Does anyone living in Los Angeles feel this way after many years of living here? (Bell: neighborhood, restaurants)

[AliveandWell]

Hello everyone,

I was sitting at my desk thinking of starting a thread like this just to get some perspective on the situation. Here is my situation.

I moved out to Los Angeles way back in 1983 and have been living here ever since. After many years as I got older, I realize now that I wasn't fully appreciating my time here. I was always focusing on the things I didn't have, such as a girlfriend, or a car or the fact that I couldn't get around the city as I would have liked to.

To make a long story short, I was focusing on the negatives of LA and not focusing enough on the positives But i would say starting late last year, i began to change my attitude and almost overnight, I encountered a complete change and now I have a new found appreciation for LA.

I really like the fact that there is so much diversity here in LA. I've met people from nations such as Canada, Argentina, Russia, and many others.

I really enjoy the many fine restaurants and cultural places here in LA. I think in terms of culture, LA is hard to match. I could probably list so many more positives about LA.

My question is for those of you who moved here to LA, did any of you first not like it and then as time went by, you noticed that you liked it a lot because of a change of attitude or perspective?

Have any of you ever felt this way?

[SurekRZA]

The first thing I did when I moved to L.A. was go out and get lost in the city. Fell in love with it.

[Captain Phingerbyngur]

Having several really hot girlfriends, a Porsche 959, a Modena, and a Bell Jetranger, no...sorry...I cannot relate to your post. If you're cool and you're back in town anytime soon, though, drop me a DM if you want to party.

[Ransomed]

I think if one takes that approace to any where they'll learn to love it.

[the one]

you know, i was born and raised here. but i moved up to frisco, and eventually made the trek back here.

when i moved back i was a bit miserable. that could very well have to do with the fact that i chose SF as a layover. eventually i got into the groove of things here in LA>

every good quality that i found in the city, i also found here in LA. it was just a matter of checking for those qualities.

and it def. does help that i stopped saying, "man, that thai restaurant on clement was the best..." , what i started saying was "damm i need to find good thai food." and sure enough i did.

its all a matter of perspective. congrats on finding a good one for you and your life here in LA.

[BRinSM]

i think every city has its drawbacks, but for some reason LA has become the red-headed step child of american cities. So many people love to talk trash about LA, especially those who came here from the "wonderful places" that they were so willing to leave behind. It never really made sense to me. Anyways, I think the positive attitude that you found probably goes a lot deeper than just your view of the city. Regardless, congrats on your new found love for LA, it is in fact a great place to live for many, many people despite the obvious drawbacks.

I wish I could insert a sound clip of Randy Newman's "I Love LA" with this post.

[uptown_urbanist]

I've heard that from other people, too. Someone told me once it took him five years, but now he loves it and hopes never to leave. It took my husband three years - just in time for us to move for his job, unfortunately.In my case I didn't think I'd like LA, then fell in love with it about as soon as we arrived.I'm humming the "I Love LA" song right now - We love it!

[majoun]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

I've heard that from other people, too. Someone told me once it took him five years, but now he loves it and hopes never to leave. It took my husband three years - just in time for us to move for his job, unfortunately.In my case I didn't think I'd like LA, then fell in love with it about as soon as we arrived.I'm humming the "I Love LA" song right now - We love it!

You realize that song was satire (like most of Newman's work)?

[jzt83]

The thing with LA, well at least for me, is that LA is so massive that there's just so much of everything including crap. One must be able to distill the garbage out to find the few gems scattered about. Also, if you live in a neighborhood not suited to you, you will likely be miserable. Living in LA takes a lot of planning if one wants to be enjoy their time living there. You have to find a place with a reasonable commute to work, otherwise life will suck. But then what if your job is near areas not suited to you? Well you have to just try and find another job closer to the areas you like or just deal with the nearby hoods or deal with the commute. There are so many other factors that can make or break ones positive perception of LA. One key factor to enjoying LA is having lots of disposable money to reduce ones need to compromise with their living situation.

[KnoxTown]

I'm seven months in, and I'm loving every minute of it.