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Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
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Long Beach always confused me...it’s where I used to go to escape OC on a weekend and get a taste of LA without driving too far, was where I learned to smoke cigars, had my favorite sports bar (Legends), very good restaurants (Michael’s on Naples is excellent and I was good friends with Christy Bono who had some great restaurants), and downtown had a few good spots in the day (Mum’s—no more—and Blues Cafe) and I even considered moving there...but it somehow never quite turned the corner in spite of much promise—Belmont Shores has become more corporate and it seems 60% of the restaurants are now Lebanese (I’m exaggerating but you get my point), downtown really has never developed to its full potential and you are not that far from some of LA’s roughest areas. I liked it because it had an edge to it along with plenty of community events but I never quite pulled the trigger on living there. Literally is halfway between LA and OC (mentally and physically).
Quote:
Originally Posted by jessemh431
It's a tough call, but they're at least equal IMO. I personally love LBC and find it very underrated. To say that because LBC touches a beach, we can't consider all it has to offer is a ridiculous statement and it's a deliberate attempt to devalue LA to put SF above LA.
Long Beach always confused me...it’s where I used to go to escape OC on a weekend and get a taste of LA without driving too far, was where I learned to smoke cigars, had my favorite sports bar (Legends), very good restaurants (Michael’s on Naples is excellent and I was good friends with Christy Bono who had some great restaurants), and downtown had a few good spots in the day (Mum’s—no more—and Blues Cafe) and I even considered moving there...but it somehow never quite turned the corner in spite of much promise—Belmont Shores has become more corporate and it seems 60% of the restaurants are now Lebanese (I’m exaggerating but you get my point), downtown really has never developed to its full potential and you are not that far from some of LA’s roughest areas. I liked it because it had an edge to it along with plenty of community events but I never quite pulled the trigger on living there. Literally is halfway between LA and OC (mentally and physically).
When was the last time you were in Long Beach? There is a ton of construction going on in Downtown LBC right now, both new developments and infrastructure improvements. Belmont Shore/2nd Street has a pretty diverse array of shops/eateries although I could care less for the vibe on 2nd Street, too. 4th Street is still 4th Street with its many antique shops and bars. Heck the trendy spots has expanded north now onto Anaheim Street. The city holds an annual bar crawl every year on Anaheim.
North Long Beach outside of Bixby Knolls is definitely reminiscent of LA's roughest areas but even then still not as bad. Long Beach also has one of the better large city unified school districts too. Plus the city is very diverse.
Long Beach is a bargain right now honestly. What is holding it back the most is the breakwater, which the city is actively looking to shorten (with help from the Army Corps).
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
7,409 posts, read 6,553,115 times
Reputation: 6685
2018..stayed at the Hyatt at The Pike (was new, for me)and noticed some relatively newer condos...but Pine Avenue seemed like the same 4-5 block stretch that it was when I hung out there 15-20 years ago. Don’t get me wrong, I liked it when I socialized there (much more down to earth than, and a relief compared to snooty Newport Beach) but parts of it—like many areas of CA—started showing their age. My big decision in 2003 was to move to Belmont Shores or San Diego and I chose the latter because it had, and fulfilled more of its potential. Long Beach has a “Seattle” type of vibe to me—which was good. I was pretty friendly with John Morris, Joe Rullo, and Vince(?)—Owner of Blues Cafe and hung out at Churchill's and Kelly’s (now a steakhouse) in Naples....the beach is fairly useless (because of the breakers) but it has a great bike path !
Quote:
Originally Posted by DabOnEm
When was the last time you were in Long Beach? There is a ton of construction going on in Downtown LBC right now, both new developments and infrastructure improvements. Belmont Shore/2nd Street has a pretty diverse array of shops/eateries. 4th Street is still 4th Street with its many antique shops and bars. Heck the trendy spots has expanded north now onto Anaheim Street. The city holds an annual bar crawl every year on Anaheim.
North Long Beach outside of Bixby Knolls is definitely reminiscent of LA's roughest areas but even then still not as bad. Long Beach also has one of the better large city unified school districts too. Plus the city is very diverse.
Long Beach is a bargain right now honestly. What is holding it back the most is the breakwater, which the city is actively looking to shorten (with help from the Army Corps).
The Oakland/Berkeley border is not really a happening area though, but it is a seamless transition.
Maybe LBC does not offer more than Oakland but it's pretty close. Long Beach and Oakland are both about the same size in land square miles (LBC is 50 sq.mi and Oak is 55 sq. mi.), but I just feel like LBC is open for longer and the activity level is higher. Oakland grew as a sister city but has lost a lot of what it used to have. Meanwhile, although LBC was independent it still was more of a traditional suburb for LA. But even though it (LBC) grew that way, it was able to become an independent anchor for a lot of suburban cities near it who did not want to travel up into LA.
The city has so many streets especially on its east side that are lined with bars, restaurants, antique shops, and boutiques and crowded sidewalks. LBC is the hub of activity for people who live in the South Bay areas but also for much of northern Orange County, so the city offers a lot. It just feels more active than Oakland overall imo.
Long Beach has a surprisingly large subculture too that's similar to Oakland. Of course it doesn't have the history that Oakland has but it exists there today. You'll mainly see this in the east side along 4th Street and everything south of 7th Street is pretty densely packed. It also has the flagship Cal State University that contributes to it. Very similar to Oakland.
Oakland may have been better at these back in the day, but with SF's gentrification pushing along BART lines into Oakland, I wouldn't be shocked if LBC was more of the subculture hub than Oakland is today.
When was the last time you were in Long Beach? There is a ton of construction going on in Downtown LBC right now, both new developments and infrastructure improvements. Belmont Shore/2nd Street has a pretty diverse array of shops/eateries although I could care less for the vibe on 2nd Street, too. 4th Street is still 4th Street with its many antique shops and bars. Heck the trendy spots has expanded north now onto Anaheim Street. The city holds an annual bar crawl every year on Anaheim.
North Long Beach outside of Bixby Knolls is definitely reminiscent of LA's roughest areas but even then still not as bad. Long Beach also has one of the better large city unified school districts too. Plus the city is very diverse.
Long Beach is a bargain right now honestly. What is holding it back the most is the breakwater, which the city is actively looking to shorten (with help from the Army Corps).
It'd also be nice if the port were less polluting and the golf courses were turned into more useful public parks.
Well Long Beach being the biggest one. Heck Long Beach probably has more to do than even Oakland. I don't really consider LBC to be a beach city since you aren't there for the beach but instead the vibe. Downtown Santa Ana has a lot going on during the weekend nights. Old Town Pasadena is another. Then there a quite a few inland cities with nice walkable downtown areas like Whittier, Anaheim, Orange, Tustin, etc. Riverside is also up and coming with this also. I'm missing quite a few smaller ones like PCH in Newport Beach too.
Compared to SF Bay Area, there is just way more going on in the LA area. Outside of SF, Oakland, SJ, and Berkeley, there isn't too much going on in the Bay and everything closes earlier. It's very noticeable if you spend any amount of time in either place. The Bay is considerably more sleepy and honestly offers less in nightlife than other metro areas smaller than it.
LB is a beach city imo. Pasadena, Santa Ana, etc.. those are nothing special and you can find the same stuff going on in a multitude of suburbs across the country.
I realize that but that's mostly a function of it being a much larger metro.
Long Beach always confused me...it’s where I used to go to escape OC on a weekend and get a taste of LA without driving too far, was where I learned to smoke cigars, had my favorite sports bar (Legends), very good restaurants (Michael’s on Naples is excellent and I was good friends with Christy Bono who had some great restaurants), and downtown had a few good spots in the day (Mum’s—no more—and Blues Cafe) and I even considered moving there...but it somehow never quite turned the corner in spite of much promise—Belmont Shores has become more corporate and it seems 60% of the restaurants are now Lebanese (I’m exaggerating but you get my point), downtown really has never developed to its full potential and you are not that far from some of LA’s roughest areas. I liked it because it had an edge to it along with plenty of community events but I never quite pulled the trigger on living there. Literally is halfway between LA and OC (mentally and physically).
Can't and won't argue with a lot of this. It's a strange mix of a city, but I think that has to do with the fact that it actually is a pretty large city. It's just overshadowed by LA and enveloped into Greater LA so the fact that it's a large city in its own right gets lost. I personally love Belmont Shore and Naples. I haven't had a chance to explore Broadway, 4th, and 7th now that they've seen so much development, but I'm really hoping to next time I'm back in LA. I have absolutely no interest in moving back to SoCal, but if forced to for some reason, LBC would be a place I'd consider. I think it's held onto its identity somehow even though it's so enveloped by Greater LA. OTOH, Oakland just has a weird mixture of the old Oakland plus new hipsters priced out of SF, and doesn't seem to blend properly. LBC doesn't want to be just another beach city. And compared to the South Bay and West LA, it's much more into its subculture ways, while maintaining an upscale beach vibe in Belmont as well.
LB is a beach city imo. Pasadena, Santa Ana, etc.. those are nothing special and you can find the same stuff going on in a multitude of suburbs across the country.
I realize that but that's mostly a function of it being a much larger metro.
This is easily one of the stupidest arguments I've heard on C-D, and I've heard a lot of stupid arguments on C-D. LBC and other beach cities can't be considered as benefits to LA because they're on beach? What kinda argument is that? What kinda mental gymnastic are going on your head that this logic is a good logic for boosting SF over LA?
And Pasadena is a really nice city. If you think otherwise, it's your own personal bias because Pasadena is not some generic suburb.
US suburbs in general mostly aren't that interesting. It often takes having those suburbs having become suburbs, but were originally somewhat densely settled earlier with their own identities before becoming part of another larger area. The Bay Area and LA area both have that to some extent though certainly not nearly to the same extent as many Northeastern cities in the US.
Los Angeles has a long coastline that's populated so it doesn't really make sense to discount beach cities altogether since the vast majority of US metropolitan areas do not have such a large expanse of ocean frontage and in a climate that is often pretty conducive for people to go to the beach. I spent a lot more time in the valleys, mountains, and deserts than I have in the beaches, but I understand that a lot of people who gravitate towards Los Angeles also gravitate towards its beach cities. I think if they focus exclusively on that, then they are missing out on a lot in the area.
If you need a place that takes a lifetime to explore, then it sort of depends on who you are as a person and what you want to explore. The Los Angeles does have a pretty decent amount to explore whether on the waterfront or not, but if the Los Angeles area by itself isn't sufficient for exploring for someone, then would that same person also find that the San Francisco Bay Area also doesn't fit that criteria?
It's a rather small long narrow strip that most live a decent amount of time from. Outside of that narrow strip there really isn't anything that special or unique and considering the vast size of that area it's worth pointing out.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
7,409 posts, read 6,553,115 times
Reputation: 6685
I liked the vibe of Pasadena...how the hell I made it back to OC with drinks in me amazed me...used to love eating outdoors at Twin Palms—not sure if its still there, but that city had lots of character.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jessemh431
This is easily one of the stupidest arguments I've heard on C-D, and I've heard a lot of stupid arguments on C-D. LBC and other beach cities can't be considered as benefits to LA because they're on beach? What kinda argument is that? What kinda mental gymnastic are going on your head that this logic is a good logic for boosting SF over LA?
And Pasadena is a really nice city. If you think otherwise, it's your own personal bias because Pasadena is not some generic suburb.
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