Anyone else think LA is going down the toilet? (Los Angeles: real estate, how much)

[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.

[SandyCo]

I can't imagine why you'd say such a thing... (Wow, I can't even type that without laughing!)

Truthfully, there are good pockets in this city, but it costs an arm and a leg to live in one. There aren't too many choices for the middle class, you're absolutely right.

What political leadership? In my opinion, the L.A. City Council is useless. It's tiresome to hear politicians blab about fixing the problems that plague this city and county, and then nothing, or very little, is actually done.

The gang problem isn't quite that bad - yet. There are ongoing efforts to try to curb or controll it. Eradication doesn't seem to be the goal anymore. Instead, the LAPD tries to negotiate truces between rival gangs - oh, yea.

L.A. is definitely turning into a city of the very rich and the very poor. The rest of us are leaving (voting with our feet).

[fairweathergolfer]

If you had the money to live in the best areas here would you stay or go? Just curious. If you presently have the money and chose to leave--why? Look forward to all responses.

[fastfilm]

No way in hell would I stay if I had the money for a decent place here. As another poster noted, at some point you have to come down from the mountain or inland from your beach estate; then all the multifarious problems of Los Angeles as chronicled here since this forum began will hit you in face (or smack you over the head with a 2x4.) Would I stay in California were I obscenely rich? I might check out other garden spots here, but never, ever, ever, ever, ever Los Angeles.

What do the old money rich do here? Keep a mansion in Bel Air, Pasadena or Holmby Hills with staff as a pied-a-terre, but mainly live out of their "real" place elsewhere, like Hollister Ranch with its 100 acre minimum and helicopter pads on each estate, Montecito, or Woodside; Russian Hill if you have to be in the Bay area itself...

Hedgefundpirate may phrase it more bluntly than most, but the majority of resident posters here do agree that when one describes L.A. as evolving into a third world country, the analogy is NOT limited to the influx of illegals, but rather the transformation of this city into the Third World template of a small percentage of the very rich, a huge percentage of the very poor as service economy, and no where whatsover for middle class American workers, who are taxed out of the area.

[newportbeachsmostwanted]

City council is a bunch of goons. They care nothing less about what their educated citizens think.

The only hope for this city is..
1. all illegals are shipped to their return addresses and 2. all roads are tripled in width.
(sooo..pretty much never, no hope)

This city loves to ignore the most obvious problems and tackle things that are absolutely worthless.

[SandyCo]

Originally Posted by fairweathergolfer

If you had the money to live in the best areas here would you stay or go? Just curious. If you presently have the money and chose to leave--why? Look forward to all responses.

I might keep a home here so I can come back and visit occasionally, but live here full time? No, I think not. The demographics have changed too much, even in my home towns of La Crescenta / La Canada. I wouldn't feel comfortable anywhere in So Cal anymore.

[hedgefundpirate]

No way would I live in Los Angeles or any other part of California if I had a pile of money.The reason would be income taxes.California has some of the highest taxes in the country.You could move to Florida,Nevada,or Texas and save a fortune.Most of the rich get their incomes from investments and dividends so why share it with the liberal wackos in Sacremento.I heard britney spears was moving to Miami.Imagine how much money a year in income taxes she can save just by changing her drivers liscense.I might visit LA if I had business here but no way would I want to stay.

[Des_Demona]

If I had a lot of money I would GO now rather than wait haha. Truthfully I'd rather live in the Bay Area of California but since I can't afford that I am moving out of state. I would NEVER - EVER - EVER live in Los Angeles or anyplace in Southern California even if I were a multi-millionaire. Nothing could keep me in this place.

[EquityTrader]

Tell me one city in the US that has something going for it and is not "going down the toilet"


I know I can't find one

[fairweathergolfer]

I would have to say Austin has a lot going for it (I think it is both overrated and underrated for different reasons).

Yes there are traffic issues, especially in the NE quadrant of the city. But it still has semi affordable housing and a great mix of population moving into the area--both liberal and conservative. They even have a small film industry there and the hills, trees, golf courses and lakes are just lovely. There is a great community feel to the laid back, but business friendly place that also has an environmentally friendly focus. It could improve the approach to the city from the airport though. Sometimes first impressions account for a lot and establish a feel to a place and what one sees at first doesn't in anyway show the beauty and friendliness of the place.