Do you honestly think LA is 'laid back'? (Bostonia: gated, living)
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I grew up near LA and I've lived for almost 25 years near NYC, so I'll throw in my 2 cents. For the above mentioned reasons, LA can appear to be laid back on the surface, just like NYC can appear to be stressed out. However, beneath this veneer many people in LA seem to have a certain "inner-intensity," and they seem to take themselves more seriously. I've found similar qualities in many of the folks in Boston and D.C. On the other hand New Yorkers come across as brash and stressed out, but once you spend some time here (and it took me a long time) you will find that many of them are more happy-go-lucky and they have the ability to laugh at themselves. I'm certainly not a big NYC fan boy, but these are just my casual observations.
I have been to all 50 states and lived in several different areas, and I've noticed that in some areas people might be nice and polite on the surface, but it is difficult to develop meaningful friendships with them. On the other hand, some areas might be dominated by people who appear to be more brusque and reserved, but once you get past that you can have a friend for life.
PORTLAND sums this up really well. Its the furthest from laid back I seen and this comes from someone from Boston. Theres actually many hateful people of those who did not grow up there.. an underlying resentment underneath the politeness layers.
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Originally Posted by munchitup
Los Angeles is normal, the East Coast is uptight.
Please don't make me laugh.
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Originally Posted by Flamedown
I do not find Los Angeles laid back at all. Just go driving on a freeway in the area, and the whole conception of laid back goes out the door. Drivers are highly aggressive here, and road rage happens frequently.
Even in Sacramento it sucks to drive. I couldnt stand the thoughts of L.A and again, this comes from a MA person. These "laid back" areas are a farse after all. People just don't show their emotions but it doesn't mean theres NOT an underbelly.
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Originally Posted by Fontucky
Partying at the beach around a fire, drinking wine and smoking spliffs, everyone half naked... in mid-December while the Northeastern part of the country is being hammered by a deadly blizzard and people are dying while trying to get home from work or while trapped in their homes.* THAT'S the definition of a laid back lifestyle.
* yes, this is drawn from experience
But its REAL LIFE! I'd rather have it than a warm climate utopia. I actually get envious of the north for having snow since I been here in Suckramento.
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Originally Posted by Fontucky
You're leaving out a huge demo: The non-tatooed, non-hipster, not cool, not yuppified, regular working-class John Doe native.
Sums me up! I am the underdog in society.
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Originally Posted by celinehermain
I have a similar experience to Pito, LA/NYC get compared because they are sides to the huge metropolis coin. On the surface they give a very different experience. SoCal gives the outer experience of confidence and easy going openness - past the veneer is a self serving agenda and bottomless neediness. New York gives the impression that you can't get in, ever, but if you stick around you will find that the people warm to you and can be quite generous if you are willing to commit.
Both are just ways of people living with too much competition just for space on the street. I have found that pretty much anywhere I have lived (and I have moved quite allot) if you are willing to wait you will be let into the local culture, but you may not like what you find there.
I am not a NY'er but I can vouge for this. NY APPEARS to be cold and rude and like you'd never have a chance to fit in, but its quite wrong. Portland now on the other hand (complete opposite of NYC) gives the impression new comers will be welcomed right in because as a visitor people are even more polite than ever and its like a "oh move on down" kind of thing, but when you live there, that goes out the ******* window.. you experience some of the rudest most insular passive aggressive types.. they make Boston look 100 times more friendlier even.
This is what makes it bad. Sometimes its what you see around you and you have to ask yourself "Is this worth my time"? There is a culture I do not like, WHY am I gonna waste yrs of my life trying to fit into this landscape when I don't even like it here?? This is why I moved quite abit myself. I was searching for something because my mom moved me out of my homestate, I got tired of that place, went to another, attempted to move back home but at that time, had trouble with my father so back to FL, then to CA, then used CA as a pitstop to move to Oregon, back to California on route to heading back east FINALLY and STAYING for good this time. I know I want nothing to do with CA for the long haul. If anyone wants to stay in Sacramento or Los Angeles, be my guest but I guarantee you won't be someone I'd hang out with more than likely since we would have to be 2 different people matching me with someone else who actually wants to be here.
Last edited by David Aguilar; 09-14-2012 at 08:04 AM..
Look to the Inland Empire for that. For work, I've been out in Ontario for the last few weeks working on a project, and its largely blue collared, (I'm guessing with roots in LA like our very own Fontucky?) and of course many immigrants from Mexico. No pretention there. In the whole city of 100,000, there are like only two starbucks (well maybe more, I just haven't seen the other areas yet).
Ontario is sort of blue collar, although if you take a short drive over to Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, and or Claremont you're find Starbucks and yuppies all around you.
Ontario is sort of blue collar, although if you take a short drive over to Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, and or Claremont you're find Starbucks and yuppies all around you.
True, although I would say RC, Upland, and Claremont might very well be on the higher socioeconomic end of the IE.
Fontana, San Bernardino, Moreno Valley, the list goes on, seem to outnumber the more "yuppy" areas in the IE. I think as the suburban sprawl spread east over the last 50 or so years, most people who could afford it, opted for the cooler ocean breezes of OC, leaving those of more modest means with the toasty summers of the IE.
As others have said, LA may not be "laid back" relative to Middle America or the South, but it is extremely laid back relative to the North East...particularly New York City. I've lived all over, and there is nowhere (for good and bad) that is as intense as New York. Frank Sinatra had it right, if you can make it there you can make it anywhere.
The OP asked nothing about what life is like in New York City, yet every other post in this thread seems to mention NYC, bringing all of the "well, as person who has LIVED in New York..." people out of the woodwork once again. I am so sick of hearing about New York, in fact, if a new TV show is set in New York (like %80 are), I will not watch it for that reason. I am tired of "well, I lived in New York and over there..." non-sequiters from people over here who are just scanning for any chance to tell you they lived there.
To address the OP, I do not consider L.A. to be laid back, anywhere, and I don't see it as a negative. Its a great global city with all that being a global city entails. Its not laid back, but its not crowded or congested either(if you choose your routes of travel wisely). Just my opinion!
The OP asked nothing about what life is like in New York City, yet every other post in this thread seems to mention NYC, bringing all of the "well, as person who has LIVED in New York..." people out of the woodwork once again. I am so sick of hearing about New York, in fact, if a new TV show is set in New York (like %80 are), I will not watch it for that reason. I am tired of "well, I lived in New York and over there..." non-sequiters from people over here who are just scanning for any chance to tell you they lived there.
To address the OP, I do not consider L.A. to be laid back, anywhere, and I don't see it as a negative. Its a great global city with all that being a global city entails. Its not laid back, but its not crowded or congested either(if you choose your routes of travel wisely). Just my opinion!
When one is asked to evaluate anything, comparison is a perfectly valid method. By comparing to what many perceive as the polar opposite, it allows one to exercise perspective. Commenting when you are only familiar with that which you are commenting on would seem completely useless.
Also, one questions your use of non-sequiter (sic). "In everyday speech, a non sequitur is a statement in which the final part is totally unrelated to the first part."
How is comparing two cities to express an opinion on one of them a non sequitir?
You have to remember that Greater Los Angeles is pushing 18 million people. That alone should tell you it isn't Santa Barbara laid-back. Having said that, L.A. is very laid back in comparison to other cities in its peer group (megacities), and it's not close. Funny thing is, NYC is often seen as the gold standard for intense urban energy, but compared to large Asian and South American cities, it's rather quaint itself outside of Midtown Manhattan. L.A. isn't as intense as NYC, and very laid back vs. a Manila or a Sao Paulo. I see a lot of the busy body "get outta my way" vibe that permeates these cities as obnoxious posturing anyway, so this is a HUGE plus IMO. Putting up with constant snarky "I'm going to be rude because it's expected of me" attitudes on a daily basis would suck quite honestly.
I think that transplants tend to be stressed out and burnt out because they're in search of the "dream" or trying to justify why they moved out here.
I agree that the LA native is generally accepting of the cards he was dealt with and tends to just live his life. LA natives come in all shapes but if I had to pin a look on them, they just remind me of the lead singer of Sublime. Tattoos, non-racist, colored hair, care free attitude, drinking beer, smoking weed, hanging out, very friendly but also on guard for trouble.
It reminds me of the South except substitute the right wing conservatism for laid back liberalism (and not the east coast snobby elitist liberalism but laid back live and let live attitude).
If you are trying to say that the LA "laid back" Native is dead...point well taken.
It reminds me of the South except substitute the right wing conservatism for laid back liberalism (and not the east coast snobby elitist liberalism but laid back live and let live attitude).
Liberalism is liberalism, not much different regardless of what part of the country it is in.
The South really isn't laid back even if it has nothing to do w/ the big city elements.
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