Just moved to LA - initial impressions (Pasadena, Santa Monica: movers, neighborhoods) - City-Data Forum

redturtle · 08-07-2008, 05:15 PM

Well, I moved to LA just recently, and wanted to share my initial impressions:

(1) There's certainly a lot of traffic, but it's not as bad as I was expecting. I've heard so many people complain about traffic that I was expecting the worst. It can get heavy at times particularly in the late afternoons, but it's not that bad compared to other big cities. And yes, even on the 101 and 405, it's not as bad as I would've imagined. Maybe the $4 gas has made it less worse than say a year ago, I don't know.

(2) LA drivers aren't as impatient or crazy as I would've expected. Compared to New York, Philly, Boston, or frankly most bigger cities in the east, LA drivers are surprisingly more courteous. I didn't get one honk of the horn, drivers yelling out their windows, giving the finger, etc. out here. LA driving may be aggressive by west coast standards, but compared to the east coast or any major city around the world (try Paris or Hong Kong!!!), LA drivers are comparatively laid back.

(3) I knew that LA was a city of people from elsewhere, but I thought "elsewhere" was mostly from around the US. It's far more international than I would've expected. Even the white people here don't speak English LOL.
And what's the deal with all the Russians, Iranians and Armenians here?!?! Sometimes it feels like a good chunk of Eastern Europe and the Middle East lives here.

(4) Lots of what looks like high-maintenance but good looking women driving really expensive cars.

(5) Hispanics are everywhere. Even in the supposedly Asian areas east of Pasadena, the Asians are being overtaken by the Mexicans!

(6) Speaking of Hispanics and Mexicans. I don't understand the whole hostility towards them expressed by a few. I haven't encountered gang members (at least not that I know of), but from the movers to the restaurant staff to the retail clerks and every other service job in between, they seem like hard working people. While the gang members may give their community a bad name, it seems like the overwhelming majority are just regular working people (whether they're here legally or not is another issue, but as people you interact with on a daily basis, I really don't care what their immigration status is, that's between them and the government).

(7) I've been to LA before on quite a few occasions in the 80s and 90s. The biggest change is that it seems like there's less black people here now. And there seems to be more of an affluent middle class black population now than there used to be.

(8) It's friggin hot. The days are hotter than I remembered, but even more surprisingly, the nights are cooler than I expected. No muggy east coast summer nights which is nice.

SurekRZA · 08-07-2008, 05:34 PM

Great Post

Do you live in the Valley or over the Hill? Its definitely not as hot on the other side of the hill. I agree with your entire post pretty much...those were some of my first impressions here as well. I would encourage you to drive around L.A. at night...its a great way to get to know the city and see what happens after dark.

hsw · 08-07-2008, 05:57 PM

Great obsvns....

Really enjoy the car-centric culture of LA, so civilized vs the nasty cabs/limos of NYC....agree, the traffic in LA is actually very reasonable....

After life on LA's Westside, one quickly loses ability to deal w/any weather that's not 60-80F, no matter how many yrs one previously lived in places w/cold and/or hot/humid weather....SFV weather seems like a version of LV w/o nightlife and talent....

The young women on Westside are among most talented in world; Midtown Manhattan comes close, but the odor/primitivity of their likely daily subway commute amidst brown slush/heat&humidity is often a downer...

Jaymum · 08-07-2008, 06:35 PM

Great impressions, I agree with them! I really love LA and once you go out and experience it, the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Also, as SurekRZA said driving around at night (just don't do it in the bad neighborhoods) is a great way to expose yourself to the city. The westside and Santa Monica are darn cool at night. Also the freeway driving say after 9pm is awesome- fast, smooth and everything is so wide open that it feels like a different world compared to say NYC, where expressways have two lanes in each direction and you can be stuck in a 2 hour jam at 2 am.

pbergen · 08-08-2008, 06:06 AM

agree with the original post, esp. the first two points. i've been telling anyone who'll listen that the traffic in and around nyc is the worst in the country, with perhaps the rudest, most aggressive drivers you'll find anywhere. i don't mean to minimize the traffic woes of the greater la area, but the fact is that it really isn't that bad if you're used to driving in the nyc area like i am. there is nothing in la that can compare with the black hole that is otherwise known as the bridges and tunnels that connect the five boroughs with each other and with new jersey. or the bqe. or the cross-bronx expressway. or the deegan. don't even get me started on manhattan's horrendous traffic issues, whether it's the west side highway, the fdr/harlem river drive, or the local streets.

that said, la could really use that subway-to-the-sea extension of the metro purple line. it would be really nice to have the option of hopping on a train in downtown or k-town and then riding all the way to the beach. it would be even better if the purple line and the exposition line were to eventually be extended to LAX via venice, marina del rey, etc. i love driving around la (the surface street and freeway infrastructure is incredible compared with ny/nj or any of the older cities/metro areas in the northeast), but since there's no freeway cutting east-west across the city along the wilshire/melrose/sunset/santa monica blvd corridors, the subway project is an absolute necessity, esp. for access to the century city area.

FloridaandOhio · 08-08-2008, 09:14 AM

Good thread..I spent a few years in So Cal in my youthful past. I agree that the drivers are a bit more laid back than there eastern counterparts (Boston, NYC, Miami, etc). And the people in general are a lot more laid back. That is one of the things I miss about California. It must be the yoga and yin yang thing you all do there

Lima_beans · 08-08-2008, 09:18 AM

Thanks for sharing your impressions they have been very helpful!

LASam · 08-08-2008, 09:23 AM

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on LA. Having just moved here recently myself, I can say that my sentiments echoed yours pretty closely. Where in LA are you living? Where did you move from?

ElleBebe · 08-08-2008, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redturtle

(2) LA drivers aren't as impatient or crazy as I would've expected. Compared to New York, Philly, Boston, or frankly most bigger cities in the east, LA drivers are surprisingly more courteous. I didn't get one honk of the horn, drivers yelling out their windows, giving the finger, etc. out here. LA driving may be aggressive by west coast standards, but compared to the east coast or any major city around the world (try Paris or Hong Kong!!!), LA drivers are comparatively laid back.

We visited last weekend and were so surprised by how nice drivers were to pedestrians! We live in a smallish town now, and cars hardly ever stop for pedestrians, even when there's a crosswalk. I've gotten honked at for stopping at a crosswalk when a ped wants to cross. But driving in West Hollywood, cars almost always stopped for pedestrians, even when jaywalking. Crazy.

trojerine · 08-08-2008, 11:13 AM

Agree on the sentiment on LA driving. However, although I don't drive regularly, it seems to me like the closer you get to the coast, the more love drivers have for their car horns.