Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This place has disintergrated into a gang infested dump in the past 50 years.
And it's not just gang violence that is the concern, but a sleazy, cold hearted, and sad subculture that has been born out of it amongst the general population. People areound here are often downright mean, and you have a lot of excons, ex gangbangers, etc. seeded everywhere that still boast about their time in prison even though they have been reformed, and spread their additudes like a contagion. Don't bother moving to the "Inland Empire", it's the same crap there, plus it's extremly hot, and many places, including the city of San Bernardino itself are run down, dangerous, unattractive, impoverished and just plain depressing. So Cal is no longer the laid back easy going place it was once known to be, and the general additude here is cut throat and everyone for themselves, and generaly the same (worse?) as places like New York City has been known for.
The area in general is a bad place to raise kids because of the aformentioned. If you want a wholesome atmosphere, strike the LA/Inland
Empire off your list.
To corroborate Blinking's post, all urban areas encompass bad aspects: it's just that here, it pervades throughout every part of the city, not just slums.
and you have no escape. you can move to the nice areas, and it buys you a few years of peace, but the scum start moving in trying to 'provide a better life for themselves', but instead of conforming to the neighborhood, and learning to live a better life, isntead bring their ghetto mentality w/ them.
before anyone can say my comments are off base/racist/ignorant, just know i grew up in ghettos, was involved w/ latino gangs growing up...so i know what i'm talking about...but thats just it i GREW up...when i moved out of the ghetto, i didn't take the ghetto w/ me.
This place has disintergrated into a gang infested dump in the past 50 years.
And it's not just gang violence that is the concern, but a sleazy, cold hearted, and sad subculture that has been born out of it amongst the general population. People areound here are often downright mean, and you have a lot of excons, ex gangbangers, etc. seeded everywhere that still boast about their time in prison even though they have been reformed, and spread their additudes like a contagion. Don't bother moving to the "Inland Empire", it's the same crap there, plus it's extremly hot, and many places, including the city of San Bernardino itself are run down, dangerous, unattractive, impoverished and just plain depressing. So Cal is no longer the laid back easy going place it was once known to be, and the general additude here is cut throat and everyone for themselves, and generaly the same (worse?) as places like New York City has been known for.
The area in general is a bad place to raise kids because of the aformentioned. If you want a wholesome atmosphere, strike the LA/Inland
Empire off your list.
BlinkingBlythe: an 8 year So cal resident.
I would have to agree with you on that. The inland empire is "garbage". San bernadino, riverside, ontario,.....what dumps. Those houses should only cost 200K in my opinion.
Anyhow. I still think LA has the highest concentration of "things" (art, parks, beaches, mountains, places to go and see, subcultures, nightlife, events, shopping, whatever) to do, but at the current cost of a house, it really isnt worth it. The crime, people, traffic, and the smog of LA have never really been the city's highlight (at least when I first observed it 15 years ago).
Quote:
Originally Posted by CBaillo
and you have no escape. you can move to the nice areas, and it buys you a few years of peace, but the scum start moving in trying to 'provide a better life for themselves', but instead of conforming to the neighborhood, and learning to live a better life, isntead bring their ghetto mentality w/ them.
before anyone can say my comments are off base/racist/ignorant, just know i grew up in ghettos, was involved w/ latino gangs growing up...so i know what i'm talking about...but thats just it i GREW up...when i moved out of the ghetto, i didn't take the ghetto w/ me.
Hey man, I am black, and all for racial equality, but what you say is true. I dont care if it is white people, mexicans, blacks, arabs, whatever. My father was poor as heck, and so was my mother. They could barely eat. There was crime in their dilapidated neighborhoods. The thing is they were raised the right way. The second they left, they made a better life for themselves and for me . Now, my dad's family moved from the poverty striken south to LA, My dad was 17 at the time and was off to college, but the youngest two brothers, 6 and 9 at the time, moved to LA. Fast forward about 35 years, and now, Sure enough, these uncles of mine smoke weed and let their kids smoke weed (even when they were 16). They wear gang clothing, and walk around like thugs and act like thugs, when they are 45 and 41 respectively. The 41 year old was banging till he was 37 with 6 kids. His wife, who is also a banger, stabbed him, and after that, they both quit the hard life. This is all very true (you dont have to believe me though).
Point is, my dad had the same parents and grew up poor as could be. THe first thing my dad wanted to do when given an opportunity was make life better for himself and his family. All my dad's brothers who left for college before moving to LA turned out fine, the brothers that moved to South Central and grew up poor there turned into gang bangers. Now, many of my cousins have that mentality that they cant get rid of. They will never grow up and never fit in becasue they will most likely cary that thug mentality for a long time. It has nothing to do with being poor or black/mexican. It has to do with growing up in an area that fosters a thug mentality (e.g. LA).
I actually had a small ghetto mentality growing up, so trust me, I know what its like to be in the situation, but that is another story altogether.
Last edited by Marka; 07-19-2006 at 09:52 AM..
Reason: merged
oh i hear you, a little piece of the 'hood will always be in me..but the good parts i choose to keep..i.e. never backing down when your fighting for something u believe in, the ability to make something out of nothing, the sense of community, and the sense of justice.
but you will never see me bumping my car when im driving down my street. nor will you see me and my friends drinking in my front y ard (only the back and garage LOL), i am always respectful to my neighbors, and do my best to fit in...
but people like you and i are the minority (unintentional pun LOL)
oh i hear you, a little piece of the 'hood will always be in me..but the good parts i choose to keep..i.e. never backing down when your fighting for something u believe in, the ability to make something out of nothing, the sense of community, and the sense of justice.
but you will never see me bumping my car when im driving down my street. nor will you see me and my friends drinking in my front y ard (only the back and garage LOL), i am always respectful to my neighbors, and do my best to fit in...
but people like you and i are the minority (unintentional pun LOL)
Widespread poverty is one thing, widespread thuggery is another and truly truly scares me. It is easy to try and help poor people but what does society do with all the thugs.
I am very worried. 2nd or 3rd generatoin thugs are far more difficult to deal with than 2nd or 3rd generation poor people.
What to do. Sometimes I want to go into politics to try and make a differnce, but i am sure I will just **** everyone off and ruin my life and family in the process. I think all the really good politicians are either scared to fix things, arent allowed to fix things, or get manipulated by the nasty beaucratic system in place.
and you have no escape. you can move to the nice areas, and it buys you a few years of peace, but the scum start moving in trying to 'provide a better life for themselves', but instead of conforming to the neighborhood, and learning to live a better life, isntead bring their ghetto mentality w/ them.
before anyone can say my comments are off base/racist/ignorant, just know i grew up in ghettos, was involved w/ latino gangs growing up...so i know what i'm talking about...but thats just it i GREW up...when i moved out of the ghetto, i didn't take the ghetto w/ me.
This has to be one of the best posts yet. Seriously. It explains what has happened to LA and many other places as well.
Im sure some social scientists somewhere have theories and terms for this phenom, but what you see especially in LA is that the worst crime rates are in the suburbs and backwaters like the inland empire. Maybe there arent enough alternatives, maybe people are lazy, maybe it just stinks and is so boring out there. . . .who knows. But the closer to the City proper, i think the safer you are. The crime in the city is concentrated in heavy gang and drug areas, thus its a little more contained and predictable. If you know where the crime is you can work around it. In the suburbs, it can be anywhere. Also in the city, people are much more interactive, thus get along better and even might be a little more understanding each other. I lived in Manhattan 8 years, and the safety was unprecedented there. Despite every race and color in the world interfacing on a daily basis.
But California's problem is its myth and heritage. It has always been the land of opportunity where people come not to stay but to make money until they transition to the place they really want to live. It's purgatory Foreigners are here to make money and send it home, and they stay within their own communities. There are not a lot of cases of multi-generation families in LA. The irony is that its much harder to make a living here than before, so if you really want to go someplace to make money until you can live in your dream town, you have to go to texas or some place in the midwest.
Unless you make $200,000 a year, it's hard to imagine why you would want to live in LA long term. The quality of life is much better elsewhere.
o brother, are you serious? worst crime in the suburbs and back waters? c'mon now. maybe the suburbs have the rep of being the ideal spot for a meth lab, but the true grit and grime gathers in the most urban areas. the inner core. central LA or greater LA is not safer than the far lying cities. crime is why some people leave LA. others learn to live with it. and in terms of multi generation familes, do you mean familes that have been around for many generations or families who have several generations living under one roof? Because there are plenty of those here. from the chinese grandmother, mother, daughter, daughters daughter to the californios who hold copies of old spanish land grants. LA is a place too complex and full of life to figure it out in 8 years, or a life time. thats the reason many people stay forever. always something changing about this dream place.
Hi Guys,
I've been reading the posts on these sites and thought i should share some of my experiences growing here in L.A/Ca.
I came here back in 1984 and in highschool I've experience soooooo many scary incidents. As a 12 yr. old girl walking to school which is about 1 mile from our apt in l.a. area zip 90004, Some guy grabbed my private area and just kept walking. Now, I was scared to death as I arrived in school. I didn't know what to do or say. I didn't see his face cause I had an umbrella.
My best friend that I met when I was in the 7th grade just didn't show up for 2 weeks in school. I found out she was raped in their apt. bldg. We got cars broken into. My uncle was mugged and almost killed. My brother was followed by some creepy guy probably a pedophile after school one day. My sister and some of her friends got mugged in front of our apt. one day. A drunk drug addict somehow wondered around our apt. bldg. and somehow tried to get in our house through our sliding door one day. Thank God, he was too drunk that
he got scared from our yelling that he ran away. One day, I was outside of our home with a friend when 3 gangbangers came up to us and demanded to take my friends pull-streo (which was big 15 yrs. ago). I can go on and on about our experiences in L.A. We finally moved to the valley which has some bad parts as well.
Now all these happened between 1984 to 1996 when we lived there. I am pretty sure it's worse. I do have to say that there are nice areas in l.a./ca but you have to pay the price. Higher rent and really expensive homes.
Housing- too expensive, you have to make six figures or more to afford in a nice area unless you want to live in a condo/town home.
Traffic- gets worse every year, freeways are usually parking lots
Smog-is disgusting
People- I've been here about 25 years now and almost grew up here all my life and I've traveled on the other side of the country but I hate to say we do have a lot of rude and downright disrespectful people here. Not very friendly.
I've met some friendly people but they are from out of state. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying every one is rude but you will encounter a lot of them here.
There are just a lot of negatives vs. positives. Anyway, these are just my thoughts and experiences growing up in some of the l.a. areas. My husband and I are pretty much moving out within a year.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
. Now, my dad's family moved from the poverty striken south to LA, My dad was 17 at the time and was off to college, but the youngest two brothers, 6 and 9 at the time, moved to LA. Fast forward about 35 years, and now, Sure enough, these uncles of mine smoke weed and let their kids smoke weed (even when they were 16). They wear gang clothing, and walk around like thugs and act like thugs, when they are 45 and 41 respectively. The 41 year old was banging till he was 37 with 6 kids. His wife, who is also a banger, stabbed him, and after that, they both quit the hard life. This is all very true (you dont have to believe me though).
California is Purgatory
