Hating Los Angeles --- Fad or Fashion? (Riverside, Pasadena: condo, mortgage)

[Dennis P]

Originally Posted by Caliguy29

I used to live in the L.A Area as a kid,but I currently live in Kern County,but travel often to L.A visiting friends :-)

Alot of people get the impression that I still live in L.A,probably because I speak so lovingly about the city :-)

OK, so you're just over the Grapevine from metropolitan L.A.

Yes, that's definitely the impression I got, since you speak so glowingly about the L.A. area. You'd be the perfect spokesman for the Chamber of Commerce!

[Caliguy2007]

Yup,i'm right over the Grapevine :-)

I had alot of Positive Things to say about L.A,because I truly did enjoy my time living there and I still do have a Great Time whenever I visit.

L.A is not for everyone,but when you add up all the Good Things that this Metropolis Offers,it surely outweighs all the Bad Things that many have to say about it.

Originally Posted by dennismpat

OK, so you're just over the Grapevine from metropolitan L.A.

Yes, that's definitely the impression I got, since you speak so glowingly about the L.A. area. You'd be the perfect spokesman for the Chamber of Commerce!

[christophergraves2]

Originally Posted by deeptrance

I see so many threads with people bashing LA and it's kinda funny. I'm in Austin, grew up in So Cal and lived in LA for a few months (I know, not much) and I visit there all the time cuz of friends, family and business.

What's up with all the hate? Why do all the Austin threads say how much it's like "heaven" here? I know both places and they both have their good and bad sides. You find a place to live and you find the best ways to enjoy it, that's not rocket science. There is MUCH to love about LA!

I disagree with all the people who say you have to be rich to live in LA. OK, so maybe I have some connections that hook me up with free artist lofts in the Brewery Art Colony, or on a hill in Studio City. But I know a lot of people there who are barely paying rent and they're really happy with it because it's a city where you can be whoever you want and do whatever you want, and the weather DOES NOT SUCK!

But maybe I'm full of BS, I grew up in Santa Barbara, hatin' on LA, loved the "LA Go Home" spray-painted on the freeway overpasses coming from the south on 101, loved the surf turf wars, hated seeing the layer of brown that would sometimes accumulate over the ocean as it drifted offshore from LA, yeah, I know all that. But in my hatred of LA I've grown to love the place.

LA is the World in a single city. I think it has surpassed just about every other city in the world for being multicultural, multilingual, multigeographic, multiclimatic --- find your spot and live there and enjoy it! LA isn't a single thing, it's a collection of thousands of things. Want cold weather? Live by the beach. Want heat with little smog? Live in Simi Valley. Want older homes, beautiful old towns, big trees, heat and smog? Try the San Gabriel Valley. Want generic mild-climate suburbs? Go southern Orange County. Want some high desert with your LA? Go Palmdale/Lancaster. Want hot low desert with your LA? Go Riverside and east/SE. On and on it goes.

Lastly, a lot of what you can get from LA depends on YOUR NEEDS. If you're OK with living in 400 square feet, which is precisely the size of my current Austin efficiency, then you CAN afford to live in a nice part of LA. And you can choose to be surrounded by Hassidic Jews, Russians, Guatemalans, Vietnamese, Chinese, Laotians, Persians, Israelis, Palestinians, Nigerians --- it's amazingly diverse, it is a microcosm of the planet and I love it in spite of hating it!

Just like life itself, you get it all in LA. And life imitates LA, or LA imitates life. Call it Hollywood. There's JUICE in that city! Drink it up and love it or just MOVE, it's your choice, but to stay there while bitching about it doesn't make sense to me. If you really want to love where you live, then join the hordes of ex-Angelinos who have moved to Austin and love it here. This city is awesome, but it's not the world in a microcosm. It's in the freaking MIDDLE OF TEXAS. And that's not something to overlook when you make your move. Choose wisely.

Well, I'm going to have to have to disagree. LA sucks, I live on the beach in Venice, the quite part, and while I love that asspect, try living a life outside of the beach and your in a world of pain. Traffic is so bad I don't even want to cross Lincoln, so I walk as much as possible.
Want to catch up with some old freinds, but they moved to the east side, so your in for an hr of traffic, that if you had some mode of public transportation you could be there in 15m. so mounths go by and you don't see your freinds.... and you live at the beach, they won't even come see you because of the traffic...
and while LA has history, music, art and so much culture it's so spread out.... insert the above and change freinds to any of the attractions....
yep it's a great city if you wish to drive and be locked in your own 5 block radius....
Give me a city like Madrid, where traffic is the number of people walking to the subway.
But the LA elite will never allow for a masstransit system that really works, as they do not want it in their backyard.
in the mean time I'll enjoy my hamouck on the beach, and drive as little as I can, but know that I am missing out on all that LA does have to offer because it's just do dam hard to get to it.

[ferretkona]

LA is not the county it used to be. Too many people and the freeways were not designed for it. We used to start work at 6 AM and it was great, now we start at 4 AM to beat the traffic. No one uses turn signals anymore, police presence is low to none.

I get paid more than I would just about anywhere except San Francisco or New York. But most everything is competitive here so I can buy anything I want for less than most places. So LA has a nice income/expense ratio for me.

I do not hate it here, but I have spent a lot of time in the mountains and we are selling this house to buy a place up north. I will miss being able to drive a few miles away to buy anything I need. Up north I will have to drive much further and have to pay more.

[Sorcerer68]

All my life I've watched people come from whatever state or country in droves and I've watched other large groups of people denounce L.A. to be the pit of hell and either leave or remain and grace us with their crappy attitudes. Bashing L.A. is hardly new. I sometimes hear "everyone I know hates L.A." which is a prime example of water seeking it's own level. My friends (for the most part) love it, although it's an L.A. native's perogative not to admit it. This forum is a magnet for L.A. bashers. I'm here to balance the scales a little.

[artichoke63]

Deep trance,

You lived in Los Angeles two months. Wow. You certainly did pick up a lot of wisdom on that two month vacation.

Artie

[SouthBayTodd]

people love to hate on LA. love it or leave it!

i think many people expect something much different than what they get.

[majoun]

Hating L.A. is an L.A. tradition if one thinks about it, and one of our few traditions that is in no danger of disappearing ):

[SouthBayTodd]

Originally Posted by majoun

Hating L.A. is an L.A. tradition if one thinks about it, and one of our few traditions that is in no danger of disappearing ):

LA is one of the more hated major cities in America. even people who live in LA hate LA - but love it at the same time. (like me, i make a website southbaychat.com because i LOVE the South Bay)

[Vicman]

Since I'm from Houston, I would probably feel at home in a mostly automobile-oriented city. Of course, I'm not sure if I would like the increased costs and the augmented gangs.