New Yorker needs some myths busted and facts checked. (Los Angeles: low income, insuring)

[K 22]

Hi, I'm from New York and I'd like to visit LA at some point. A lot of my friends who've been there basically said both are completely separate "planets".

Anyhow, I try to do research (reading these forums, LA Times, etc.). I just have some items here that I wanted verified by actual Angelinos so you could just fill me in whether they're fact or fiction.


1. Being a New Yorker, public transportation is a part of my daily life as very few of us drive. Completely different in LA, as the car culture is very heavy and public transportation is either unreliable, unwanted or just unknown.

2. I've read something about a subway extension on Wilshire Blvd (which from my understand is your version of our Broadway). The road blocks involved are seismic activity and NIMBYism from the neighborhoods since it's a pretty wealthy neighborhood and the locals associate subways with high crime - which I think is an unfair and inaccurate opinion but that's me.

3. "Don't go south of Washington Boulevard". I'm guessing that's the equivalent to our "Don't go north of 96th Street" in the good nabe/bad nabe thing.

4. I read somewhere that there's twice as many cars in LA than people. Is that true?

That's about it. Thanks and I'm jealous that you guys have Kobe Bryant.

EDIT:

Two other things -

5. I've read LA isn't a very centralized town. That it's downtown area is only really being utilized now but it's not the city center since LA is more like a huge collection of smaller towns bunched into one giant one. Is that true?

6. Since I don't own a car - I do a lot of walking. I heard LA isn't a very "walk-able" town since things are just too spread out.

[bhcompy]

1) true to an extent. there are light rail and bus systems, but they are not nearly as big in scope as new yorks system. new york builds up, los angeles builds outward.

the rest.. dunno

[Lovehound]

1. We have a fair public transit system of subways and trains but the coverage is dismal and reaches only a fraction of the city. For most of the city the public transit is buses only. If you want to go where the trains go you'll be fine, but most often that is not the case. It's not impossible to live without a car but it's impractical except for a very few people.

2. Maybe crime attracts subways, did you ever think of that? Actually low income areas attract crime and are less likely to organize against having a subway built, so my conjecture may be true.

3. There are bad areas of Los Angeles. They are worse at night. Most cities all across the world have bad areas and LA is no different.

4. Twice as many cars as people? Pshaw! There's probably only 1.8 times as many. Don't exagerate!

5. LA centralized? Uh, what? Downtown is mostly for city and county government, not that they don't have branch offices. Downtown LA is not like downtown NY. Most of us never go there or only go there rarely. We got all we need out in the 'burbs.

6. Los Angeles is not very walkable. Not unless you want to walk for 5-6 hours to get somewhere. If you don't have wheels your mobility will be very limited.

Come out and see Los Angeles. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a visit and exploring for a few days is worth a million words.

Now for a bit of advice:

1. Don't think Los Angeles is or should be like New York City. The only similarity is that both are big cities.

2. Don't move out here and then tell everybody how much better it is back in New York. We don't care and you'll just annoy us.

Have a nice visit! If you like it, stay.

[BRinSM]

I agree with a lot of what Lovehound mentioned except the walkability of the city. Yes, LA is very spread out which makes it difficult to walk between neighborhoods, but many neighborhoods in the city are very walkable with shops, restaurants, and nightlife accessible without a car for the residents of those particular areas. You can find this in downtown, Los Feliz, Silverlake, Hollywood, Westwood, Brentwood, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Venice, etc. We also have much better weather here, which allows for walking in comfortable clothes year round.

[Lovehound]

Originally Posted by BRinSM

... many neighborhoods in the city are very walkable with shops, restaurants, and nightlife accessible without a car for the residents of those particular areas. You can find this in downtown, Los Feliz, Silverlake, Hollywood, Westwood, Brentwood, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Venice, etc. We also have much better weather here, which allows for walking in comfortable clothes year round.

Definitely true. All of that. And for non-residents you can drive to one of those areas, park your car, then shop, dine, go night clubbing, then pick up your car and drive home. Note that if walking you won't be doing the entire city (whichever one of those) but you'll find plenty of choices in a subset of each city within driving distance.

I sometimes go downtown (Little Tokyo area), park my car, then go shopping and finish it off dining, pick up my car and go home. I'll have walked 3-4 miles and enjoyed a wide variety of shopping and large selection of restaurants. I might even try to catch the MetroLink from here in Northridge some day and leave the car at MetroLink parking. The Amtrack station is only 2-3 blocks from Little Tokyo, a very short walk.

[sponger42]

6. Since I don't own a car - I do a lot of walking. I heard LA isn't a very "walk-able" town since things are just too spread out.

Get a good sturdy utility bicycle or mountain bike. Carry it on the subway (banned on some high-traffic sections at rush hours) and put it on the front of busses with racks. (Actually, you can ride there about as fast as you can take the regular local city busses.) This helps connect areas too far to walk to.

[K 22]

Originally Posted by Lovehound

Now for a bit of advice:

1. Don't think Los Angeles is or should be like New York City. The only similarity is that both are big cities.

Well, like I said earlier, friends of mine said it was "another planet" so when the day comes, I'll be somewhat prepared for the culture shock.

Though I do have a friend from LA who recently moved here and after a month of being here (he goes to grad school) he says this (verbatim, I might add) about our subway system: "I can see why you guys don't really need cars here, but I just don't know how you and millions of other people handle jamming yourselves in boxes moving underground every day."

[Lovehound]

Originally Posted by K 22

"I can see why you guys don't really need cars here, but I just don't know how you and millions of other people handle jamming yourselves in boxes moving underground every day."

Well I'm sure NYC has its own problems in the subways, crowding, crime, dirtiness, gang activity, rudeness, pushing and shoving, aggression and violence. In fact to some degree I believe that's why people particularly in Los Angeles love their cars: for isolation and privacy. Not that we don't have car-to-car shootings altogether too frequently. We had several of these shootings in the last several weeks although they seem to have tapered off for the time being.

It's not that I don't want LA to have a good subway. Sometimes I'd dearly love to not own a car and not have all the expense of maintaining, insuring and fueling one. However, at least for the time being, you cannot conveniently access all the opportunities presented in Los Angeles unless you drive a car.

[Jaymum]

Originally Posted by sponger42

Get a good sturdy utility bicycle or mountain bike. Carry it on the subway (banned on some high-traffic sections at rush hours) and put it on the front of busses with racks. (Actually, you can ride there about as fast as you can take the regular local city busses.) This helps connect areas too far to walk to.

This is great advice! Coastal California is marvelous for bicycling because of the mild climate. In LA, you might actually be moving faster than the cars at certain times of the day. My bike is going to be a huge factor in my relocation. It'll be so nice to actually be able to go out and ride it more than half the year!

[straight outta camden]

The walkable thing: when Angelenos say an area is "walkable" they mean it is nice to walk in, and you can meet a few basic needs (like food and drink) by walking. They do not mean you can meet all, or nearly all, of your needs by walking, as you pretty much can if you live in Chelsea or a few other parts of New York. You may have great cafes in your LA neighborhood but it will be a mile to the gym, or the camera store, or whatever. Even if you live near a subway stop, it probably won't go where you need to go. A bus will, but you may have to transfer. You get the idea. This is why people drive. On the plus side, driving is not nearly so unpleasant here as it is in New York.

Wilshire Ave is not quite like Broadway in Manhattan. If only it were. It has lots of corporate offices but many fewer stores and less street life. It's a bit more like 6th Ave.

The advice on not living south of Washington Blvd is broadly right but there are big exceptions, like Culver City.