Christmas in Los Angeles (neighborhood, shop, station)

[readymade]

I grew up in Boston. My first XMas here was really depressing and weird. That was mostly due to all of my family being back home, though. But, yeah, it felt weird here being all sunny & warm and generally just not the same. I've gotten used to it, though.

People put up trees, lights, there's Christmas music playing everywhere. The malls have a Santa. I think, in Burbank, they cover a whole area with snow that the kids can play in for a day or two (haven't seen it, though. Maybe this year!).

I don't know. It stills feels a little weird sometimes. But you get used to it. If my family were here, I'd probably feel differently. Also? I moved back to Boston for a year and spent Christmas 2010 back home and THAT felt weird! So who knows. Back home everyone (strangers, not my family) was just really awful. Stressed out and yelling & screaming at each other on the streets. That doesn't happen here. Driving in the snow was just awful. So now I totally prefer it here at Christmas, heh.

[yamota]

be that as it may though, I do highly recommend everyone spend at least one Christmas in New York because there's nothing like it. You walk down 5th avenue, the air is crisp and cold, the street is lined with colorful shops and lights and holiday trimmings, you walk down to Rockefeller plaza and watch the skaters weave their way across the skating rink as the lights on the giant Christmas tree flicker on and off, the Holidays in Manhattan is truly a magical time and place

[Bunjee]

Originally Posted by yamota

be that as it may though, I do highly recommend everyone spend at least one Christmas in New York because there's nothing like it. You walk down 5th avenue, the air is crisp and cold, the street is lined with colorful shops and lights and holiday trimmings, you walk down to Rockefeller plaza and watch the skaters weave their way across the skating rink as the lights on the giant Christmas tree flicker on and off, the Holidays in Manhattan is truly a magical time and place

I have. But I wasn't with my family or my real friends across the country, so there wasn't much magic to it for me.

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

Assuming that was actually in California

You don't get to the beach in South OC much, do you?

[user_id]

I've spent Christmas both here and in the east and other than the obvious, that is lack of snow, there aren't huge differences. But I'm also looking at it as someone that grew up in California....

One thing I did notice is that people seem more into decorating their homes here than on the east, but that is likely weather related. If your home is covered in snow/ice...sorta hard to put lights on it huh?

I don't get the comments about the weather, its typically not warm and sunny in December here. Sure, unless you're in the mountains, you're not going to get snow....but the weather is much colder than the summer (especially once you get 5~10 miles from the coast) and it often rains.

[hockfan86]

"Much colder in the winter than the summer" that is a joke to someone like me from the midwest. In January and February in Minnesota where I grew up and North Dakota where I went to college, it would get as cold as -40 degrees Fahrenheit. In the Summer, it would get as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit and it was always humid. That is a 140 degree difference in temperature, in Southern California I see maybe a 15-20 degree difference from Summer to so called "Winter". I'm not saying I miss the Winter by any means, but the use of the word "Cold" or "Colder in the Winter" is offensive if you are speaking of California. Hell, even the Southern United States experiences more of a Winter than California. My two cents.

[Count David]

Originally Posted by hockfan86

I'm not saying I miss the Winter by any means, but the use of the word "Cold" or "Colder in the Winter" is offensive if you are speaking of California. Hell, even the Southern United States experiences more of a Winter than California. My two cents.

Go to the Sierra Nevada, far northern CA, or the San Gabriels, San Bernardinos, or San Jacintos.

[user_id]

Originally Posted by hockfan86

"Much colder in the winter than the summer" that is a joke to someone like me from the midwest. In January and February in Minnesota where I grew up and North Dakota where I went to college, it would get as cold as -40 degrees Fahrenheit.

So its a joke because its colder in some areas of the country? I don't get that....

Originally Posted by hockfan86

In the Summer, it would get as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit and it was always humid. That is a 140 degree difference in temperature, in Southern California I see maybe a 15-20 degree difference from Summer to so called "Winter".

Huh? You are using extremes for the mid-west, but averages for California. The extreme temps in the summer in Southern California are ~110, the extreme lows are around 20, so that is a spread of 90 degrees.

The spread between the average highs in the winter and summer in MN are around 60 degrees, in Southern California its around 30 degrees (less on the coast, more inland).

Anyhow, so yes, its much cooler in the winter in California than in the summer. The fact that other areas of the country have more extreme weather differences doesn't change that. This is not to mention that the weather changes in other ways, namely, its much more cloudy and rains in the winter.

The tops of the east-end mountains were covered with snow this mourning.....for some reason I don't recall seeing that in the summer....

[MsMurphy64]

Um, people have the christmas spirit, the malls are crowded, lights all over... i guess its ok. seems tho that every year the spirit dies back a little because of the economy people see it as a financial burdon, as do i.

[Jay100]

Originally Posted by MDborn

I never said there had to be snow, I just meant the things people usually do, like put up Christmas lights and tree's and stuff like that.

I try to refrain from saying that there are any stupid questions but, that's definitely one. What do you think we do, dress up in goth and burn down all the Christmas trees? No, quite the opposite.


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