A Chicagoan's review of LA (Los Angeles, Long Beach: appointed, apartment, house)

[oping00]

Originally Posted by frimpter928

I don't think LA's downtown was pathetic, if anything I would say it's top 10 in the country edging towards top 5. My issue with it was, it just was not a very sophisticated downtown. I would say more than half of the downtown, were stores that sold cheap and low quality goods. Not saying there isn't a place for those in a city's downtown, but the issue is they seem to dominate, especially in the historic district. Mix that with the element of a lot of mentally ill homeless people, and a downtown that is not the cleanest, it doesn't leave the best impression. NYC for example may be dirty but there is a sophistication to it.

With LA it felt like everything on one side was historic architecture that were kind of run down, with low quality stores, while the other end was more sophisticated with major brand/retailers, but felt sterile and lacking character.

I didn't hate downtown, I see so much potential for it and it seems like the city is starting to head that direction, but it really is not anything to write home about, except for the historic architecture, which is quite stunning.

Ill Agree with your assessment Chicago's Downtown obviously wins, but there are pockets of LA's downtown that are nice like the Staples Center and Grand Central Market also Westwood near UCLA although thats not Downtown. The one draw that Southern Cal does have over Chicago is the weather.

[MrIndependent]

Originally Posted by frimpter928

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!

Thanks for visiting and sharing this. Very thoughtful post. A couple of things to add:

When you exclude locals who were born and raised here, I think the people who most enjoy living in LA have 1 of the 4 things checked off:

• Deep love of being outdoors all year long (hiking, surfing, mountain biking, laying on the beach, etc)
• Genuine appreciation of foreign cultures/cuisine (especially East Asian, SE Asian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, and Central American)
• Major focus on health and wellness (whether that be via diet and/or lifestyle choices)
• A passion for the arts/creative industries (this includes traditional artists, people in the entertainment biz and also new-age Instagram influencers types)

If you have at least 1 of those things checked off, you'll enjoy LA. If you have multiple of those things checked off, you'll fall in love with the city. All of this is assuming you earn enough income to cover your expenses comfortably.

As for some specific points in your original post, I had a couple of opinions on that:

You fell for the tourist trap in Santa Monica. Its bests part are the commercial streets that locals hang out on. Montana Ave and Main St (butting up against AK in Venice) for example. 3rd St. Promenade is tourist central.

Sounds like you made the same mistake in BH. On Rodeo it's glitz and glam. But there are side streets like Beverly Drive which feel more down to earth less exclusive.

Like many major cities, LA's functional "Chinatown" is now in the suburbs. Specifically, the San Gabriel Valley. Arguably home to the best Chinese food scene outside of Asia.

East Hollywood is great for Thai and Armenian food in a strip mall setting. Otherwise, it's a dump.

Hollywood is polarizing. Not my jam either. I understand if you didn't like it

KTown is unique by American standards. It's one of my favs in the city

Let's agree to disagree about Little Tokyo. The awesome thing about LA is that there are multiple "Japanese cultural enclaves" Little Tokyo, Little Osaka (on Sawtelle Blvd), Torrance (in the South Bay). Show me another metro area in mainland USA with that many authentic clusters of Japanese culture. Not possible.

Did you visit the Arts District? It's east of DTLA and has now organically grown into Little Tokyo. Arts District combined with Little Tokyo is easily in my Top 3 fav neighborhoods in LA.

About the homelessness - yeah that's a very severe issue in LA. From Seattle to San Diego, the entire West Coast as a whole struggles immensely with this too. Very complicated (and a bit off topic) to explain why it's an issue.

Aesthetic beauty - There's definitely a lot of ugly in LA's cityscape. However I think that the residential architecture is actually one of LA's strong points. In LA, there are so many different styles of homes, it doesn't feel cookie cutter or boring. A lot of American homes are the same boring predictable style.

[Angelino19]

Originally Posted by frimpter928

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.

I have to disagree. What you call less authentic I call modern and interesting. LA is a modern city and does not fit the mold of older Midwest and east coast cities. You're take on LA is clearly based upon own biases. There's nothing wrong with that but it's not an objective view.

You said Santa Monica felt like a mall. Again I disagree. It's a tourist mecca and a great walking neighborhood on the Pacific ocean. As for Venice, it hasn't changed much at all in the past few decades. It too is a huge tourist mecca. You either love it or it scares the sh__t out of you.

As for downtown LA. It's still evolving and getting more interesting every day. The restoration of some of the grand old theaters along Broadway has really livened up the place. I've been to concerts at the Orpheum and Ace theaters. Magnificent and beautiful turn of the century theaters. As more of the old theaters are restored along Broadway, it's only going to get better.

As for the homeless problem, that's everywhere in the city. God only knows when we'll see an improvement in that area.

Here's my take on Chicago. The city core is beautiful but once you get out of the core there's not much there. The same cannot be said of LA where you can drive or take the light rail to Long Beach, a city of over 500,000 and feel a whole different vibe.

[Atlwarrior]

I was in the Marine Corp in San Diego in the 1990's. I was always impress with LA. Sort of funny that the only land left between LA and San Diego is Camp Pendleton. My absolutely favorite spot is In-and-Out burger watching all the big super heavies landing at LAX.

[T. Damon]

Originally Posted by MrIndependent

Thanks for visiting and sharing this. Very thoughtful post. A couple of things to add:


Did you visit the Arts District? It's east of DTLA and has now organically grown into Little Tokyo. Arts District combined with Little Tokyo is easily in my Top 3 fav neighborhoods in LA.

YES! The Arts District, Hauser & Wirth Gallery are tops in the city. Even our walk from 7th & Hope in dt (with a great breakfast in the nearly hidden hole in the wall Wake and Late) and then down Los Angeles St. through the Toy District to it was fantastic.

We are heading to Chicago for our first visit in a couple of weeks and are super excited- I am an architect - and like you we scour cities well with 7-9 mile walks a day.

You’ll see our review of your fine Second City soon.

[Angelino19]

Originally Posted by Atlwarrior

I was in the Marine Corp in San Diego in the 1990's. I was always impress with LA. Sort of funny that the only land left between LA and San Diego is Camp Pendleton. My absolutely favorite spot is In-and-Out burger watching all the big super heavies landing at LAX.

I agree. I've been to that In-N-Out Burger also and love watching the planes land as I chow down on a delicious burger and fries.

[Losfrisco]

Originally Posted by frimpter928

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.

Wrapped up in this take I sense an assumption that Los Angeles is supposed to be checking in with gatekeeper cities like Chicago to make sure they're "getting things right." After all, they can't just go off and do their own thing without caring what they eastern and midwest establishment thinks, right?

Let's be real, Chicago (along with New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Washington D.C.) have almost no natural scenery to speak of. The buildings ARE the scenery, with the exception of waterfronts.

All subjective though, I suppose. The parts of Los Angeles that some people see as ugly, I just see as gritty given L.A.'s history as one of the most industrialized cities in the world.

[Californiaguy2007]

You haven't done your homework before visiting L.A if you were expecting Downtown L.A to be similar to Chicago or NYC.

Like I said previously Downtown L.A is improving as time goes by,and I also think it's strange that you find dirty in NYC as sophisticated

Originally Posted by frimpter928

I don't think LA's downtown was pathetic, if anything I would say it's top 10 in the country edging towards top 5. My issue with it was, it just was not a very sophisticated downtown. I would say more than half of the downtown, were stores that sold cheap and low quality goods. Not saying there isn't a place for those in a city's downtown, but the issue is they seem to dominate, especially in the historic district. Mix that with the element of a lot of mentally ill homeless people, and a downtown that is not the cleanest, it doesn't leave the best impression. NYC for example may be dirty but there is a sophistication to it.

With LA it felt like everything on one side was historic architecture that were kind of run down, with low quality stores, while the other end was more sophisticated with major brand/retailers, but felt sterile and lacking character.

I didn't hate downtown, I see so much potential for it and it seems like the city is starting to head that direction, but it really is not anything to write home about, except for the historic architecture, which is quite stunning.

[Californiaguy2007]

L.A is unique which is a good thing

Originally Posted by edsg25

What I find most interesting about LA...and I don’t think any American City...including New York which comes second in this regard can compare with the totally unique structure of the place. Moreso than any other city, they broke the mold when they made LA


There never was another LA. There never will be

[Californiaguy2007]

That's what I was thinking is not much else to do or see once you leave Chicago's city core,while in L.A you have Mountains,Deserts,Beaches along with National Forests,National Parks,and places like Santa Barbara,Ventura,Palm Springs,San Diego,Las Vegas and Mexico are all nearby.

L.A also has Year-round Outdoor Activities,Better Natural Scenery/Landscape along with much Better Weather as well....I also think the Wildlife in L.A is also very interesting.

Originally Posted by Angelino19

Here's my take on Chicago. The city core is beautiful but once you get out of the core there's not much there. The same cannot be said of LA where you can drive or take the light rail to Long Beach, a city of over 500,000 and feel a whole different vibe.