Day care centers los angeles: Find Child Care Providers | Child Care Alliance of Los Angeles

Опубликовано: December 12, 2022 в 9:35 pm

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Категории: Miscellaneous

Find Child Care – Pathways LA

Whether you work, attend school or have a temporary emergency that takes you out of the home, your need for child care is shared by thousands of other parents. Choosing child care is one of the most important decisions families make, but all too often they must rely on word-of-mouth. Pathways LA’s Resource and Referral staff can help take the guesswork out of choosing care by providing free referrals to licensed child care providers as well as information regarding the different types of child care available to families. 

Here are 4 easy ways to get started:

  1. Click here for instant online referrals.
  2. Submit your request online and we’ll get back to you within one business day.
  3. Visit our office at 3325 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 1100, Los Angeles, CA 90010. We’re open Monday-Friday 8am-5pm, with extended hours on Wednesdays until 7pm. (Please note, our offices are currently closed due to COVID-19, we currently have virtual office hours only)
  4. Call our Resource & Referral team at (213) 427-2710.

 

Pathways LA offers a variety of child care options to provide parents with choices that work best for them. For guidance on what to look for when choosing a provider, here are descriptions of the different types of child care available. Once you’ve determined the ideal option for your family, be sure to read our tips for what to look for when visiting a site below.  

 

 

CHILD CARE CENTERS

Child Care Centers (also referred to as nursery schools or preschool programs) provide care for children in a group setting for full-time or part-time needs. They can serve infants, toddlers, preschoolers and school-age children. Centers vary in size, focus and philosophy.

Child Care Centers have the following advantages: 

  • This environment is designed specifically for children.
  • The state mandates the ratio of adults to children and requires that staff meet defined levels of child development coursework and training. 
  • A center must follow state licensing requirements, which provide guidelines for health and safety.
  • Centers are likely to have connections to a wider array of community resources.
  • Some centers are designed to assess and help children with special needs.
  • Staff emergencies do not affect the center’s hours.
  • Many centers provide a written account of the individual child’s activities.
  • Teamwork can promote a positive atmosphere and spirit of cooperation.

We have our own Child Care Center in West Hollywood.

 

FAMILY CHILD CARE HOME

Family Child Care Home refers to care provided by a person who has a small child care business in their home. Anyone who cares for more than one other family’s children (other than that of a relative) in their own home is a Family Child Care Home Provider and is required by law to obtain a license. Licensed Family Child Care Home can be small (6-8 children) or large (up to 14 children with an assistant present).

Family Child Care Home provides these benefits: 

  • This atmosphere is home-like.
  • Parents and children benefit from the sense of having an “extended family.”
  • There is continuity and the opportunity for bonding with the same primary child care provider.
  • May provide more flexibility in caring for children with minor illnesses.
  • May be able to accommodate the need for long or unusual hours.
  • Licensing requirements ensure that every adult in the home has a TB clearance and has no criminal record or accusations of child abuse.

For referrals to licensed Family Child Care Home search our Provider Database or contact a Pathways LA Referral Specialist.

 

LICENSE-EXEMPT CHILD CARE

License Exempt Child Care can be provided by a family, friend or neighbor who cares for your child in their home or yours, full or part-time. Providers available for this type of care are not required to be licensed since they only care for the children of a single family.

Licensed-Exempt Child Care has these benefits:

  • This setting may be convenient for the parent.
  • Your child may be in familiar surroundings.
  • With fewer children, there is less risk of illness than in other forms of care.
  • There is typically a lower child-to-provider ratio.

For License-Exempt Child Care, speak with friends and family members about being your child care provider.

 

BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL CARE PROGRAMS

Before and After School Care Programs are available at many elementary schools and other sites, for parents who need to drop off their school-age children before school begins, or leave them at school until the end of the work day.

Before and After School Care Programs provide these advantages: 

  • Usually on school grounds.
  • Easy transition for the child.
  • Children may be offered tutoring or educational support.
  • Kids get to play with friends.
  • Cost is minimal.

For referrals to Before and After School Care Programs contact a Pathways LA Referral Specialist.

 

Alternatively there are

Parks and Recreational Programs, which have the following benefits: 

  • Well-known area in the community.
  • May offer tutoring or educational activities.
  • Children may feel a sense of independence by being in a less structured environment.
  • Access to sports equipment.
  • Fun activities for the children.
  • Minimal cost.

For referrals to Parks and Recreation Programs contact a Pathways LA Referral Specialist.

 

 

TIPS FOR WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN YOU VISIT A CHILD CARE PROVIDER SITE

Pay attention to the staff’s interactions with the children. Are they warm and welcoming? Do they seem to enjoy being with the children? All adults in the room should behave respectfully to the children as well as each other. Children should be supervised at all times (even when they’re napping).

Look for signs of best practices when it comes to health and safety. The environment should be completely child-proofed, so make sure there are smoke detectors, radiator covers, electrical safety caps, and no dangerous items left out.  

Some questions to consider asking providers:

  • What types of training and experience do you have, and does that include working with children with special needs?
  • Is your program licensed or accredited?
  • What is the daily routine?
  • How do you include children with special needs in the daily activities and routines?
  • Are there options for indoor and outdoor play? 
  • Are there opportunities for parents to be involved?
  • Do you have a list of references?
  • What is the adult-to-child ratio?
  • What happens if my child becomes ill or needs medication while in your care?
  • What is your disaster emergency plan?
  • What are the fees, when are they due, and are there any additional fees I should know of?
  • Do you have any written policies or procedures, such as holiday, illness, vacation or instances of late pick up or drop off?

 

Child Care Centers | 211LA

The agency provides early childhood education services through a variety of programs in Los Angeles County. Services include a Head Start Delegate Agency through the L A County Office of Education for children, age 3 to 5; infant care programs, for children from birth to age 3; general child care centers for children 18 months to age 5; and preschool programs for children age 3 to 5. Geographic restrictions apply for some programs. Head Start service area is restricted to zip codes 90001, 90002, 90058, 90255, 90280.

The Head Start programs provide comprehensive health, educational, nutritional, social and other services to economically disadvantaged children and their families, primarily to preschool children 3 years old to the age of compulsory school attendance. Intake is done through the Huntington Park Head Start Office. There are 7 Head Start sites in their service area. Service area is restricted to zip codes 90001, 90255 and 90280. The agency also operates a home-based Head Start program that provides weekly home educational visits to the child’s parent’s home and organized socialization experiences for a small group of children once each month.

The Infant/Toddler program for low income families provides low cost infant/toddler care from birth to age 3 in child care homes throughout LA County and in other surrounding counties. For referrals call the MAOF Goodrich Family Resource Center. The site is located at White Memorial Hospital; a subsidy program offers infant toddler care services in the home.

The agency operates 8 licensed child day care centers for children, 18 months to 5 years, in Los Angeles County. Intake for the child care centers is through the Administrative Office in Montebello.

The agency also provides a preschool program for low-income children, ages 3 to 5 years, at 8 centers in Los Angeles County. The preschool program helps children develop language and social skills and to prepare for kindergarten. The intake is conducted through the MAOF Goodrich Family Resource Center, which is also one of the preschool sites.

The agency provides child care provider training services for people who are interested in becoming a licensed day care provider. Services include technical assistance and workshops about child care-related topics. The agency also sponsors bilingual licensing meetings which are sponsored in conjunction with the State Department of Social Services (DSS), Community Care Licensing Division. The agency also provides information regarding child care issues.

A bilingual/bicultural resource lending library is available for child care providers which includes books about infant care, nutrition, health and safety, and child development. The library also loans educational toys and equipment for children, age seven and younger to child care providers.

Child and family services include information and referral to counseling agencies, parenting classes, and other community service agencies.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Call to apply or for an appointment.

Multiple agencies may provide Head Start or Early Head Start services within a given zip code. In such cases, the agencies will only serve a part of the zip code. Individuals must call all the agencies providing services within a zip code to determine which agency serves their exact address.
FEES/PAYMENT SOURCE
There may be fees for some child care programs.

Child overdose deaths in Los Angeles increased by 1700% in five years

25.09.2022, 10:43,
Miscellaneous
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In the United States, the death toll from fentanyl overdoses is growing everywhere. Victims often become teenage students, writes NBC. In Los Angeles, they are sounding the alarm and delivering drugs to kindergartens and schools to prevent the consequences of an overdose of narcotic substances, the story emphasizes.

Today, one of the country’s largest school districts announced that from now on, all kindergartens and schools up to grade 12 will be supplied with Narcan to prevent the consequences of overdoses. Last month, at least 7 students reported such incidents, police said, and were triggered by pills likely containing fentanyl.

ROBERTO CARVALHO, Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent: We are in the midst of a catastrophic epidemic.

The latest case of overdose was a 15-year-old teenager who was found unconscious at his home last Saturday
, police officers say. NBC LA’s investigative reporting team found that fentanyl-related deaths in Los Angeles County rose by 1,700 percent. From 100 cases in 2016 to over 1600 cases in 2021. Many of the dead are young people. The Narcan announcement came a week after fellow 15-year-old Melanie Ramos died of an overdose of pills in her school’s bathroom, officials say.

DIE’S MOTHER: My daughter was 15, she was so young. They are children, they do not know (what they are doing. – InoTV).

Her family is asking the school to do more to protect her and other students.

MARGARITA GONZALEZ, grandmother of the deceased: Schools and teachers need to be more careful about their work. Seems like they let us down.

Two teenagers were arrested in connection with several overdoses, including the death of the girl mentioned earlier.

ROBERTO CARVALHO: The foundation of our community is being destroyed. One child at a time, one soul at a time, one after another.

NIKOLAS MATHEWSE Founder, Stillwater Behavioral Health Addiction Treatment Center: We don’t solve the problem globally – that prevents us from reaching a long-term solution in the short term.

Nicholas Matthews was an opioid addict as a teenager. He now runs a drug addiction treatment center in California.

NIKOLAS MATHEWSE: The immediate solution is to reduce harm by allowing people to test their drugs for fentanyl, to make sure Narcan and other life-saving drugs are available.

The California Department of Public Health sent a letter to school principals this week warning them about a potentially lethal drug they called rainbow fentanyl. It comes in powder and tablet form in a variety of colors, shapes, sizes, and they say can appeal to young people. In July, the Los Angeles branch of the DEA seized about a million pills in Inglewood, a record number. The increase in cases of opioid overdoses among teenagers is observed not only in Los Angeles, but throughout the country. Fentanyl was responsible for 77 percent of overdose deaths last year, according to an analytical note compiled from data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Just look at the dramatic increase in mortality from fentanyl compared to other substances.

NIKOLAS MATTHEWES: I remember when I was younger, overdoses were due to intravenous drug use. It was necessary to inject the substance to cause an overdose. And now we see how this happens after people take pills. It’s very, very scary.

Experts say schools need to prepare for the worst. But an important first step may be to talk parents to their children about drug use in safe places – this may be the best measure to prevent drug use.

Air date September 24, 2022.

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90,000 Emigration to the USA. To Los Angeles from Moscow

Los Angeles

Fate sometimes makes such turns that we, looking back, hardly understand how this could happen to us. Six years ago, I, Alexandra Sazonova, was a happy married lady. I was then 28 years old. My husband worked in a large company, earned good money, and I sat at home, in our cozy two-room apartment in the center of Moscow, raised my three-year-old daughter and, as they say, kept the fire in the family hearth.

Me and my daughter

But all of a sudden everything began to crumble right before our eyes. The stages of destruction are known to all divorced women. Being late from work, urgent business trips, strange smells, strange behavior, a complete lack of intimacy. I will omit the details and only report that soon we finally became strangers. My daughter and I lived in one room, and my husband, when he occasionally came, in another.

We got divorced, but continued to live in the same apartment. It couldn’t go on like that for a long time, but none of us wanted to exchange the only housing, because it was possible to exchange it for a one-room apartment and a room in a residential area. The husband’s mistress also did not have her own living space, and he had to dangle back and forth.

That’s when I had to remember that I had a higher education, specializing in economics, and get a job, and send my daughter to kindergarten. But every return home was unbearable for me. The thought of a stranger walking on the same floors as me brought tears to my eyes.

In the office of our company, I heard from one of my friends that her sister and her husband won a Green Card visa in the lottery and they will soon fly to the USA with the whole family. This thought stuck in me, and I decided to try it too. To go away from this person who cheated on me, from this city that has become completely alien. This idea completely took over me.

Preparation

I started collecting information about the possibility of emigrating to America. As it turned out, there were several ways to move to the United States: on an investor visa, on a business visa, on a work visa, in connection with marriage to a US citizen, and through the Green Card Lottery. Almost all of the above options did not suit me. I didn’t intend to marry an American, my husband and I had enough, I didn’t have five hundred thousand dollars either, I didn’t plan to open a company in America. There were two options left: a work visa and a lottery.

There were questions about the work visa, and I decided to postpone its processing until a later time, but about the Green Card Lottery, I collected all the information available on the Internet. As it turned out, about twenty-five thousand people enter and arrive in the United States every year from every independent country using a Green Card.

I found out that the Green Card is a permanent resident card, that is, an immigration card that allows you to work and live in America legally. Anyone who has been living in the US for five years on a Green Card and does not give immigration authorities a reason to deport a person from the country can apply and qualify to become a full-fledged citizen of America.

Then I studied all the conditions under which I can participate in the lottery. There were not so many of them.

  1. I had to be not only a citizen of the country in which I live, but also born in it.
  2. My husband must also have been born in Russia. Since we divorced him, this condition did not concern me.
  3. The same conditions applied to my parents.
  4. The lottery participant must have a complete secondary education. I had a higher education and work experience in my specialty for two years.
  5. Then I had to apply for the lottery. To do this, it was necessary to register on the official website, which was opened by the organizers of the lottery.
  6. In addition, I must not be prevented from obtaining an immigrant visa.

It has been over a year since my application was submitted. At first I visited the site several times a day, but gradually lost faith in success. And suddenly I received an answer in the mail. I won! And immediately began collecting the documents necessary to apply for an immigrant visa to me.

Now I faced another difficult stage – an interview at the US consulate. It was quite a rich conversation, during which I had to answer a bunch of different questions. A strict man asked me about the reasons for the divorce, about education and my work, about whether I have any amount so that my daughter and I could live in the USA for the first time, about whether I had job offers in America. I answered as best I could, blushing and turning pale, but at the end of the conversation, the representative of the embassy assured me that he would positively apply for my visa, because I was sincere and did not try to mislead him, which he does not like the most.

Consulate

So, unexpectedly, I successfully passed all the stages. Apparently I needed it more than anyone else. I called my husband for a frank conversation, said that I would check out of the apartment and forget about him if he and my daughter would give our shares for housing. My husband was frankly delighted with our departure, he said that he had half the amount, and he was ready to put it on my account even tomorrow. He promised to send the other half to me within a year. I had no choice but to believe him. I said that I agreed, but I took a promise from him that he would pay for our plane tickets. I took care of paperwork, buying air tickets, and soon my move began.

About my rights and obligations as a Green Card holder

I memorized these rules like a multiplication table, because in the USA they are very scrupulous about fulfilling the letter of the law. A sign with the rules even hung in my room in the most visible place.

  1. Every Green Card holder, regardless of where they live and work, must complete a personal tax return.
  2. All male persons aged between 18 and 36 must be registered with the military.
  3. Each Green Card holder has the right to call relatives, but they cannot expect to receive an immigrant visa.
  4. Having found a job in the US for the first time, each Green Card holder is required to work for this employer for at least six months, ideally up to two years. Otherwise, you may be accused of fraud.
  5. Must live in the US almost permanently. If the Green Card holder travels to other countries regularly and for long periods of time to work, he may be sent to the immigration office. Then you have to prove that you are connected with the United States. Among these connections may be real estate purchased in the United States, a family that permanently lives in this country, the presence of studies or work. It also takes into account the factor that you fill out the declaration in a timely manner.
  6. If the Green Card holder is forced to stay in another country for more than a year in a row, then you will have to obtain permission to return to the United States. The application for return must be sent at least one month before the planned return to one of the immigration departments.
  7. A child who has reached the age of 14 must receive a new Green Card.
  8. Violations of US law must not be tolerated.

We are in America

So, we set foot on the land of America. How many films and books, songs and stories. If I were alone, perhaps all these changes would have been easier, but my five-year-old daughter, Yulenka, was with me. She survived the flight surprisingly well. Now the main thing was to find housing as soon as possible.

Los Angeles has long been a haven for thousands of emigrants from around the world, including Russia. I chose this city as one of the most popular and optimal for life. I never dreamed of buying real estate. It was about renting a house. In this regard, as far as I was able to understand while still in Moscow, Los Angeles provides many options that differ in reasonable prices.

Many even Native Americans live happily in rented apartments and houses without even thinking about buying real estate. It turns out that this is even more profitable, especially for those who are inclined to change their place of residence and work. Under the law in force in Los Angeles, the tenant can avoid any operating costs for the occupied apartment, and this is quite a decent amount. Any repairs must be undertaken by the landlord, that is, the owner of the property.

Why did I choose Los Angeles? There is a very high probability of employment and good earnings. This city is a well-known financial center, and I am an economist by training. Even before moving, I studied the city, its districts, in order to decide in advance on the place where my daughter and I will live. To do this, I carefully reviewed the information on specialized sites offering apartments for rent. There were a lot of options, from economy class apartments and small rooms to luxury apartments.

Real estate prices and rent

I wrote all these data for myself back in Moscow, preparing for the move. Renting a one-room apartment interested me the most. As it turned out, in a residential area, I had to pay from 1000 to 1300 dollars for this service. Renting a similar apartment in downtown Los Angeles would cost between $1,300 and $1,500. Renting a three-room apartment in a residential area could cost from $1,900 to $2,300 a month, and a similar apartment in the city center could cost $2,500 to $3,500.

Just in case, I wrote down the cost of buying a property in the city of my dreams. The price of one square meter in a residential area is from 2200 to 2700 dollars, in the city center – from 3500 to 4500 dollars. These prices are quite comparable with Russian ones and are even inferior to many Moscow prices for new housing.

Arriving in Los Angeles, I decided to take my time and rented a cozy bright room in a private boarding house with two other neighbors. I decided that I have no right to spend the money that is in my account until I find a permanent job. Therefore, saving became my companion in the first months of life in America. However, I was used to it. For the last two years of my independent life in Moscow, I also had to save on everything.

Looking for a job

I thought I knew English well, and I was also improving it in courses when my Green Card application was accepted. But one thing is theory and a little practice in a circle of Muscovites like you, and another thing is communication with Americans. In the early days, I almost didn’t understand anything, and I couldn’t really explain myself, but very quickly the base that was laid in my head gave a positive impetus. I began to understand well the speech around, and I myself expressed myself without problems.

As you understand, you can’t find a job without knowing the language. This is not only a foreign city and a foreign country, it is a radically different culture, although many immigrants from all the former republics of the Soviet Union live in America. They are quite successful in America, they have quite decent jobs and high earnings. In general, I believe that if a person decides to emigrate, then he has such qualities as entrepreneurship, the ability to adapt to different situations, he is mobile and resistant to various kinds of cataclysms.

There were many job offers in Los Angeles. Especially in Russian-speaking companies of various fields of activity. The owners of firms that themselves left Russia or other Russian-speaking republics, respectively, were looking for workers from the same emigrants.

In Los Angeles, as it turned out, there are many shops and restaurants that are focused specifically on Russian customers. Newspapers and magazines in Russian are published here, popular artists from Russia often come here. In general, it seemed to me that I had not even left Moscow when my daughter and I walked around the city and read the signs.

First of all, I contacted one of the employment agencies. After reading my resume and talking to me, the agent was delighted. There were several suggestions for me. Not exactly for me, but for an educated and intelligent Muscovite like me.

We needed baby-sitters for families who came from different republics of the former USSR. Our emigrants, all as one, wanted an intelligent woman, their countrywoman, who had a pedagogical education or experience in caring for children, to sit with their children. I had experience since I raised my five-year-old daughter on my own. Nurses were also needed to care for the elderly or the sick.

There were many job offers in cafes, restaurants and bistros. But this work did not attract me, it was in shifts, hard, and I would have no one to leave my daughter with. For men with rights, a lot of work on wheels. We needed drivers of both trucks and cars, freight forwarders, taxi drivers, auto repairmen.

There were vacancies in the field of repair and construction. It didn’t even require knowledge of English. Especially in Los Angeles, there is a shortage of painters and plasterers, highly qualified finishers, carpenters, parquet floorers, carpenters, experienced electricians, plumbers, ventilators, who know the design of air conditioners and other types of climatic equipment. As you can see, there are plenty of jobs in California. Especially for men with properly growing hands and brains.

But there is a lot of work in Los Angeles for those expats who know English well. Of course, Russian diplomas of direct action in the United States and other developed countries do not have, but a certified Russian doctor or lawyer may well expect to work in the profile over time. True, you have to start with the position of an assistant or a clerk in the office, but when you pass tests and exams in your specialty and English, after a few years it is quite possible to return to your main job.

There are many expats in Los Angeles who work as editors, doctors, nurses, lawyers, architects and other well-paid professionals. I got a job in a Russian magazine, where I was offered to write an economic section. My duties included describing the living conditions in America, stories about the economy of modern Russia and especially Moscow.

Los Angeles Kindergartens

Without solving this issue, I would not be able to work anywhere. Who to leave a five-year-old child with? I found out that all kindergartens are private and are divided into three types.

The first type is home gardens. In their apartments or houses, women equip rooms for child care. Usually there are not very many pupils, no more than ten. And their age is different: from six months to five years. Oddly enough, the fee in such kindergartens is the smallest, about three hundred dollars a month. They are very popular with some part of the urban population.

The second type is kindergartens organized by the church. There may be children older than two years. They are very affordable, for a full month you have to pay no more than $185. But you can take your child there for an incomplete week, as needed. It depends on the work schedule of the parents. You can also give your child food with you to reduce the cost of payment. Educators conduct classes with children, and parents are provided with a list of all classes. In groups of six to twelve kids.

The third type is the most common. These are private kindergartens, for which you have to pay from 650 to 1000 dollars a month. There are types of gardens where it is allowed to bring lunches from home, and caregivers warm food for children at will.

There are private kindergartens at schools that work synchronously. Let’s say the school is open until three in the afternoon, and the parents are still at work. Such children are taken to the kindergarten on a special bus, where the child is waiting for his mother until the evening. This is a kind of American extension.

Every kindergarten has a security system and all parents are given an access code. I liked that some kindergartens are equipped with webcams, and all parents can watch their child online.

I chose a relatively inexpensive private day care center near the house where we rented a room. Now I was ready to start working in America.

By the way, two years later I transferred my daughter to elementary school. She was already quite ready for this difficult process in a foreign country. Julia spoke excellent English, even better than me. In kindergarten, she was prepared for school, and in the future I had no problems with her studies. Now she is already in the second grade and is in no way inferior to her American classmates.

I’ll tell you about Los Angeles

Everyone knows that this name translates as City of Angels. The population is over four million. If we talk about Greater Los Angeles, that is, a metropolis with all the suburbs, then its population is 17.7 million people. More lives only in New York. The area of ​​the city is 500 square miles on the Pacific coast.

Powerful economy, entertainment industry, advanced manufacturing, mass tourism – that’s all Los Angeles. In addition, the modern telecommunications and financial sector, economics, medicine, transport and law. The fifth largest seaport in the world, the third largest in America and the eighth economy in the world!

Hollywood alone is worth it – the world’s center for making the best films. But here not only the film industry is developed, but also media products, computer games and sound recording. Los Angeles is called the entertainment capital of the world for a reason.

Los Angeles consists of ten main areas: Eastside (East), Downtown (Downtown), South, Northeast, Hollywood, Wilshire, Westside (West), San Fernando Valley, Crescent Valley. The metropolitan area also includes Santa Anna, Anaheim, and Long Beach.

Above all, Los Angeles is considered a mecca for tourists. People from all over the world go to see not only Hollywood, hoping to see movie stars, but also to visit the famous Disneyland, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Kodak Theater, the Griffith Observatory, the Memorial Coliseum stadium, the museum arts, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, Hollywood Boulevard and other places of interest.

With a total of 850 art galleries and museums throughout the Greater Los Angeles area, there’s something for everyone.

The city’s population is very diverse. There are no more than half whites, the rest are African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Hispanic citizens. You can talk about this city as a multinational metropolis.

Negative

In all metropolitan areas of the world, the main problems are the environment and crime. According to the police, there are 250 gangs operating in Los Angeles, the total number of which is approximately twenty-six thousand members. There are several very famous gangs with telling names (Bloody, Cripples). In general, you can often hear that this city is the capital of American gangs.

But everything just sounds so scary. Crime in America in general and in Los Angeles in particular is constantly decreasing. In 2009, 314 people were killed. For comparison, 1191 people were killed in Moscow during the same period.

Ecology in this metropolis is also not up to the mark. There are a lot of cars on the roads of Los Angeles. The air is polluted, a characteristic smog is formed. In addition, the climate here is such that rainfall is rare. In this regard, the city is often covered with smoke. It is believed that here is the most polluted atmosphere in all of the United States of America.

Climate

320 days a year are sunny here. Short-term precipitation is possible only in winter and spring, so the climate is considered dry subtropical. Summer and heat under thirty degrees lasts from May to October, and winters are mild and warm, rarely the temperature drops below zero. The climate is somewhat reminiscent of our Black Sea coast of the Caucasus.

The cost of goods and services

They say for sure that the standard of living depends not only on income, but, first of all, on expenses. These are the expenses I want to talk about. I’ll start with vehicles. There is a single fare in the US subway, one trip costs 2.5 dollars. There are also single travel cards for seven days or thirty days, with unlimited travel during this period.

Taxis also have a starting price that ranges from $2.5 to $3.50 and costs about forty cents every 300 meters. The cost of bus routes is different, for example, in Los Angeles, a ticket for a trip around the city costs $ 2.

A doctor in Los Angeles costs between $90 and $100, a haircut at a hairdresser can cost $15 or more, and a museum visit can cost up to $35 per person.

Here is the cost of basic goods in Los Angeles at the beginning of this year:

  • Marlboro cigarettes – $5.5 per pack
  • gasoline – from 0.8 to 1 dollar per liter.
  • Utilities including gas, garbage, electricity, and water – $120 to $180 per month.
  • local mobile communication, a minute of conversation – from 0.5 to 0.7 dollars.
  • Levi’s jeans – $45 to $50.
  • Nike sneakers – $60 to $70.
  • shoes – from 70 to 90 dollars.

In general, life in the US is expensive, although it varies in different cities. For example, in New York, prices for many goods and services are higher than in Los Angeles. Tourists coming to America should have at least one hundred dollars for one day of stay, or even two hundred. This amount will include car rental, payment for a hotel room, meals, sightseeing plus all kinds of entertainment. The cost of a hotel room varies depending on the class: from one hundred to three hundred dollars a day.

Here is another list of prices for a number of essential groceries and goods purchased in Los Angeles stores. From it we can conclude that prices in the US are lower than in Western Europe and even in Russia.

  • 1 kg of rice costs $1.63.
  • 1 kg of flour – 1.2 dollars.
  • 1 kg of spaghetti – 2.9 dollars.
  • 1 kg ground beef – $6.7 to $8.7.
  • 1 kg of pork tenderloin – from 7.7 to 10 dollars.
  • 1 kg of butter – $7.7.
  • 1 kg of bananas – $1.32.
  • 1 kg of tomatoes – $ 3.42.
  • 1 kg of sugar – $1. 59.
  • 1 liter of milk – from 1.5 to 2 dollars.
  • loaf of bread – $2.5 to $3
  • 12 eggs – $2.2 to $2.6.
  • 1 kg of cheese – from 7 to 9 dollars.
  • 1kg chicken breasts $7 to $8.
  • 1 kg of apples – from 2.5 to 3.5 dollars.
  • 1 kg orange – from 1.3 to 1.6 dollars.
  • 1 kg of potatoes – from 1 to 1.2 dollars.
  • 1.5 liters of mineral water – from 1.5 to 2 dollars.

A pack of six bottles or cans of beer in stores costs from 6 to 10 dollars, a bottle of good wine from 10 to 15 dollars, vodka about 15 dollars. In a restaurant or bar, a glass of beer will cost from $5 to $6, a glass of wine $7, and a glass of vodka $5 to $6.

If you order lunch in one of the inexpensive cafes, then for two you can keep within 20 – 25 dollars.

At a restaurant, two people can order a three-course meal for $40 to $50.

Some advice for those who want to visit Los Angeles

After living in this city for four years, I think I have the right to give advice, because I have passed the adjustment period. Now I run a department for a popular magazine, and my daughter goes to an American school. We rent a good two-room apartment, and I even have a few marriage proposals.

Many imagine that we live in a fairy tale. Around celebrities, film studios, beaches and the ocean. In fact, all this luxury is only for tourists. Those who work from day to day pass by this celebration of life. But there are many of its charms that are available to everyone. For example, beautiful weather. There are a lot of dry and sunny days, so the cost of clothes is not so much. Even in the middle of winter, a sweater and jeans are enough, and eight months of the year you can walk in shorts and a T-shirt.

Los Angeles is a huge metropolis. Even a few hours drive by car is not enough to cross it in length. The highest concentration of attractions in three areas: Hollywood, West Side and Downtown. They are located at a distance of 15 kilometers from each other, and it will take at least an hour to drive from, for example, Downtown to Hollywood.

My daughter and I live on the West Side. This area is considered quite comfortable and one of the safest, and the beaches are located nearby.

Public transportation in Los Angeles is not very convenient. Although there is a developed metro network and buses, the most convenient way to get there is with your own car. Although it is quite possible to ride on a rented one, which I did in the first two years. Having received the second part of the payoff for the apartment from my ex-husband, I bought an inexpensive car and am very pleased with it. The only problem is traffic jams, but knowing the city, you can choose quite calm routes.

I advise you to do sightseeing in the morning on weekdays. At first, while I was not working, I did just that. At this time, there are fewer cars and fewer people, respectively.

In Los Angeles, there is always the opportunity to see some of the movie celebrities. In restaurants and cafes, in shops and even on the streets. It’s just that many of them live and work here.