What is it like to live in Los Angeles? (San Diego: credit, lawyers)

[mrsltd]

Originally Posted by BarcelonaFan

I heard the LA gang center is in Pacoima and that is north of the Valley, not in East LA.

Good Lord, some of the beach areas like Venice seemed scarier to me at night. My date and I being hassled by some beach bums in Santa Monica was a more hair raising experience than dealing with people in East LA or Central/DTLA.

You're missing out girl. What is the interest in only wanting to be in the ritzy areas? Doesn't that get old?

Yeah, I hear that. East Los Angeles (county of LA unincorporated) is no monolithic place. Some parts are really scary, some parts are not. It's actually areas within City of LA limits (where El Sereno meets Lincoln Heights) nearby that in my experience are scariest looking because it's JUST homes next to really old industrial areas and no real neighborhood feel at all. Got lost there a year or so ago trying for a "shortcut" (bad idea). Freaked my sister (who was driving) out a little but it didn't go on for very long.

[Harrier]

Originally Posted by floridaaa

I'm very curious. What is it like having no humidity all year round?

No humidity?

I don't know whay city you are thinking of - but it is not Los Angeles.

[Carlite]

Los Angeles has the kinetic energy of New York. Both have thousands of "cultural workers" who are hell bent on getting the latest and greatest and coolest. It doesn't have New York's subways, though the rail transit system is being expanded quickly in LA.

Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area share a general type of politics, an overall culture if you will. The core of San Francisco is denser and more walking-oriented.

LA has beaches like San Diego or Miami. But LA's overall character is nothing like those cities, even though San Diego is only 120 miles away.

LA is willing to look at, learn from Mexico City, as one of the cities that affect it greatly (see for example "Latino New Urbanism"). A major public lecture series in LA is called "Zocalo", which is the central square in Mexico City. No shame there.

LA theatre is cheaper and more accessible than New York theatre. Maybe Chicago is comparable.

LA has unbelievable food choices, probably only paralleled by New York. Jonathan Gold, the only restaurant critic ever to win a Pulitzer Prize, thinks LA has better food than New York.

LA has inequality, air quality, poverty, education, housing, and homelessness problems, as opposed to those American cities that don't. Remind me which cities those are again.

The LA region has over 15 million people, and pretty much all forms of human activity can be found there.

[BarcelonaFan]

LA has inequality, air quality, poverty, education, housing, and homelessness problems, as opposed to those American cities that don't. Remind me which cities those are again.

You had me until you posted this. For one, coming from living or spending a lot of time in NYC, Boston, DC and Houston, TX, LA's poverty and homeless problems are unparalleled. It was a total culture shock to see the large numbers of people begging for change, the mental instabilities of a lot of homeless, little kids selling gum on the subway, little girls singing for change on the metro, homeless migrant workers (which is a rarity in Houston), tents littering the streets of DTLA, parks being dominated by displaced people, droves of homeless teens asking me for my leftover meal after leaving a nice restaurant.

This is not normal. LA's poverty issues seem to be twice if not three times as bad as the other major cities in the top five. I am sure that Camden, NJ, Detroit and Gary, ID are worse off but those are towns where whole industries left and decimated the area. In LA there is a lot of industry and most of the troubles are due to the high COL.

[guitarguy1685]

The best part of LA are the beaches. Take away the beaches and your not left with much.
Oh and yeah, the streets are full of homeless.

[Count David]

Originally Posted by BarcelonaFan

This is not normal. LA's poverty issues seem to be twice if not three times as bad as the other major cities in the top five. I am sure that Camden, NJ, Detroit and Gary, ID (sic, IN) are worse off but those are towns where whole industries left and decimated the area. In LA there is a lot of industry and most of the troubles are due to the high COL.

Yeah, I can't think of any grand swaths of LA where there are empty fields where there used to be houses.

[yowps3]

LA is underrated..

I'm from Sydney Australia and i seriously prefer LA, if i found a goo job in LA i would move over there..

As you can also get a good house in a very nice area for a good price..

Some people make LA to be some ghetto city lol, it's totally not like that in 90% of the areas..

[marilyn220]

Originally Posted by yowps3

LA is underrated..

I'm from Sydney Australia and i seriously prefer LA, if i found a goo job in LA i would move over there..

As you can also get a good house in a very nice area for a good price..

Some people make LA to be some ghetto city lol, it's totally not like that in 90% of the areas..

Have you LIVED in LA or just visited?

LIVING there will tell you the whole story. Majority of the city is very, very poverty stricken.

This isn't something people are making up. It's true.

[BarcelonaFan]

Agreed, LA is probably Americas closest town to a third world city. The level of poverty here far outweighs anything a major functioning city has. Every park in the metro area is dominated by displaced people.

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by BarcelonaFan

Every park in the metro area is dominated by displaced people.

Mostly from other parts of the country due to the temperate weather.