Mixer: For creatives, LA is great if you can afford it

In recent weeks and months, we’ve seen a flurry of coverage from national outlets like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, citing the great weather and the burgeoning gallery scene as reasons why it’s great to be a creative professional in LA.

There’s even the comparison of LA with other, denser cities like New York and San Francisco in how comparatively inexpensive it is to live here.

There was a monthly price survey released this week from the website ApartmentList.com that showed June rent increased in California at twice the national average: 2.7 percent versus 5.4 percent in the Golden State.

And the LA area had three of the ten most expensive cities to live in the country: Santa Monica, Marina Del Rey and West Hollywood.

Indeed, a column in the New York Times looking at the rise of homelessness in LA says the housing problem has been something the city has been struggling with for decades.

So, how great is it… not only for the creative class, but for lower and middle classes?

And what’s driving these high rent prices? Is it simply supply and demand? Will minimum wage hikes help?

Carolina Miranda is staff writer and columnist for the Los Angeles Times. Adrian Glick Kudler is Senior Editor at Curbed LA. They both joined us for the Friday Mixer.