You are a writer in LA. You are probably poor, so you’re looking for ways to save money. You do not aspire to murder anyone, so you’re looking for ways to reduce your time in the car.
A vital part of building your routine in LA will involve finding sanctuary places – places where you can kill time between meetings and hopefully access your three lifelines – free-or-cheap parking, electricity, and Wi-Fi.
Coffee shops come to mind. Many will validate, and unless they are trendy they won’t kick you out after a half-hour. But all those Chai smoothies add up – in a month you could end up spending the equivalent of two tanks of gas.
Going to the movies is an option – you are a writer, so seeing a movie is ALWAYS an option. But once you factor in travel time, parking, and the show itself, it’s likely to eat up three hours. Sometimes that’s too big a block – your next meeting might be before that, or maybe you’re just trying to wait out rush hour.
Now the Beverly Hills Public Library – that’s a Sanctuary spot to always keep in mind. It’s close to West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Westwood, which is a pretty healthy concentration of potential meeting sites. They have a large, rarely-full parking deck that provides two hours of absolutely free parking during the day. Since you are a normal human being who doesn’t carry four dollars in quarters in your pocket, this is a great alternative – I’ve had to duck out of meetings to feed parking meters before. It does not make a good impression. I had to borrow change from a manager before – that made an even worse impression.
Their study room has plenty of outlets, the Wi-Fi is free, and the atmosphere of quiet is enforced by the most ardent shaming glares. You will seriously feel self-conscious if your mouse button is loud.
If you arrive after 5pm, the parking is free – you could keep your car there all night if you need to. If you’ve got a dinner or drinks meeting in the 90210, that takes care of one of your biggest headaches right there. The library may close at 6, but there’s a Coffee Bean seven minutes’ walk down the street – again, free Wi-Fi.
These are the pieces of knowledge that will help you navigate here – knowing that you can park along northbound San Vicente just below Melrose for two hours during the day; knowing that the north-south streets north of Sunset near LaBrea are permit-only at night, but there’s an east-west street that is free. This town can nickel-and-dime you to death before you’ve even had your first $9 cocktail. You’ve got to find ways to save your brain for bigger problems.