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

[taydigga]

Originally Posted by markb90

Having no humidity all year round and 70 degree days are perfect! Although personally, I prefer 70 degree, 0 humidity, cloudy days.
70 degree only happens at the middle of Fall and middle of Spring. Most days except for winter, you'd have 80 degree heat and in the summer 90-100 is the norm. It is hot and I hate it. It burns my skin!
The city itself is lovely, but the outskirts of the city of LA, not so much. There are some nice neighborhoods like Sherman Oaks.. etc that look like one of those neighborhoods you see in the movies about a perfect family and a perfect life and what not.
It also almost never rains here. I mention almost, because in all, we have about 2.5 weeks of rain in 1 year.

I've also gone out at night (to the safe areas) and it just feels so nice.

What part of LA do you live in? The summers avg mid to low 80's with SOME hot days but not a ton, definitely not 90-100 unless you live in the Valley but not here in between downtown and the beach. Also from December to April it rains a lot.

[sponger42]

[quote=floridaaa;25803339]I'm very curious. What is it like having no humidity all year round? [/qote]
Nice in a non-skin-cracking midwest/east coast sort of way. I can ride my bike 15 miles in 110 degree heat and not really bat an eyelash.

beautiful clear skies and 70 degree days?

Great for surfing, or most any outdoor activity. Also nice for festivals, walking to coffee/bar, or just generally being out and about. Just about the time it starts getting monotonous, winter comes and we get a solid week of rain.

What is the city itself like?

Broad. Scary in parts, stunning in others, stupid in others, etc, etc.

Is it true that there is a sort of dark, dream-like undertone to the city like you see in the movies?

Yes. Around 1-am, on the way to a club or party, flying down the 101 or the 405 with the city's endless urban wasteland sparkling all around, rolling past the downtown towers, or cutting through all the neon of Koreatown in a nice car, with a great track playing, is an experience hard to replicate.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by sponger42

Broad. Scary in parts, stunning in others, stupid in others, etc, etc.

Which parts are stupid?

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by BarcelonaFan

I always make it a point to let people know that I am not a snob that looks down on people who want a simple life. The point is that I think there is a double standard when it comes to what the social norms is on people choice of lifestyle. The family unit suburban mold is glorified to the point of religious fervor in the US. Apparently it has some connection to divinity so that's why it's so revered. So when someone goes against that and chooses a life in the inner city, it's almost seen as if it's going against God's will. People will even stomach you not having kids as long as you live in smaller less urban areas.
I don't resent people who choose this lifestyle, it just seems like I am unable to voice my dislike of that lifestlye for myself because might see it as being rude or arrogant. Yet, it's OK for them to be vocal about rejecting city life.

LA surrounding burbs are completely different from ones in other towns. Like Boston, DC and NYC, the burbs are still urban-like and aren't set miles apart from the actual look and feel of the city. Brooklyn is still urban, Cambridge is still urban, Georgetown is still urban, N.Hollywood, Burbank, Santa Monica and Pasadena are still urban-ish.

Compare that to the Katy,TX and inner loop Houston. Miles apart in look, style, substance. You would swear they were just two different cities seperated by an ocean. Yet, they're only 20 mins apart!

Which is absolutely rediculous. I mean I can totally understanding moving to a suburban area like that IF YOU are starting a family/having kids, and space, and good schools, and no longer having time to do fun things, etc. (but even then, I would move to an older neighborhood in a small town with character, or some place that has a little artsy past) but why on earth would you live in a suburban/exurban if you aren't at that stage yet??

Why don't those people in small towns/exurbs/suburbs ever look down on those living in hip, inner urban areas? Why don't they understand that if you haven't met someone to settle down with and start a family, that the suburban/exurban area they live in, would be lonely, isolating, and boring to anyone who is still single? There those I suppose those couples who MET in a more eclectic, vibrant area with stuff to do, and then decided for practical reasons, an outer suburban might just be more practical to move to, after inner loop Houston, downtown Austin, LA, Chicago, or what have you, but I think there ones that would look down on urban living are those who must have married right out of high school, or at least right after college, and therefore must have never experienced single life after college. Because they would have no idea how a single person would be depressed, bored, and lonely, in the areas that are ultra family oriented.

[JohnSoCal]

Originally Posted by youcd

How does LA compare to living in San Francisco or San Diego? Anyone have a preference of one over the other?

I have lived in San Diego, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay area. I far prefer San Diego. When you say San Francisco, do you mean right in the city or the Bay area? I like San Francisco but far prefer the South Bay area like San Jose to live mainly because of the weather. San Francisco is too cold for me but it is much warmer in the South Bay. Los Angeles is a huge city with some very nice safe areas to live and areas that aren't so good. My daughter lives in Lakewood which is in LA County just north of Long Beach. It is a nice lower-middle to middle class clean area.

You have to be more specific as to what you are looking for.

[sponger42]

Originally Posted by bigdumbgod

Which parts are stupid?

The stretch from North Hollywood through Hollywood. Lots of wannabe's, a busway pretending to be a subway, cataclysmic traffic jams, and loads of gap-mouthed tourists. But nobody said stupid can't still be fun.

[foo cities]

I can be like paradise if you get the groove going. If you hang out with the beautiful people/celebrities, being on their right side and live in Woodland Hills, Malibu, Hollywood Hills and so many communities, you'll get the ball rolling. If not, you still can enjoy it by living in Long Beach, different beach communities, Pasadena, the Grove/Farmer's Market area and or Silverlake and hang out with cool and down to earth people. It also the can be hellish if you live on your own and not knowing anyone and dealing with fake people. You see, LA can be great or awful, however, you look at.

[bluezeppelin]

I grew up in Los Angeles, and live in Northern California now. I still have friends there, and Los Angeles is still very much my home. I'm making plans to move back.

My experience of Los Angeles is that I've long dealt with non-Angelenos' impressions of what LA people must be like. No, everyone is not rich, or an aspiring Hollywood type, or a porn star. That accounts for a small percentage of people who live in Los Angeles and it is a very big place with every kind of people. As a teenager I hung out with the "geeks and nerds", not the "pretty people".

There are also a lot of things to do in the city that are cheap or free. When I lived there, I went to free movie previews a lot, and my friends often go to TV filmings. I don't really recall having to spend much money to date or socialize there, because of all of the open city-walk type venues (2nd Street Promenade, Farmer's Market, Westwood Village which is kind of dead now) and the fact that there are beautiful parks and preserves right in the middle of the city, in the Santa Monica mountains. I have so many good memories of walking through Coldwater Canyon Park and the William O Douglas Outdoor Classroom. You don't have to drive 20 miles out of town to go hiking or on a nature walk.

LA is known for its club scene and expensive restaurants of course but there's more to do there than that. I left at 21 and still had a good time.

The big thing is to already have friends there, because if you don't, you're not going to find out about the things there that are only known to local people.

As far as "fake people", every place is full of fake people. That's sadly just life. People are just fake in different ways. I'm in the Bay Area and people up here are fake about being hip and cool and political and intellectual. At least the LA fakeness was around looks, money, etc and which made the genuinely interesting, offbeat, and intellectual people much easier to find.

[taydigga]

[quote=sponger42;27430074]

Originally Posted by floridaaa

I'm very curious. What is it like having no humidity all year round? [/qote]
Nice in a non-skin-cracking midwest/east coast sort of way. I can ride my bike 15 miles in 110 degree heat and not really bat an eyelash.


Great for surfing, or most any outdoor activity. Also nice for festivals, walking to coffee/bar, or just generally being out and about. Just about the time it starts getting monotonous, winter comes and we get a solid week of rain.


Broad. Scary in parts, stunning in others, stupid in others, etc, etc.


Yes. Around 1-am, on the way to a club or party, flying down the 101 or the 405 with the city's endless urban wasteland sparkling all around, rolling past the downtown towers, or cutting through all the neon of Koreatown in a nice car, with a great track playing, is an experience hard to replicate.

Love this response!

[databasegeek]

Originally Posted by floridaaa

I'm very curious. What is it like having no humidity all year round? beautiful clear skies and 70 degree days? What is the city itself like?

Is it true that there is a sort of dark, dream-like undertone to the city like you see in the movies?

After grad school I moved from Stanford to L.A. (Valley Village and then Santa Monica). Before grad school I lived in Houston, TX (born and raised) so I knew humidity! Plus I interned in Orlando (Disney) way back in my undergrad days and the Humidity there is just as bad as Houston. Weather in L.A. is nice. After almost a year and half I moved from L.A. back to Houston.

City is big and widespread. Downtown isn't really cool or hip at least not for me. Seemed old. Staples center was cool they have some hip bars and restaurant around it. I went to every Lakers game and that was fun. Besides that I didn't have a lot of fun because I didn't go out much. By the way it was hard for me to find Texans fans to hangout with since LA doesn't have an NFL team .

People for the most part are friendly. All the friends I made outside of work were people who wanted to be actors/actresses but were either still in school or working at low end jobs while attending acting schools. A lot of beautiful people there. The first 4 months the only friends I had were the people from work.

A lot of people complain about L.A. traffic. I lived 10 minutes from work so the commute for me wasn't bad. However 405 and 101 were very bad.

L.A. is beautiful but like every other metropolitan there are bad sides of town too. Hollywood was overrated to me, seemed like a tourist attraction.