LA traffic not that bad? (Los Angeles, Long Beach: house, buy, private school)

[GatsbyGatz]

People just like to complain. Plus, most Southern Californians never step foot in any form of public transportation so their lives revolve around sitting in a car.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by darkone

I recently moved to the LA area from the NY/NJ Metro area and not only am I finding LA area traffic tame and easy in comparison, I am finding the NYC area to be bigger, denser and more "intense-feeling". And this is not just a Manhattan vs DTLA comparison. I am talking about metro area vs. metro area. So I am wondering why LA is always associated with bad traffic. I have also lived in Atlanta, and that is no breeze. I have spent enough time in Chicago, Washington DC/NOVA area and Miami to know that LA is no worse than those cities. So why is bad traffic always given as a "con" to living in LA? It just doesn't seem to be any worse than any other major city in the US and I feel that overall the NYC metro area is worse in this regard with more aggressive drivers. And by the way, every major city in the US has its nightmare highway like LA has the 405, so that is not to be used .... I am not a troll btw - I just want opinions of well-traveled LA residents. I have hit gridlock in the NYC metro area on Sunday morning and Saturday afternoon heading to the beach btw. The 105 was a breeze heading to the beach today.

my opinion and I have to admit, we haven't been in L.A. for about 3 years (sure it hasn't changed) L.A. traffic isn't as bad as NYC, that isn't a secret, but without a decent transit system, it is as bad as almost anyplace we have lived or driven. Other than living many years in L.A. we have lived in DC, the bay area of CA. and Dallas. L.A. considering the number of freeways is the worst. Los Angeles is one of those places where everyone owns and depends on a car. It is not rapid transit friendly, mainly because it is so spread out. Yes, you can drive the freeways on weekends and it might be a breeze, but let's face it, people work in downtown and live in the burbs. Rush hour starts at 7am and continues til 7pm.

I am glad you don't mind driving in the traffic, and I agree it might not be any worse than many cities, but that doesn't mean it isn't a nightmare. you are comparing it with NYC, remember, in NYC you have a choice, you can use the public transportation system and get almost anywhere easily.

[thebordella]

I agree with the OP. LA has traffic problems, but sometimes people make it sound like you can never get anywhere ever no matter what no questions asked.

Also, it depends on your lifestyle. Most people here are talking about commuting and they assuming you commute a long distance. A lot of people do this, for various reasons, but if you don't, then you don't have to live their lives. Frankly, this is true in a lot of big cities too. Long commutes in major cities suck. There's no point comparing rankings and studies that compare averages by the minute. Bad is bad, no two ways about it.

People have strange notions that in NYC, "you can use the public transportation system and get almost anywhere easily". Ha! There is a lot more to NYC than Manhattan and realistically to compare NYC and LA you have to consider the metro NYC area which is more akin to the LA area at large. And the metro NYC area has traffic that would send LA drivers into panic attacks.

The key to navigating LA traffic is to understand that longtime LA residents drive like simpletons. They would get on the freeway even if it was on fire and being attacked by Godzilla before they look up an alternate route on a map. With some common sense and strategy, LA traffic can sometimes be aggravating but will rarely be a "nightmare".

[thelopez2]

The traffic complained about it commuter traffic going to and from work. You will only hear about complaints, people are silent when they have under a 20 minute commute. If you want to truly experience the SoCal Traffic talked about, travel the 101 from Woodland Hills to Downtown or to the 405 into Beverly Hills or Century City. Travel the 91,60, or 10 West in the morning. Drive from LAX to the Valley at 4:30 PM. Drive from East LA to Santa Monica 4-7pm.

For some fun street driving, Drive from the Santa Monica Pier to LAX at 5pm. Drive on Santa Monica Blvd East from Century City to Eagle Rock at 5pm.

You can't compare weekend driving to what people typically are complaining about.

When traffic goes from fast to slow, people complain about traffic. When traffic goes from slow to slower, there isn't much to complain about.

Many people move to the suburbs where there are less cars and less congestion. As those places grow with business and popularity, what use to be a 5 minute drive becomes a 10 minute drive. On a weekend I use to be able to get on the freeway with no wait. Now there is a Costco there, there will be a line of 10 cars per light.

I've been to other cities where I think the their freeways and traffic are worse. I've also fell that out LA freeways feel faster now than 2007.

[RaymondChandlerLives]

The OP has a point, traffic in the five boroughs right now (Sunday 3:50 PM EST) looks pretty awful. Los Angeles rarely if ever gets this congested on a weekend.

https://maps.google.com/maps?client=...ed=0CCQQ8gEwAA

A quick glance at the rest of metro shows very light traffic, comparable to LA's, maybe a little worse. Interesting since LA's suburbs are more densely populated on average, with more commercial job districts scattered about. All things considered, I agree LA gets a bad rap for its traffic woes. Of course congestion is awful during the week, and during peak commuting times. This is a dense, massive urban area of 15 million people. What do you expect?

[nslander]

Originally Posted by thebordella

I agree with the OP. LA has traffic problems, but sometimes people make it sound like you can never get anywhere ever no matter what no questions asked.

Also, it depends on your lifestyle. Most people here are talking about commuting and they assuming you commute a long distance. A lot of people do this, for various reasons, but if you don't, then you don't have to live their lives. Frankly, this is true in a lot of big cities too. Long commutes in major cities suck. There's no point comparing rankings and studies that compare averages by the minute. Bad is bad, no two ways about it.

People have strange notions that in NYC, "you can use the public transportation system and get almost anywhere easily". Ha! There is a lot more to NYC than Manhattan and realistically to compare NYC and LA you have to consider the metro NYC area which is more akin to the LA area at large. And the metro NYC area has traffic that would send LA drivers into panic attacks.

The key to navigating LA traffic is to understand that longtime LA residents drive like simpletons. They would get on the freeway even if it was on fire and being attacked by Godzilla before they look up an alternate route on a map.

Where the traffic is invariably worse. You had me up to this point, however.

[takeonepicture]

LA traffic is one of the worst in the world. Especially in freeways.

[thebordella]

Originally Posted by nslander

Where the traffic is invariably worse. You had me up to this point, however.

Sepulveda through the pass to the valley, and back, is often a near ghost town while the brakelights on the 405 are blinking on and off faster than a holiday light show. Even at peak times this surface street generally moves, sometimes over 40mph, while the 405 looks like a sculpture made of cars.

[Jorge Simmer]

key phrase "recently moved to los angeles".

still in that "high" stage where everything is peachy and fantastic. live there for a while and you will hate the place just like everyone else.

[latino_esq]

Originally Posted by thebordella

The key to navigating LA traffic is to understand that longtime LA residents drive like simpletons. They would get on the freeway even if it was on fire and being attacked by Godzilla before they look up an alternate route on a map. With some common sense and strategy, LA traffic can sometimes be aggravating but will rarely be a "nightmare".

Kind of stupid and ignorant generalization.
Firstly, longtime LA residents and Angelenos tend to know their way around LA very well. We typically know our shortcuts and when and how to best avoid traffic. Didn't take me but two years after moving back that I figured out ways around it. The typical problem with longtime residents likely has more to do with location as homeowners don't typically have the flexibility to change their residence abruptly like apartment dwellers. Thus, they are more likely to be confined to the freeway.
The key to navigating is to know alternate routes which could be a lot quicker than the freeways, being patient, leaving ahead of time, expect the unexpected, knowing what's got in LA with events, and not think you are the genius amongst the 18 million by leaving work at 4:30 in a Friday afternoon.