Is Los Angeles Magical? (San Francisco: appointed, safe neighborhood, live in)

[goodbyehollywood]

L.A. is unique, but what is magical to some may be unappreciated by others. A lot of that L.A. mystique revolves around Hollywood, its history and the glamour of the Golden Era. The orange trees are gone, the skies are no longer blue, the hills are packed with tasteless McMansions, but there's still a glimmer of what once was. Anything feels possible when you stand looking up at the Hollywood sign, put your feet in the footprints in front of the Chinese theater, walk the stars of Hollywood Boulevard or stand in front of David O. Selznick's old studio, which was Tara in Gone With the Wind. L.A. is crowded, smoggy and littered with trash and broken dreams, but every time I walk through a studio gate, I still feel the magic. If you don't feel that way, the magic probably isn't meant for you. But it's still there for many, and it's why they come in droves.

[nmnita]

I think the secret word here seems to be magical..What makes a city or anything magical?? I think maybe of Vegas, because of the lights and marquis or maybe some ocean cities or Hawaii, but I don't think L.A or most cities are truely magical...Great places to visit, fun things to do, and for some wonderful place to live but not magical..

Just my opinion.

Nita

[Userdavey]

So far this is what I have learned: the cost of living and traffic and size of LA can be sickening. I was particularly scared about the whole "Get all set up and moved in and then get laid off and have to find work that is a 2 hr commute." That is scary.

I guess the weather is really the thing I like most about out there. And it's not really the temps and humidity. It is the effect of the weather. It affects everything from your mood to the streets to your car staying clean to the types of plant life that can exist.


Where else can I move to (and work) in Calif. that has the great weather, but not the traffic and insane cost of living?

[Radical Raul]

Originally Posted by Userdavey

So far this is what I have learned: the cost of living and traffic and size of LA can be sickening. I was particularly scared about the whole "Get all set up and moved in and then get laid off and have to find work that is a 2 hr commute." That is scary.

I guess the weather is really the thing I like most about out there. And it's not really the temps and humidity. It is the effect of the weather. It affects everything from your mood to the streets to your car staying clean to the types of plant life that can exist.


Where else can I move to (and work) in Calif. that has the great weather, but not the traffic and insane cost of living?

The weather is not that bad on the Front Range, highly underrated.

[Userdavey]

Again, it depends on the individual. After 9 years here, I find myself wondering why I live in a freezer sometimes. Oh I know it's not as bad as Canada or the Dakotas or Maine or Antarctica, but I do not care. I want to wear shorts 11 months out of the year. I don't want any days that my freezer is warmer than it is outside. I think I am getting old.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by Userdavey

Again, it depends on the individual. After 9 years here, I find myself wondering why I live in a freezer sometimes. Oh I know it's not as bad as Canada or the Dakotas or Maine or Antarctica, but I do not care. I want to wear shorts 11 months out of the year. I don't want any days that my freezer is warmer than it is outside. I think I am getting old.

You're certainly entitled to that feeling as long as you understand that moving to a mild/warm climate like coastal SoCal is going to cost a lot in more than just cash. There are certainly other warm climates that aren't nearly as expensive but they have their downsides too. Sacramento is pretty cheap compared to LA. There's no beach but its certainly warmer than Colorado Springs. If you really need constant warmth, there's Florida if you like humidity and hurricanes.

[vegaspilgrim]

Originally Posted by Userdavey

I guess the weather is really the thing I like most about out there. And it's not really the temps and humidity. It is the effect of the weather.

The weather is overrated. It's "nice" weather for 2/3 of the year, if by "weather" you mean strictly the temperatures and don't care about overall atmospheric conditions, which include breathing in smog. But during the summer, I think it's uncomfortably hot and humid here. Angelenos who think that the summer here is a "dry heat" have never lived in the desert southwest where the heat really is dry. And I was more uncomfortable last summer in my apartment here, sweating all day and night, than I was in Phoenix, where working air conditioning is a given.

What's funny is how most Californians are absolute weaklings when it comes to weather. People here wear jackets and sweatshirts when it drops below 80 degrees. I've seen sad losers wear scarves, earmuffs, and overcoats when it was about 60 degrees out. My neighbor turns on his heater every single night when I sleep with my windows open. What's the point of living in the "best" weather on earth if all it's going to do is lower your tolerance for any weather to the point where you'll be shivering in mild, lukewarm temperatures?

You're are way off btw, Denver has had one of the driest and warmest winters in history this year, with tons of days in the 70's. Sure, not every day, but PLENTY of days even this time of year when you can be outside in short sleeves and shorts where you live. If you honestly feel that Denver/ Colorado Springs is only warm enough to wear shorts 1 month out of the year I suggest you move somewhere south of the tropic of Cancer.

Where else can I move to (and work) in Calif. that has the great weather, but not the traffic and insane cost of living?

Albuquerque, New Mexico. Talk about coming full circle. ABQ's year round climate is just about perfect in that you get just a little taste of snow and winter (but nothing like Colorado), you get months of mild & warm temperatures, you get some heat in the summer (but a dry heat, unlike SoCal, more like Phoenix but not even remotely as extreme), and it's sunny almost every day-- even sunnier than LA. If you like humidity though I guess ABQ is out.

If all you want is humidity, more grass and flowers, and a longer growing season than Colorado, but low cost of living, maybe you should move to the South?

[Userdavey]

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

If you honestly feel that Denver/ Colorado Springs is only warm enough to wear shorts 1 month out of the year I suggest you move somewhere south of the tropic of Cancer.

You didn't read my words correctly.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Userdavey

These people riding bikes in shorts...was it nice out? It does get into the 60's occasionally on the front range in the winter. But only for a few hours in the middle of the day and maybe six or seven days a month. Then it's back down below freezing when the sun sets. The reason people wear shorts and all come out on those days is because they are sick of the cold and as soon as it's halfway nice, everybody goes out to play.

If you are trying to tell me that people wear shorts when it's 23 and windy, well then you must be mental.

The fact is that the summers are short. Last frost is about May 12 - except last year when everybody's tomatoes got killed May 19. We have this big awesome yard with a huge veggie garden we built up all nice and it's only alive for 3 or 4 months. Then it's all brown like everything else for 8 or 9 months. It sucks.

heck when we went to the Univesity of Co in Boulder we would sun bath in March..Of course this was before we grew brains cause we were all of 18 or19and before tanning beds...

[Bunjee]

Originally Posted by goodbyehollywood

L.A. is unique, but what is magical to some may be unappreciated by others. A lot of that L.A. mystique revolves around Hollywood, its history and the glamour of the Golden Era.

Hollywood glam is one part of the picture. Remember, film noir was born in LA, and for good reason. It's premised on the Average Joe swept up in circumstances out of his control. So if you can regard the city for all its contradictions, conflict, politics, beauty, and actual humanity, then, yeah, there is a certain "magic" that doesn't go away. Though that sounds too Romantic even for me (I'm more hard-boiled that that). You deal with Los Angeles the way you deal with modernity.

I lived in Colorado for 2 years. It wasn't for me, really, but the winters were way mild for what I was expecting.