Los Angeles: Out Of Towners Perspective of Los Angeles (Pomona: apartment, rentals)
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whoah there! so you can state that LA is a very dangerous city, but have never lived here? are you aware that LA is enjoying its lowest crime rate in 40 years? that's nonsense. now, compton, yes, is very dangerous. so are many other places in chicago, atlanta, etc. that is a sweeping statement that does not reflect the reality. methinks you have been watching too many crime dramas.
and as far as the humvee bling flashing, have you ever been in atlanta? have you ever been in macon? or houston? people love their cars there, and are very ostentatious in that. LA has always been THE place for car culture. yes people show off their cars. in east LA this variant is much more pleasing, because that's when you get the lowriders and the phat 30's pickups. but i don't find that ostentatious. its car culture. any city with alot of freeways love their cars. and I love cars too. and i don't find LA in any way unusual in the number of humvees or fine sports cars gracing its streets. in fact the most ostentatious place i ever lived in that regard was carmel. people were very pretentious about their wealth there. it wasn't the cool muscle cars either, it was the rolls', it was the concourse d'elegance type nonsense. bugatis. porsches. stuff that looks like it ought to be sitting near a golf course. you know, garbage! if you are judging your opinion based on a few friday nights spend on sunset and taking that to be a microcosm of LA, you are sorely misinformed.
and cheesy and arrogant is not the norm in LA. i have lived here for five years. the only arrogance i have ever seen was shown by cops. i have dealt with gangbangers, the homeless, artists, other fillmmakers, and the worst thing i have had to deal with and that is rarely is namedropping. a certain punk legend i knew was at my house one time trying to impress a girl with all the people he knew- loudly- and it was so shocking because i realized i had spent four years here and that that was the first time i had ever experienced anything like that. from a punk legend, no less.
and yes, it is your opinion, which you are free too, but as a resident of five years i must say that your opinion is clearly not based on residency, and it is not based on fact. the end.
Well, it's all about perspective.
I don't know much about you. But from this post you have told that you are a filmmaker who throws parties at his house with punk legends showing up. This isn't exactly the kind of lifestyle an average Joe lives. An average Joe who works as a plumber, a store manager, a teacher, a housewife or something like that would probably have a radically different take on LA life than you.
You live a very LA type of lifestyle it seems. I can see how someone like yourself would really like LA. But for myself, and my hobbies, philosophies and interests, LA just doesn't work that well.
We all see the world through a different pair of eyes.
And I have spent a lot of time in LA. I was living in OC and had a girlfriend living on Venice Beach for about 6 months and i was there all the time. Probably spent about 3 solid months in LA off and on.
As for the danger factor. It all depends what part of LA you are in. Most of the safe places are incredibly expensive and elite. Most of the places for average blue-collar people are dangerous and full of gangs.
Los Angeles is incredibly diverse; more so than probably any American city and according to surveys, LA is the most multi-ethnic of all American cities. When people point out the flashy "hedonistic" lifestyle of Hollywood celebrities that is true but just one aspect of Los Angeles. I think we all get a little weary of the non-stop air-heads like Lindsay and Paris and Britney getting busted for cocaine, their dramatic court appearances and few days in jail covered ad nauseum by the media. Or jerks like Mel Gibson drunk driving arrests and nasty divorces. But we share the city with personalities who get high-profile attention. Yet I don't think these people are emulated by the typical Angeleno. LA is the playground for a lot of wealthy and sometimes irresponsible people but also the home of many who greatly contribute to society. All the actors, writers, producers who do good work for the community and make Los Angeles one of the most progressive cities in the nation. It is no surprize that every Democratic politician around the country come to LA to get money. Also yesterday, Danny Glover, Melissa Etheridge, Hal Sparks, and other actors held a press conference in support of legalizing marijuana while at the same time the federal drug czar was in LA urging people to vote against Prop 19. Los Angeles is an exciting place to live; something interesting is happening every day and we are often the focus of attention. Look at all the TV celebrity shows each night ["Access Hollywood", "TMZ" "E Entertainment", the Kardashians, "Dancing with the Stars", "American Idol" etc.] telecast nightly from Los Angeles. The country gets huge doses of LA on television and movies and music. Some Americans actually despise Los Angeles for all of this yet have never been here to see how the rest of Angelenos live.
Look at all the TV celebrity shows each night ["Access Hollywood", "TMZ" "E Entertainment", the Kardashians, "Dancing with the Stars", "American Idol" etc.] telecast nightly from Los Angeles. The country gets huge doses of LA on television and movies and music. Some Americans actually despise Los Angeles for all of this yet have never been here to see how the rest of Angelenos live.
This is an interesting point, but I still feel like these people/shows are from another planet even though I live in and spend nearly all my time in the city. transcending geography, hollywood is also an industry and a state of mind. hollywood is everywhere in LA, but at the same time many places have a very small influence. it's really not that hard to avoid 'hollywood' if you are familiar with the city. but at the same time, others are constantly searching for 'hollywood'.
Anyways, LA can be so many things to so many people, but if you are able to look a little deeper (which isn't that difficult to do), it's really just a big city where people live and work to take care of themselves and their families. it's funny how the self-servers come here, give the city a bad reputation then head home to where ever they came from. most of us are just every day folk who are either from here or came here to live in a big city. i can't tell you how many people i know who have 9-5 office jobs with college degrees from different universities all over the country. these aren't fake, shallow people trying to make it in hollywood, these are the same types of people you'll find in SF, NY, DC, Chicago, etc. but just happened to have chosen LA instead.
This is an interesting point, but I still feel like these people/shows are from another planet even though I live in and spend nearly all my time in the city. transcending geography, hollywood is also an industry and a state of mind. hollywood is everywhere in LA, but at the same time many places have a very small influence. it's really not that hard to avoid 'hollywood' if you are familiar with the city. but at the same time, others are constantly searching for 'hollywood'.
Anyways, LA can be so many things to so many people, but if you are able to look a little deeper (which isn't that difficult to do), it's really just a big city where people live and work to take care of themselves and their families. it's funny how the self-servers come here, give the city a bad reputation then head home to where ever they came from. most of us are just every day folk who are either from here or came here to live in a big city. i can't tell you how many people i know who have 9-5 office jobs with college degrees from different universities all over the country. these aren't fake, shallow people trying to make it in hollywood, these are the same types of people you'll find in SF, NY, DC, Chicago, etc. but just happened to have chosen LA instead.
Yeah, "Planet Hollywood" But as you point out, the concept of "Hollywood" is part of the fabric that makes up Los Angeles. More than any other American city [even NYC] the entertainment industry has made Los Angeles a focal point. It is impossible to separate Hollywood from LA for good or for bad.
What I am especially encouraged over is the strong effort to change Los Angeles transit. From being the capital of "freeways" to the very ambitious effort of laying light rail, subway and now high-speed trains. It was great to hear that the Crenshaw Corridor project will be starting years ahead of schedule due to a recent federal grant [thanks to mayor Villaraigosa & senator Boxer].
As I've said before, the beauty of L.A. is that it can be whatever you make it. If you want the flashy, high profile lifestyle (and can afford it!), it's yours for the taking. If you want a regular life, you can do that, too, just in much better weather than in the rest of the country!
It's also impossible to stereotype all 10 million people living in L.A. County, or even the 3.8 million people in the City of L.A. I'm an L.A. County native, and I certainly don't fit the celebrity-seeking, fame-craving mold. I'm guessing most of us don't. Those who do are probably transplants from elsewhere.
Having lived here all of my life, this is "home". Nothing more and nothing less. It's not remarkable to me, because this has been my environment all of my life. I love seeing the snow-capped mountains after a good storm, I love that the Venice boardwalk hasn't changed in thirty or forty years, etc., but at the same time I tend to take it for granted. I should probably move away for a few years and come back. I'd probably see it with new eyes. (Nah, I couldn't take the heat, cold, or humidity anywhere else! )
Anyways, LA can be so many things to so many people, but if you are able to look a little deeper (which isn't that difficult to do), it's really just a big city where people live and work to take care of themselves and their families. it's funny how the self-servers come here, give the city a bad reputation then head home to where ever they came from. most of us are just every day folk who are either from here or came here to live in a big city. i can't tell you how many people i know who have 9-5 office jobs with college degrees from different universities all over the country. these aren't fake, shallow people trying to make it in hollywood, these are the same types of people you'll find in SF, NY, DC, Chicago, etc. but just happened to have chosen LA instead.
When I first moved out to LA, I thought the people there were like people everywhere.
The only thing that seemed really different was when I went to the strand in Manhattan Beach and saw how many girls were roller blading in bikinis. I thought they were cute--but nuts!!!The pavement was cracked and uneven in places, and the strand was so crowded with people walking every direction and straight across to the beach. I couldn't believe those girls had next to nothing on to protect themselves if they tripped. But they were cute!
That's the only "out of towners" reaction I recall having.
As an out of towner from the far away land of the San Fernando Valley, I always enjoy visiting Los Angeles
Realistically speaking though, it's hard for me to have an even handed perspective of LA since I grew up here. For all the faults it has, LA is still home to me, no matter where I seem to move in the country. The funniest thing is that I find that SoCal residents are the people who are MOST indifferent to celebrities and Hollywood.
Although, I did wish I grew up in the 70's and 80s, in time to see the Sunset Strip scene in person. I enjoy heavy metal that much. Instead of the garbage music that seems to be coming out of the LA music scene lately.
All in all, LA is just a place where people live and work. No different than any other place, aside from climate. If someone doesn't like it, whatever. Just one less car on the road during my commute
That fact is painfully obvious by the following remarks made by you:
Quote:
Originally Posted by NomadRefugee
It's a very dangerous city, and the people tend to love to show off and be overly flashy and materialistic
To the person who is modest and non-materialistic, LA embodies many things that they feel are wrong with society today. Being in LA is often like a window into humanities worst traits, materialism, inequality, violence, racial politics, rat race to gain capital, etc. It's got a very hedonistic feel. People goign for self-advancement and pleasure at all costs, at any expense.
Then there's the people's general behavior, behavior that in other states would be considered blatent showing off, cheesy and arrogant is the norm in LA, and the people of LA thrive on this culture of flashing wealth and one upping each other.
Typical nonresident stereotypes held by those who believe what they see on TV and movies. Or read in C-D hater threads.
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If you want the flashy, high profile lifestyle (and can afford it!), it's yours for the taking. If you want a regular life, you can do that, too, just in much better weather than in the rest of the country!
