Los Angeles: Out Of Towners Perspective of Los Angeles (San Francisco: home, to live) - California (CA) - Page 3 - City-Data Forum

nighthouse66 · 10-22-2010, 03:11 PM

NomadRefugee, i understand the point you are trying to make, it just sounds bit heavy handed coming from someone who had never lived here. and while yes, i have been around alot of kooky artist folk from my time living in a collective that also put on shows, i can't even afford my own one bedroom apartment in this town. that i will grant you, is a legitimate gripe about this place- housing costs. so i am certainly not moving in moneyed circles and if anything the folk i know have less money than your average 9-5er. just because you are a punk legend doesn't mean you have money- unfortunately!

Quote:

Originally Posted by BRinSM

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'.

BRinSm, you hit on something i find fascinating. the writer otto friedrich said that hollywood is an imaginary place and you can only truly live there in your mind. and then the wonderful stranvinsky quote- "the only way to avoid hollywood is to live there". the hollywood that people all over america hold in their mind's eye is such an ephemeral place- you can live right in the middle of hollywood and not be having the true hollywood experience that someone in KANSAS might be having simply by imagining it. its extremely bizarre, and one of the things i love most about this city.
i must also include this great thornton wilder quote- "you know, one day someone is going to approach this area and it will be entirely desert. there will be nothing left standing, stone upon stone-god never meant man to live here. man has come and invaded a desert, and he has tortured this desert into giving up sustenance and growth to him, and he has defeated and perverted the purpose of god. and this going to be destroyed."
i suppose the apocalyptic is also a peculiar quality of this city as well.

Fontucky · 10-22-2010, 03:18 PM

I disagree with everything Wilder mentioned, especially these two points: L.A. was never a desert and there ain't no god.

nickdahammer · 10-22-2010, 08:28 PM

I was with you for awhile there, until the crack about "...places for average blue-collar people are dangerous and full of gangs." As I and many others have said, L.A. is a HUGE, diverse city that is awful hard to pigeonhole. That's why people love it AND hate it. I'm adjacent to Highland Park, a traditionally scruffy, blue-collar area and I have never felt like I was in danger. Been here over 15 years.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NomadRefugee

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.

nighthouse66 · 10-22-2010, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fontucky

I disagree with everything Wilder mentioned, especially these two points: L.A. was never a desert and there ain't no god.

NomadRefugee · 10-23-2010, 03:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickdahammer

I was with you for awhile there, until the crack about "...places for average blue-collar people are dangerous and full of gangs." As I and many others have said, L.A. is a HUGE, diverse city that is awful hard to pigeonhole. That's why people love it AND hate it. I'm adjacent to Highland Park, a traditionally scruffy, blue-collar area and I have never felt like I was in danger. Been here over 15 years.

Well, I lived in different parts of SoCal for about 8 years. And during that time I was making about 12-14 bucks an hour, which is a standard working class wage.

I'm talking about a person making like 30K per year. In LA, people like that are pretty much screwed. Maybe you're assuming i'm talking about people who make like 60K per year?

All I could afford was places in sketchy areas on my wages. I usually didn't feel endangered, and never worried about getting assaulted or anything like that, but there was criminal activity all around me and theft was a problem in every place I lived.

I checked out rentals all over LA and found that the only affordable places were in rough neighborhoods. And even in these places, the cost of living was barely doable. That's just how it is for people who make 15$ per hour or less. Unless of course you want to shack up with a bunch of other people and split rent.

It's no secret that LA is incredibly expensive and the affordable places are in rough neighborhoods. Maybe there are a few cheap little studios here and there in good neighborhoods but that's not the norm.

nickdahammer · 10-23-2010, 10:51 AM

I think the lower income = sketchy area template applies to just about any City. I was thinking more about livability than income. Los Angeles is hardly an exception to that rule, in my opinion. Are people who make $30k and under in other cities as 'screwed' as they are here? Of course they are if they live in an expensive city with comparable costs of living.

That said, I believe there are more and more 'sketchy' areas turning around, largely because suburbanites are moving to a more urban environment, investing in the neighborhoods, etc. That seems to be the trend, at least here. There are parts of Ktown, Lincoln Heights and downtown that are vastly safer these days. I hope that continues.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NomadRefugee

Well, I lived in different parts of SoCal for about 8 years. And during that time I was making about 12-14 bucks an hour, which is a standard working class wage.

I'm talking about a person making like 30K per year. In LA, people like that are pretty much screwed. Maybe you're assuming i'm talking about people who make like 60K per year?

All I could afford was places in sketchy areas on my wages. I usually didn't feel endangered, and never worried about getting assaulted or anything like that, but there was criminal activity all around me and theft was a problem in every place I lived.

I checked out rentals all over LA and found that the only affordable places were in rough neighborhoods. And even in these places, the cost of living was barely doable. That's just how it is for people who make 15$ per hour or less. Unless of course you want to shack up with a bunch of other people and split rent.

It's no secret that LA is incredibly expensive and the affordable places are in rough neighborhoods. Maybe there are a few cheap little studios here and there in good neighborhoods but that's not the norm.

Kevroqs · 08-18-2016, 12:15 AM

I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of Los Angeles. I never understood why people wanted to live there but now I've visited, I can see why. I'd like to move there asap. I just have to avoid East LA

nmnita · 08-18-2016, 05:01 AM

Every major city in the world has a down side, and Los Angeles is no different, but it has lots of ups as well. Would I ever move back? I hate to say never, but this is one time I can safely say it. I think, with a really good transit system (which will probably never happen) and fewer homeless people it would be heaven, maybe a few less illegals would help. It still has the best weather of anywhere, nice beaches, lots of fun things, lots of nice residential areas and I have always thought, nice people, plus some of the best food anywhere.

christianreligions · 08-18-2016, 05:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nmnita

It still has the best weather of anywhere

You're like wrong......

elhelmete · 08-18-2016, 10:18 AM

Cool old thread.

I first visited LA during a post-college 6 week roadtrip across the entire US. I was 21. We visited probably 8-10 big cities (Chicago, Seattle, Portland, Indianapolis, Denver, SFO, MPLS, etc.) and national parks and places in between.

In LA we stayed with my co-traveler's grandmother in, I think (25+ years ago) in the west hollywood ish area. I did a ton of walking, saw BH, Farmers Market, Santa Monica. Took a show in at the Gibson and did the Uni studio tour. Rented a car for a day and drove out to the drag strip in Pomona (I was into cars then) and watched for a few hours.

At the end of the entire trip, though, I was telling people that of all the cities I saw, i could imagine living in all of them...except LA.

I've been here 19 years.