Los Angeles: Out Of Towners Perspective of Los Angeles (San Francisco: best city, crime rate)
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Location: Austin, TX/Chicago, IL/Houston, TX/Washington, DC
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Hey!
Brief introduction, I normally visit Los Angeles a good bit so I am familiar with the place. Lately there has been harsh thrashing of Los Angeles in the part of the forum that I am mostly in. But some of the things said are just going to far.
I wanted to share what I thought about Los Angeles and then let any of the locals here talk about what they think of Los Angeles.
Anyways here goes-
The first time I came to Los Angeles I literally felt like it was the largest city in the country (note I am from Chicago) it wasn't the "density" or the urban factor but it was the layout. The place was just massive and endless. I remember how beautiful it was early in the morning, took pictures in front of the Hollywood sign. Throughout the whole day did all the tourist things. I enjoyed Disneyland but to me it felt a bit too crowded, but it seemed so vibrant nonetheless.
Anyways driving through the city (with my parents at the time) was a great experience, especially the drive near the coast. I cant really say the weather shocked me as I'm used to every kind of weather in a spectrum from Hot to Cold. But the city in general was very calm and relaxed for such a large city, especially compared to my experiences in New York City or even my hometown Chicago where if you don't act fast or think fast you're left behind and lost.
Los Angeles was a fairly simple city to get used to, the street navigation were comfortable, the streets were simple, and the signs were abundant. Getting to see the real city outside of the tourist areas, I got a feel for what became my precursor for this style of city (spread out and large), honestly you guys may have some bad areas but even those didn't look anything as bad as what I have seen in New York City or Chicago. The lined streets with tall Palm Trees were beautiful, and the median in between the streets that separate each way with the trees lined there was just fantastic. The beaches seemed a bit crowded to me, and I rarely ever go in the water, I normally love to play catch with a football on the beach, the weather was just so suitable and the sand felt warm and hospitable, I was comfortable and in my relaxed state of mind. Los Angeles as a city is a eye opener for scenery, it isn't the best but it is no slouch, the beaches where you could see for miles away at a time have to be something fabulously reserved only for Los Angeles in the Continental United States.
I was new to the area but even then I still managed to help my cousin who lives in Los Angeles find her way around despite being a novice to the area myself. I loved getting to know your city. Its the kind of city I like where things are to the distant horizons and the 4 points of the city. I like that, it lets you have that "I feel at one with my city" and the whole getting an excuse to know the place more. I prefer it over a centralized city where everything is all in one place.
Los Angeles, contrary to belief doesn't at all seem like what I have heard about it so much, every time I go there I am pleasantly surprised with the quality of air, I keep hearing bad and negative things on that but it hasn't at all affected my stays there.
Now you guys get good bragging rights on Mexican food, but the real winner (in my opinion) was actually the Chinese food in Los Angeles. It seems underrated especially compared to San Francisco's. The streets are lively in all the right spots yet you still get room to yourself, its an easy city to take in one moment at a time.
All in all, I have to cut this short, I know my points may have been sporadic and seemed to jump around a bit, but I will have to finish it when I get more time!
I just wanted to get this started though, I really like Los Angeles, its definitely the best city in California (in my opinion) and its definitely the heavyweight for California's culture and image. Californians have much to be proud of with Los Angeles, and I'm glad its a city apart of the United States, it offers a good level of variety, it may not be the best in every category but its a city thats got it all.
I will be back to go more in depth with my experiences there, for each time but I'll leave this to you guys for now!
Please share your experiences in Los Angeles (Try to keep it to the good though), or what you think of the city. And yes pictures are more than welcomed to share!
After a decade in my much-beloved Chicago, my family and I are moving to LA at the end of this month. I'm excited and optimistic based on my visits there.
The chatter in this forum can be quite depressing at times and I've decided to completely dismiss the persistent negative posters. We'll form our own opinion, like millions of others who live there, and hopefully come down on the side of loving our new home.
(Apologies in advance for adding two more commuters to your roadways....)
Dannyy: Thanks for the post. I've seen your posts in the City vs. City forum and you are one of the more thoughtul posters there. You know how to disagree without being disagreeable!
Those of us old enough to remember the early 1990's recall when LA was truly a city on the ropes (deep regional recession, riots, very high murder rate, earthquake, smog was much WORSE, etc.).
So the current state of affairs must be taken with a grain of salt. That is not to dismiss the current challenges which are many, esp. in getting the local economy back on track.
The last decade and a half saw a drop in the murder rate to a decades low rate, air quality greatly improved, and mass transit is finally getting the funds it sorely deserves. In addition to transit (including high speed rail), there are other infrastructure related projects to get excited about such as the "greening" of the LA river. It will probably take years to get it done but it will be a welcome addition to link many disparate parts of the city and region with a continous green space/bike path.
^I don't know. I remember the early 90s well and ....
-We still have a deep regional recession, arguably worse than that time
-We are due for an earthquake, larger than 94
-True, murder rate is down, I'll give you that.
-Smog about the same. It was worse in the 60s and 70s.
We have some things worse now:
-Traffic is much worse than in the 90s
- Much more harsh business climate
-Much more orwellian city with unnecessary city laws and police increasingly hostile to freedom of ordinary citizens.(red light camera being one example)
-Slower and less caring city services. Overcrowded (i.e. DMV)
To OP: despite all that, wouldn't live anywhere else.
^I don't know. I remember the early 90s well and ....
-We still have a deep regional recession, arguably worse than that time
-We are due for an earthquake, larger than 94
-True, murder rate is down, I'll give you that.
-Smog about the same. It was worse in the 60s and 70s.
We have some things worse now:
-Traffic is much worse than in the 90s
- Much more harsh business climate
-Much more orwellian city with unnecessary city laws and police increasingly hostile to freedom of ordinary citizens.(red light camera being one example)
-Slower and less caring city services. Overcrowded (i.e. DMV)
To OP: despite all that, wouldn't live anywhere else.
why you won't live else where and do you think it is wise for a college educated guy like me to move to LA to start a new life ?
i have lived here for five years, and los angeles is really a city people love to hate.
people go on and on about the shallowness, the hollywood attitude, and i thought for sure that i would be shot in a drive by and feel totally out of place with my extra twenty pounds. i expected everyone to be drop dead gorgeous and totally shallow. or in a gang.
i was so wrong. there are all sorts here. there are beautiful people here, sure. but not once, and i mean, not once, have i ever gotten any sort of attitude that everyone else swears is so typical of los angeles.
i think LA is the most laid back place imaginable. the weather is ridiculous. its almost unfair, really, that we have so much- we have the desert, we have the mountains, we have the beach, we have topanga (hippie rural heaven)....we got it all.
and all you whiners about traffic- in a recent poll, atlanta was third, and los angeles was 6! its just this long-held cultural assumption about LA that the traffic is so bad. it is NOT.
i love this place. and i hate this place. it can cast a spell on you. it ruins you for other cities if you let it. i have tried to leave here, and i can't. like joni mitchell said, "couldn't let go of LA/city of the fallen angels".
I lived in Northern and Southern Cal. I never lived in LA though.
But when I visit LA, it is a bit overwhelming on the senses. I've lived in several big cities around the world, including a couple that are a lot bigger and denser than LA, but LA is a place that just really turns me off and I always want to get out of there when i'm visiting.
It's a very dangerous city, and the people tend to love to show off and be overly flashy and materialistic, and generally things are just over-the-top there, these are the aspects that turn people off to it.
To the person who enjoys peace and comfort, LA can be an assault on the senses. 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.
People driving hummers or sports cars while blasting music, hanging their arm out the window, putting all thier energy into trying to look cool, desperately hoping people are admiring them is typical. This kind of ridiculous behavior is widespread in LA in all age groups. This is what out of towners see...
I can see the good in LA too. But I would never, ever want to live there. And there is only about 5% of the city that I even enjoy visiting.
I lived in Northern and Southern Cal. I never lived in LA though.
It's a very dangerous city, and the people tend to love to show off and be overly flashy and materialistic, and generally things are just over-the-top there, these are the aspects that turn people off to it.
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.
People driving hummers or sports cars while blasting music, hanging their arm out the window, putting all thier energy into trying to look cool, desperately hoping people are admiring them is typical. This kind of ridiculous behavior is widespread in LA in all age groups. This is what out of towners see...
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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.
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