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They’re not equal. LA has better and more authentic Mexican food. Only white people say Mexican food in SD (and SF) is better. They’re the same types that also like french fries in their burritos, and prefer Mexican food smothered in sour cream, guac and cheddar cheese.
This is a total generalization, but is terribly TRUE!! I noticed this in my own experience. It's almost crazy how many times I've heard this from white people.
Idk who those people are that only have 30.8 minute commutes. Most people I knew were commuting around 1 hour or more in LA. I personally never met those people on the other end of that average.
Because in NYC our commutes may be longer, but we're sitting on public transit. Those on commuter trains can do some work, have a comfy seat, check the news, drink their coffee, take a little nap, etc. Those on subways may be a bit more crammed into a car than commuter trains, but they're still not fighting through traffic and having to find parking when they arrive at work. To everyone I know in NYC, sitting/standing on a crowded subway a little longer is the better alternative than sitting in bumper to bumper traffic in LA. And the subways don't get overly packed until you're usually at the last few stops before Manhattan, or once you're in Manhattan and people are scrambling between Fulton St, Times Square, Penn Station, PABT, Union Square, or Grand Central.
I'd rather sit on a train for 45 minutes than sit in bumper to bumper traffic for 30 minutes where my full attention is needed and then I show up to work already using my brain a lot and then when I'm checked out for the day after work I gotta stay alert another 30+ minutes in traffic to get home. When I'm done with work now, I turn on music and just go on autopilot through my station. I play games on my phone. Check the news. Check social media. No brain function required.
I don't know about all that. Have you ridden LIRR or Metro North at peak times? It's a pretty tough commute and can be stressful. From parking (especially in the winter), finding a seat that's comfortable, delays, crowded subways, Penn Station (or GCT) madness,...it's not so easy.
The subway is worse. Crowded, sometimes smelly, rude people, delays, reroutes, etc. Plus it's slow. Much slower than trains in LA and even people that live and work near train stations here will drive. Because they prefer it and it's usually faster.
FTR regarding average commute times, I do take the bus and train and have 1-hr commute each way. My wife drives and has a 15 minute morning commute and a 25 minute afternoon commute. Most of my coworkers have 20-35 minute commutes. Maybe 70% of them. Of the rest about half are in the 35-60 minute range and a good number are in the 75-90 minute range. Long commutes are a thing here, like everywhere else, but it's not my experience at all that most people have a 1 hour commute. Maybe people that live in the suburbs.
I don't know about all that. Have you ridden LIRR or Metro North at peak times? It's a pretty tough commute and can be stressful. From parking (especially in the winter), finding a seat that's comfortable, delays, crowded subways, Penn Station (or GCT) madness,...it's not so easy.
The subway is worse. Crowded, sometimes smelly, rude people, delays, reroutes, etc. Plus it's slow. Much slower than trains in LA and even people that live and work near train stations here will drive. Because they prefer it and it's usually faster.
FTR regarding average commute times, I do take the bus and train and have 1-hr commute each way. My wife drives and has a 15 minute morning commute and a 25 minute afternoon commute. Most of my coworkers have 20-35 minute commutes. Maybe 70% of them. Of the rest about half are in the 35-60 minute range and a good number are in the 75-90 minute range. Long commutes are a thing here, like everywhere else, but it's not my experience at all that most people have a 1 hour commute. Maybe people that live in the suburbs.
No I've only taken PATH and MTA during rush hours honestly. It's never horrible. Ok well once. The 4/5 at Fulton can get crazy. But I honestly don't see how subway delays are all that different than a car accident causing extra traffic. Also not sure how you can say MTA is slow when compared to LAMTA. LAMTA has no express rail lines. MTA has a lot of express lines and even just started a new one. I've been reading about LAMTA getting crowded, especially the Expo Line because of decreased headways during rush hour. I'm sure LAMTA smells with all the homeless people in LA. I find LA way ruder than NYC and it's not rude for someone to push you if you're blocking a door or not moving in the car and making room for others. LAMTA definitely gets delayed with all of its at-grade crossings. At least MTA can reroute whereas LAMTA lines are stuck on a single trajectory and one mishap can be an entire debacle. MTA delays are significantly down now as well. I'm not saying they're empty, pristine, smell brand new, and run with 100% on-time performance with no delays. However, everyone likes to exaggerate and make MTA look worse than it actually is. It's over a century old, runs 24/7, and has hundreds of stations--it's difficult to keep all of that perfect when we live in a society that prioritizes private vehicles over public transit.
I worked at a law firm in DTLA for a few years. Almost everyone had a commute around 45 minutes up to an hour and a half. One guy rode a bike from Boyle Heights. One lady took the Gold Line from Highland Park. The rest had long commutes. The problem is that because LA is not a centralized city, nobody can move somewhere and expect to have a similar commute when they change jobs. In NYC, commutes are generally to Manhattan (Midtown or FiDi) or sometimes downtown BK. Those commutes are not all that different. However, in LA, one job could be hours away from the other and you'll still be in the same city limits. That was the problem at the firm I was at. I started shortly after they moved to DTLA. They previously were in Century City. Many people lived on the westside or western parts of South Central/Inglewood sorta areas. When the firm moved, everyone's commutes got longer. But, it did attract more people to apply who could take public transit, especially the support staff. I think this will become less of an issue when more companies start locating to DTLA. People can plan commutes easier to DTLA.
Either way, back to the point of this thread, public transit commutes are normally longer than vehicle commutes. However, many people would rather sit on trains for longer than in cars in traffic for a slightly shorter time. I would prefer the former and most of my friends would. With LA's very large bus ridership, I'm surprised the commutes are not longer. And, either way, I'd rather commute to a better job with more upward mobility in LA than work in SD.
Except is there was a poll on this thread, LA would be beating SD by a lot based on the posts. Almost every post on here is against what OP said and actually believes that LA is the better option over SD. Subjectively, some prefer SD. But it seems that everyone objectively agrees that LA is better, especially if you need a job lol.
The premise of the thread will inherently draw more people opposed to it than not since it's kind of a loaded question. Outside of C-D San Diego generally polls much more favorably as a place people would want to live over LA.
Idk who those people are that only have 30.8 minute commutes. Most people I knew were commuting around 1 hour or more in LA. I personally never met those people on the other end of that average.
Because in NYC our commutes may be longer, but we're sitting on public transit. Those on commuter trains can do some work, have a comfy seat, check the news, drink their coffee, take a little nap, etc. Those on subways may be a bit more crammed into a car than commuter trains, but they're still not fighting through traffic and having to find parking when they arrive at work. To everyone I know in NYC, sitting/standing on a crowded subway a little longer is the better alternative than sitting in bumper to bumper traffic in LA. And the subways don't get overly packed until you're usually at the last few stops before Manhattan, or once you're in Manhattan and people are scrambling between Fulton St, Times Square, Penn Station, PABT, Union Square, or Grand Central.
I'd rather sit on a train for 45 minutes than sit in bumper to bumper traffic for 30 minutes where my full attention is needed and then I show up to work already using my brain a lot and then when I'm checked out for the day after work I gotta stay alert another 30+ minutes in traffic to get home. When I'm done with work now, I turn on music and just go on autopilot through my station. I play games on my phone. Check the news. Check social media. No brain function required.
Funny how "wasting X hours of your life commuting each year in L.A." is always used to knock it down a peg while NYC gets bonus points for being an all star transit city where supposedly all commuting problems are solved just by living there even though the average commutes are longer. Just goes to show branding can be more powerful than truth.
I"ve heard you can also play games on your phone and check the news on public transportation in Los Angeles.
Bottom line is that there's nowhere in the entire L.A. CSA that someone couldn't use mass transit to commute if they really wanted to.
Every person sitting in that bumper to bumper traffic made a conscious decision to drive through some of the most densely populated real estate in the country in a private car.
The premise of the thread will inherently draw more people opposed to it than not since it's kind of a loaded question. Outside of C-D San Diego generally polls much more favorably as a place people would want to live over LA.
The population of the two places tells us everything we need to know about which place people would prefer to live in.
I think that it does, although I agree with you in spirit. I think that most average Americans if given the choice would overwhelmingly prefer San Diego to LA. But the average American doesn't move to either one. Out of the people that actually do move to one or the other, they overwhelmingly choose LA. Creatives for example are attracted to LA. Actors, singers, youtubers, artists, designers, etc, choose LA over most places for whatever reason.
I think that it does, although I agree with you in spirit. I think that most average Americans if given the choice would overwhelmingly prefer San Diego to LA. But the average American doesn't move to either one. Out of the people that actually do move to one or the other, they overwhelmingly choose LA. Creatives for example are attracted to LA. Actors, singers, youtubers, artists, designers, etc, choose LA over most places for whatever reason.
So you think most people prefer India or China over the US because it has more people too? More people must prefer Ohio over Hawaii because it has more people as well. Yeah I wonder why actors, singers, etc..and other creatives choose LA over SD...real big mystery there. I wonder why techies move to the Bay Area too.... Most people move for a variety of reasons (job, family, etc..) aside from a simple desire to just live in a certain city because they like it.
So you think most people prefer India or China over the US because it has more people too? More people must prefer Ohio over Hawaii because it has more people as well. Yeah I wonder why actors, singers, etc..and other creatives choose LA over SD...real big mystery there. I wonder why techies move to the Bay Area too.... Most people move for a variety of reasons (job, family, etc..) aside from a simple desire to just live in a certain city because they like it.
Point taken. I meant that the number of people moving here is an indication of LA's popularity. US cities tend to grow and be large based on people moving there and I don't think that's the same for China or India, but I could be mistaken as I'm not that familiar.
Yes, people move here for opportunities. Isn't that all rolled up into where they prefer to live? Some people really do want to move here you know. It's ok if that's not your thing.
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