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As we can see from all our polls, numerous "favorite cities"/"top cities" lists from Conde Nast etc Los Angeles is always somewhere in the middle or the bottom and the top are always New York, San Francisco and Chicago... And that reflects all the polls that have been conducted on this forum (that I have seen)
My only comment on this is that city-data doesn't reflect the real world. Reality is that most Americans are obsessed with the sunbelt. I mean, the census numbers don't exactly show people flocking to the northeast, do they? Instead, they show people flocking to the mini-Californias (Nevada, Arizona, etc.).
I don't mean this as an argument against Boston (like I said, the two cities are a draw for me), but it's a legitimate observation.
My only comment on this is that city-data doesn't reflect the real world. Reality is that most Americans are obsessed with the sunbelt. I mean, the census numbers don't exactly show people flocking to the northeast, do they? Instead, they show people flocking to the mini-Californias (Nevada, Arizona, etc.).
I don't mean this as an argument against Boston (like I said, the two cities are a draw for me), but it's a legitimate observation.
Agreed, this is what city-data people prefer. That is why 15 million people live in greater LA and only 4.4 million in greater Boston. If Boston is so much better, more people would live there and there wouldn't have been the exodus of people from cities like Boston out to LA in the mid 20th century. More people move from Boston to LA than LA to Boston. Like I said, I could predict the outcome of this thread
Agreed, this is what city-data people prefer. That is why 15 million people live in greater LA and only 4.4 million in greater Boston. If Boston is so much better, more people would live there and there wouldn't have been the exodus of people from cities like Boston out to LA in the mid 20th century. More people move from Boston to LA than LA to Boston. Like I said, I could predict the outcome of this thread
More people move from LA to Phoenix than vice versa so does that make Phoenix better than LA? Same with Boston to Phoenix. Population here does not tell most of the story either. If you took a scientific poll in LA (pop. 15 million) vs San Diego (about 3 million ) probably 90% would say they would rather live in SD although SD is much smaller. The international comparison here is LA = Mexico City and Boston = Prague or Vienna. Gee I wonder which is a better place to live!
More people move from LA to Phoenix than vice versa so does that make Phoenix better than LA? Same with Boston to Phoenix. Population here does not tell most of the story either. If you took a scientific poll in LA (pop. 15 million) vs San Diego (about 3 million ) probably 90% would say they would rather live in SD although SD is much smaller. The international comparison here is LA = Mexico City and Boston = Prague or Vienna. Gee I wonder which is a better place to live!
I could ask the same to you living in Houston. Enjoying your higher murder rate?
Since it happens in about 3 smaller ghetto areas primarily and does not affect me I guess I don't mind it. It does suck for the decent people living in those areas though. LA by the way has many ghetto areas while Boston has only a small part of South Boston (Dorchester) that is bad.
Of course LA has MORE ghettos, it is a much bigger city. People in West LA for example live in peace while crime occurs in areas like South Central, much like how you say you live in a good area of Houston and live in peace. In 2006 (is 2007 data out yet??, because I know crime went down in both cities) Boston actually had a higher murder rate, so I don't think it beats LA on crime either.
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Every thing doesn't revolve around sports And LA is as much a sport city as any other major US city. It isn't an accident that the # of TV viewers watching the Celtics & Lakers is up to numbers rarely seen in NBA championships.
And there is no denying that people want to live in warm climates. I mean our whole lives are effected by weather. The temperature in Boston rose by 30 degrees today in sweltering heat while it was barely 80F & sunny in LA, as usual.
The history of Los Angeles is just as old as Boston. Both cities were founded by Europeans. I prefer the Spanish settlements in California that have missions going back to the 1770's. The state was divided up as ranchos and haciendas w/ mission towns 30 miles apart. The Spaniards brought agriculture to California by introducing orange & other citrus trees, palm trees & pepper trees. They produced wine & had great gardens & groves. This, of-course, was a quiet time compared to the action on the East Coast. Spain had too many territories than they could handle so California wasn’t heavily settled until gold was discovered around Sacramento. California was conquered and made a state 2 yrs after the gold rush in 1850.
San Francisco was the only large city in California until the early 1900's. It has a great history including rebuilding after the 1906 earthquake. Los Angeles came along many years after from being a pueblo to becoming the biggest city in California in less than 50 yrs. It is a new city in comparison to Boston & has had a population explosion for decades. Boston is well-established & more formal than LA. While out here the life style is more outdoors & casual.
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