The truth about L.A. from a long time resident (San Diego: homes, live)

[Avalon08]

Can't, awww, why weren't you holding your grandmother's arm if the winds were so strong? Geez, she could break a bone!

And all I can say is when you guys get old, you will understand that sometimes people's #1 factor is weather.

[CantWait2Leave]

Originally Posted by Avalon08

Can't, awww, why weren't you holding your grandmother's arm if the winds were so strong? Geez, she could break a bone!

And all I can say is when you guys get old, you will understand that sometimes people's #1 factor is weather.

I was!! She still fell. I felt HORRIBLE. She's fine though.

[AliveandWell]

Originally Posted by Avalon08

Alive, you obviously didn't get my point....but we're going in circles. Enjoy Iowa! (or wherever you end up) LOL

You're obviously in the wrong place if you like the weather in L.A. so much. Those that want the constant sunny weather can have it. What is so bad about having variety in the weather? Change is a good thing and unfortunately L.A. doesn't get enough of it. Obviously, extremes of hot and cold both are not good I agree but as I said, change is a good thing.

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by Charles

Today in Southern California it was in the 70s F, crystal clear skies, soft breeze,

Unless you were in Fontana, where the Santa Ana winds were blowing like a mofo and the relative humidity and dew point numbers were Gobi like in their lowness.

[dan7609]

For all those people saying they hate LA weather, have you lived in the northeast? There's really nothing fun about it, it's brutal. The temperature drops in October to about 40 degrees and then by November we're well below freezing temperatures. In March, we'll get a couple nice days but the climate doesn't really change until late April early May. Then it becomes hot and humid until September. The typical Fall and Spring barely happens, the climate changes from brutally cold to boiling hot.

As with the whole people thing, I grew up in New York and North Jersey and people are definitely harder to approach. It may be your cup of tea or it may not be. Like another poster said, we don't want to have a conversation with everyone we run into; it seems insincere and fake. If you meet someone you want to connect with, of course you can, we are human.

I was just in Ft. Meyers, FL and I couldn't understand it. I'm waiting in line at the security checkpoint; hundreds of people are trying to make their flights and the TSA people are having conversations with every person they screen!

I'm planning on moving to LA in the next year or so. I'm not staking my hopes and dreams on the city, and I'm certainly not expecting it to be a magical utopia. But I am excited about the weather.

[JerZ]

Originally Posted by CantWait2Leave

I was in the SFV and it wasn't a soft breeze. It was WINDY. I took my 87 year old grandmother to lunch and she fell on the ground because the wind was so strong. People weren't swimming outdoors here... unless they like leaves in their pool

I'm sorry about Gramma. We got windy like that last...I don't remember. Tuesday or Wednesday, maybe? (In the San Gabriel Valley.) And we get serious winds for probably a month in the early fall. But otherwise...if it's anything, it's usually just a breeze.

To me, though, "windy" isn't a serious change in weather. A two-week 100 degree stretch with 90% humidity at one end of the calendar, and a zero degree including wind chill two-week stretch at the other end of the calendar...that's serious weather change.

Anyone who is bored with LA weather but has always lived here, I suggest the "lighter" seasons first...not full-on northeastern or midwestern winters! Honestly, it IS rough. And on somebody who has never lived in these areas? Whew. It's hard to describe unless you really have lived through a cold winter. The whole winter, not a week or two. Not a month. But basically November through at least the end of March (occasionally, we would get a big snowfall in April in the northeast). The sun index is very low, you will need to defrost/scrape frost off of/scrape ice off off all your windows for at least three solid months but more likely four each and every morning, you'll be driving on ice, snow or slush depending upon the time of day and whether it's a "cold snap" (20-ish or lower for more than a couple of weeks, which basically describes the entire month of February, actually), your face physically hurting when you walk outdoors. I mean the minute you walk outdoors.

Some people LOVE this. My ex loved cold weather. He thought it was bracing. So no, it's not always bad *but for people coming from a place like Southern California*...well...ack. Just be careful of jumping in with both feet. :P

[ZenMaster2008]

Hi, Captain Obvious here.
The only truth about LA is that some will like it, some will love it, some will hate it and others will be somewhere in the middle. Liking a place or not liking a place is very subjective and depends on a number of personal factors. Interesting comments though.

[Bunjee]

I have lived in other climates, so rest assured I don't come to my appreciation blind to the seduction of four seasons, nor do I base all my personal contentment on California weather forecasts. The Northeast cold you can adapt to just fine. I also lived in Colorado where the winters really are quite mild by comparison.

But it was in my second year in Colorado when "Autumn", my favorite time of year, lasted about two weeks. Then the snow came. There was Indian Summer, but that was a spotty couple of days here and there. The rest was snow in the air and on the ground. So much for four distinct seasons. It was then that I started wondering back to the nice briskness then warmth then briskness of the Fall I had known, and my mind definitely was hitting <RETURN>. Even living up in San Jose there was a Spring in the early '90s when it rained consistently into May. There were days of sunshine some Mondays to Fridays, but come the weekend it was gloomy and drizzly. And again I thought of SoCal's reliably "boring" weather, when I could BBQ on Sundays, hang out with friends with chilled beer and play in the yard. Yeah, you can do that on a rainy day too, but don't even try and tell me it's the same thing.

Now, the weather doesn't prevent me from having an internal life. It doesn't prevent me from musings and reading books. But day to day I could not possibly imagine saying there's anything wrong with being able to take my lunch break under blue skies, away from another crappy project in front of the computer screen.

[AliveandWell]

For me, L.A. was a really good place to live up until I would say the mid 1990s. When I was growing up, my parents never worried about my safety at school and parents could have their kids play outside the house. I can't imagine they'd even think of doing it now. One of the other obvious truths about L.A. is that this metro area is not as safe as it used to be back in the 1980s. No one can deny this because it is so obvious.

I respect the opinions of CESpeed and I even agree with her 100% that L.A. is NOT the place it used to be. she has the courage and the knowledge to realize that that L.A. of the past is gone, long gone and that the reality of living here is way different than how it is portrayed by many others. Good Job CESPEED, we need more people like you. Some of you seem to be so convinced that L.A. is somehow perfect, which it is not. If you guys love the constant dry sunny weather, well good for you but I don't think its really anything to love, especially since we get an overdose of sunshine here. I'll take SF in the summer over L.A. any day of the week! Or anywhere with more exciting weather. Even Florida is more exciting because at least they get something called precipitation and a GOOD amount too. Yes, Florida is more humid but especially in Miami when I visited there, there was no smog to be seen. True, they get hurricanes but you can get ready to avoid one. You can't avoid an earthquake because you have NO idea when it will happen. It could happen when you are driving in a car or asleep at night, in which case you will probably jump out of bed looking for a safe place to hide.
That's one of the good things about a message board like this, that people can offer their perspectives and opinions on a topic, I will say that. L.A. is not a horrible place, but nowhere near as good now compared to 1985 or before that.

[Bunjee]

Originally Posted by AliveandWell

For me, L.A. was a really good place to live up until I would say the mid 1990s. When I was growing up, my parents never worried about my safety at school and parents could have their kids play outside the house. I can't imagine they'd even think of doing it now. One of the other obvious truths about L.A. is that this metro area is not as safe as it used to be back in the 1980s. No one can deny this because it is so obvious.

I respect the opinions of CESpeed and I even agree with her 100% that L.A. is NOT the place it used to be. she has the courage and the knowledge to realize that that L.A. of the past is gone, long gone and that the reality of living here is way different than how it is portrayed by many others. Good Job CESPEED, we need more people like you. Some of you seem to be so convinced that L.A. is somehow perfect, which it is not. If you guys love the constant dry sunny weather, well good for you but I don't think its really anything to love, especially since we get an overdose of sunshine here. I'll take SF in the summer over L.A. any day of the week!
That's one of the good things about a message board like this, that people can offer their perspectives and opinions on a topic, I will say that. L.A. is not a horrible place, but nowhere near as good now compared to 1985 or before that.

On the contrary, I'd say most of L.A. posters are completely realistic about L.A.'s problems and are hardly unthinking boosters. You'll find that in a lot of other forums. I guess the enthusiasm that I speak of, for myself, is for the truly exciting developments in L.A. art, literature, architecture and music. Theater too. Los Angeles' urban life is changing, but also coming in to its own culturally. Growth comes with difficulties. It can be a sad fact or just a fact, to each his own.

ETA: re: SF summer climate, I agree. But that depends ENTIRELY on where in SF you live. (I, fortunately, for five years lived in the Mission District.)