The Trap of the South Bay and Life/Career Advice

Today while perusing the South Bay subreddit, I encountered a post where a recent graduate asked the group for some advice about moving to the South Bay. As a near life long resident of the South Bay, I offered some advice that made me think deeper on the subject. Part of the idea was aimed at a broader audience who might fall into a similar situation of being a recent graduate and trying to figure out the next major steps of their lives. Others might be people who are interested in moving to the South Bay like this person. What I want to offer are some overlapping notions between these two types where hopefully I can help others that might want to move out here or are still trying to figure out what to do next after graduating from college.

The person from the post mentioned that they were a recent graduate in Astrophysics and was looking into jobs in the aerospace industry. In particular, El Segundo has a large number of well known aerospace/military contract companies like Raytheon, SpaceX, etc. According to this person though, the bulk of the jobs for entry level were for engineering roles. Although the non-engineering sciences like math, chemistry and physics might overlap in terms of skill set and/or analytical thinking for these types of jobs, the current job market makes it really tough for recent graduates to compete against more senior people or those who are top of their class while it has become an employers’ market (meaning the employers can choose from the cream of the crop as well as underpay).

Some people (including myself) mentioned that there were alternatives in the Long Beach area as well, not to mention how the area could be cheaper than certain spots in the South Bay like Torrance. However, I think the real issue for this person (and this is where a more general statement for other recent graduates can be made here) is that they have not landed a job. Eager, this person boasts that they can perform other areas of work like tutoring, etc. but I think she needs to focus on order of operations here. My advice to this person (and other graduates) is:

• Determine what you want to do first
• Figure out what fits you best
• Apply to as much as possible
• Don’t let the category of work be a deterrent
• Find a career oriented job before deciding on where to live
• Once you obtain the job, live close to that location. Don’t do it the other way around because you want to focus on doing a good job and stabilizing your income so you can begin building up your bank account.
• The commute gets in the way, no matter if you enjoy driving or not and sucks up valuable time that you cannot get back as well as the amount you must spend per month because of the high gas prices, your auto insurance (the further you drive from your home, the higher the risk of getting into an accident especially in a city like Los Angeles)
• Assume no one else will help you; meaning, don’t depend on hand outs from anyone
• Live frugally as much as you can until you can establish your career
• Focus on stability; it’s harder to plan when you can’t predict the future reliably
• Build up a nest egg where you can afford not working for at least 2 years in situations like our current economic times
• Grow a solid network of work associates/friends that can help you with finding jobs
• Don’t burn bridges as much as you can; this city is small and word travels around easily and fast
• Forget having a life until you can get the job and some sense of stability especially if you’re not a local and don’t have your own place already (meaning your parents live out of state or fairly far from where you’re planning to live)

With that part out of the way, I also had thought about the South Bay in particular because of how this person found it attractive. While I do enjoy the South Bay, the truth is that its best times are well behind it. I think the South Bay really achieved its peak back in the 80s while it was growing and as a support center for the working class people for the aerospace industry that was developing in El Segundo. Sometime in the mid 2000s or so, things massively changed where it became a kind of hip spot for young urban adults with successful careers. Then the coast of living started to really skyrocket. Even before it was still fairly pricey to live out here but now it’s practically a luxury.

Another issue with the South Bay is my personal joke: you’re within 45 minutes of everything but it takes about 45 minutes to get anywhere. If Los Angeles had a better interconnected public transit system that was readily accessible, then the suburbs of the South Bay would actually be a great place to live. However, you’ll be mostly relying on a car and getting to some of the best jobs in the city will require the worst commutes. For instance, if you wanted to be an actor in Hollywood, living in the South Bay would drive you nuts. Or if you have to commute to Santa Monica or even Downtown LA, it’s mostly exhausting. Yes, there are ways to do it but expect pain whether it’s the cost, inconvenience or potential danger.

I think a lot of people enjoy it because of the diversity in terms of the lifestyle as well as access to the beaches and parks. Growing up out here, those things were fine but if I was more career oriented as a recent college graduate those aspects would be much lower on my priority list. Since the dot com boom days, I think American jobs have been getting worse in terms of the long hour grind. So you won’t have as many chances as you think you would get to hit up the beaches if you’re doing a normal office job. However, if you get a job and you have the energy on the weekend, you can still drive out to the beaches or hit up a park. But you shouldn’t romance this idea.

Another major boon that I think gets overstated is the restaurants out here, especially the Asian ones. There are a lot of good spots but I think the pandemic caused many to close down (like Japanese ones). Also, the cost of going out to eat has become ridiculous. You’re much better off trying to learn how to cook and finding a spot near enough to a grocery store. If you’re lucky, that grocery store will be in walking distance so you can double your efficiency.

Along those lines, I would try to find a place to live after getting the job that hopefully is no more than 5 miles away at most and does not require the freeways. I would make sure the place was reasonably safe, had decent amenities (air condition for the terrible summers, no popcorn ceilings, indoor washer/dryer which can be rare in LA) and close enough to a market and stores like Target for supplies. You can use something like Amazon but I’ve found that Amazon’s quality on things have dipper especially with Amazon Fresh. Food delivery services are simply too costly and risky these days so it’s better to have a good kitchen with a refrigerator/freezer, proper oven and microwave. I would avoid living in a spot where there’s no indoor washer/dryer at all cost because then you’ll have to find a cleaning service, which sucks and eats up valuable time.

But why would I describe the South Bay as a trap? I think the problem is that once you’ve settled in here, it becomes very comfortable. At the same time, you’re kinda locked in because it gets hard to leave with all your stuff and the general tightness of the zone. I would only commit to living out here if I was planning on raising a family and ready for it as well as having a stable job that paid fairly well. Otherwise, you’re better off finding some place cheaper and closer to work. Also, it’s easier to be fluid where you have little to nothing for a while until you manage to secure enough to buy your own property. But I wouldn’t buy in the South Bay unless I had a significant amount of capital. I think there’s other places around the country that you could get more for less.