The truth about L.A. from a long time resident (Los Angeles: car insurance, how much)

[majoun]

Originally Posted by Bunjee

Looking back, the '80s were pretty phantasmagorical. Creatively, the underground was bursting at the seams. Not only punk/new wave, but PeeWee's Playhouse, the Hernandez Bros., Robbie Conal, Wanda Coleman was pretty active, Chuck Bukowski was still alive, David Hockney had just arrived, Ed Ruscha was getting more reknown...

I also was working in Torrance when the McMartin scandal happened. Gangsta rap emerged and everyone was talking colors. Punk factions went fascist. It was a thrilling time but it was nightmare city back then too.

Makes me think of Orson Welles' famous quote from "The Third Man" (he wrote it himself and inserted it into Graham Greene's screenplay):

"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

(FWIW, a friend of mine was a neighbor of Welles' in WeHo in the '80s. He never saw him and didn't even know he had such a distinguished neighbor until Welles died. )

[R66]

Originally Posted by Island_OnThe_Land

The Jews do NOT control the media....major shareholders control the media companies including major WASP shareholders like Buffet or Murdoch.

Excellent comment. I stand corrected.

I am certainly no expert on Los Angeles, California or anything for that matter. And your are a Native Angeleno therefore you carry way more clout that anyone posting in this thread. My goal was to point out that L.A. may have been a small town if Film, Radio and TV were started in say Denver or Seattle and I think 'Hollywood' has deteriorated L.A.

My 2 cents

[R66]

Originally Posted by majoun

"Hollywood" was what built up Southern California ; the golden age of SoCal would not have been so golden without the plentiful and high paying blue collar studio jobs that were so prevalent in the old days.

Los Angeles without it would've probably been Amarillo or Waco but closer to the Pacific Ocean, if even that. The culture of SoCal a century ago was extremely different than any of us could even imagine it being. Even up into the '50s L.A. had a larger percentage of white Protestants than any city in the U.S. outside the former Confederacy (and higher than certain cities IN the former Confederacy, not just New Orleans, San Antonio, and El Paso but most of the other Texas cities too...). Fundamentalism and nativism were rife in early 20th century L.A. (after the Lower Midwestern/Upper Southern migration which destroyed the tolerant spirit of Old West L.A.) and the Klan was around. Not many African-Americans in California back then so they targeted Asians, Latinos, and Jews. Sure the early moguls mostly had a gangster-type mentality - but their entrepeneurship built up the region and their setting up shop attracted creative people from all over the US and world who otherwise wouldn't have been here, AND helped provide good jobs for those already here and those who moved here. Without the film industry the era of the "middle class majority" would have been FAR different.

The decline of the industry does go hand in hand with the decline of L.A. and SoCal. Fewer films being made, more runaway production to non-traditional locales (i.e. outside of SoCal or NYC), cutbacks, mergers, etc. resulted in fewer of those high paying blue collar jobs, and later on fewer decent paying white collar jobs.

As for "Hollywood" and Jews - yes, the film industry used to be Jewish dominated, and it was much better when it was - artistically, economically, contributing to the overall culture, etc. Now that it no longer is and is dominated by WASP-run conglomerates (with some Jews and others), the films and TV shows aren't as good, the jobs have fled, the amount of production is less (and those businesses which are directly and indirectly supported by production no longer are able to sustain themselves), etc. etc.

Majoun -

Excellent come back; different perspective, thanks for your viewpoint

[R66]

Originally Posted by Island_OnThe_Land

Jews do NOT control the media....major shareholders control the media companies including major WASP shareholders like Buffet or Murdoch. The Jewish pop. is only about 3% of the US population. Jews do NOT control the media.

Yes sir, I hear you loud and clear and agree. However what do you make of Marlon Brando's comments over the years? Brando, argueably the greatest Actor to ever live. Brando has seen it all, done it all. His comments can be viewed by a Google search. And tonight I stumbled across this interesting link: JEWS IN THE MEDIA*** (http://www.wake-up-america.net/jews_in_the_media.htm - broken link)

For what it's worth.....

[pkennedy1990]

I made more friends, and sooner, in New England (and even "Old" England) than in LA. I met the kind of people whose Angeleno counterparts would never give me the time of day. People are different everywhere you go.

[DistrictDirt]

I've been living here for 5 months, having moved from DC. For me, the good in LA outweighs the bad, but the 2 things I still can't get used to are:

1) The dependence on cars here.
2) The lack of community here.

In DC, I was quite comfortable with a Vespa and a Zipcar membership. Here, I often feel isolated without a car, as things are just so far apart. I live in a fairly walkable neighborhood by LA standards (Echo Park), but sometimes you just want to go to Hollywood, or Santa Monica, or Venice. You really need a car for the trips across town. I've caved and decided to get one, but am not looking forward to the $500-700/month I can expect to start paying for a car payment + insurance + gas + maintenance.

I think the car dependency is the culprit in the lack-of-community issue as well. Back in DC, if I left my apartment and took a walk up 14th to U street, guaranteed I'd bump into at least a couple of friends on the way. Something about that just makes you feel good. Maybe that will happen here eventually but I am just not walking as much here so I kind of doubt it.

Speaking of walking less, I gained 8 lbs since I moved here. So much for that healthy SoCal lifestyle :/

[BRinSM]

Originally Posted by DistrictDirt

In DC, I was quite comfortable with a Vespa and a Zipcar membership. Here, I often feel isolated without a car, as things are just so far apart. I live in a fairly walkable neighborhood by LA standards (Echo Park), but sometimes you just want to go to Hollywood, or Santa Monica, or Venice. You really need a car for the trips across town. I've caved and decided to get one, but am not looking forward to the $500-700/month I can expect to start paying for a car payment + insurance + gas + maintenance.

i disagree, if you have a vespa and access to a car for occasional long distance trips/rainy days, you shouldn't need your own car. it's worked for me for two and a half years.

[DistrictDirt]

Originally Posted by BRinSM

i disagree, if you have a vespa and access to a car for occasional long distance trips/rainy days, you shouldn't need your own car. it's worked for me for two and a half years.

I think you misread my post, I don't have access to a car. The only 2 Zipcar locations in all of LA are at UCLA and USC, and I don't live near either. So its just scooter or bus. Also, I'm not quite sure how you can disagree with my feelings, although you are certainly entitled to your have your own.

Honestly, if it were just me, I'd say f*** it and stick with the vespa, but I'm newly married an frankly I feel for my wife's safety when she rides on the back. I've had cars try to run me off the road on Wilshire for splitting lanes (which is always surprising since its totally legal to split in California), and a I almost t-boned a minivan on Santa Monica blvd a couple weeks ago when the driver pulled out of parking lot suddenly without looking both ways. Don't even get me started on the drivers in Ktown who seem to completely lack awareness of their surroundings.

Whenever I have a near miss, I can't help but picture my wife's face if she got word that I was killed in an accident. That's the main factor driving me to get a car. There's not a lot you can say to convince me that my feelings are invalid.

[BRinSM]

i made no mention of feelings, i was just trying to say that a scooter only lifestyle is possible as long as you have access to a car when you really need one. but i feel you man, i'm married as well and my brother was nearly killed on his motorcyle a month or so ago. i ride on though, being as safe as possible of course. does your wife have a car? imho, a one car household is vastly underrated and quite preferable for the two of us (although my wife will disagree on occasion solely on the safety issues).

[DistrictDirt]

Originally Posted by BRinSM

does your wife have a car? imho, a one car household is vastly underrated and quite preferable for the two of us (although my wife will disagree on occasion solely on the safety issues).

Sorry if I misunderstood. To answer your question, she doesn't have a car. That's the problem- we are a zero-car household currently. Worked fine back East but not so much here. When we buy a car, its going to be hers mostly, and I'll use it when I need it.

Be safe out there. Too many drivers in la la land.