Chicago/Milwaukee to LA (Burbank, Golden: crime rate, transfer, neighborhoods)

[Mathead]

I am a Chicagoan currently living in Milwaukee.

So I hear all the typical complaints about LA...crime, traffic, plastic people.

I am strongly considering relocating to LA in the next couple of years. I spent a summer session in college at UCLA and had a great time, met some really good people.

I know that Westwood is it's own little bubble, and college is college but give me some input on LA.

All the complaints I've seen in the Midwest. Chicago's traffic is 2nd in the nation. Talk about crime, I lived in Chicago when it was the murder capital of the country. Milwaukee is rapidly becoming the per-capita homicide capital also. As far as plastic people, some of the biggest snobs I ever met were in Chi-town.

We all know the weather sucks in MIL and Chicago, lake effect makes for winters that can be real bad. Every summer, the heat kills people it gets so intense.

Any one knowledgable about how the cities compare, lets hear it...Thanks

[hgclyde]

I live in the LA area and there are major differences between the two cities. First LA is spread out despite commuter Rail service MetroLink and the MTA light rail and bus system you do need a car. Mass transit helps. LA is the traffic capitol of the US

Second, LA is expensive rent,home mortages payments are high compare to Chicago (Now you know why many are leaving the Golden State.)

Third, Entertainment venues are scattered between Downtown LA, Hollywood/West Hollywood/Beverly Hills area; Santa Monica,West Los Angeles; Pasadena-Glendale-Burbank area and Long Beach-Cerritos-Downey; Orange County Anaheim-Buena Park;Costa Mesa-Newport Beach-Irvine.

Fourth,Low clouds and Fog aka springtime; live on the coast you may never see the sun until July so keep a light sweater or windbreaker jacket handy.

And Five goverment high taxes and high bond costs equals state deficits
other wise LA's great!

[Steve-o]

Have fun in hot n humid Florida. I hope you know spanish and are prepared to deal with black widows, scorpions, alligators, venomous snakes and hurricanes, not to mention the absurd cost of living and poor paying jobs. The midwest does not suck....

[mdz]

Mathead, lake effect means that the downtown areas are warmer than the outlying areas in the winter. that's a good thing. We don't get much lake effect snow because the prevailing winds come west to east.

I like to think of the Chicago and Milwaukee areas as prototypical midwestern cities. The ones who love it here love it. If you've been unhappy in both places, definitely go somewhere else in the country and see if you like the fit better. LA is a completely different place and maybe you will like it better.

[lisaurart]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Have fun in hot n humid Florida. I hope you know spanish and are prepared to deal with black widows, scorpions, alligators, venomous snakes and hurricanes, not to mention the absurd cost of living and poor paying jobs. The midwest does not suck....

Hey Steve-O, you forgot to mention the HUGE cockroaches!

[Steve-o]

Ah yes, those are horrible. My last venture down there we stayed at the Fort Wilderness Campground near Disneyworld and they were EVERYWHERE. I HATED going to use the washrooms at night, it was like living a nightmare (and I like bugs!!!!) with all the roaches. Plus, they fly too!!!! Anyways, we'd go to use the washroom before bed and there would be HUNDREDS of them all over the walls outside the bathroom and dozens flying around inside. It was grotesque. We complained to the "rangers", and they said there is nothing they can do about it, theyre just too numerous. Soooo, our nightly routine would include running around the bathrooms, dodging huge flying roaches, while brushing our teeth. Alot of fun that was. When we first got there and were setting up the tents, my dad noticed a "cool looking" snake and proceeded to search through the brush to find it. While we were doing that, one of the campground rangers came by and asked if we needed anything. We told him we were looking for a snake and he joined us. Within a few minutes we found it, turned out to be a coral snake (highly venomous). LOL We were like "great". They captured it and removed it from the grounds, but we were still a bit freaked out. Whats funny is that Im now a snake lover and spend quite a bit of time looking for venomous snakes. LOL Oh well, at least Ill always have the memory of my one and only encounter with a coral. LOL

[bookish]

We are living in some weird reverse universe: I currently live in l.a. (santa monica), am orig. from Chgo, worked in M'waukee for a few months, have a lot of friends there. As I write this, am planning a move back to midwest after 20+ years in so cal. **If** you must make this move, then you must. If I could do it again? No way (I was transferrred here from a company I was working for, living in Boston at that time). For myself: I cannot wait to get outta here. Cost of living hilariously high; urban sprawl out of control; schools shamefully bad. If you are a "city" person, then l.a. is not it; famous quote -- "a group of suburbs in search of a city." It has no center -- "downtown" is banks, financial services, etc., an ambitious plan to make it a true downtown (will admit the Gehry-designed music hall fabulous) but there is so little "soul" to so cal, compared to either Chgo or Mwaukee. If you do come, try to live west side/santa monica or cool neighborhoods like Silver Lake, Echo Park, Los Feliz. Avoid Valley at all costs: hot; smoggy; the very definition of sprawl. pm if you want any more info. Good luck!

[M TYPE X]

Milwaukee is like heaven compared to Los Angeles. Chicago is the world, yet it is here, conveniently located between Detroit and St Louis.

[brewtown12]

Originally Posted by M TYPE X

Milwaukee is like heaven compared to Los Angeles.

Milwaukee has a much higher crime rate than LA.It is also the ninth most impoverised city in America,and frequently within the top ten most dangerous large cities.Los Angeles is never counted within the top ten on these lists.
Where do you get that idea from?

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