Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Well, I feel more at home in Los Angeles than I would anywhere in Florida. Now that we have our personal predilections out of the way...
I think you're misrepresenting LA's urbanity. And for the record, I do not think Miami and LA are all that similar beyond the surface, but I do think they are about even in overall urbanity. Just from a density perspective, LA as a city is over 8500/ppsm. The densest areas in LA are more densely populated than the densest areas in Miami, and let's not forget to point out it would be easy to find a 36-square mile chunk of LA, equivalent to the size of Miami, that is more dense. When you factor in other aspects of urbanity, this would effectively give LA the advantage...
Stop pretending Miami isn't a car-centric city. Los Angeles has the better public transportation system and is more heavily utilized...
I didn't say LA wasn't an urban city, I said that LA was very spread out in comparison to Miami. The city of Miami is currently 12,599/sq mi (2017) in comparison to LA, which has 8,484/sq mi. Since Miami has 36 sq mi to LA's 467 sq mi, that just means that the city of Miami can get denser quickly despite not having much in population, and it seems like in 2020, Miami will become the fourth largest densest major city, surpassing Boston. Only NYC, SF, and Jersey City would remain denser. LA still have as long ways to go when it comes to density.
I've also been to Miami and the South Florida area and I've seen Ft Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. Yes you do need a car to travel to those areas, and South Florida doesn't sprawl in certain areas, so I didn't pretend about anything, I just stated that Miami felt more urbane, especially when you take the city of Miami into consideration. And the privately funded Brightline speed rail has already started operation while CA is still struggling to find ways to fund it's high speed rail projects from the federal gov't. Yes LA has a bigger transportation system, but for a city of its size, Miami is improving it's system every year.
Quote:
Originally Posted by murksiderock
You're equating cosmopolitanism with the diversity of people, which I think is a false equivalency, though I dont necessarily disagree that Miami 'may' be more cosmopolitan. You're also underselling LA's ethnic diversity. Its demographics reflect its location the same as Miami's. There is a Carib community in LA though, and this is one of the under spoken aspects of Black California, simply because our Caribbean community isn't as large as places along the East Coast that are geographically closer to the Caribbean (there is also a small Caribbean community in Sacramento)...
WHERE IS THE CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY IN LA OR CA FOR THAT MATTER??? I didn't mean to scream, but I've been to LA, SF, and Oakland, and I couldn't really find a decent Caribbean restaurant that's not mostly manned by mostly Caribbean people, and when there was one, it was manned by Mexicans plus the food wasn't just expensive which got to me, but the portions were too damned small. Oakland was a disappointment considering that city had a larger black population at one point. There's only one Jamaican restaurant in all of Oakland. Ad ditto for LA, there's no large Caribbean community in LA and I don't think I'd settle in LA (too dirty, too spread out, too violent, too phony, and just too fake for my tastes).
And cosmopolitan literally means "citizen of the world" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmopolitanism. LA is a cosmopolitan city, but Miami feels more cosmopolitan. The only aspects of LA is that it doesn't have a large Caribbean, and African population, the Asian population is larger than Miami's and the Latino population is predominately Mexicans, with smaller numbers of Salvadorans and Guatemalans. Miami has a huge Caribbean presence, and a growing number of Africans. The only difference is that LA is a much larger city than Miami, so it's going to have much more media presence than Miami, although Miami is definitely no slouch when it comes to media presence.
Quote:
Originally Posted by murksiderock
That said, if you were specifically looking to be somewhere more Caribbean oriented, of course you'd rather be in Florida...
LA's Latino community is also a lot more diverse than you're giving it credit for here. I'm sorry that you feel LA has no redeeming qualities outside of its Asian population. You're really missing out on the #2 American city and selling yourself short, but I understand preferences. Florida is not appealing to me and while I would never limit its appeal to just one or two factors, I think I can relate to you by feeling there is nothing for me in Florida...
Hey different strokes for different folks. CA is a nice state, but it's not in tune with my culture plus it's too damn far from the East Coast. The only area I liked is the Bay, and that's because it's arguably more diverse than LA IMHO plus its transportation system is tops as well as it's bridges. LA just doesn't really feel diverse plus just too many Mexicans everywhere. SF can fit with the East Coast with it's diversity even though it's also a West Coast city and I'm not knocking SF
I didn't say LA wasn't an urban city, I said that LA was very spread out in comparison to Miami. The city of Miami is currently 12,599/sq mi (2017) in comparison to LA, which has 8,484/sq mi. Since Miami has 36 sq mi to LA's 467 sq mi, that just means that the city of Miami can get denser quickly despite not having much in population, and it seems like in 2020, Miami will become the fourth largest densest major city, surpassing Boston. Only NYC, SF, and Jersey City would remain denser. LA still have as long ways to go when it comes to density.
I've also been to Miami and the South Florida area and I've seen Ft Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. Yes you do need a car to travel to those areas, and South Florida doesn't sprawl in certain areas, so I didn't pretend about anything, I just stated that Miami felt more urbane, especially when you take the city of Miami into consideration. And the privately funded Brightline speed rail has already started operation while CA is still struggling to find ways to fund it's high speed rail projects from the federal gov't. Yes LA has a bigger transportation system, but for a city of its size, Miami is improving it's system every year.
WHERE IS THE CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY IN LA OR CA FOR THAT MATTER??? I didn't mean to scream, but I've been to LA, SF, and Oakland, and I couldn't really find a decent Caribbean restaurant that's not mostly manned by mostly Caribbean people, and when there was one, it was manned by Mexicans plus the food wasn't just expensive which got to me, but the portions were too damned small. Oakland was a disappointment considering that city had a larger black population at one point. There's only one Jamaican restaurant in all of Oakland. Ad ditto for LA, there's no large Caribbean community in LA and I don't think I'd settle in LA (too dirty, too spread out, too violent, too phony, and just too fake for my tastes).
And cosmopolitan literally means "citizen of the world" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmopolitanism. LA is a cosmopolitan city, but Miami feels more cosmopolitan. The only aspects of LA is that it doesn't have a large Caribbean, and African population, the Asian population is larger than Miami's and the Latino population is predominately Mexicans, with smaller numbers of Salvadorans and Guatemalans. Miami has a huge Caribbean presence, and a growing number of Africans. The only difference is that LA is a much larger city than Miami, so it's going to have much more media presence than Miami, although Miami is definitely no slouch when it comes to media presence.
Hey different strokes for different folks. CA is a nice state, but it's not in tune with my culture plus it's too damn far from the East Coast. The only area I liked is the Bay, and that's because it's arguably more diverse than LA IMHO plus its transportation system is tops as well as it's bridges. LA just doesn't really feel diverse plus just too many Mexicans everywhere. SF can fit with the East Coast with it's diversity even though it's also a West Coast city and I'm not knocking SF
Again, LA has higher peak densities than Miami, so while your dense argument is heard, it's moot. They are roughly equally urban but I'd argue LA is at least slightly more urban...
Just because you don't realize there is a Caribbean community in LA doesn't mean there isn't one; it's already been established that there is a stronger Carib presence in South Florida. Where are they? In the same places they are in every other city-->where you find black people. Lol...Mid-City, Baldwin Hills, Inglewood, Leimert Park, etc. I don't think anybody expects LA on the West Coast to have the presence of Caribs and Africans that an East Coast city would have, and it doesn't. But it definitely is there and any Black Angeleno knows there is a community. Hollywood Carnival is every June...
I don't know about The Bay but there is also a Caribbean community in the Parkway and Valley Hi areas of Sacramento. I did LOL at your San Francisco diversity take...
I won't rehash the cosmopolitan debate, as I've already saud I can see Miami's argument, notwithstanding LA arguably being more international. LA is certainly connected to more "citizens of the world" on a global spectrum, which would seem to diminish the Miami argument. LA is one of the most diverse and cultured cities in the country, period, you can't minimize it so I don't understand why you're trying to...
I'm glad you like Florida and the East Coast, but the irony of a South Florida booster calling another place "violent" or superficial isn't lost on me...
To be fair, this thread(when it was started back in December) started off with a bang. Plenty of Hottakes disparaging Miami. I could understand not believing Miami should be ranked as high as it is, but there were users in here saying Miami's ranking even among the top 12 is suspicious. They also said Miami even being ranked with the top cities in the South (Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta) is dubious, and that Miami should be ranked below Detroit. The thread started off with negative hottakes against Miami, and it all had to be slung back.
I hear that, but he's definitely a little hyperbolic, re:LA...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Ad ditto for LA, there's no large Caribbean community in LA and I don't think I'd settle in LA (too dirty, too spread out, too violent, too phony, and just too fake for my tastes). 
