Fires, ICE Raids, Hollywood Job Apocalypse: Why All My Friends Are Leaving L.A.

I moved from New York to Los Angeles in 2014, hoping to become a TV writer. But honestly, after almost a decade in New York, the city was starting to wear me down. Just before I left, a rat ran across my bare foot, my magazine had another round of layoffs, and I had a startling realization about the convenient (but cramped) layout of my apartment. Los Angeles felt like a land of opportunity, space, and potential—much like the American West did for pioneers centuries ago. My biggest concern about the move was that I barely knew anyone in California, only one of whom was a divorced mother of a college friend. So, like someone on The Bachelor, I came here hoping to build a social life.







