express. It will put you smack dab in the center of just about everything. From there its about a 25/30 min drive to downtown Beverly Hills, Silverlake and Burbank. Probably 15/20 minutes to Miracle Mile, Universal Studios, Paramount studios, Warner Brothers. Three blocks from the Chinese Theater, 4 blocks to Hollywood and Highland. Bunch of restaurants and grocery stores all around and about a block and a half from that car rental place I mentioned before and it has parking too. Its no Hilton (that's down Sunset Blvd a bit) or W hotel, its just a basic place to stay in the center of everything.
 
#92 ·
Hey Joe,

Burbank is another airport option and my personal choice whenever possible.
it's kind of like flying into Ft Lauderdale vs. say, Miami; small and easy.
It's also closer to Silverlake/Los Feliz.

Hotel wise- I've had many friends stay in the Los Feliz Lodge
Los Feliz Lodge: 1507 North Hoover Street Los Angeles 90027
and all have loved it. It's a bunch of cute little bungalows with kitchens and decks and staying there really gives a feel for the neighborhood. (Sliver Lake) It's not exactly cheap but it's walking distance to
Sunset Junction shops, restaurants the famous Vista movie theatre, and a grocery store so you can cook some meals in the bungalow.
 
#93 · (Edited)
Thanks, Shadow and Jillian. I willl consider these places, and they do sound nice, specially Los Feliz Lodge. Burbank airport......next time Im gonna look into it, as it sounds better option. This time its too late. Still, now I know. I have a hunch there WILL be a next time!

Oh, came across this:http://www.hollywoodhotel.net/ Know about it? Looks like $80-100 is the going rate. Kinda like Orlando. I woulda guessed way higher. Hey, Im happy.

I guess this would make it 3 so far among what weve found, to consider. They want $88 + parking ($18).

Thanks, guys for the personal attention. This planning would not have been as easy otherwise.

Sr.
 
#94 ·
FWIW, Burbank is a nice small airport. It's best as a regional airport. From farther away, to get there, or to go most anywhere using it you end up stopping/changing planes one or more times. It can barely support 737s or AB320's, none of the big twin aisle planes. Some connections can be hours layover. The benefit of LAX is that there are lots of flights direct to lots of places. That's also the worst thing about LAX - lots of people. But you get easy cheap flights.

Burbank is a 20 minute drive for me, but if I'm going cross country, I still drive 1++ hrs to LAX - saves many hours in connections and I get better seats.

R
 
#97 · (Edited)
I'll take an earthquake (been thru a few) over a hurricane or tornado any time. BTW, the three largest earthquakes in the conus (Ankorage was #1) were New Madrid MISSOURI!!!!!! 9.2 - 9.6!!!!!! Just that nobody was there (1800's). Come to think of it, there's still nobody there. Who'd wanna be?

Crime? Thousand Oaks (MY HOME) and Simi Valley (work) are the safest mid (250,000) and small (respectively) cities in the US. Crime is mostly in the gang areas, and mostly gang-on-gang. As a measure, all of LAPD is smaller than Manhattan Div. NYPD NY had more horse cops than we have all cops!

Smog was banned by Governor Moonbeam (OMG he's baaack!) and owes the state back taxes; we'll collect if it shows up again. Floods and mudslides happen to people who build on the sides of mountains and at their bottoms.

We get upset by the crowds (downtown), but a major jamb in LA is a light day in Times Square.

Oh, and I was playing golf this morning in shorts. Nice day; like most of them.

BTW - that storm that covered the mid-south in snow and just buried the entire north east was our nice 5 day rain storm a week+ ago - filled the reservoirs and added 12 feet of powder to the ski slopes. The hard part in LA is deciding wether to go skiing at Big Bear or Mammoth, or go surfing at Zuma Beach (Malibu, 9 miles of wonderful Alfa roads away).

NaNaNa.

:),

Robert
 
#99 · (Edited)
LOL. Glad tohear things are OK there. hey, My son is hoping to make a living there, eh?

I know its a divergence from this thread, but, hey whats the big deal, so I'll say this: Theres no perfect place.

Actually, hurricanes in the south?? weather men have gotten it wrong again this year with their prediction of 3 majors hitting the US. Didnt happen. Hurricanes ARE predictable, earthquakes are not. Earthquakes have killed way more people in the world history than windstorms.....no comparison. You guys are OK on the crime....I am aware of the gangs.

Biggest scary thing for S Cal: water. No brainer. "member back around early 1990's when each person had 30 gallons/day allotment??

Water-the next "oil". Dams are ageing.....many 40-60 years old. A few go back to the 1800's. Maintanence huge problem. One big storm, or more likely, even a small quake, and your dams can bust. Population pushing limits. Traffic is among worst in nation. Cali budget strained-crisis state. You are living in a desert, fellow members. Population pushing limits. Traffic is among worst in nation. High cost of living/dying.

LA area desert was designed by nature to support small populations .....Gabrielino Indians, who lived on pine nuts/squirrels. Didnt stress the nature there much.

Hehe. But, yes, the weather is nicer there in summer than, well, Florida brutal humidity.........No sarcasm.
 
#101 ·
LA downtown, and west side cities out to Santa Monica are still in a giant bowl, surrounded by 4,000 to 6,000 foot mountains, so they suffer from temperature inversions on some of the warmer days. With the largest ports and rail centers, we get as lot of idling diesels (ships and RR engines almost never shut down). And I do not get why the city buses all use diesel instead of natural gas. All we need is an onshore breeze and the crud piles up....

I don't get the dams. We fret for several years that they're low and we're running out of water. One big rain storm, and we're filling and fretting about dam safety....

The only one I really worry about is the levees around the Sacramento Delta. Used to be low grade farm land; now filled with housing, and all below normal water level. Very old earth dikes with no ability to withstand even a minor earthquake.

It's just hard here in paradise. Why I remember a frost warning about 8 years ago...

:D

Robert
 
#103 ·
LOL.....we'll have to catch up on that later, guys!! But, for now, yikes, I just figured out a months rent for a cheapie car is well, $18/day up to 50 miles, PLUS $11/day surcharge for 22 yr old. Thats about $900/Month!!! Its reality time, people!! All of a sudden, shipping the alfa doesnt sound so bad......
 
#106 ·
$850 to ship to LA. Pick up is next week. Patching it up today/tomorrow. packing the trunk with stuff like toothbrush, shoes, canned vegetables, some whole wheat flour, bottled water, and computer monitor. Im allowed 150lb of stuff in there. Wil post a pic of the pickup day for old time sake.....
 
#109 ·
LOL!!!!! Too much!

Guys, its -a -coming to LA on Sunday! Today, stomped out 2 fires: fixed a loose ignition switch that threatened me from shipping the car at all (car wouldnt start/nothing), and ac temp controller problem solved with a $7 generic 2 prong temps sensor and hose clamp!!!

Whew. Only thing is change oil tomorrow, tigjhten e brake, litle things. Sunday is the big day.
 
#111 ·
Posted a little infobit in your linked post.

BTW, how's he liking it out here? Having fun yet? He sure did move out here at a good time. Nice weather, sunshine, and starting to warm up! If you don't have an address to deliver it to by the time it gets out here, you're more than welcome to use mine. Got a spare parking spot in Hollywood right now.
 
#112 ·
Hehe...... Saw your post thanks. yeah, I noticed he missed the flooding/whatever. Got lucky. Sorry , if theres no address, the alfas coming BACK to FL. I put a return address on the envelope!

He says weather is great (Maybe I'll move out there too!). Hes shoppimng at IKEA/Costco for stuff. Man, its tough getting started. He might have no car for 4-5 days. Good time for him to edit a movie he just made.

Sr
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top