Travel time in L.A. - differences of perception for singles vs families? (Long Beach: best cities)

[Tiger Beer]

No doubt that L.A. has some huge travel distances for getting around.

I'd imagine singles...it's difficult for social life and for dating? Is that true? Or if single, you find local places and get insular into your area? How does it effect singles?

Additionally, how does it affect families? Without the same social issues and dating issues...I'd imagine for families it might become LESS of an issue? You'd be more likely to just stay wherever you live and spend time with neighbor families?? Or....are there are other issues at play, that families might have to run around even more throughout the city for various activities?

Singles...and family people....enlighten me

[Tex?Il?]

I'm single, and I think LA is one of the best cities for me to be single in.

And honestly the "spread out" nature of LA, in my opinion, although others may disagree, gives rise to a lot more diversity of singles to meet.

From the alternative beach culture of Venice, to the more trendy vibrant beach culture of Santa Monica to the the UCLA oriented college town feel of Westwood to the more artsy hipster vibe of Silver Lake-Los Feliz to the more glitzy and glamourous lifestyle that LA is famous for in Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, to the cheap, just becoming hip Koreatown to the revitalizing downtown to the vibrant Caltech college town feel of Pasadena to the artsy hipster valley areas of North Hollywood and Burbank to the surfing culture of Hermosa/Redondo to the city of Long Beach with its stuff to do,

you get my point, yeah, it may mean you have to travel more than in other cities, but in my opinion, LAs spread out nature for where singles live contributes to its diversity.

I don't know, I know I've been known to be the one to poo poo Chicago, it really is a great city, but to me the fact that singles are all concentrated in three or four neighborhoods, and that it is literally ALL 20-somethings, gives it an almost "everyone looks the same" feel, take Wrigleyville where everyone is wearing a Cubs jersey. But I'm not going to go there. That sidetracks the thread.

But seriously, if you can't someone that you connect with in LA county, I don't know what to tell someone. Personally, I just find highly concentrated singles scene, can potentially give rise to conformity in a way. I know many would disagree with me on this in a huge way, but I really do feel that way.

[hsw]

Largely depends upon where one chooses to live and work

Lots of single yuppies live and work on Westside so have a concentration of offices/homes/bars/dining in BH-CentCity-SM corridor....and the few financiers who work in DLA have easy drives back to Westside homes, given their <5AM arrival at office and <5PM departures and ability to work via iPad/iPhone from anywhere/anytime

Middle-income families often live in places like Calabasas or Irvine w/cheap newer housing and may work nearby at places like Amgen in 1000 Oaks or Pimco/Broadcom, etc in NB/Irvine or other nearby suburban corridors where most major employers of mid-income workers choose cheap, efficient offices nr desirable suburbs of middle-income workers

Like any major urban region, many choose a logical balance of office/home locale vs own lifestyle choices....and suspect commute times in LA region, whether Westside or NewportBch (like SiliconVy) are among shortest in world for the most productive workers, esp given CA's nr-perfect weather and suburbanized, decentralized, virtualized economy/lifestyle....self-selection perhaps.....

[HarryKerryJr]

You get used to it and adapt and discover alternate time-saving routes or routines. But, in general you accept the extra time it takes to drive and meet friends for whatever or other social functions. Often, we can be surprised by how quickly we can get somewhere, and it ends up not being so bad. However, traffic nightmares and stupid construction delays can occur ANYWHERE and ANYTIME, even in the far away suburbs that aren't supposed to have big problems, but those places can have their horrible moments, as well.