why is evryone so bitter (Los Angeles, San Jose: apartment complex, lease, credit check)
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Kind of sad that the only choice would be accepting a police state and homogeneous population (I know Simi all too well >>> see: "Pleasantville").
But yeah, nothing unfortunate may happen there, as long as the Neighborhood Association is properly satisfied.
I know it well, too, since I was raised there. I have no problem with prefering to be safer in my home at night or while out shopping. You, on the other hand, seem to have a real problem with those who prefer to live AWAY from the areas where crime is rampant and the streets are filthy. Wallow away in the filth if that is your preference
I know it well, too, since I was raised there. I have no problem with prefering to be safer in my home at night or while out shopping. You, on the other hand, seem to have a real problem with those who prefer to live AWAY from the areas where crime is rampant and the streets are filthy. Wallow away in the filth if that is your preference
You know, people are misunderstanding your posts because they seem so negative but I get it.
Thought this super old post of mine was appropriate:
Of course it's easy to say that L.A. is nice when you're an outsider who comes in making enough money to afford to live comfortably near the beach. But there are those of us who are locals and grew up in the original Los Angeles who can see those areas for what they are. So let me tell you MY experience:
My parents, my brother and I came to this country in 1984 (legally, mind you, so don't even start that illegal immigrant crap; we rode a plane here not walked accross the border) and, after living with my aunt and uncle for 2 months lived in North Hollywood for a few years. North Hollywood was known to be "not the best area" but we enjoyed it. We lived in a two bedroom, two bath apartment in a nice, small apartment building located in a cul de sac. The landlord didn't even want to rent to my parents because of us children but my uncle vouched for us and my mom is such a neat freak that the landlord never had any complaints about the apartment not being clean or having to do too much maintenance. Hell, I didn't even know the air conditioner worked until the year we moved out.
My aunt and uncle did my parents the favor of taking them downtown to look at the "ghetto" and made sure to explain to them that education was very important in this country and that learning the language was the most important aspect of this so my parents went to adult school at the local high school every night to learn to speak english. Jobs came through recommendations from relatives at first and later through networking. My aunt and uncle explained to my parents that things are different in this country and that things that were acceptable in ours, like tossing trash out of your car window or on the street would not be acceptable here and my parents passed that down to us.
Living in NH was great to me because of WHERE we lived. The streets surrounding us were known for gang activity but nothing ever really happened in our little cul de sac because that particular street only had the kids that lived in our building to worry about. We rode our bikes around the block and, as we got older, around the city but we always had to be aware of what streets not to go down. The elementary school we went to was 75% hispanic (and about 90% of those hispanics were Mexican) and I learned pretty quickly that, as a hispanic, I only had two choices: be a nerd or be a future gang banger. I chose nerd and it got me into quite a few fights since I had a bad temper back in the day. Nobody ever got teased for being smart where I came from so I wasn't used to it.
When I was 14 my Dad got a job as an apartment manager in downtown L.A. I HATED the neighborhood right away. The streets were dirty, the place was crowded and the building we moved into was big, dirty and noisy. The people who lived there were the prime example of what my aunt and uncle had shown my parents of "how not to behave". It was rough on me and my siblings (my sister had been born by now) right away because the kids in this area were even rougher than the ones in NH and we got threated by the kids in the building simply for being the manager's kids. Needles to say, my brother and I used my uncle's address (he took over our old apartment) to continue to go to school in the valley and my sister went to catholic school once it was time for her to go to school. Long story short (too late) I made it out of there but my parents stayed due to my Dad's job for a few years more.
In my twenties, I moved back into the downtown area (I had actually missed it because the valley seemed so flat to me) for work and it was great at first. I discovered lots of little treasures that were in walking distance from where I lived like the water court, the grand central library, the new cathedral, little Tokyo, all the shopping "districts" downtown, the 7th and fig shopping center, etc. But, in the end, I am hispanic and anyone hispanic living in the area that I lived in was expected to behave a certain way and, since I didn't, I got attacked twice. I moved into the building that my parents lived in (thanks to a hook up from my Dad since he was the manager) and things were better but I'd had enough of downtown living. The sad reality is that if you look the way that I look and you don't act a certain way, you just don't fit in there. I get labeled as "whitewashed" by other hispanic immigrants because I speak English well (this stereoptype is fading as I get older though) when they don't even bother to learn the language and am seen as a race traitor for having a black wife. Nobody ever said anything about the latter but the stares were there and were noticeable enough to make my wife uncomfortable.
She and I were just dating at the time and this was at the beginning of the real estate bubble so my Dad's bosses decided to gentrify the building in order to raise the rent. Guess who they got rid of first once the building had been refurbished. Yeah, my dad. I guess they felt his skin was too dark and his accent to prevalent for young, white and asian professionals to feel comfortable with so they hired a white woman to replace him. In an apartment building that is usually the first step in gentrification. Don't missunderstand me, you can still be part of the staff if you're a male hispanic. You just have to be young, have the right complection and speak English without an accent. It's a sad fact but it's a fact nonetheless and, if you don't believe me, go "luxury" apartment hunting in the downtown area. The next thing they did was raise the rent on everyone in the building, including those of us who didn't have anything new done to their apartments to their new prices in order to push us out.
It's a whole other long story how I ended up back in the SF Valley but let's just say that living here has been way more enjoyable than living in the downtown area. So, yeah, it's what you make of it but sometimes, no matter how much good you see in a bad situation, it's still just a bad situation.
That's really bizarre being teased because you're smart and criticized because you speak English well.
I can't comprehend why anybody would want to live downtown although I too enjoy my visits, especially to Little Tokyo.
I've found it's a good idea to turn up your street smarts a couple notches in downtown. I always feel the "sharks" circling, although I can tell that they veer off when they see that I notice them, see that I'm aware.
That's really bizarre being teased because you're smart and criticized because you speak English well.
I can't comprehend why anybody would want to live downtown although I too enjoy my visits, especially to Little Tokyo.
I've found it's a good idea to turn up your street smarts a couple notches in downtown. I always feel the "sharks" circling, although I can tell that they veer off when they see that I notice them, see that I'm aware.
What world are you living in? All smart kids get teased in public school if they're not afraid to show that they are smart or that they like school. It's especially hard on a kid if the teachers show any kind of appreciation towards them. They get labeled a "teacher's pet" and get tormented as long as it is allowed.
I was always told, "They're just jealous and they want to get a rise out of you. Don't give them the satisfaction. Igonre them." Tha't easier said than done when you're a grown-up giving the advice and when you're not going through it. It got to the point where they weren't just teasing me in the playground anymore but in the classroom as well. During reading time they would replace the names of characters in the stories we were reading with the nicknames they'd come up with for me. When I finally couldn't stand it anymore and got into fights, it would stop for a few weeks only to start over when they saw that I had calmed down enough.
A few years ago my brother finally told me that they did it because "I acted like I was better than them" or at least that's what they percieved. So I guess it was my fault that teachers appreciated a good student or that they showed favorism to a student who actually listened to them.
Most of those boys grew up to be killers in gangs. The ones who teased me in order to deflect being teased themselves actually turned out to be good students in middle school and high school.
As far as wanting to live downtown, you'd be surprised how many kids are living in certain areas out there. Gentrification is happening on a massive scale and it's attracting a lot of young people. A lot of them brave the trenches in the bad areas to save on rent and they seem to be left alone by the local hoodlums. Probably because they know that they will bring a world of trouble down on them if they hurt people of a certain hue. Unfortounately, I'm too dark skinned to be left alone.
unmet expectations. they did in fact get the good salary, the hot car, the hot women.
so why are they not happy?
when you have slain the dragon
the village does not in fact turn out to cheer
the beautiful princess does not in fact fall in love with you.
got lost on the freeway, never found the exit for disneyland.
What world are you living in? All smart kids get teased in public school if they're not afraid to show that they are smart or that they like school. It's especially hard on a kid if the teachers show any kind of appreciation towards them. They get labeled a "teacher's pet" and get tormented as long as it is allowed.
I was fortunate to attend LA City Schools before the era where they got ruined. My high school was divided into three tracks: basic, regular and academic, where I was in the academic track of those who intended to attend college. Most of the kids in my classes also intended to attend college, and we were all competing to out-do each other academically. The dunces all sat in basic classes where they were isolated from those of us with goals.
Fast forward to today and from what I hear LAUSD schools are mostly ruined. I imagine they tease smart kids now.
You know, people are misunderstanding your posts because they seem so negative but I get it.
Thought this super old post of mine was appropriate:
Thank you. Its nice to see that someone was able to understand what I was trying to say. And thanks for sharing your story. I don't know about anyone else, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Its also nice to know that someone else can sympathize with life as an apartment manager, LOL!
Yeah, San Jose is the armpit of the state. We actually welcome and get along with Mexicans here, so I guess we must be pretty friggin' "filthy", huh?
Teabag away...
And I guess that if your neighborhood turns into a crime ridden place with trash piling up everywhere and empty derelict buildings attracting aggressive transients and drug addicts you'll still be quite happy to stay there. Well, good for you
I never implied that ONLY Mexicans were responsible for the poor quality of life where I currently live. Those are your words, not mine. Hmmmm...a bit of projection on your part maybe? However, based on statistical FACTS for the area, they are the predominant offenders. If Ilived in Korea Town the facts would most likely show that Koreans, although not the ONLY offenders, would be the predominant offenders.
By the way, just in case you weren't aware of this....Simi Valley actually has black folk, brown folk and yellow folk living near all them thar white folk! What might be even more shocking to you is that all them thar colored folk take just as much pride in keeping Simi Valley clean, pleasant and safe as us white folk do. Why do you think THEY live there? It most certainly isn't known for being a bastion of low-income slum lords with an endless supply of scumbag tenants. Wow, talking about Simi Valley's diversity really brings back good memories of people from my younger years, like my first boyfriend. Now what was his name? Oh yeah...Jorge Estrada! He was killed by a drunk driver at age 16. I still feel the pain of his loss.
Don't presume to know somebody and who they are just based on an opinion they hold about an area.
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