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.
No other city I have ever visited is like LA. San Diego has a lot of LA transplants. Houston has the sprawl of LA and Phoenix drivers (many from LA, I suspect) act like drivers in LA.
The original question is a good one because it's hard to answer. L.A. is perhaps the most unique major American city. Pretty much any other city I can think of has some natural city that while not a twin is similar enough to be the one most would pick as the city most like it. NYC has no peer really, but if you have to choose, you're probably going to choose Chicago. Boston? Philly's not an exact match by any stretch, but it's probably closest. SF? Now there's a unique city, right? Yes, but if you had to find one that is *most* similar, you're probably going to settle on the other West Coast boom towns that developed around the same time and attracted some of the same counterculture influences in the mid 20th century -- Seattle (or maybe Portland). Maybe those associations are more mine and not quite as universal as I assume, but I think they're close.
When it comes to L.A., most of the discussion seems to be centering on Phoenix and yeah -- in a way. Both are sunbelt cities that boomed around the same time, but Phoenix doesn't have any of the glitz and glam that dominates the L.A. scene. Phoenix is much more akin to L.A.'s far flung ugly outer burbs. L.A. is the entertainment mecca of the U.S. if not the world, so it seems the city that is chosen as it's nearest twin should at least have some of that. Based on that criteria, I think we can include Houston, Atlanta and Miami as possible contenders. Atlanta does have a nascent and growing entertainment industry and is sprawl-y and car-centric like L.A., but it has no beach scene and clings to its southern heritage which is completely foreign to L.A. I've never been to Houston, but I suspect it's possibly a better fit than Atlanta. It has the waterfront and more of an diverse ethnic mix than Atlanta. Miami has the beach feel going for it, but it's architecture is a lot more East Coast than West Coast.
The other city that I can see people arguing for is San Jose -- if you accept Silicon Valley as a reasonable stand-in for Hollywood. San Jose has the same sprawling, yet dense, feel as a lot of L.A. And both have the California vibe going for them -- similar (but not identical) in terms of diversity.
Really though, thinking this through, I can't think of any city that's remotely similar to L.A. If I had to pick, I guess I'd go with San Jose, but I'm not really happy with that choice because L.A. is one of those cities that everyone knows about and has an opinion about whereas San Jose is grossly overlooked for a metro area of its size.
San Jose and LA do "feel" similar, from a superficial aspect. But, that's where it ends. The demographics of the two cities are very different.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WestCobb
The other city that I can see people arguing for is San Jose -- if you accept Silicon Valley as a reasonable stand-in for Hollywood. San Jose has the same sprawling, yet dense, feel as a lot of L.A. And both have the California vibe going for them -- similar (but not identical) in terms of diversity.
Really though, thinking this through, I can't think of any city that's remotely similar to L.A. If I had to pick, I guess I'd go with San Jose, but I'm not really happy with that choice because L.A. is one of those cities that everyone knows about and has an opinion about whereas San Jose is grossly overlooked for a metro area of its size.
San Diego has the climate and geography of LA but that's about it. Its like a cleaner, smaller, whiter, less cultural, more conservative, theme park version of LA. Which is to say completely different. I wouldn't want to give up LA for SD, but there are exactly 3 things about San Diego I'm jealous of:
1. Downtown is right on the water
2. Balboa Park
3. Quality of new residential construction seems to be higher there
I agree. In SoCal, San Diego is IT.
No garbage strewn about the freeways, clean air, quieter and more civil with better roads and less traffic.
The only thing I don't like is that ugly football stadium that looks like it's in a gulley full of weeds!
San Jose and LA do "feel" similar, from a superficial aspect. But, that's where it ends. The demographics of the two cities are very different.
I haven't been in San Jose since 2000, but from what I remember it's whiter and cleaner than L.A. It also doesn't have any equivalent to L.A.'s urban core. I don't really think it's a twin city of L.A. or anything, but when it comes to L.A., there aren't a lot of choices. It's a one-of-a-kind place.
No city in the world is anything like LA i never been to a place that is that unique.. even NYC is somewhat similar to Chicago.
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.
