Part of the allure of L.A for me is the tall buildings and skyline..

[uptown_urbanist]

Please, everyone, let's keep it civil and not let this thread descend into personal attacks on our fellow posters' preferences and lifestyles.

[lilnightowl]

I get what the OP is saying about feeling depressed in suburbia around all the minivans. It is soo life sucking for me too. I've lived in the midwest and the south for most of my life. I've never been to Orange County but I can't imagine it's as bad...at least it's still California and there's a beach. But OP, you are so close to LA already, you should just make the move. It beats getting depressed about it and regretting it later in life because you never tried it.

[808n310]

One thing to consider is that unless you work in downtown, you'll most likely never see the skyline, or at least the downtown skyline. Remember that visiting and living are two totally different things, and unless you're purposely going out of your way to see something or go somewhere, you most likely won't unless it's someplace that you're already near.

Meaning if you love the glamour and glitter of LA so much, but are stricken with fear of its marginally higher level of personal danger, then stay in OC and just visit the parts of LA that you want to see on the weekends when you're not working...it's really the same thing as if you lived in LA proper, except you'd add 45 minutes to your drive each way.

I mean the areas you are fond of, Sunset, Hollywood, Santa Monica etc, aren't exactly the quietest, most easy to drive, or safest areas of the city...it's a hand and hand thing, you desire urban qualities w/out the penalties of urban life....doesn't quite work that way.

[StarshipPoopers1]

Originally Posted by 808n310

One thing to consider is that unless you work in downtown, you'll most likely never see the skyline, or at least the downtown skyline. Remember that visiting and living are two totally different things, and unless you're purposely going out of your way to see something or go somewhere, you most likely won't unless it's someplace that you're already near.

Meaning if you love the glamour and glitter of LA so much, but are stricken with fear of its marginally higher level of personal danger, then stay in OC and just visit the parts of LA that you want to see on the weekends when you're not working...it's really the same thing as if you lived in LA proper, except you'd add 45 minutes to your drive each way.

I mean the areas you are fond of, Sunset, Hollywood, Santa Monica etc, aren't exactly the quietest, most easy to drive, or safest areas of the city...it's a hand and hand thing, you desire urban qualities w/out the penalties of urban life....doesn't quite work that way.

Very true.

Unless you live or work in the downtown core or on the very fringes, it's not very often that you'll be going in there. I'm not talking about LA personally as I have never lived there, but I've lived near cities (like Toronto) that are equally sprawled out and you rarely find yourself going into the downtown core unless you already live or work there. You might catch a glimpse as you're driving (or taking the transit) to work, but most people (especially yourself given your descriptions of what you find admirable in life) don't live downtown. You live in a suburb or satellite city and commute to work in another part of the city that is often outside of downtown due to costs and such.

I am much like you in that I love to see the skylines of cities and want to be a part of it instead of living far away from it, but I am fully prepared to live in the downtown regions of these cities because I genuinely enjoy the experience. If you don't want to live in the downtown, you probably don't want to spend 8+ hours there working in it either, in which case you would only be seeing it on weekends probably. I doubt it'd be a daily part of your life.

I could be wrong though, I'm just saying from personal experience that you typically drive from a suburb to a satellite city for work, and then go home because you're tired or hit up the stores between work and home, or close to either.

So like 808n310 said, it's financially more feasible to stay put where you are and make weekend trips into the city to check out what you want to see. When you value the things that you've repeatedly stated so much, I just don't know how you would find a way to give up all of that to move to LA just to see a skyline. You're essentially saying that you want to shield yourself off from society (people on the subway aren't poor, they come from most classes and are everyday people. The vast majority of which I would say are working/middle class which aren't dangerous at all). If you're moving to LA for the culture and the glamor, and yet you refuse to immerse yourself in it by interacting with the very people that make up LA, what is the point in living there? That's like saying that you want to move to LA for all of the great outdoor activities located near it, but you only want to stay in your room and play on the computer.

[uptown_urbanist]

I didn't live in downtown but did spend quite a bit of time there. On the other hand, I don't mind a little grit, like rubbing shoulders with a diverse array of strangers, and am not extremely paranoid about crime. It was also a very quick subway ride away from our place in Hollywood, but a bigger hassle by car. I think it's a very valid point that based on the OP's posts that he (or she) may be happiest enjoying the city amenities without living there, since it is very difficult to get the "glamour" of urban living without the actual urban bits.

[matt345]

Originally Posted by StarshipPoopers1

If you're moving to LA for the culture and the glamor, and yet you refuse to immerse yourself in it by interacting with the very people that make up LA, what is the point in living there? That's like saying that you want to move to LA for all of the great outdoor activities located near it, but you only want to stay in your room and play on the computer.

I think we’re all a little confused about what it is that the OP really wants. He claims to tired of suburban life, yet seems to be highly dependent on the sanitized environment of suburbia. When other people complain about the sterile-ness of the suburbs, they are usually complaining about the exact same things that the OP finds comfort in and refuses to give up.