Anyone else think LA is going down the toilet? (Ontario: safe area, college)

[Frank_Carbonni]

Originally Posted by hedgefundpirate

Just my own humble opinion been to many cities such as NY,Miami,Tampa,Orlando and I personally think that the city of Los Angeles because of poor political leadership is going down the tubes.The middle class seem to running for the exit.Who wants to live 50 miles out and sit in traffic for 3 hours to get to work.The crappy areas of LA could be bulldozed and redeveloped but I think the liberal PC crowd prevents the real estate developers from doing this.The gang problem could be solved if the LAPD had the support of the good citizens but I think they are underappreciated.Imagine what a train wreck the city would be without them.In order to live in a good area of LA you really have to have a much higher salary than the average family.Myself I think the Cali dream ended years ago.I see a city in the future of only two classes the very few rich and the very large number of poor.The gangs are turning LA into our American version of Bogota or Beirut.

I like LA less than I like VD and hated it when I visited it.

However, I wouldn't say it is all doom and gloom. Hasn't the crime rate and the murder rate decreased since the 1980s? Aren't there some large scale developments going up in the wasteland known as "Downtown Los Angeles"? Can't be all that bad.

[dare5555]

I come from India and shanghai or mumbai may be mega cities but not better or famous than LA . Most of the americans have never lived in any 2nd world mega city long enough , LA's problem will pale in comparison . It will be like comparing gold and copper ) LA should learn from NYC how to control crime and gangs , rising cost of living and gang violence is making people leave..

[Hungry For Cheese]

Originally Posted by TrojanDLA

But it has gotten better. Been to downtown lately? LA has cleaned up and looks so much better than it did 10 years ago, don't you agree?

I'm 37, have a family with children and grew up in SoCal as a youth, worked in Atlanta for almost a decade, and now I'm back in SoCal. I'm GLAD to be back. Yes, we have our issues, but at the end of the day, I like it here more. I bought a house in Atlanta in 2002 in a ritzy part of town (Buckhead) and 4 years later when I tried to sell it, value just barely budged up 20% while during that same period in LA, the same house would have at least doubled in price if not more so. SoCal costs a lot, but in return you will benefit as much. Had you took out a subprime loan in 2004 and bought any ol' thing for $350,000 you probably could've sold it for at least $600,000 in 2006.

Boohoo...4 years you earned 20%....SoCal is so messed up with it's perception of real estate it isn't even funny. My dad bought a home in 1999 for 165k in Van Nuys, now Lake Balboa(really nice neighborhood of west Van Nuys) and now it is worth at least 550k to 650k....Whaaat?
Who in their right mind would buy it??? Let alone rent it for $2500/mo.
I hope he sells and moves when he retires, but he is Valley born and will probably die here. I hope property stays high so I can rent it out to some family of 10 for $5750 in the year 2035 or whenever my dad passes.
I'll collect the rent and enjoy my lakeside property in Colorado or elsewhere.

Are we here to flip houses every 4 years? What are you going to do next? Expect to sell the 600k home, buy a 1M home, and in four years have it worth 2.5M...welcome back to reality.

[aj2007]

I've stayed in West Hollywood plenty of times and I can say that I love it there. The west side of LA is still very nice. You have to understand that they are going to be great parts and horrible parts to every area. There is no magical place where everything is fine. That's not reality. You just have to weight the pros and cons and decided where you feel is right for you. LA is a lot like New York City. If you have the money to live here you will love it. You can stay on the West side and love life or if your poor/lower middle class you'll hate it. It's just that simple. Same goes for whatever area you pick. I for one and looking forward to moving to WeHo when I graduate from college. I've weight the pros and cons very heavily and decided that WeHo is the place for me. Now I just need to get over the fear of those damn earthquakes.

[Sorcerer68]

Originally Posted by fastfilm

And another consequence for those who think cities of 10 million are always hunky dory, noted by yesterday's Los Angeles Times: a headline story proclaiming Los Angeles residents do not get out of their homes as much for any entertainment whatsoever, not due to gas prices, not due to nasty neighborhod demographics, but for the simple reason that L.A. traffic is too formidable an obstacle for most all car trips these days.

Who needs a car trip for entertainment? Unless you live in one of the 3 cultural wastelands, you're got entertainment somewhere near. If you don't know where any is...try the LA Weekly.

[timelesschild]

Originally Posted by Sorcerer68

Unless you live in one of the 3 cultural wastelands, you're got entertainment somewhere near. .

What are the 3 cultural wastelands?

[fastfilm]

Map of cultural wastelands, excepting a few museum, club and theatre districts (This is City-Data's own map, so (C) okay!)

Humor aside, that's a trifle snobbish to condemn all Los Angeles residents who, say, wish to go to the beach or a nice museum as culturally unentitled because of the insane, congested driving distances coupled with lack of efficient public transportation.

[YankeeTom]

Originally Posted by Charles

The more you read these Anti-LA/Pro-LA posts (on multiple forums), the more you sense a difference between the backgrounds and position in life of the posters.

Pro LA: Single, upwardly mobile, abundant in free time, Harley, niche employment, non-traditional lifestyle, Porsche trumps IRA, nightclubs, beach, sushi, bi-monthly haircuts, gym

Anti LA: Have or starting families, minivan, midlife, no disposable time, wake up-shower-drive-work-drive-home activities-sleep-wake up-drive ..., IRA/401(k) (and ten year old car) trumps new Camry, library, Home Depot, sack lunch, Supercuts (with coupon), colonoscopy

I don't read too many posts from people with kids who are in the Pro LA category and I read even less posts about from people with kids who want to move to LA.



http://www.robichaux.net/blog/images/dilbert2005029298527.gif (broken link)

I would love to move to CA / to be near family , to be near California Natural areas . the Mnts , Deserts ect. My kids are grown but still on a single guy blue collar worker salary ...forget it. Hard enough to make a living around NYC metro area. I just can't make the numbers work. And becides I have to save for retirement because in my line of work you can get put out to pasture for high blood pressure. I also need to repair my 15 year old car!

[Duluth07]

Is this why I am seeing so many cars with California license plates next to newly sold homes in Scottsdale and other parts of Arizona? I saw a LOT of LA folks moving to Phoenix last year...

[Tasksgirl]

You forgot one for the pro-la column.. hispanic families I'm going to start a family soon and I am not planning on leaving L.A. .. People that are pro-LA want something out of life that is different than the typical suburban lifestyle.. and I'm not talking about the weekly haircut nanny and personal trainer rich west-la bevery hills lifestyle either..