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Old 05-27-2019, 06:57 PM
 
1,825 posts, read 1,404,705 times
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I spent two weeks in LA. I had visited 10 years ago, and didn't like the city, but back then I had only visited the touristy parts and not much else. This time I decided to do two weeks in the city and kind of live like natives, even working from our LA office, taking the subway to work. It was an awesome experience. I stayed in Koreatown, Silver Lake and Venice Beach to get a good taste. I even spent the first week walking around everywhere as I didn't have a car until week 2. Man did I WALK. Thought I would write a review, but break it down by neighborhood:

Silver Lake - One of my favorite neighborhoods. The strip along sunset was so nice and chill and loved the overall natural scenery. I definitely think it would be one of my top choices to live in if I lived there.

Echo Park - Loved this neighborhood and the park. While the park was beautiful, I can't say I liked how it was overrun with homeless people kind of ruined the experience. But overall great neighborhood.

Los Feliz - I really didn't know what to expect as I kind of stumbled upon this neighborhood. I am glad I did, such a cute neighborhood, but a little quiet for my tastes, but great if you live nearby.

East Hollywood - I liked the ethnic diversity of this neighborhood and seems livable. To me this seems more about the convenient location rather than the neighborhood itself. Seems like a very central location. I definitely enjoyed eating there but don't feel there was a whole ton to see.

Downtown - First thing that struck me about downtown was the amazing historic architecture. Just WOW. Some of the most beautiful buildings. But that leads me to my next point, downtown is disappointing. It's got great architecture (the modern part) but overall it feels like it's lacking especially for a city its size. I see its up and coming, but a lot of work needs to be done. I do like that you see a lot of diversity in downtown, but I thought downtown LA was just okay. But definitely improving from when I visited 10 years ago.

Little Tokyo - This was a bit of disappointment. The little plaza mall was cool, and the food was great, but I thought it would have more of a vibe like Koreatown. It was okay but have zero desire to ever visit again.

Chinatown - Another disappointment. The area that is pedestrian only with shops and restaurants was nice, but so dead. Then the rest of it was just okay. Pretty big area, but there was something so lacking about it especially after you visit Chicago, San Francisco's or NYC's.

Hollywood - I hated Hollywood ten years ago, still hated it this time. There was nothing I liked about it. The more local/livable parts were fine (my friend lives there) but overall I just don't like the vibe of Hollywood. I went to see if it changed my opinion this time around, but I hated it even more this time.

West Hollywood - This was a real cool place, walkable. I liked it a lot, and a pretty vibrant gayborhood/city. Pound for pound I also found it to be one of the prettiest neighborhoods and most pleasant to walk through.

Beverly Hills - I see the beauty of the city, but it's not for me. Too ritzy and rich for me. Can't be thoroughly enjoyed by your average person.

Malibu - Beautiful as ever. Not much to say about this city but it serves its purpose well.

Santa Monica - I actually didn't like Santa Monica too much. It's downtown felt more like a big mall, and a bit overcrowded. Beautiful place though, but not somewhere I would visit.

Venice Beach - I stayed in Venice for about four days. Can't say I really liked the boardwalk. Bit too weird for my tastes. But definitely loved the vibe of the neighborhood overall, and the Abbot-Kinney strip was awesome and very cute. This neighborhood felt super "SoCal" in its vibe loved my time there.

Mid-Wilshire - Seems like a good nice neighborhood. Nothing particularly exciting, but overall a pleasant place and seems like a very livable area.

Now to my favorite part....

Koreatown - WOW. This neighborhood blew me away. What a damn cool place. So much to explore, so many places to eat, and so vibrant. I would say many times I felt like I was in another country in Asia. And I don't meant that in the rustic basic way that Chinatowns across the country make you feel, rather the shiny new buildings and outdoor malls strips that make you feel like you are in some modern small city in South Korea. I really really loved this neighborhood and would live here in heartbeat. No other neighborhood like it in the US from my experience.


Some of thoughts:

Homeless - Shocked to see the amount of homeless people in the city. It was very sad. They really are engrained into the city and daily life. But what was more shocking was how mentally ill most were. In Chicago most tend to be beggars and are subdued. But in LA there were was a lot of mental illness, and it really ruins the experience in many ways. I felt like in everything I did, especially when walking around or exploring a neighborhood, the homeless definitely had an impact on my experience of that place.

Spread Out - I know you have all hear this before, but man, this city is way too spread out. Just to go to Venice Beach from West Hollywood feels like such a trek. I definitely didn't like how long it took to get everywhere. Add to that traffic and it was too much.

Aesthetics - Let's be real, LA in regards to natural beauty is one of the most beautiful. But in regards to built environment it's pretty ugly. The mish mash of types of buildings, the strip malls, and concrete commercial and residential architecture make it one of the less appealing cities. I would say 60% of the city is pretty ugly from what I saw, and the other 40% pretty. But the pretty parts of the city where GORGEOUS. So Gorgeous that you don't get that type of beauty in other parts of the country.


I know this last part is a bit negative, but I really did love LA. It's an amazing city with so much to offer and experience. It's super unique. Prior to this trip, I would say it didn't even crack my top 10 favorite US cities, but now I would say it's hovers right above my top 5. I still like Chicago, SF, NYC, Miami and SD more than LA, but I would say LA comes right after those cities and I have been to almost every major city in the US. I could definitely in LA and I think I would love to, but kind of like NYC the city is a bit too much for in many ways so I can't say I have a desire to live there, but definitely appreciate and love it for the city it is.

You guys have a great city! I am glad I was able to enjoy and experience so much of it!
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Old 05-27-2019, 09:46 PM
 
Location: Santa Monica
157 posts, read 216,885 times
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Wow! I'm impressed by how much ground you covered. I have lived here for almost a year and have barely scratched the surface. You have a great city, just a little too cold for my taste. Come again!
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Old 05-28-2019, 12:07 AM
 
Location: People's republic of California
245 posts, read 542,799 times
Reputation: 231
I agree, our downtown LA cannot even compare to Chicago. We have a pretty pathetic downtown for the nation's 2nd largest city.
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Old 05-28-2019, 02:00 AM
 
Location: Where the sun always shines
2,170 posts, read 3,290,224 times
Reputation: 4501
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce81 View Post
I agree, our downtown LA cannot even compare to Chicago. We have a pretty pathetic downtown for the nation's 2nd largest city.
No need to have a GREAT downtown here when many parts of the county have their own downtowns/ Epic centers

Burbank
Santa Monica
Culver City
Long Beach
Hollywood
Ventura Blvd from Universal city into Tarzana
West Hollywood
Old Town Pasadena
Alhambra
Calabasas and others

All of the above have their own little downtowns unlike many other cities around the country where things get really dead the furthur you get from Downtown. Chicago for starters
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Old 05-28-2019, 03:41 AM
 
Location: Norteh Bajo Americano
1,631 posts, read 2,365,988 times
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When people compare Downtowns, they expect a similar experience to one they like. All the shopping, public transit, people walking everywhere, very clean and modern meets old, lots of shopping, nightlife and bars, lots of buildings and less parking lots all in the center. outside of the Downtown/city center there really isn't anything that can compete or come close.

LA is not that type of city. It is so large and a vast collection of neighborhoods that it distributes the things you expect in a large singular Downtown.
Shopping is nicer at Glendale, Santa Monica, Culver City, Fairfax District, Beverly Hills with its malls or shopping streets.
Nightlife is equally as strong in Downtown LA as in West Hollywood, Hollywood, Santa Monica but also small ones in lots of areas.
Cultural institutions like Museums, concert/music venues, historic buildings are all over the city
Skyscrapers/Highrises are spread out from Hollywood, Koreatown, Westside to Glendale and Long Beach.
All the ethnic areas are spread out all over creating a sprawled out ethnic enclave rather than a few city blocks of intense density like you find in SF or NYC.

frimter928 only touched on a fraction of LA. So many other LA neighborhoods like highland park, eagle Rock, Lincoln heights, boyle heights, crenshaw, larchmont, hancock park, midcity, liemert park, baldwin hills, cheviot hills, brentwood, westwood, sherman oaks, studio city, north hollywood arts distirct, toluca lake, palisades, mar vista, sawtelle and others. Outside of LA City like listed above are Culver City, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa, Whittier, La Canada, Glendale, Pasadena, Claremont, Glendora, Sierra Madre, San Marino, South pasadena and others. One would think boring suburbs of culdesacs and unwalkable neighborhoods, but not really. A lot of LA was built in a similar time 1900s-1950s with similar layout of a main street with shops with apartments and single family homes behind, with lots of mish mash architecture of that time period with modern styles. So youll have Victorian and Spanish and Craftsmen with Ranch, contemporary/modern.

So many areas to explore and live and with nightlife, shopping, cultural institutions in place you are close to some but not close to others.
But you wont find the intense density of people, homes, shops that you would find in central Chicago or Manhattan, inner brooklyn/queens.

Downtown is changing. Remember downtown is a collections of districts and neighborhoods in a small scale. But all of them are changing at various speeds. Lots of skyscrapers and highrises in the Financial District and South Park/LA Live area. lots of smaller buildings in Arts District, Little Tokyo area. Lots of renovations of historic buildings in the Historic Core, Fashion District. It will take time, but Downtown is coming around taking one parking lot at a time and building dense buildings with shops/restaurants/bars. It will take time to get shopping brands in Downtown but it has a lot of bars and restaurants already.
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Old 05-28-2019, 06:14 AM
 
Location: Chicago
6,359 posts, read 8,760,614 times
Reputation: 5869
Quote:
Originally Posted by jacktravern View Post
No need to have a GREAT downtown here when many parts of the county have their own downtowns/ Epic centers

Burbank
Santa Monica
Culver City
Long Beach
Hollywood
Ventura Blvd from Universal city into Tarzana
West Hollywood
Old Town Pasadena
Alhambra
Calabasas and others

All of the above have their own little downtowns unlike many other cities around the country where things get really dead the furthur you get from Downtown. Chicago for starters
As a fellow Chicagoan, I fully agree with the OP: LA is terrific, a truly great global city by any standard.

Jack, I see the point you are raising here in comparison between Chicago and Los Angeles. Chicago (as I've said on the Chicago forum innumerable times) is the ultimate core-centered city in America (maybe globally). Chicago is about "in" and "out" like no place anywhere. Into the core (greater downtown Chicago, a place where the Loop is just one, though the original one, of many neighborhoods). Out of the core.

No major city is bereft of the type of "their own downtowns/Epic centers" than Chicago.

Look at New York: it has the largest "downtown" in the nation in the form of Midtown Manhattan, while the second biggest core, the original downtown, the place still called downtown, that is Lower Manhattan is the nation's second largest, while a third downtown, Brooklyn, is easily the size of what one expect in a big city. And that doesn't take into account all the other concentrations (Jersey City, White Plains, etc.) that dot the area.

But perhaps the best example of multiple cores would be the one you contributed: Los Angeles. DT LA may be considered "the Greatest among equals", but as you stated, core areas Westwood and near by Century City, Pasadena, Hollywood, Long Beach, Anaheim, Newport, West Hollywood more than hold their own.) While in a linear sense, the Wilshire corridor may be the best of its kind anywhere in the nation as it stretches and links DT to the Westside (which will literally be a linear city with the exponential growth the new subway line will bring).

My only disagreement with you: Yes, Chicago and Chicagoland operate on the basis of the Emerald City that draws in like a magnet the periphery and sends it back home at the end of the day.

But because our greater downtown is so great and a major factor in what makes Chicago an alpha global city the areas removed from downtown are often vibrant, alive, active, culturally stimulating and contain the attributes of real urbanity that people seek.

Certainly this is true of much of the North Side lakefront and inland to Wicker Park, Bucktown, etc. Our North Side is basically like a Boston or San Francisco, dropped in the middle of the nation. Certainly this is true on the South Side lakefront where Hyde Park, home of the University of Chicago, is like an intown college town). Adjoining Chicago to the west is Oak Park, exrtremely vibrant and urban, adjoining to the north lakefront is Evanston, a real college town, of course, with Northwestern. And other core areas exist in many parts of Chicagoland. The Rosemont/O'Hare area is a mix of urban activity due to its proximity to the airport. Naperville in the west suburbs thrives with a downtown large and inviting. Other examples exist as well.

Sure we put a lot of eggs in one basket....Greater DT Chi....but that basket generates its own terrific eggs across city neighborhoods and suburban towns. Downtown Chicago does pay dividends.

Los Angeles and Chicago are structured far differently from each other. And those structures....corecentric Chicago and a host of centers that is LA.......have worked exceedingly well for these two great, epic cities.

Last edited by edsg25; 05-28-2019 at 06:32 AM..
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Old 05-28-2019, 09:52 AM
 
1,825 posts, read 1,404,705 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by edsg25 View Post
As a fellow Chicagoan, I fully agree with the OP: LA is terrific, a truly great global city by any standard.

Jack, I see the point you are raising here in comparison between Chicago and Los Angeles. Chicago (as I've said on the Chicago forum innumerable times) is the ultimate core-centered city in America (maybe globally). Chicago is about "in" and "out" like no place anywhere. Into the core (greater downtown Chicago, a place where the Loop is just one, though the original one, of many neighborhoods). Out of the core.

No major city is bereft of the type of "their own downtowns/Epic centers" than Chicago.

Look at New York: it has the largest "downtown" in the nation in the form of Midtown Manhattan, while the second biggest core, the original downtown, the place still called downtown, that is Lower Manhattan is the nation's second largest, while a third downtown, Brooklyn, is easily the size of what one expect in a big city. And that doesn't take into account all the other concentrations (Jersey City, White Plains, etc.) that dot the area.

But perhaps the best example of multiple cores would be the one you contributed: Los Angeles. DT LA may be considered "the Greatest among equals", but as you stated, core areas Westwood and near by Century City, Pasadena, Hollywood, Long Beach, Anaheim, Newport, West Hollywood more than hold their own.) While in a linear sense, the Wilshire corridor may be the best of its kind anywhere in the nation as it stretches and links DT to the Westside (which will literally be a linear city with the exponential growth the new subway line will bring).

My only disagreement with you: Yes, Chicago and Chicagoland operate on the basis of the Emerald City that draws in like a magnet the periphery and sends it back home at the end of the day.

But because our greater downtown is so great and a major factor in what makes Chicago an alpha global city the areas removed from downtown are often vibrant, alive, active, culturally stimulating and contain the attributes of real urbanity that people seek.

Certainly this is true of much of the North Side lakefront and inland to Wicker Park, Bucktown, etc. Our North Side is basically like a Boston or San Francisco, dropped in the middle of the nation. Certainly this is true on the South Side lakefront where Hyde Park, home of the University of Chicago, is like an intown college town). Adjoining Chicago to the west is Oak Park, exrtremely vibrant and urban, adjoining to the north lakefront is Evanston, a real college town, of course, with Northwestern. And other core areas exist in many parts of Chicagoland. The Rosemont/O'Hare area is a mix of urban activity due to its proximity to the airport. Naperville in the west suburbs thrives with a downtown large and inviting. Other examples exist as well.

Sure we put a lot of eggs in one basket....Greater DT Chi....but that basket generates its own terrific eggs across city neighborhoods and suburban towns. Downtown Chicago does pay dividends.

Los Angeles and Chicago are structured far differently from each other. And those structures....corecentric Chicago and a host of centers that is LA.......have worked exceedingly well for these two great, epic cities.
I totally agree with this assesment. Places like Wicker Park, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, it's almost like they have their own little downtowns, only it feels more organic than places like LA. Places like Santa Monica, their downtown felt more like an open air mall. It was basically just major retailers that were in their downtown area with some restaurants here and there.

So while there are more "downtowns" in LA, they feel less authentic (from what I saw) and more shopping mall like.

It's not my cup of tea, but for others that's what they like, and it seems to be working for LA.
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Old 05-28-2019, 09:53 AM
 
242 posts, read 171,487 times
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So you stayed for 2 weeks in 3 area's and than in the last week you went to a million other places lol

Sounds kinda made up tbh but I'll take your word for it....
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Old 05-28-2019, 10:13 AM
 
1,825 posts, read 1,404,705 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cowboy310 View Post
So you stayed for 2 weeks in 3 area's and than in the last week you went to a million other places lol

Sounds kinda made up tbh but I'll take your word for it....
Common sense should tell you that in the 3 places I stayed I branched out of them to explore while I stayed in them (not hard to figure that one out).

So while in Silver Lake, I explored Echo Park, East Hollywood, Hollywood, Downtown, Los Feliz. While in Venice Beach I explored Santa Monica, Malibu, West Hollywood, BH. Koreatown I was the most stagnant, but I visited Mid-Wilshire and more parts of downtown (since it has easy train access to and from Ktown). I actually went to other parts like Century City, Culver City, Marina Del Rey, and Long Beach, but I don't think I explored them thoroughly enough to form an opinion as they were places that I briefly saw and made quick stops for whatever reason (like a quick Target run or to catch the Catalina Ferry).

Not where you are getting at especially, when most of what I have said is positive of the city.
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Old 05-28-2019, 02:48 PM
 
1,994 posts, read 4,845,829 times
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Chicago and NYC had an entirely different growth pattern compared to L.A....Those 2 cities grew upwards,while L.A spread outwards aka sprawl for many years.

The fact that L.A surpassed Chicago and other U.S Cities to become America's 2nd Largest City and continues to grow is an amazing accomplishment.

Downtown L.A is improving as time goes by.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce81 View Post
I agree, our downtown LA cannot even compare to Chicago. We have a pretty pathetic downtown for the nation's 2nd largest city.
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