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The drive is a big part of things. If you leave Center City at 5pm on Friday in July, it will take a while. But I can leave at 9am on a Saturday and hit very little traffic, speeding along at 70 mph, even at the height of beach season. It makes access reasonable. Now, if you could only do an average of 35 - 40 mph the whole way regardless of time, access would suck.
Right, it's definitely great that Philadelphia has that access. However, there is a difference in the beach being about 60 miles away from downtown and less than 20 miles away from downtown. Plus, much of LA's urban core is actually on the Westside even closer or abutting the beach. It's definitely not like South Philly or Chestnut Hill are next to the beach.
It'd also be perhaps helpful if the trains to the beach from Center City were somewhat frequent.
Certainly where Philadelphia wins are the old towns nearby and the traditional downtown and urban neighborhoods.
That type of scenery is actually a pretty small percentage of LA metro beaches overall. Most of LA County's beaches, basically between Santa Monica/Venice down to Huntington Beach with the exception of the Palos Verdes penninsula is pretty flat and featureless. Malibu northward or Newport Beach southward are nice and scenic. A lot of LA County and some OC beaches aren't really that great, at least compared to the rest of the SoCal coast like South OC and San Diego County. A good chunk of LA's coast is too industrial imo.
No matter how you dissect the LA beach scene, its beautiful imo and you just can't compare the two as far as the beach. Millions of people here have access to the beach without getting stuck on a freeway including myself. Sometimes after work I meet friends for happy hour, have dinner, ride my bike, watch the sunset, walk along the shore or take a dip. You can catch public transportation to the beach whether its lightrail or bus which run 24hrs a day from DTLA to Santa Monica and Venice. In Philadelphia you simply don't have that.
Right, it's definitely great that Philadelphia has that access. However, there is a difference in the beach being about 60 miles away from downtown and less than 20 miles away from downtown. Plus, much of LA's urban core is actually on the Westside even closer or abutting the beach. It's definitely not like South Philly or Chestnut Hill are next to the beach.
It'd also be perhaps helpful if the trains to the beach from Center City were somewhat frequent.
Certainly where Philadelphia wins are the old towns nearby and the traditional downtown and urban neighborhoods.
No issue with any of this. Although the beach being this close is a real benefit to consider when moving here IMO. Not #1 or #2, but maybe #7 or 8 on the list of important things, depending on the person.
No matter how you dissect the LA beach scene, its beautiful imo and you just can't compare the two as far as the beach. Millions of people here have access to the beach without getting stuck on a freeway including myself. Sometimes after work I meet friends for happy hour, have dinner, ride my bike, watch the sunset, walk along the shore or take a dip. You can catch public transportation to the beach whether its lightrail or bus which run 24hrs a day from DTLA to Santa Monica and Venice. In Philadelphia you simply don't have that.
Sure as long as you ignore the smokestacks and sigh of offshore oil rigs in some places...
You have the option of going to other beaches besides the working port area.
Yes I'm aware hence why I said "in some places". I was thinking actually of places like El Segundo with the water treatment plant, power plant, and refineries adjacent to the beach, not the port area. You can see off-shore oil rigs from Huntington Beach which is a good distance away from the port.
Yes I'm aware hence why I said "in some places". I was thinking actually of places like El Segundo with the water treatment plant, power plant, and refineries adjacent to the beach, not the port area. You can see off-shore oil rigs from Huntington Beach which is a good distance away from the port.
While I think LA’s zoning has been terrible and has allowed sprawl into hills, waterfronts, and other parts, this is still a comparison thread. Yes, there are several parts of LA’s waterfront that are very industrial or plain ugly, but it’s a fairly short trip to go to one of the better beaches rather than the industrial area than it generally is for someone in Philadelphia to get to the beach (though as stated before, that traffic if driving from afar in LA can be horrendous).
Last edited by OyCrumbler; 09-28-2017 at 01:51 PM..
While I think LA’s zoning has been terrible and has allowed sprawl into hills, waterfronts, and other parts, this is still a comparison thread. Yes, there are several parts of LA’s waterfront that are very industrial or plain ugly, but it’s a fairly short trip to go to one of the better beaches rather than the industrial area than it generally is for someone in Philadelphia to get to the beach (though as stated before, that traffic if driving from afar in LA can be horrendous).
Ok? I never claimed otherwise. I was simply pointing out how much of LA's coast isn't "rocky cliffs overlooking the beaches" and that some areas are rather industrial.
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