LA is the greatest city in America, period. (San Diego, Torrance: home, to live)

[jamills21]

Originally Posted by Dub D

Best city in the country? I don't agree but I can understand why people think that.

Best city in the world? Not a f'n chance.

From my traveling, that has to go to Sydney or Vienna.

Those are great cities but have you lived in either one for sometime? I always think its hard to judge anyplace where you went on an extended vacation. That's part of the problem with cities vs cities, people make judgments on cities that they have spent a short time (less than 3 years), a place they went to on vacation or what they heard from somebody else.

[HyperionGap]

Originally Posted by nslander

Maybe you can help me find the best city for me. My objective criteria are: a global mega-city in a Mediterranean climate, near & around mountain ranges.

I take advantage of all three of those elements, each of which shape the city's identity, and my relationship to the city. But it's only three- surely it can't be too hard to find a whole slate of more suitable alternatives.

Santiago should fit your 3 criteria. I don't know if a 6.5 million person metro you would consider a global mega-city, but that's debatable. I'll go see if anything in Australia or Spain works as well.

update:

The best I could come up with are:
Barcelona (5 million metro population) is about 2 hours from the Pyranees and is Mediterranean Climate (Csa/Csb). A plus for Barcelona over LA is that the women are more attractive and wear less clothing

Sydney is also very close, The Blue Mountains National Park (4000 ft peak) is about 20 minutes west and the metro population is 4.6 million, but it is a Temperate Climate, not Csa/Csb. That being said the average daily low is 46 in the coldest month of the year (July) and the record lows don't drop below 36 which is nothing to sneeze at.

I though Milan would have worked since it's so close to the Alps, but it isn't Csa/Csb either and is colder than Sydney.

[nslander]

Originally Posted by HyperionGap

Santiago should fit your 3 criteria. I don't know if a 6.5 million person metro you would consider a global mega-city, but that's debatable. I'll go see if anything in Australia or Spain works as well.

Looking for something exceeding 10 million and willing to accept all that it implies, good and bad: Megacity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And no, I'm not moving to Tehran.

[HyperionGap]

No other city on that list will meet your 3 criteria so I guess you're stuck in LA.

But to be fair... LA is 22nd out of 30 and has probably been overtaken by the next 4 down by now. Chicago isn't above 10 million metro, but to say it's not a world class city is pretty arbitrary.

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by nslander

Maybe you can help me find the best city for me. My objective criteria are: a global mega-city in a Mediterranean climate, near & around mountain ranges.

Proximity to ocean isn't required?

[radiolibre99]

As a city itself can LA be beat? I mean its the perfect mix of urban and nature. It can look like NYC and the South of France in different areas. That's what I love about it.

[HyperionGap]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

Proximity to ocean isn't required?

I was actually surprised by that as well, but the Mediterranean Climate does imply it has to be reasonably close.

[Dub D]

Originally Posted by jamills21

Those are great cities but have you lived in either one for sometime? I always think its hard to judge anyplace where you went on an extended vacation. That's part of the problem with cities vs cities, people make judgments on cities that they have spent a short time (less than 3 years), a place they went to on vacation or what they heard from somebody else.

So 99% of the people can't say "this is the greatest city in the world" because they haven't lived in several different locations...?

ok...

I loved Paris and Munich but I couldn't picture myself living there.

I picked Vienna and Sydney for a good reasons.

[PDF]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

As a city itself can LA be beat? I mean its the perfect mix of urban and nature. It can look like NYC and the South of France in different areas. That's what I love about it.

LA is a good mix of slightly urban and nature, but it does not have a single area that is completely urban. I honestly think LA is a good city, but for a city that is trying to be world-class, or considers itself as one? It's a joke.

[steven_h]

Originally Posted by YoungTraveler2011

I've lived in the mid-west, NYC, south-east and now I've been living in LA for the past 6 months.

How can anyone NOT like LA? and when I say LA, I'm talking about the greater LA area.

you have the weather
you have the beaches
you have the mountains
you have the deserts
you have the city
you have free or cheap parking everywhere
you have tons of different cultures
you have tons of cheap eats
you can go surfing
you can go snowboarding
you can go hiking
you can go rock climbing
most of the city is aesthetic as hell
you have hollywood
sexy cars everywhere
celebrities everywhere
cheap bars
PCH
freaking mexican food
i love going to my favorite mexican restaurant (frida) in beverly hills. what other place in the US can go to an amazing restaurant, in one of the richest cities in america, pay $0 for a 2 hour parking and end up with a 17 dollar bill?
most people care about their appearance which is a +

the list could go on and on.

negatives about LA?

smog and traffic. oh MY!

anyone else agree!?

I agree that we have all the great weather, and there are few places where you can surf in the morning glass, and ski in the afternoon freeze. I've done it all my life.

There isn't much smog anymore, and traffic has always been horrible here.

The biggest thing that is bringing our great state down, is wacko's in Sacremental. You cannot spend more than you take in and hope to maintain infrastructure. We are running on copper while the rest of the world is on optics. WE also pay the highest taxes of any state, except NY. Our surface streets are crap, and LA is the pothole capital of the US.

Generations of Californians are running away from this place in hoards, and replaced with less than productive low wage earners. We have the highest teen unemployment in the country. We are consistently a few percentage points higher than the nation for unemployment. We have nearly 1/3rd of the entire welfare bill, while only holding 10% of the populous.

Now that Brown has signed the minimum wage up to $10... jobs are going to be automated out of existence.

Yes, there is a lot right with this state.
Yes, there is a lot wrong with this state.

LA isn't just a city, it IS SoCal, and everything here revolves around it. With that said, You need a lot more than sun and fun to have a decent quality of life.

P.S. to locals, Hollywood is a freak show, a spectacle we visit every now and again for the sheer amazement of it. If you ever go to the Chinese Theatre... all the red carpet on the walls is my work.