Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > Los Angeles
 [Register]
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.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 09-01-2012, 10:29 PM
 
810 posts, read 1,337,389 times
Reputation: 478

Advertisements

Should rephrase....

I know LA traffic is known to be worse and very well may be...I don't think it's that much worse though.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 09-02-2012, 03:54 AM
 
Location: Pasadena, CA
9,828 posts, read 9,364,398 times
Reputation: 6288
Superfical/moronic populace, unchecked illegal immigration, liberal weirdos, crumbling infrastructure, unhealthy smog, bloodthirsty gangs, cultural vapidness, unchecked sprawl, mind numbing traffic, apocalyptic earthquakes, and polluted, freezing waters...

The (ridiculously exaggerated, except for the traffic) negative stereotypes of this great city have dominated the public conscious for so long, we're at the point where only a select few can remember when Los Angeles HAD a positive image. It did once, trust me.

No offense OP, but Los Angeles, does not need any more "reality checks". If anything, L.A.'s critics need one.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-02-2012, 04:24 AM
 
Location: SoCal
1,242 posts, read 1,936,929 times
Reputation: 848
Quote:
Originally Posted by RaymondChandlerLives View Post
Superfical/moronic populace, unchecked illegal immigration, liberal weirdos, crumbling infrastructure, unhealthy smog, bloodthirsty gangs, cultural vapidness, unchecked sprawl, mind numbing traffic, apocalyptic earthquakes, and polluted, freezing waters...

The (ridiculously exaggerated, except for the traffic) negative stereotypes of this great city have dominated the public conscious for so long, we're at the point where only a select few can remember when Los Angeles HAD a positive image. It did once, trust me.

No offense OP, but Los Angeles, does not need any more "reality checks". If anything, L.A.'s critics need one.
Very well put. I see myself in your side of the camp. My whole life I've been fascinated with this beautiful city. Its eccentricities, its style, its non-conformist stance to the "east coast" model of "urbanity", its positives as well as its negatives, and everything inbetween. When I was a kid my dad worked in an office near Wilshire and Vermont, when me and my mom would go to visit I'd beg them to drive me downtown to see the buildings. Soon after we moved to San Francisco (as well as Vacaville ). SF being considered by some to be most urban after NYC; and though I loved it's beauty and charm, it wasn't Los Angeles. LA unlike most American cities posesses a very global personality, it's a city that matters. Those who call LA a "giant suburb" or "not a 'real' city" need to step outside of their box. There is no difference between detatched single family homes and brownstones, people live in both. It's merely asthetics. And that's part of LAs beauty. I love how 6th Street goes from dense, urban and "Manhattanesque" to a seemingly quiet tree-lined lane that could be anywhere in a matter of a few miles. I love how you can have your "castle" with a lawn and a backyard and still be in the heart of one of the largest metropolises in human history.

I don't see St Petersburg being all that different from Moscow nor do I see Lyon being too dissimilar to Paris. But LA is NOTHING like New York.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-02-2012, 04:40 AM
 
2,720 posts, read 5,604,245 times
Reputation: 1320
LA is unique and nothing like any city in the world.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-02-2012, 05:41 AM
 
Location: Pasadena, CA
9,828 posts, read 9,364,398 times
Reputation: 6288
Quote:
Originally Posted by MB8abovetherim View Post
Very well put. I see myself in your side of the camp. My whole life I've been fascinated with this beautiful city. Its eccentricities, its style, its non-conformist stance to the "east coast" model of "urbanity", its positives as well as its negatives, and everything inbetween. When I was a kid my dad worked in an office near Wilshire and Vermont, when me and my mom would go to visit I'd beg them to drive me downtown to see the buildings. Soon after we moved to San Francisco (as well as Vacaville ). SF being considered by some to be most urban after NYC; and though I loved it's beauty and charm, it wasn't Los Angeles. LA unlike most American cities posesses a very global personality, it's a city that matters. Those who call LA a "giant suburb" or "not a 'real' city" need to step outside of their box. There is no difference between detatched single family homes and brownstones, people live in both. It's merely asthetics. And that's part of LAs beauty. I love how 6th Street goes from dense, urban and "Manhattanesque" to a seemingly quiet tree-lined lane that could be anywhere in a matter of a few miles. I love how you can have your "castle" with a lawn and a backyard and still be in the heart of one of the largest metropolises in human history.

I don't see St Petersburg being all that different from Moscow nor do I see Lyon being too dissimilar to Paris. But LA is NOTHING like New York.
Great post.

The highlighted IMO, is what makes L.A. unique from pretty much every other megacity in the world.

There is no Hancock Park in Manhattan. There are no Hollywood Hills in London. A street like Carroll Avenue is considered fantasyland within the Yamanote Line, and there is no Venice Beach in Paris.

L.A. is, by most measurements, the second most densely populated city in the United States, and one of the most populous cities in the industrialized world, yet it manages to provide virtually every possible type of housing available, even in its densest areas. Only in L.A.

Now, that isn't to say those fine cities are mere carbon copies of each other, or that L.A. lacks none of the qualities they possess, but...

For every mile of subway track L.A. lacks vs London, L.A. has several miles of sandy beaches (with dramatic scenery) London lacks.

For every narrow, pedestrian-friendly street Moscow has, L.A. has several more months of near-perfect weather Moscow lacks.

For every neon-lit district Tokyo has, L.A. has an insane amount of diversity Tokyo lacks.

For every skyscraper NYC has, L.A. has a much taller mountain range looming over its citizens--nature's way of reminding us that it thinks far bigger than we do. NYC lacks this.

Paris kills us in French cuisine. We kill Paris in Mexican, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Central American, and Thai cuisine. And burgers. We're the burger capital of the world, and no one knows it. Our burger joints are the envy of the world.

I'm sorry Greater Los Angeles got so popular that the CSA is now pushing 18 million. I'm sorry L.A. isn't as cheap as Dallas--if it were, the CSA would be pushing 30 million, no joke. L.A. needs better transit, and DTLA isn't the force it should be. Your criticisms have been duly noted. Guess what? The positives still outweight the negatives...by tonnes. It's time us Angelenos started highlighting the positives. Lord knows no one else will.

Who's with me?

Last edited by RaymondChandlerLives; 09-02-2012 at 05:54 AM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-02-2012, 07:52 AM
 
6,459 posts, read 11,989,341 times
Reputation: 6395
Quote:
Originally Posted by MB8abovetherim View Post
I don't see St Petersburg being all that different from Moscow nor do I see Lyon being too dissimilar to Paris. But LA is NOTHING like New York.
Thank God for that.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-02-2012, 07:59 AM
 
3 posts, read 40,763 times
Reputation: 10
Default whoknew

roflmao this is a great analogy of LA....
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-02-2012, 08:04 AM
 
6,459 posts, read 11,989,341 times
Reputation: 6395
Quote:
Originally Posted by RaymondChandlerLives View Post
Great post.

The highlighted IMO, is what makes L.A. unique from pretty much every other megacity in the world.

There is no Hancock Park in Manhattan. There are no Hollywood Hills in London. A street like Carroll Avenue is considered fantasyland within the Yamanote Line, and there is no Venice Beach in Paris.

L.A. is, by most measurements, the second most densely populated city in the United States, and one of the most populous cities in the industrialized world, yet it manages to provide virtually every possible type of housing available, even in its densest areas. Only in L.A.

Now, that isn't to say those fine cities are mere carbon copies of each other, or that L.A. lacks none of the qualities they possess, but...

For every mile of subway track L.A. lacks vs London, L.A. has several miles of sandy beaches (with dramatic scenery) London lacks.

For every narrow, pedestrian-friendly street Moscow has, L.A. has several more months of near-perfect weather Moscow lacks.

For every neon-lit district Tokyo has, L.A. has an insane amount of diversity Tokyo lacks.

For every skyscraper NYC has, L.A. has a much taller mountain range looming over its citizens--nature's way of reminding us that it thinks far bigger than we do. NYC lacks this.

Paris kills us in French cuisine. We kill Paris in Mexican, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Central American, and Thai cuisine. And burgers. We're the burger capital of the world, and no one knows it. Our burger joints are the envy of the world.

I'm sorry Greater Los Angeles got so popular that the CSA is now pushing 18 million. I'm sorry L.A. isn't as cheap as Dallas--if it were, the CSA would be pushing 30 million, no joke. L.A. needs better transit, and DTLA isn't the force it should be. Your criticisms have been duly noted. Guess what? The positives still outweight the negatives...by tonnes. It's time us Angelenos started highlighting the positives. Lord knows no one else will.

Who's with me?
Yes, I will agree, but what about JOBS? If you don't have a DECENT paying JOB, then none of this matters.

No matter where you are in America or in the world being able to support yourself with something other than minimum wage or $12 an hour will not help. Many of the jobs in LA are low paying which forces people to live 5 to an apartment/house or sleep in their car, if they're lucky to have one.

I've never met horrible people here. Delusional, yes, but not mean or horrible.

The only thing bad thing to me here is the constant struggle to survive. It's non-stop and not "normal" in most major cities. It really is like living in a third world country, but then again, what do I know? I'm really an "outsider" seeing it from another city's standpoint.

I'm glad you and everyone else are happy here and see the wonderful positives of the area. Unfortunately, I can't. The amount of poverty, homelessness and crazies everywhere is astounding.

And please don't say you can find the same amount of homelessness in other cities. I will respectfully disagree. I think San Francisco rivals LA for the crown, but at least they have certain programs in place to deal with the issue, whereas LA has NONE.

Last edited by marilyn220; 09-02-2012 at 09:26 AM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-02-2012, 10:46 AM
 
3,550 posts, read 6,466,431 times
Reputation: 3501
yeah, but gou gotta admit, the homeless in LA have got it made in the shade. Sunshine, nothing to do all day but hang out at the beach, check out the babes, the surf, don't have to worry about freezing your ass off in the winter, and food? No problem! There's so many mickey D's dumpsters to rummage through
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-02-2012, 11:03 AM
 
10,629 posts, read 26,641,211 times
Reputation: 6776
Man, I miss LA. My LA dreams were more of the nightmare variety before we moved there -- thought it would be really tough to get around without driving, and that I'd hate it. Turned out I absolutely loved it. It's still my favorite place we've ever lived. There's everything there. It's not perfect, but there's a real energy about it that seems to result in part from the city's constant evolution. And from the point of view of someone interested in public transportation and walkability, I think it's THE city to be right now.

That said, I think there are a lot of people who have unrealistic expectations and set themselves up for failure. They forget that LA is a big city, often gritty, with a lot of extremes, and the odds are that they will not be living some dream life in a house on the beach or in the Hollywood Hills. I came expecting the worst, and was pleasantly surprised to find that I absolutely love the place. Whether you think you'll love it or hate it, move to LA with an open mind. (and the nice thing about LA: if you hate one part, just move to another neighborhood and your experience can be totally different! Loved that aspect, too.)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
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.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > Los Angeles

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top