"Big City Feel" would you say L.A. has it? (Los Angeles: neighborhood, living)

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by Captain Obvious

Really? It seems like it is just a few square miles.

Yep it is 5 square miles (this includes basically everything within the freeway loop, so it is probably closer to 2.5 without stuff like the warehouse district). Chicago's Loop is 1.6 square miles. Downtown Boston is 1.5. I guess if you compare it to all of Manhattan it is small, but other than that is very large compared to other American downtowns.

Maybe you are just talking about Bunker Hill? Which is admittedly less than impressive. But still big-city feeling IMO.

[iliza]

Originally Posted by munchitup

FALSE!!!! Honestly couldn't be further from the truth. LA feels very much like a working-class city for the most part to me. I do agree with you that NYC and LA both have a big-city feel and that they certainly have very different "feels" to them, though I'm not sure they are on opposite ends of the spectrum. When looking at American cities overall, LA is actually probably closer on the spectrum to New York than it is to say, Jacksonville, FL. LA is a big, dense city - it doesn't achieve its massive population simply due to large municipal boundaries (like Jacksonville).

I see that you live in LA, so I will take your word for it I am only speaking from visit experiences, so naturally much of that time has been spent in the touristy places - which are designed to give off the feeling I got.

[BarcelonaFan]

The area around Macarthur Park is impressive, big city in an old time way. So is historic downtown.

You know you're in a large downtown when you're on foot and you look to your right and to your left and all you can see is buildings for miles, no end in sight.

In Houston, I could look to my left and my right and see an end to downtown at some point. In LA, especially on broadway, it looks like NYC or Chicago, the only other American cities I've been to where one can feel this affect.

I understand where people are coming from because living up to the runner up of NYC is pretty tough. Chicago has LA beat as far as a Manhattan-esque skyline but LA still comes in with it's own flair. It's still impressing in it's own way. It's certainly more urban than Chicago or Boston or Houston for sure.

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by BarcelonaFan

The area around Macarthur Park is impressive, big city in an old time way. So is historic downtown.

You know you're in a large downtown when you're on foot and you look to your right and to your left and all you can see is buildings for miles, no end in sight.

In Houston, I could look to my left and my right and see an end to downtown at some point. In LA, especially on broadway, it looks like NYC or Chicago, the only other American cities I've been to where one can feel this affect.

I understand where people are coming from because living up to the runner up of NYC is pretty tough. Chicago has LA beat as far as a Manhattan-esque skyline but LA still comes in with it's own flair. It's still impressing in it's own way. It's certainly more urban than Chicago or Boston or Houston for sure.

I went to a party this weekend in that area and I too was pretty impressed with the area. It is surprising just how low-income Westlake / Wilshire Center is because it really has that grand, old-timey urban look that I think many are seeking in Los Angeles.

[iliza]

Originally Posted by BarcelonaFan

LA lap of luxury? Maybe one section of West LA that's overblown in movies, but overall LA is the most working class city I've ever been to.

Not even Hollywood is that glamorous.

See, IMO LA is presented this way to outsiders, and I really feel it when I am there - which I am quite a bit because my brother lives there. He is quite the entertainer and always has his guests out doing something to show off the city, so perhaps that is why I always feel like a tourist. It actually has a very similar feel to me as Miami, where I grew up. Lap of luxury, pretentious people, money everywhere. Now of course this isn't literally true (not everyone in LA/MIA is rich and pretentious), but as people tend to get a certain reputation based off of the way they present themselves, cities do the same and it is true to an extent.

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by iliza

See, IMO LA is presented this way to outsiders, and I really feel it when I am there - which I am quite a bit because my brother lives there. He is quite the entertainer and always has his guests out doing something to show off the city, so perhaps that is why I always feel like a tourist. It actually has a very similar feel to me as Miami, where I grew up. Lap of luxury, pretentious people, money everywhere. Now of course this isn't literally true (not everyone in LA/MIA is rich and pretentious), but as people tend to get a certain reputation based off of the way they present themselves, cities do the same and it is true to an extent.

I'm curious to hear where you went. I certainly believe one could be led around Los Angeles and given the impression that you have, of a city that is high-class and rich.

Something tells me you didn't visit the intersection of Vermont and Santa Monica or places like that

[Captain Obvious]

Originally Posted by munchitup

Yep it is 5 square miles (this includes basically everything within the freeway loop, so it is probably closer to 2.5 without stuff like the warehouse district). Chicago's Loop is 1.6 square miles. Downtown Boston is 1.5. I guess if you compare it to all of Manhattan it is small, but other than that is very large compared to other American downtowns.

Maybe you are just talking about Bunker Hill? Which is admittedly less than impressive. But still big-city feeling IMO.

I don't know you are still counting stuff like the toy district and warehouse district within that square footage. I would have to say that none of that stuff feels very big city to me.

[BarcelonaFan]

Originally Posted by Captain Obvious

I don't know you are still counting stuff like the toy district and warehouse district within that square footage. I would have to say that none of that stuff feels very big city to me.

Say what? That area looks really urban. Like dirty NYC in the 70s and 80s.

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by Captain Obvious

I don't know you are still counting stuff like the toy district and warehouse district within that square footage. I would have to say that none of that stuff feels very big city to me.

No the 2.5 square miles would just be South Park, Historic Core, Little Tokyo, Civic Center, Bunker Hill - about half of what is traditionally known as downtown LA.

Personally I find the warehouse district to be very urban as well, but you seem to have a pretty narrow definition of what constitutes 'urban'.

[RaymondChandlerLives]

Its crazy to even talk about this. Los Angeles is one of only 25 or so mega-cities in the entire world, and it clocks in at #13 worldwide. DTLA, Koreatown, Westlake and Hollywood/E. Hollywood are large, densely populated neighborhoods. Wilshire from downtown to the ocean runs for 16 miles and is completely urbanized--no other U.S. minus New York maintains that level of consistent dense development over a massive area. Not Chicago, not San Francisco, not Philadelphia.