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Skyline: Denver. LA's skyline doesn't seem to come together to me. I prefer the way Denver's looks. Downtown area: Denver. Again, a preference. Denver's seems much more user friendly to me. Shopping: Los Angeles. I think the overwhelming majority of people shop at the same chain stores everywhere but for high end shopping, it's LA. Entertainment: Los Angeles. Denver has plenty going on, more than sufficient for someone's needs but LA is a whole other level. Things to do: Denver. This is a vague category open to interpretation. What I want to do it outdoor stuff. I care nothing for the ocean, much preferring to spend time in the mountains where it is easier to get away from city life. I don't find fighting crowds at the beach to be relaxing. LA does have mountains but again, it is a preference. I like the Rockies better, incredible amount of mountain terrain, and easy to find yourself alone in nature. Suburbs: Tie. Los Angeles has many more options but they come at a much higher price. Suburbs everywhere seem very similar to me.
Places to see: Los Angeles I guess. People want to see things they've heard about and since like 98% of movies and tv shows are set in LA or NYC, there are many places in LA the average person has heard about previously. Diversity: Los Angeles. Food: Los Angeles. Denver is quite sufficient but again, LA is at a different level due to number of options and variety that goes along with such a vast population. Culture: Denver. More down to earth, less intense. Or did you mean culture as in museums and theaters and such? If so, LA, but again, Denver is not a bad option with enough for the majority of people. Family Orientation: Denver. I view it as a better place to raise a family. There are many problems that go along with being a "world class city" and I would prefer to not raise children in one if I had the option. Scenery: Denver. I prefer the mountains of the Denver area to those of LA. As I stated earlier, the ocean holds no fascination for me. Also, I kinda like the plains. You seem very small in the vastness of the plains. It's also great for watching thunderstorms! Worst Pollution: Los Angeles. Denver has issues too but LA is much worse consistently. Airport: Denver. DIA is a much more user friendly airport than LAX. Plus Denver has the haunted bronco statue near it, the one that killed the guy who designed and created it. Love that scary statue!
Overall: Denver. It will vary by person but I've lived in both (although much longer in Denver) and strongly prefer Denver. There was no category for weather listed but Denver kicks butt in weather. The diversity is amazing. LA weather was boring with no rain for months during the summer and the winter is just that drizzly stuff. Give me a thunderstorm! Denver is a great quality of life at a very reasonable price. Denver also wins in traffic.
Skyline:LA: the mountains give a good backdrop!
Downtown area: Denver: Downtown LA is a joke, its mostly dark at night
Shopping:LA: you can't beat LA in this!
Entertainment:LA:it is well known for it!
Things to do:tie? LA could have more stuff to do including outside the city too so I guess mostly LA
Suburbs: Denver: alot of LA suburbs seem like extensions of the city... amiright?
Places to see:they both have lots of paces to see
Diversity:I can't decide really
Food: Denver: all I saw in LA was mostly Carl Jr's and Yoshinoya chains
Culture:they are both culture rich
Family Orientation: Denver
Scenery: Denver
Worst Pollution:LA has the worst in the nation
Airport:LAX is bad, but Bob Hope is alright, and the others are good
But for the main airport Denver is probably better
Overall, I really don't know. But I'd say Denver
One of the most accurate posts I've read in a long time.
Skyline: LA has a great skyline that's much taller than Denver's.
Downtown area: Downtown LA sucks. LA supporters try to glorify it, but it's all rundown and full of little no name shops mostly geared towards poor people. Not a high class place; feels more like a downtown in Mexico (I've traveled Mexico plenty of times, mostly Guadalajara.)
Shopping: LA is a shopping mecca.
Entertainment: LA has unlimited options. It's a city you can never get bored in.
Things to do: Same answer as above. Beaches, hundreds of mini downtowns to explore, Disneyland!
Suburbs: SoCal has more suburbs than you can fathom, from luxurious estates. To dinky little bungalows.
Places to see: Same answer; LA is limitless.
Diversity: LA is a melting pot.
Food: A melting pot full of yummy cheap food!!
Culture: Meltingpot... These questions are tedious.
Family Orientation: Denver. LA isn't a place if want to raise a family, not is SoCal for that matter...
Scenery: LA's coast at sunset... Life fulfilling.
Worst Pollution: LA's nasty side effect.
Airport: LAX is the armpit of the world.
Gatsby, are we truely glorifying DTLA. We only speak the truth. Only geared towards poor people? Not high class? Tell the people the average price of a condo or the average rent for an apt is. Plus international stores like Acne Studios, Aesop and chains like Urban Outfitters, a Zara flagship, an H&M flagship, Loccitane, Brooks Brothers, Bath & Body Works and others have opened or will be opening in the next couple of weeks. Why have dozens of new restaurants opened recently with more on the way. Why is the 1100' billion dollar Wilshire Grand office, hotel, retail complex u/c. Why are there over 7000 units u/c for people to live. Like I said before why would someone buy the dumpy Macy's Plaza then turn around and invest $162million into renovating it and turning Macy's into a flagship store. Why is Eli Broad building a stunning world class modern art museum downtown with no admission fee to all. Why did Whole Foods decide to join the band wagon? Why do most of the subway and light rail lines start in DTLA? Have you been to Santee Alley? I love it. And guess what? White people go there too. Places like Santee Alley are what make DTLA interesting and fun. Everything in a downtown doesn't have to be geared toward the rich and to me DTLA is geared to all incomes.
Gatsby, are we truely glorifying DTLA. We only speak the truth. Only geared towards poor people? Not high class? Tell the people the average price of a condo or the average rent for an apt is. Plus international stores like Acne Studios, Aesop and chains like Urban Outfitters, a Zara flagship, an H&M flagship, Loccitane, Brooks Brothers, Bath & Body Works and others have opened or will be opening in the next couple of weeks. Why have dozens of new restaurants opened recently with more on the way. Why is the 1100' billion dollar Wilshire Grand office, hotel, retail complex u/c. Why are there over 7000 units u/c for people to live. Like I said before why would someone buy the dumpy Macy's Plaza then turn around and invest $162million into renovating it and turning Macy's into a flagship store. Why is Eli Broad building a stunning world class modern art museum downtown with no admission fee to all. Why did Whole Foods decide to join the band wagon? Why do most of the subway and light rail lines start in DTLA? Have you been to Santee Alley? I love it. And guess what? White people go there too. Places like Santee Alley are what make DTLA interesting and fun. Everything in a downtown doesn't have to be geared toward the rich and to me DTLA is geared to all incomes.
I follow the LA SSC forums. LA will be the better downtown after the Broadway project comes to fruition and all the construction yields the results. It's not long until that time comes. But I'm talking about TODAY and it's just not quite there yet.
Skyline: L.A. hands-down. Not just because of the taller buildings, but the way the talls blend in with the mid-levels is more pleasing to my eyes. Downtown area: L.A. More to do in DTLA and better street-level amenities than DT Denver, but not by a wide margin. Both DT's are improving. Shopping: This is a no-brainer. L.A. by a HUGE margin. Entertainment: Also a no-brainer. Chalk up another win for L.A. Things to do: Same as above. L.A. has endless activities for any walk of life. I have yet to meet someone who found L.A. boring, whether they hated L.A. or not. Suburbs: I'm not as familiar with Denver's suburbs as I am with L.A.'s, so I'm going to reserve judgement here. Places to see: Not sure what the OP meant by this. If you mean tourist attractions, then once again - L.A. Diversity: L.A. easily. Denver is becoming more diverse for sure, and I'm not overlooking that fact, but L.A. is one of the most diverse cities in North America. The only other city I can think of that's even more diverse would be NYC. Food: L.A. Culture: L.A. Family Orientation: Probably a tie. Most people are probably going to assume Denver, but there are plenty of good family-oriented neighborhoods in L.A. that people don't pay much attention to in these forums. If this was 20 years ago, I would have said Denver in a heartbeat, but L.A. has become much more family-friendly again in recent times. Scenery: Both have great scenery, but I'm giving this one to L.A. for the simple fact that they have beaches AND mountains. Denver just has mountains. Worst Pollution: Probably L.A., but it has cleaned up a lot in the last 20 years. Airport: If we're only talking the BIG airports, then Denver for the win by a landslide. LAX is one of my least favorite airports in America.
This is a joke of a comparison. Denver is a sleepy and mostly charmless city on the great plains with nice views of the front range. Omaha has better architecture and urbanity. L.A. is a behemoth in comparison: one of the only places in the world you can ski and surf on the same day, plus world class eating, entertainment: high and low. Denver is much cheaper for very good reason.There is NOTHING you can do IN Denver that you cannot find in L.A. There are a thousand plus things you can find in L.A., that you cannot find in Denver. Apples to oranges, or more accurately, watermelons to grapes!
Have you ever posted anything accurate in your life atx???? Because you seem to not know what the hell you are talking about every time you type! Trying going to a pro football game in la! Or a US Mint. Or watch a concert at the greatest outdoor venue on earth looking over a metro of over 3 million people! Try going to a real downtown! Not as urban as Omaha? You are a homer if there ever was one! Look forward to more foolish comments from you when jr. high gets out today!
This is a joke of a comparison. Denver is a sleepy and mostly charmless city on the great plains with nice views of the front range. Omaha has better architecture and urbanity. L.A. is a behemoth in comparison: one of the only places in the world you can ski and surf on the same day, plus world class eating, entertainment: high and low. Denver is much cheaper for very good reason.There is NOTHING you can do IN Denver that you cannot find in L.A. There are a thousand plus things you can find in L.A., that you cannot find in Denver. Apples to oranges, or more accurately, watermelons to grapes!
WOW, stop making yourself look so foolish!
It's funny how arrogant Los Angeles people are and how much they bash others, yet when you say something about their city that doesn't refer to it being the best in the world they are the most defensive and petty bunch you can encounter. If you get mad at people bashing LA, then stop doing it yourselves to other cities!
Los Angeles is a bigger city of course, but this doesn't necessarily mean that it's head and shoulders above a smaller one as you claim. Los Angeles is a sprawling huge mess of a city in my opinion with average architecture and ugly ghetto like areas everywhere, the highways are ugly, there's barbed wire on everything, and the traffic is the worst in the world! Plus there's nothing to do in downtown LA despite it's impressive size. Denver's architecture isn't great either but I don't think either has an edge in that area, LA just has more buildings so yes it looks bigger.
Also LA is also a city on flat ground, I'll never understand why people don't realize this. Los Angeles is flat! Yes Downtown LA is built right near the base of the San Gabriel mountains, but if you go east or south-southwest from the city it's the flattest ground you can find! Yes there are scattered large hills near the coast going south and west but the city and suburbs are flat! There are also scattered large hills around Denver as well to the west and south. If downtown Denver were built just 10 miles further west it would still be on the great plains, but the city would be right at the base of the Front Range with large hills to the south and north and smaller ones to the east. People from the west coast definitely don't understand geography outside of their comfort zone home city, and fail to realize that they don't!
Also if you think Denver has no charm you must have had your head in a bag when you were there. Denver has lots of old west charm and modern charm as well. LA doesn't really have any great charm when compared to anywhere else so what's your point there? Neither city is New Orleans or Santa Fe when it comes to charm! If you think Omaha is bigger than Denver with more urban areas and better architecture then you obviously haven't been to Omaha because it's noticeably smaller, and has no cultural advantage. Omaha also has no geographic features like mountains so why does all of this make it better than Denver to you? You're not making any sense based on your own criteria!
There are many things to do in Denver, there's amusement parks (small ones though but their right in the city center). There's many museums, parks, great nightlife, sports, art and music scenes etc. that are top notch. All of these things can be done in LA as well but which is better is all subjective so stop getting so defensive and bashing Denver so you can sleep peacefully tonight with your LA poster above your bed.
Also the "skiing" in LA is not good skiing. Yes it's skiing as in it's a mountain and snow but the "snow" in SoCal is not snow it's slushy ice and the ski areas near LA only get 150 inches of ice in a year at most compared to 400 inches in the ski areas near Denver. Also it only snows one week out of each winter month on average in the mountains near LA, so the icy snow gets harder fast while having no relief from a fresh storm before it's useless. Yes you can technically ski and surf in the same day but the skiing is very subpar. The closest good skiing to LA is 4 hours away at Mammoth Mountain! While you can't surf in Denver you can ski some of the best real snow in the world at world class areas just an hour away!
The fact that it snows in Denver could be called an advantage for Denver over LA, the fact that you can ice skate, sled, and do other snow related activities outside almost anywhere in Denver at certain times during the winter is great! While snow is something that LA only sees 40 miles away at the top of Mount. San Antonio for 1 month of the year! See how everything is subjective? Surfing isn't factually better than sledding just because people in LA prefer it! If you're obsessed with beach weather then LA is for you, but not everyone is obsessed with beach weather!
Also how is a city being more pricey an advantage? Yes Denver is cheaper than LA, pretty much every city in the US is cheaper than LA. This is the reason so many people are being forced out of LA and have infested places like Denver for the last 15 years! California is broke and is in a financial mess and because of this it's residents have flocked to places like Denver and try to make it just like California which will eventually mean Denver and Colorado will face the same fate as California! I'll never understand the lack of common sense among these CA transplants and how much they complain and blame Coloradoans for their misery. I assume your original point is that the high cost of living in LA means it's very desirable and better than Denver, but the negative effects this has on a city far outweigh the positives in CA's case more so than any other state! Denver is more expensive than Dallas or Phoenix for example, but many people think the cities of Dallas and Phoenix offer more and are better, so again what is your point?
If you like Hollywood then I guess LA is an advantage, but I personally hate the Hollywood area so again this "advantage" is only an advantage for those who like it. It's just a bragging rights advantage, and those are all stupid in any city!
I'll never understand why people from LA and Seattle for example get so mad when they realize their city isn't perfect and superior in all categories when compared to other cities (none are by the way because it's all perception based), yet they criticize other cities non stop. They are the biggest hypocrites on the planet!
Last edited by JMM64; 12-16-2013 at 03:36 AM..
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