Los Angeles Overrated? (San Diego, Long Beach, Anaheim: neighborhood, live, airport)

[JayVill2008]

I think most people will agree though that pizza in NY and Chicago and is way better than pizza in LA. I have a friend who lives in LA now and said the pizza there is not at all like the pizza in NY/NJ. LA is a nice place to visit. Only negative for me is the traffic but ny traffic is just as bad or maybe worse

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by tweetybird11208

I recently visited there and its not all its cracked up to be, its nothing like what they show on the t.v. Kind of depressing city actually with Horrible traffic!

Nothing like TV, but actually I had the opposite experience (well, other than traffic): I thought LA is MUCH nicer than I had expected! It's exciting, big, diverse, has enough stuff to see and do to last a lifetime. I can understand why it's not for everyone, and certainly do agree that many people arrive expecting it to be straight out of some glamorous TV show, but the reality is that it's a REAL city, with all the benefits and the negatives that come with that. I think it's a tough city to really grasp as a tourist. It's very easy to see only the negatives, or to see only a small portion of the surface and to think you've seen it all. It's also a lot grittier than many seem to expect, so if someone arrives thinking it's all swaying palm trees and mansions then they're going to be disappointed.

This is not the place to debate which city is the most diverse in the country, but I think it's rather tough to make an argument that LA is not a diverse place.

And, of course, not everyone likes LA. It's a big city; lots of people don't like big cities. It's a different kind of big city than the east coast cities; not everyone likes the LA version. Its history is different. Its vibe is different. It's a unique place, and some people love it, others hate it. Nothing wrong with that. Live and learn. Isn't that what travel is all about?

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by JayVill2008

I think most people will agree though that pizza in NY and Chicago and is way better than pizza in LA. I have a friend who lives in LA now and said the pizza there is not at all like the pizza in NY/NJ. LA is a nice place to visit. Only negative for me is the traffic but ny traffic is just as bad or maybe worse

LA eating habits and cuisine, tends to skew more toward the healthy stuff.

Farmers markets with fresh fruits and vegetables are big. Seafood is huge, as is Mexican.

Overall California, but by no means universal!!, is more about healthy eating and being slim, trim which means eating less pizza.

[DynamoLA]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

Nothing like TV, but actually I had the opposite experience (well, other than traffic): I thought LA is MUCH nicer than I had expected! It's exciting, big, diverse, has enough stuff to see and do to last a lifetime. I can understand why it's not for everyone, and certainly do agree that many people arrive expecting it to be straight out of some glamorous TV show, but the reality is that it's a REAL city, with all the benefits and the negatives that come with that. I think it's a tough city to really grasp as a tourist. It's very easy to see only the negatives, or to see only a small portion of the surface and to think you've seen it all. It's also a lot grittier than many seem to expect, so if someone arrives thinking it's all swaying palm trees and mansions then they're going to be disappointed.

This is not the place to debate which city is the most diverse in the country, but I think it's rather tough to make an argument that LA is not a diverse place.

And, of course, not everyone likes LA. It's a big city; lots of people don't like big cities. It's a different kind of big city than the east coast cities; not everyone likes the LA version. Its history is different. Its vibe is different. It's a unique place, and some people love it, others hate it. Nothing wrong with that. Live and learn. Isn't that what travel is all about?

This is a good post, and I especially agree with the bolded part. Los Angeles is not very "tourist-friendly", in that most things are spread out, you need a car to get everywhere (hence everyone experiences the miserable traffic), and the "tourist stuff" like Hollywood can tend to be underwhelming.

I've lived in/near L.A. most of my life, and I am still finding things to do/see. It's not a city that lays itself out for you all at once, you have to find things. And most tourists don't have the time to do that.

Part of the reason I love L.A. is that I am still discovering new aspects after all these years!

[goldiemom]

I moved to Los Angeles in 1978 with a group of friends from college. I was afraid I'd be robbed walking from the Safeway to my car!

I've loved it and hated it here. Loves: many varied neighborhoods with different characters--I started in Hollywood, moved to the Westside, the beach, Glendale, Eagle Rock, South Bay and finally Sherman Oaks. Each place had history and flavor of its own. Other loves: meeting people from all over the country and the world, Little Tokyo, Olvera Street, Fairfax Farmer's Mkt., great museums, downtown architecture, funky movie theatres and historic restaurants, Griffith Park, 101 to Malibu, Santa Barbara or in the other direction, all the way to Mexico. Cool.

Hates: the traffic has gotten worse every year and I'm no longer young; crowded everything; prices; some nasty people from the East Coast and many foreign countries who don't know how to drive or be decent citizens or neighbors; developers; smog.

I recently told a younger friend: L.A. is a romantic and cool city when you're young, but it is no place to grow old. Unless you have a ton of money.

Hope my thoughts are relevant. Good luck!

[JerZ]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

OMG TV is fiction?

Ha ha, beat me to it.

[JerZ]

Originally Posted by sjnative

On a totally different note, I went to Dallas at about this time last year and it was nothing like what I saw on tv. I kept telling people that and they were pretty sympathetic. Seems to happen a lot with visitors to the city.

NYC too...probably an city, any area, anywhere. I always see the coolest stock images of NYC -- for example, the obligatory looking-down-toward-times-square one, or merrily dressed teenagers dancing in the streets and all getting along -- in movies and on TV. But, newsflash. I've been there. NOTHING like the stylized images show.

Which is okay. We don't watch TV and movies for reality. Even "reality television" is highly scripted for extreme drama that doesn't typically take place in real life.

As for whether or not L.A. is overrated, it depends upon who's doing the rating and what the rating is. No, the guys don't all drive awesome convertibles and every girl doesn't rollerblade around town in a bikini. But there is tons to do and amazing, I'm talking *amazing* variety here. It still blows my mind.

[Bunjee]

That passive voice--"[___] is overrated"--is always weasel-y. What's being rated by whom? Diversity overrated? L.A.'s diversity is proven and measurable, so it's a non-argument. Besides, "Hispanics" and "Asians" aren't exactly monolithic, unless you can't tell the difference between a Tongan and a Korean. In that case, one's perception of diversity is suspect in the first place.

But what else? An image of a place versus the reality? Who's responsible for the image? A kid who hasn't the wherewithal to explore? Los Angeles is not your mama and nothing is handed to you like a toddler. You have to go out and find it. T.V. can't be responsible for rating a place for you either. No thinking person would be so careless.

[LASam]

Which aspects of the city in particular do you feel didn't meet your expectations? The expectation on traffic is that it will suck, so that must have met expectations.

[JayVill2008]

Originally Posted by Tex?Il?

LA eating habits and cuisine, tends to skew more toward the healthy stuff.

Farmers markets with fresh fruits and vegetables are big. Seafood is huge, as is Mexican.

Overall California, but by no means universal!!, is more about healthy eating and being slim, trim which means eating less pizza.

That's true.. I am kinda surprised you didn't mention anything asian (I'm filipino) considering there are a lot of asians living over there. I hear sushi is popular over there but whenever I visit relatives out there they never took us to any sushi places.