L.A. Love - my take on Los Angeles (San Diego: rental, crime)

[AliveandWell]

Originally Posted by nmnita

absolutely wrong, read what I said about our families and their dreams of success and what I said about friends and family who have left, many would not return but many would. As for actually living in Los Angeles, the costs, traffic and crime would keep me from every living there with the exception of a few areas that many of us could only dream about. There are lots of burbs that are wonderful. And to me, L.A. and the burbs run together. It isn't like NYC where you have rivers that separate areas, so if it appears I am picking on the city, I am not. I personally do not want to return. I was born and raised there, have been a Dodger fan since the year they moved to L.A. My husband was a sports writer and we used to go see them every few days, the same with the Rams. And the Lakers have always been my team. But if you were old enough to remember what it was like 40,50 or 60 years ago, you would understand.

Nita

Very true! I've been here over 26 years and even I have seen how much LA has changed. When I first moved here with my family back in 1983, this was a place where kids could play outside without having to worry about someone abducting them. Back in the 80s it was much safer also for a kid like myself to be in school. When I was 8 in 1986 the only thing that I'd see happen is if a few kids got into an argument about something and that's it. Too many things have changed, but LA is still better as a place to live compared to New York for example. I never thought I'd be saying this but New York is super expensive when you take into consideration the rents, taxes, food all that stuff adds up. LA is expensive too but I don't know if it is more than NYC or not. I'll have to research this. Also, here in LA you can grill food in your back yard pretty much all year. That is something folks in some other states can't do. Tomorrow in my area its going to be 85F and dry. Not too bad. While in Chicago or Minnesota it will be cold so people cannot be sitting out in their back yards come December.

My point in all this is that LA is NOT all bad news. In fact, I think in many ways, this is still a decent place to live

[AnUnidentifiedMale]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

you can drive for hours throughout the different sections of the city and see maybe no more than 20 pedestrians on the street.

Really? Where the hell where you driving?

But LA is a city of the car, her citizens stubbornly refusing to give up the auto-dream

I don't sense that at all, especially since voters overwhelmingly approved Measure R.

frequently voting against proposed expansions of the subway lines through their neighborhoods

Since when?

It seems in some bizarre way that her citizens are almost proud of her endless problems.

Maybe in someone's hallucinogenic dreams.

Race riots and brush fires and traffic jams make the city...almost charming after awhile.

Taking even more hallucinogenic drugs can have that effect, yes.

Check out the boisterous body builders pumping their muscles right on the boardwalk of Venice Beach and risk getting mugged

What?!

or shop on the ecclectic yet posh Robertson Boulevard--maybe even catch a glimpse of Vanessa Hudgens shopping with Kristen Stewart.

Who?

It almost feels like your goal was to write something poetic rather than something truthful about L.A.

[UB50]

[quote=mike8290;11437357]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

In fact here's a list of all the awesome things that happened in the 15 years I've lived here.

I've had my car broken into twice.
1 friend robbed
1 friend was shot and robbed
1 friend raped
1 friend robbed and pushed to the ground
1 friend motercycle stolen twice
A coworker was robbed, shot, and died a few days later
One coworker was victim of a drive-by shooting, and no longer has use of his hand.

Now isn't LA awesome?

I've been here 20+ years and I don't know anyone who's been the victim of a violent crime. Is this weird?

[John23]

I think the major negative of LA now (besides housing which has come down) is it can be *so* over stimulating for newcomers. Too much stimulation and too many things moving too fast.

Combine...

-The sprawl
-The traffic
-The seperation of people in their own little bubbles
-The marketing stimulation, overstimulus

Probably one of the easiest cities in the country to be lost in. You need a firm head on your shoulders and a clear mind to be successful here. If you can't discipline yourself from all the stimulation and distraction, you can lose ground.

[Fontucky]

I must be out of the loop... I have no f'ing idea who Vanessa Hudgens and Kristen Stewart are.

[AliveandWell]

Originally Posted by John23

I think the major negative of LA now (besides housing which has come down) is it can be *so* over stimulating for newcomers. Too much stimulation and too many things moving too fast.

Combine...

-The sprawl
-The traffic
-The seperation of people in their own little bubbles
-The marketing stimulation, overstimulus

Probably one of the easiest cities in the country to be lost in. You need a firm head on your shoulders and a clear mind to be successful here. If you can't discipline yourself from all the stimulation and distraction, you can lose ground.

Hi John,

Good points there. Let me just add a few more things here. I generally do not like to focus on negatives as I am a positive person. LA does have sprawl but its commute time is not the highest in the US. That belongs to New York. True about the traffic, no argument there. For me, one of the biggest minuses of LA is that the weather changes constantly. Last Monday which is exactly a week ago, it was cool, 66F and windy. Today it was almost 90F in my area. See what I mean? In the inland valleys, weather changes are a constant here. We are expected to have 2 more days in the 80s and then it will drop into the high 70s. This is exactly how people get sick. Nothing is constant here when it comes to climate. I also think the air quality isn't too good. Our weather should be in the 60s and low 70s at the most, but we are WAY above average. I can understand if it was June-August and the weather was around 90 but in November?? Sounds kind of odd to me.

If you don't like the weather now, wait about 2 weeks or less and it will change.

[Winston Smith]

Originally Posted by nmnita

As for actually living in Los Angeles, the costs, traffic and crime would keep me from every living there with the exception of a few areas that many of us could only dream about. There are lots of burbs that are wonderful. And to me, L.A. and the burbs run together. It isn't like NYC where you have rivers that separate areas, so if it appears I am picking on the city, I am not. I personally do not want to return.

In my experience, few people traverse the whole city. People find their corner of L.A. and basically go there. I don't live in L.A. any longer, but I am still in Southern CA. I've been in So. CA for over 30 years and there are many areas of L.A. where I have yet to visit. No, not talking about the bad parts. Visited Watts Towers not long ago and through my former line of work, traveled all over the region. I've never been to the new sections of Porter Ranch north of Rinaldi, for example.

My point is this, though the L.A. area as a whole may have its drawbacks as far as cities go, most people don't need the whole city. They need and use their little part of it, where in the middle of a megalopolis, they find neighborhood stores, become regulars where people "know your name." Kind of cool.

[Winston Smith]

Originally Posted by matt345

One could argue that many of the problems of today's Los Angeles, are the result of the actions taken by the Los Angeles of the 40's, 50's, 60's, and 70's. Most obvious case - traffic. The traffic situation in Los Angeles didn't appear out of nowhere once the 80's and 90's hit. It is the direct result of decades worth of city 'planning' (idiotic decisions is a more appropriate term).

This is a city that chose to rip out all their streetcars in favor of the automobile and only the automobile. There was actually a plan to build a massive subway system in LA, however people demanded the freeway system instead. Plans by the city to build mass transit were met with fierce opposition even as late as the 1990's. Only in the 2000's (with traffic absolutely unbearable) has this mentality started to change. The traffic of today is also a direct result of a city that completely abandoned it's core areas (downtown, Westlake, etc.) in favor of this "suburbia for all" mentality. Downtown's old, let's move on to mid-Wilshire. Now that's old, on to Beverly Hills and Westside! We're bored with that, let's expand into the San Fernando Valley! Los Angeles diffused itself way too much.

The car-centric character of L.A. and that mindset of many of its inhabitants is by far one of the worst aspects of the city. That said, I manage fairly well to get into the city by train, and around to errands by bus and light rail. To me it's great! Of course when I lived in L.A. from the mid-70s to the mid-80s, public transportation services was at its worst, and yet it was my main form of transpo much of the time. That and a moped. So, contrasting today's system of Metro Rapids and light rail with the system I used 20 - 30 years ago.... Well, the two just don't compare. Today's L.A. is a completely transformed city from back then.

[jksouthbay88]

I feel both of them on the post.Me and Life pretty much have the same outlook on things in our posts.We talk more "real" I guess you can say compared to our SD County Thread counterparts.But yeah.SD is not all hyped up to what people say it is.Maybe being here and seeing the County changing(for the worst in my vision)

There is a lack of diversity and small town feel when you come down here or compare it to LA.Even other cities smaller than San Diego have more diversity,culture or city life.So yeah;I'm there with the OP.I love LA.A lot!One of my favorite places in the nation.I can picture Los Angeles being a lot worst than it is now.Just picture from the mid 1980's-1995.All the violence,gangs,and drugs that engulfed LA.Still a problem now but hey LA is a big city;what you expect?Plus it's a better place to live now(minus unemployment problems) than in that 15 year time frame I brought up.

[capitalist09]

I was robbed at knifepoint by a illegal alien gangmember when I lived in LA. He had came back to LA after being deported (but that is a different story) I then packed my bags to embrace safety (which some of you folks call boring) in Orange County. Lived in OC for nearly a year. I loved it to death. Never had a problem with crime. People were dandy and nice, but something about Los Angeles still romanticized me.

L.A. feels like the top of the world. The elite in L.A. live it up. My biggest problem with LA and OC was the failure of people to reject materialism. Enough trips to Fashion Island, and I was out of OC...

I settled in San Diego (LA's less materialistic cousin). Yes, "less materialistic!"...check out East County or Escondido! Wierdly enough, I always hated SD when I lived in LA. LA had a sense of place. San Diego was just an energy-less Anytown U.S.A. back in the day. Now, I have come to appreciate the Anytown U.S.A. way-of-life.

I always knew OC was conservative, but SD is conservative in a stingier way. I am in awe down here! For a huge city in California (the blue belt of US) to be this pro-military is unique! There are some farms down here in Escondido, RSF, Alpine, Jamul, Lakeside, Encinitas, Poway, and Bonita! It's crazy! I have numerous anti-Obama bumper stickers on my vehicle and get a compliments from strangers almost every day. People just don't want to spend their money here! haha.. San Diegans are cheaper than Angelenos... Houses are cheaper down here.. attempts to add landscaping are knocked down.. attempt to add aesthetic lights to Coronado Bridge knocked down for cost... (Sorry to hi-jack the thread about SD I just can't stop.) Anyways, needless to say I still love LA but am too cheap and real to fit in now (San Diego has changed me! and now I am going to live here forever.)...