Anyone else think LA is going down the toilet?

[Miss Pip]

Originally Posted by Bond. James Bond.

The only people moving here are from Mexico. And Mexican babies being born...

What about the Israelis? Russians? Persians? and Asians? EVERYONE is moving here. You must be race-blind.

[nowincal11]

Originally Posted by Miss Pip

What about the Israelis? Russians? Persians? and Asians? EVERYONE is moving here. You must be race-blind.

Didn't you move here from another country? Which country was that?

[LS Jaun]

Originally Posted by Miss Pip

What about the Israelis? Russians? Persians? and Asians? EVERYONE is moving here. You must be race-blind.

Yep, every foreigner in the world is rushing to California. The mosiac of America.

[Miss Pip]

Originally Posted by nowincal11

Didn't you move here from another country? Which country was that?

You're not understanding me. That person was picking on Mexicans and saying they're the only ones that move to LA. I'm telling them about all the others that move to LA and yes I am one of them but the UK population isn't much in comparison to the Middle East and Asia.

I guess you proved my point though

[Miss Pip]

Originally Posted by LS Jaun

Yep, every foreigner in the world is rushing to California...

along with New York, the UK and Australia.

Don't feel superior

[nowincal11]

Originally Posted by Miss Pip

You're not understanding me. That person was picking on Mexicans and saying they're the only ones that move to LA. I'm telling them about all the others that move to LA and yes I am one of them but the UK population isn't much in comparison to the Middle East and Asia.

I guess you proved my point though

Oh I got it haha after rereading it the second time.

[JonathanLB]

Originally Posted by Dustville702

I'm an L.A. native, born and bred, but I'm in Las Vegas now and have been for about six years. The schools here make L.A.'s schools look European, there's really not much going on aside from all the tourist stuff (and you'll run out of money real fast if you're doing that every weekend), the summer weather is absolutely horrible, the state of Nevada is run by some of the most ignorant blowhard cowboy reactionaries imaginable (I was cured of being the mild libertarian I used to be real quick), and so on and so forth. Arizona sucks even worse, except for Flagstaff and Tuscon.

What else is wrong with it? The "we have to keep taxes low so that businesses will come in/stay!" is self-defeating B.S. We attract the bottom feeders that pay $8 an hour, like 'Carl's Liquor, Laundromat, and Video Poker Depot.' Serious industries, new and old, have no incentive to come here; the infrastructure just isn't there for them, and they can't force their white collar workers to send their kids to the 48th worst public schools in the nation. (Did I mention that the Clark County SD makes the LAUSD look good? I didn't think that was possible... until I moved here!) Which leaves the casino/resort industry, which is currently in the toilet because when times are bad the first thing people cut out is trips to tourist towns!

Not that I don't like Vegas. I can think of much worse fates than being condemned to live here for the rest of my life, believe me. The rent really is super cheap to me (technically it's right at the national average), though if I had bought a house (I was considering it before the bust) I'd be in deep, deep doggy doo right about now. Highest foreclosure in the nation, even higher than Detroit's! That aside, Vegas life certainly has its perks, but it's no L.A. That would be like comparing Sacramento (which I like) to San Francisco: you just can't. I'm thinking about going back to Californy one day, maybe up north, like up in the northeast Bay where I have a bunch of extended family. You don't know what you got 'til it's gone!



NASCAR, huh? Jesus, some of you people really don't like Mess'kins, do ya? Well, I'm just glad that people like you have less and less power to screw with us with every passing year. Pete Wilson could never run for Governor today, and that's a good thing! I'm glad you found a place to live that's much better suited to you.

"Oh, but you're one of the good Mexicans" said the grandma of this one girl I was dating back in the day. Oh gee, thanks, that makes it all better then. I mention that because I know that's what some of you were thinking!

It's unfortunate you don't appreciate it! I can't wait to move to Vegas, it has everything I want in a state and in the city. I can't tolerate a place like California where they tax the hell out of you at every turn, 10% income taxes, which is outrageous, combined with the highest sales taxes in the nation. I'm looking forward to being in a no-income-tax state and where people don't give a crap about paying for stupid government services so long as our taxes remain low. I don't want to pay for your kids to go to school, no, you should pay for them, so I'm not bothered that the public school system sucks. I never want kids and don't have kids, so to me, that's not a disadvantage at all. It's a big flat "who cares." The summer weather does suck, you're right, it's oppressively hot, and that's why I'm buying a condo in Long Beach where I can be during the summer, or fly up to Portland where I have many friends and my dad has an amazing house. I prefer to be in Portland during the summer anyway to be honest, beats the heck out of L.A. summers, which are good but not a big step up from the rest of the year. L.A. summer is the most disappointing season, probably because the winters seem so comparatively amazing to other places. When it's 65 and sunny in L.A. in January, and you know back home is 34 and chance of snow, you feel so lucky. But when it's July and it's hazy / gloomy until noon in L.A., and it gets dark at 8:30, you're thinking huh, well, Portland is 5 degrees warmer, gets dark at 10, and there is no haze or gloom or smog at all. So while the summers here are quite good, they just don't compare to what I got spoiled enjoying in Portland, which is the world's shortest summer (probably 10 weeks), but also the best in every respect (and I'm very picky about weather, which is why I can't live in Oregon!).

I think it all depends what you want out of a place. What I want is to be able to mass wealth without having to give all of it away to taxes, for one, and I want a state that has laws I agree with and support. I don't want a state where the nightlife completely sucks because the bars all close at 2 and you can't grab a beer in a strip club. Heck, in Vegas, you can drink all night if you feel like it, you go home when you want to go home, and if you want to carry that beer onto the sidewalk? No problem! Knock yourself out! If you want to tint your windows, that's ok too (and my car came from Vegas, so it's illegally tinted in CA). This state has way too many laws over just about everything, and way too many taxes on top of that. It's a miserable place to live, frankly. The weather is the only redeeming part of Los Angeles at all.

I love the idea of having a second home in the Greater L.A. area, because of the climate, some of the opportunities, and the business (film). But I don't like the idea of living here year-around at all, I've done it for four years and that has been plenty for me. Time to move on.

Las Vegas is what I like in a city, fun, neon lights, glitz, glamour, amazing nightlife, classy restaurants (most world class chefs of any city in the world), much less traffic, extremely cheap cost of living compared to L.A. as you pointed out, etc. I can get a luxury two-bedroom condo on the strip for $200,000. In CA, I have basically a loft / one-bedroom with almost no amenities for $350,000. That's just not right. What am I paying for? Worse restaurants, worse nightlife, higher taxes, worse traffic, ruder people -- sure not paying for anything that I can't enjoy in Vegas! Not to mention the cost of groceries and services, which are all higher in L.A. too. If I'm going to pay a premium to live somewhere, I want to either be making a lot more money to live there or I want to get a lot out of it. I'll pay more money for a higher quality of living, but why pay more and get less? I could pay less and get more!

[CamaroGuy]

Originally Posted by majoun

America's glory days are long gone, and L.A. being a more intense microcosm of the nation as a whole, the signs of decline are more intense in L.A.

I know what you mean.

[JonathanLB]

Hey Camaro Guy, what do you drive? New or old? I have about 80 friends on my Facebook who are Camaro owners, 5th Gen I mean. I have Bumblebee, lol, the Transformers Edition 2SS Camaro. Just got it in September, I love it so much.

[DowntownVentura]

Originally Posted by majoun

America's glory days are long gone, and L.A. being a more intense microcosm of the nation as a whole, the signs of decline are more intense in L.A.

I remember people saying Manhattan's glory days were over in the 70's. Today it is one of the most exciting places in the world.

Anyone remember this song from 36 years ago
YouTube - Barry McGuire - Eve of Destruction 1965

We used to fear global cooling by human activity, mostly fossil fuels. Now we fear global warming by human activity, mostly fossil fuels.

LA's glory days are ahead of us. Downtown is really looking nice these days and I hope this positive development continues. I love going there.

Hollywood is improving as is Long Beach.

etc.

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So while some may wish to flounder in plight others, with eyes wide open are enjoying themselves. Viva la LA!