So how does the whole city within a city thing work? (Los Angeles: live in, versus)

[disgruntled la native]

Originally Posted by munchitup

I think some of the outer neighborhoods and suburbs of Long Beach have a lot of similarities to North OC - Lakewood, Cerritos, Hawaiian Gardens, Buena Park, Los Alamitos - they all sort of bleed together as working-to-middle-class suburbs and it can be hard to tell between them. To me there is a huge difference between North OC and the central parts of the county, and an even wider gap between South OC and North OC.

I haven't experienced a lot of inner Long Beach but what I have seen looks a lot like LA or even Downtown Pasadena (but by the water). Culturally I would have no idea since I don't spend much time in LB.

Yes, that's more what I mean. NORTH OC. The suburbs of Long Beach (and parts of the city itself) are much like North OC - the cities you listed and then some. South OC is closer to San Diego's culture than Long Beach.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by PDF

You have Los Angeles. But then there are so many actual cities within the city of LA. I think this is different from towns. I'm talking about the cities within LA that have their own police department, transit system, etc. and own everything and are an actual city of their own. Culver City, Pasadena, Santa Monica, to name a few.

Do people of these areas identify themselves as living in LA, or do they act like it's somewhere else entirely? Or do they just say "Oh I live in Culver City", acting as if it's another neighborhood.

I have never encountered anything like this in any other big city I've been to. So I was just wondering how it works. By the way, I love the areas I mentioned. So I have nothing wrong with them, I'm just curious here.

None of those areas are part of Los Angeles city, they are the Los Angeles metro area or the L.A. basin. Geographically, I know what you mean to a degree. Los Angeles goes west,then stops and then picks up again. I have always wondered about that, but your understanding is a little off. As for Pasadena, just like Glendale, the city of Los Angeles stops and Pasadena begins, there is no Los Angeles on the other side of Pasadena.

[disgruntled la native]

^That's why I so strongly think that Santa Monica, Culver City, Beverly Hills, and West hollywood are pretty much LA. They are surrounded by the city of LA in all directions:

-Santa Monica by Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, West LA, and Venice.

-Culver City by Mar Vista, Palms, West LA, Venice

-Beverly Hills by Bel Air, Various random city of LA neighborhoods

-WeHo by Hollywood, Beverly Grove, Fairfax District

Pasadena and Glendale are not surrounded by LA in every direction, one at most.

[1200RT]

I my experience (lived in SM for nearly a decade until recently), the best/nicest part of the "city within a city" is the ability to "live within" Los Angeles, but live in a city with independent city services (police, fire, etc), which are often better trained, have better response times, etc, than the bigger Cities.

[taydigga]

Originally Posted by nmnita

None of those areas are part of Los Angeles city, they are the Los Angeles metro area or the L.A. basin. Geographically, I know what you mean to a degree. Los Angeles goes west,then stops and then picks up again. I have always wondered about that, but your understanding is a little off. As for Pasadena, just like Glendale, the city of Los Angeles stops and Pasadena begins, there is no Los Angeles on the other side of Pasadena.

I don't think PDF"s understanding is "off" at all. He did call them "cities" which shows he understands. But that's besides the point... I just love how LA has these little neighborhoods and cities that make it what it is.

[taydigga]

Originally Posted by munchitup

I think some of the outer neighborhoods and suburbs of Long Beach have a lot of similarities to North OC - Lakewood, Cerritos, Hawaiian Gardens, Buena Park, Los Alamitos - they all sort of bleed together as working-to-middle-class suburbs and it can be hard to tell between them. To me there is a huge difference between North OC and the central parts of the county, and an even wider gap between South OC and North OC.

I haven't experienced a lot of inner Long Beach but what I have seen looks a lot like LA or even Downtown Pasadena (but by the water). Culturally I would have no idea since I don't spend much time in LB.

I don't know, I never considered LB to be anything near OC and the people I know from there don't either. Also the "buffer cities" are LA to me. I'm realizing that a lot of what "we" consider LA has more to do with experiences in these places as opposed to passing through or visiting from time to time. I at one point was in Redondo at least twice a week and they pretty much consider themselves LA just the beach town part of LA (as does Manhattan and El Segundo) It's all LA to me. Also, as for Long Beach, I know plenty of people that go to Long Beach but I'm black and so I'm sure that's not "normal" or the "average" person. But that just proves my point, it really is more dependent on experiences and exposure as far as knowing what is considered what...

[genjy]

This is the first time ever I've heard/read anyone associating Long Beach with Orange County in some way or form.

I don't agree or disagree--this association just had never crossed or entered my mind. Very interesting.

[jm1982]

I'm pretty sure I've been in Long Beach and seen the OC Weekly . I guess since it is close to Orange County there is the Orange County connection.

Also perhaps since Long Beach is it's own city , it could have a different feel from L.A

I could see the point of people in other cities within L.A county telling people from out of state of from other parts of the state that they live in L.A

Many people nationwide might not know where these cities are for the most part.

Also I think it's kind of funny that people consider Disneyland to be L.A when it's not even in L.A county.

I wonder if people in Anaheim would tell people that live out of state that they live in L.A .

[nslander]

Originally Posted by disgruntled la native

I'm not going to speak definitively on the differences between OC and LBC, but they are right next to each other, while LBC and LA have a number of buffer cities between them (like the entire South Bay). Anecdotally I know a lot of people who live/work in LBC and or OC and commute/socialize between the two. But they don't come to LA much because of nothing more than the distance.

I guess like most things, it’s about perspective. I do see some melding of the two counties among adjacent bedroom communities of Cerritos/Lakewood/Cypress/Bellflower. But with regards to LB, the county line is about the only thing it is shares with OC. For instance, the ridiculously gerrymandered 46th congressional district encompasses HB, then narrows like Dana Rohrabacher’s worldview as it heads north along the Alamitos Beach bikepath, until it reaches the like-minded folks in PV. Removing Long Beach from that mix was a very deliberate decision.

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by nslander

I guess like most things, it’s about perspective. I do see some melding of the two counties among adjacent bedroom communities of Cerritos/Lakewood/Cypress/Bellflower. But with regards to LB, the county line is about the only thing it is shares with OC. For instance, the ridiculously gerrymandered 46th congressional district encompasses HB, then narrows like Dana Rohrabacher’s worldview as it heads north along the Alamitos Beach bikepath, until it reaches the like-minded folks in PV. Removing Long Beach from that mix was a very deliberate decision.

LOL that's hilarious.

When I was speaking about the similarities between LB and N. OC, I was just going by how they look. I don't know nearly enough about the two areas to contrast the types of people that live there, culture etc.