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No city is what people think it is, even after visiting. Expectations are usually influenced by books or movies. Of course living in a city you're going to know it more that a casual visitor and your idea of what makes a place great won't be the same as the next person, so don't try and convince them. ( it makes for very long threads )
Being new to this city myself and coming from the East coat, I would agree that many people have misguided perceptions about LA. Of course, this is said with the usual caveat that there is no one single LA and even LA residents have vastly different experiences within the region. (The elephant metaphor posted above is exactly right.)
My first visit to LA was in 2002 on a trip that also included SF. Friends back east assured me I would hate LA -- fake, superficial, no culture -- and fall in love with SF. I had no agenda either way, and in general enjoy travel and seeing new places so both seemed exciting to me. The trip was a real eye opener. I really liked LA and did not see the terrible things people warned me about. I was expecting an urban jungle but I saw beauty and vibrancy and urbanity and nature all mixed together. And of course the weather was amazing. On that same trip, I did not like SF at all. It felt crowded and dirty and seedy. I've since come to appreciate SF more but that's not the point of this -- this trip started to open my eyes to LA.
Many trips and years later, when I finally had the opportunity to move here this spring, a friend back east asked, how far will I have to go to see nature? Again, the perception was that this place would somehow be a vast concrete parking lot. In fact, I can go hiking 10 minutes from my new place and feel a world away. Or I can go 10 minutes in the other direction and have my pick of restaurants and shopping. I think people not from LA -- or at least back east -- misunderstand this about LA.
East coast cities tend to have a strong uniform identity. If you live in Boston or NYC or Philly, there is a strong local culture. You speak like this, you think this way, you act this way. I'm not dissing these things -- there is a charm to that and I enjoy these cities on their own terms. But that kind of lifestyle is not for everyone. In LA you can be whoever you want to be and the culture is accepting of that. I see this everywhere around town. Of course this means there are people living lifestyles you think are silly -- the entitled posh people or the blonde airheads -- but they don't define the place. They are just one type of many all mixed up together.
I do think that some LA residents do their own city a disservice in promoting negative perceptions. Two groups that come to mind are Hollywood writers and some posters on message boards like this.
In terms of writers, its only natural that many movies and TV shows have been set in and around LA over the decades. But fiction is just that -- these aren't meant to be documentaries. Most entertainment is about sensational things -- whether soap operatic lifestyles of the elite or dark noir stories of criminal activity. This stuff attracts audiences understandably -- nobody wants to see a movie about a guy getting a burger and then going for a walk on the beach. But the accumulation of fiction set in LA has created huge misperceptions about what LA is really like.
Like NYC, LA is also a major media center so when anything bad does happen here -- whether that is wildfires or gang shootings -- it gets broadcast around the country repeatedly. We know that statistically, LA is fairly safe and safer than many other US cities, but the media lens distorts this. I'm not saying this is a conspiracy, just a consequence of having so much media to report on things. When terrible things happen in mid-west cities, who remembers which cities they happened in?
Finally, some posters on this board don't get out much. Sorry to sound harsh, but I repeatedly read complaints here that there is a lot of traffic and the it costs too much to live here. On the one hand, it is true -- there is a lot of traffic in LA, and it isn't cheap to live here. But really, how is this that much different from any major city of this population size? The answer is that it's not. In fact, there are even smaller cities -- Boston, DC to take just two -- just as expensive and with terrible traffic as well.
Some posters here are fixated on comparing LA to significantly lesser cities -- oh look how much cheaper houses are in Des Moines! It's ridiculous. For some reason there are people who expect a city of over 10 million metro to have the qualities of a small midwestern town.
On a final note, I even think the weather in LA is somewhat misunderstood. Some people say there are no seasons and the weather never changes. But this simply isn't true. It does change and there are seasons -- but they are more subtle and don't rock your whole world like going from sweltering summers to snot freezing winters. The temperatures here range from cool to warm, the foliage takes on different appearances and blooming cycles throughout the year, and even the mountains change color and snow cover. Sometimes it is even overcast. Personally, at least so far, I like the moderate range of variation that doesn't require you to build your whole life around the change of seasons.
"LA" is so huge and diverse, people only get a feel for part of it at a time. It's like the parable of the blind men and the elephant (India):
Six blind men feel different parts of an elephant's body. One feels a leg and says an elephant is like a pillar; one feels the tail and says an elephant is like a rope; one feels the trunk and says an elephant is like a tree branch; one feels the ear and says an elephant is like a hand fan; one feels the belly and says an elephant is like a wall; and one feels the tusk and says an elephant is like a solid pipe.
Yes this is 100 percent correct. Los Angeles is a city of dichotomies - from Florence-Firestone to Bel-Air, Silver Lake to San Pedro there is no one "LA".
On a final note, I even think the weather in LA is somewhat misunderstood. Some people say there are no seasons and the weather never changes. But this simply isn't true. It does change and there are seasons -- but they are more subtle and don't rock your whole world like going from sweltering summers to snot freezing winters. The temperatures here range from cool to warm, the foliage takes on different appearances and blooming cycles throughout the year, and even the mountains change color and snow cover. Sometimes it is even overcast. Personally, at least so far, I like the moderate range of variation that doesn't require you to build your whole life around the change of seasons.
LOL my wife likes to say we are "weather connoisseurs" in Southern California.
Yes this is 100 percent correct. Los Angeles is a city of dichotomies - from Florence-Firestone to Bel-Air, Silver Lake to San Pedro there is no one "LA".
Kind of. I find many people focus on one aspect of LA, good or bad, and then say LA sucks/rocks because it's full of ______.
Me, I like it because IMO it has something for everyone.
I've played 'tour guide' to a couple friends/family who previously didn't care for LA. They all ended up really liking it because they got to see parts/aspects of it they really liked and never knew existed, and that didn't fit with their previous negative stereotypes.
When I see LA on the City vs City boards and people say things like fake and plastic, third world mess, sprawly and suburban, I just smh and say these people have never been here. If you've been here on a vacation and think you know LA, you don't.
Gee, glad to see so many posters slam me for asking a simple question. My thoughts were not meant to come into play, I was simply asking whether other people thought it was.
Being new to this city myself and coming from the East coat, I would agree that many people have misguided perceptions about LA. Of course, this is said with the usual caveat that there is no one single LA and even LA residents have vastly different experiences within the region. (The elephant metaphor posted above is exactly right.)
My first visit to LA was in 2002 on a trip that also included SF. Friends back east assured me I would hate LA -- fake, superficial, no culture -- and fall in love with SF. I had no agenda either way, and in general enjoy travel and seeing new places so both seemed exciting to me. The trip was a real eye opener. I really liked LA and did not see the terrible things people warned me about. I was expecting an urban jungle but I saw beauty and vibrancy and urbanity and nature all mixed together. And of course the weather was amazing. On that same trip, I did not like SF at all. It felt crowded and dirty and seedy. I've since come to appreciate SF more but that's not the point of this -- this trip started to open my eyes to LA.
Many trips and years later, when I finally had the opportunity to move here this spring, a friend back east asked, how far will I have to go to see nature? Again, the perception was that this place would somehow be a vast concrete parking lot. In fact, I can go hiking 10 minutes from my new place and feel a world away. Or I can go 10 minutes in the other direction and have my pick of restaurants and shopping. I think people not from LA -- or at least back east -- misunderstand this about LA.
East coast cities tend to have a strong uniform identity. If you live in Boston or NYC or Philly, there is a strong local culture. You speak like this, you think this way, you act this way. I'm not dissing these things -- there is a charm to that and I enjoy these cities on their own terms. But that kind of lifestyle is not for everyone. In LA you can be whoever you want to be and the culture is accepting of that. I see this everywhere around town. Of course this means there are people living lifestyles you think are silly -- the entitled posh people or the blonde airheads -- but they don't define the place. They are just one type of many all mixed up together.
I do think that some LA residents do their own city a disservice in promoting negative perceptions. Two groups that come to mind are Hollywood writers and some posters on message boards like this.
In terms of writers, its only natural that many movies and TV shows have been set in and around LA over the decades. But fiction is just that -- these aren't meant to be documentaries. Most entertainment is about sensational things -- whether soap operatic lifestyles of the elite or dark noir stories of criminal activity. This stuff attracts audiences understandably -- nobody wants to see a movie about a guy getting a burger and then going for a walk on the beach. But the accumulation of fiction set in LA has created huge misperceptions about what LA is really like.
Like NYC, LA is also a major media center so when anything bad does happen here -- whether that is wildfires or gang shootings -- it gets broadcast around the country repeatedly. We know that statistically, LA is fairly safe and safer than many other US cities, but the media lens distorts this. I'm not saying this is a conspiracy, just a consequence of having so much media to report on things. When terrible things happen in mid-west cities, who remembers which cities they happened in?
Finally, some posters on this board don't get out much. Sorry to sound harsh, but I repeatedly read complaints here that there is a lot of traffic and the it costs too much to live here. On the one hand, it is true -- there is a lot of traffic in LA, and it isn't cheap to live here. But really, how is this that much different from any major city of this population size? The answer is that it's not. In fact, there are even smaller cities -- Boston, DC to take just two -- just as expensive and with terrible traffic as well.
Some posters here are fixated on comparing LA to significantly lesser cities -- oh look how much cheaper houses are in Des Moines! It's ridiculous. For some reason there are people who expect a city of over 10 million metro to have the qualities of a small midwestern town.
On a final note, I even think the weather in LA is somewhat misunderstood. Some people say there are no seasons and the weather never changes. But this simply isn't true. It does change and there are seasons -- but they are more subtle and don't rock your whole world like going from sweltering summers to snot freezing winters. The temperatures here range from cool to warm, the foliage takes on different appearances and blooming cycles throughout the year, and even the mountains change color and snow cover. Sometimes it is even overcast. Personally, at least so far, I like the moderate range of variation that doesn't require you to build your whole life around the change of seasons.
You know, there's one more LA perception I wanted to mention: smog. Again, people back east believed that I'd be choking my way through clouds of pollution every day.
Scientifically, I know that smog is an issue. The levels of unhealthy particulate in the air in the LA basin are measurably higher than other cities, and as we all know this is amplified by the natural inversion layer caused by the local topography. We also know that the air quality has measurably improved by impressive amounts -- something like 85+% -- compared to the 70's.
But that's the science. Personally, I have to say I really have not noticed an issue. I know that air quality varies around the region and I have spent most of my time west and southwest of downtown. I've spent considerable time in other major urban environments and years in what most people would consider the fresh air of the country. And with that said, my own personal experience breathing the air in LA has been unremarkable. Walking around, hiking in the mountains, whatever, I really don't notice any difference from anywhere else. Except for NYC, where I most definitely do feel both grimy and a burning sensation in my eyes and lungs after a day in the city.
I also think there is reason to be optimistic about LA air quality continuing to improve. A significant proportion of toxins are from vehicular emissions and these have dropped dramatically as technology has improved (a current model car produces something like 99% fewer toxic emissions than a car from 30 years ago -- and that's just for combustion engines). Every year more old cars will come off the road permanently and more new ones will replace them, so really the air will only continue to get better.
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Misunderstood for many reasons
