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Places like Watts and other South Central neighborhoods are very visually deceiving. You sometimes don't even know if you're in a dangerous neighborhood in LA. For someone not from the area, you can find yourself in a very dangerous area and have no idea. (P.S. Calling it South LA is way too hard for me since I'm from there. It's like asking someone from Chicago to call it Willis Tower. Just doesn't work. It's always South Central to me.)
Hawthorne is an in between. It used to be more like other inland neighborhoods, but the overflow of money from the beach cities is headed to Hawthorne now. It's not the safest place, but it's not dangerous. It's also not that well off, but definitely not poor. https://goo.gl/maps/59m7FjK4npogzRJa8 https://goo.gl/maps/CevAjAthe8Awc16j6
So yeah, LA is a weird place. You can't always tell if something is gritty. You know where is dangerous if you live there, even if it doesn't look it. And the dangerous places are not always gritty. My reference to Watts v. West LA was more that West LA is $8 pour overs and Instafamous clout-chasing transplants, while Watts is more dangerous and you'd never find the fancy cafes and farm-to-table restaurants and stuff like that. OTOH, you'll find people with more of an edge in DTLA. Yes, the clout chasers exist there, but they're not what DTLA attracts for the most part. Same with the other neighborhoods I mentioned. They're generally safe, just a little rougher around the edges. Street food carts are not uncommon sights, and neither are upscale cafes. The people don't look lost from Beverly Hills, nor is crime rampant. The storefronts are not empty, nor are they bougie macaron shops. Dive bars are still a thing in the neighborhoods I mentioned. They can be quite diverse still.
The only problem DTLA really has is the homeless. That might drop it down a notch for grittiness, since the homeless there actually pose a threat of personal bodily injury sometimes.
Places like Watts and other South Central neighborhoods are very visually deceiving. You sometimes don't even know if you're in a dangerous neighborhood in LA. For someone not from the area, you can find yourself in a very dangerous area and have no idea. (P.S. Calling it South LA is way too hard for me since I'm from there. It's like asking someone from Chicago to call it Willis Tower. Just doesn't work. It's always South Central to me.)
Hawthorne is an in between. It used to be more like other inland neighborhoods, but the overflow of money from the beach cities is headed to Hawthorne now. It's not the safest place, but it's not dangerous. It's also not that well off, but definitely not poor. https://goo.gl/maps/59m7FjK4npogzRJa8 https://goo.gl/maps/CevAjAthe8Awc16j6
So yeah, LA is a weird place. You can't always tell if something is gritty. You know where is dangerous if you live there, even if it doesn't look it. And the dangerous places are not always gritty. My reference to Watts v. West LA was more that West LA is $8 pour overs and Instafamous clout-chasing transplants, while Watts is more dangerous and you'd never find the fancy cafes and farm-to-table restaurants and stuff like that. OTOH, you'll find people with more of an edge in DTLA. Yes, the clout chasers exist there, but they're not what DTLA attracts for the most part. Same with the other neighborhoods I mentioned. They're generally safe, just a little rougher around the edges. Street food carts are not uncommon sights, and neither are upscale cafes. The people don't look lost from Beverly Hills, nor is crime rampant. The storefronts are not empty, nor are they bougie macaron shops. Dive bars are still a thing in the neighborhoods I mentioned. They can be quite diverse still.
The only problem DTLA really has is the homeless. That might drop it down a notch for grittiness, since the homeless there actually pose a threat of personal bodily injury sometimes.
I’m aware of that for LA I just never see it get worse than gritty. Also danger does not equate to grit..correlation but it’s Not a direct relationship.
You can be gritty without being abandoned or burnt out. It’s the yards sunshine, and general newness and lack of density.
I think the thread compares west coast regions specifically because the west coast isn’t al that gritty.
But some parts of the west with their lack of foliage, tight lots, iron fences, cracked pavement, long dry strips, gravel pit yards and graffiti can be pretty gritty.
I haven't read anything past this, since it kind of gets at what I was going to say, which is that, IMO, Las Vegas has some legit grit, and that is coming from somebody from Cleveland who has lived or spent time in some gritty to abandoned type neighborhoods.
I was out there in July because my son was in the Big Time AAU basketball national tournament and we stayed in downtown. That was the first time I had been out there where it wasn't to gamble/party on the strip or even downtown (which itself was gritty the first time I went there in the early 2000s).
They had us playing in games at gyms all across the city. I can't remember which gym was what. Some were in places that you knew were high end ... Bishop Gorman area, IIR. Others were in areas that made me realize Vegas isn't all glamor and glitz. It was just the block after block of sand and rundown adobe type apartments, tons of graffiti and homeless people living in sleeping bags on corners that had whatever little foliage was planted in the desert. To me, it was like parts of LA, but at least LA is more green overall.
Yeah, the west coast doesn't have as much old urban grit as the industrial Midwest and East Coast, but it still has it... and it also has a lot of areas that look like they may be safe, but find out, not really (as a Clevelander, a a lot of Lee-Harvard type areas).
But it’s probably too much new and subdivision heavy. Much of it is immaculate and brand spanking new. It’s definitely has uglier ugly parts than LA or the Bay..let alone Seattle.
This. People really don't see Vegas off the strip (outside the area around the Strasophere that is pretty notorious ... and definitely gritty). But just clicking on the first couple, is what I was talking about in my last post.
There is a difference, I think to most, between grittiness and downright slums. I.e. I prefer DTLA over West LA because it has some dirt to it. It feels more authentic. It doesn't feel as fake. It's not full of suburban white kids who think they're cool now because they moved to LA. It's not full of bougie people obsessed with luxury brand names. However, it's not Watts either.
Similarly, SF back in the day was different. SoMa in parts was downright bad. Some parts were gritty. Civic Center and the TL were horrible places to be. But now they're nice(?). Now everything is an Apple Store and a coffee shop with $8 pour overs. There is an in between vibe. I'm not sure what it is today in SF. But in LA, it's places like DTLA, parts of LBC east of Downtown LBC, Koreatown, etc.
It's so interesting how places evolve overtime. Appreciate the insight
I’m aware of that for LA I just never see it get worse than gritty. Also danger does not equate to grit..correlation but it’s Not a direct relationship.
Oh I know. But a lot of people think that something must be dangerous to be gritty. Like their must be fear of muggings around every corner. That's not true.
I think the street views posted so far show the West Coast just really isn't that gritty. There are some areas in each of these towns, but on the whole, they aren't too bad. When I think gritty, I think burned out and abandoned buildings, and with the housing shortage on the West Coast, there aren't too many of those. Also, the lower density, yards, and sunshine all make the areas look nicer, even in areas of the West Coast with higher crime.
Lower density than what? West Coast cities are the densest of any region in the country aside from the Northeast. Density does not directly equate to grit.
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