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Well I go west of La Brea quite often, but I live right on the dividing line, so that would make sense. I spend much more time in Hollywood, East Hollywood, Koreatown, Echo Park and DTLA than I do in Westside neighborhoods. However, that is mostly due to the Westside lacking a convenient transit connection with Central Los Angeles and the Eastside.
The times I have gone to the Westside I have enjoyed it quite a bit - one trip we went to the Nuarte Theater, Bossa Nova and this cool little sushi / sake house near Sawtelle. The other time we took the 702 bus to Santa Monica and walked all the way to the edge of Venice / Marina Del Rey.
Here's a question: What about people in the Valley? Do they typically go to the Westside or to the other areas of LA more? Or does it really relate to being in the West Valley vs. East Valley?
I live in the Valley but I love the East, Central and DTLA. I think nighthouse66 is absolutely correct. The worst type of people (and this is NOT generalizing all Westsiders) I've ever met were on the Westside. I mean every stereotype is there that you can think of. Even the wannabe people living six to a three bedroom in Santa Monica or Venice and think that they're living the "westside" life while looking down on the Valley and the East, when in reality those snobs in Beverly Hills look at them with the same amount of disdain they would a migrant worker.
I cannot honestly say I dislike everything past La Brea, I do like WeHo and some parts of Melrose before you reach the tourist area of Beverly Hills, beyond that though it's pretty obnoxious and the people can be a bit aloof, insufferable and rather insulated. Then again, that must just be what characterizes a lot of affluent people in LA or CA. I did notice this in certain parts of Sherman Oaks and Studio City to a lesser degree (and I love those neighborhoods so I am not hating on them).
I guess for most transplants like me who come from cities where the rich aren't as gawdy and in your face about it if you step into their neighborhoods, it can be a bit of a culture shock. In Houston, you barely see the really rich or really take notice you're in a super upscale area. Everything almost looks upper middle class than Rodeo rich. So people there aren't acting all like a real housewife of Jersey or a Shah of Sunset.
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I regularly ride the Metro on Wilshire, and the buses are usually crammed with people coming from Koreatown/Downtown/Eastside going to Westside to work. Santa Monica gets a grip of vistors from all over LA too. I bet thiers more Eastsiders going to the Westside than the other way around.
Well of course they're coming in busloads to work in the Westside. That's not what I meant. And Santa Monica is touristy and generally has a lot of free stuff going on too. Barring the beach cities I rarely hear of people from the East (which I am going by my co-workers) who party, hang out, shop or eat in the West. Whenever I mention bars I've gone to on Sunset or when I told them about the W Hotel Westwood, they just gave me blank stares. I don't know if their impression is that they're too expensive because they're no more expensive than other bigger bars in Hollywood many eastsiders flock to, my guess is that they probably do not want to deal with the uppity snideness of some people on the Westside.
I live in West LA, work in the South Bay, and regularly spend time in downtown, Los Feliz/Silver Lake, Glendale, and Pasadena. I like to enjoy the variety that the city has to offer.
I live in the Valley but I love the East, Central and DTLA. I think nighthouse66 is absolutely correct. The worst type of people (and this is NOT generalizing all Westsiders) I've ever met were on the Westside. I mean every stereotype is there that you can think of. Even the wannabe people living six to a three bedroom in Santa Monica or Venice and think that they're living the "westside" life while looking down on the Valley and the East, when in reality those snobs in Beverly Hills look at them with the same amount of disdain they would a migrant worker.
I cannot honestly say I dislike everything past La Brea, I do like WeHo and some parts of Melrose before you reach the tourist area of Beverly Hills, beyond that though it's pretty obnoxious and the people can be a bit aloof, insufferable and rather insulated. Then again, that must just be what characterizes a lot of affluent people in LA or CA. I did notice this in certain parts of Sherman Oaks and Studio City to a lesser degree (and I love those neighborhoods so I am not hating on them).
I guess for most transplants like me who come from cities where the rich aren't as gawdy and in your face about it if you step into their neighborhoods, it can be a bit of a culture shock. In Houston, you barely see the really rich or really take notice you're in a super upscale area. Everything almost looks upper middle class than Rodeo rich. So people there aren't acting all like a real housewife of Jersey or a Shah of Sunset.
Well of course they're coming in busloads to work in the Westside. That's not what I meant. And Santa Monica is touristy and generally has a lot of free stuff going on too. Barring the beach cities I rarely hear of people from the East (which I am going by my co-workers) who party, hang out, shop or eat in the West. Whenever I mention bars I've gone to on Sunset or when I told them about the W Hotel Westwood, they just gave me blank stares. I don't know if their impression is that they're too expensive because they're no more expensive than other bigger bars in Hollywood many eastsiders flock to, my guess is that they probably do not want to deal with the uppity snideness of some people on the Westside.
Or it is a pain in the a** to get there - driving or taking transit.
Or it is a pain in the a** to get there - driving or taking transit.
Or that. It's a number of factors. But for the most part people would just think it was weird for my brother and I to just venture into every neighborhood even ones we had no business going into because we're not wealthy. I am just used to going into both types of places, either really working class or very wealthy. I ask my co-workers if they've ever been to Pace in the Canyons off Laurel? They look at me with blank stares or if they've been to Boa just to try it out. Same thing. Then again they look at me with the same blank stares if I tell them about a Mexican-Indian fusion cafe in Silverlake or even hole in the wall vegan place in the Valley.
Frankly, I've encountered the most stuck up/angriest vibe on the west side that I have anywhere in California (or at least tied with San Francisco and Marin). Much of the rest of the LA area is home to much more down to Earth people, in my experience.
I will say this for snobs and "wannabes": they tend to not want to venture out to the "dirty" or "ghetto" or "boring" areas.
yes, and santa monica beats all of em for snobbery, stupidity, and shallowness, and its one of the most coveted spots for tourists. its amazing how you only have to cross rose avenue in venice and you are in santa monica and the vibe immediately changes. people can get fined for going through people's trash there.
i lived in a building in venice where we rented out the couch for 450 a month. there was this sense of "i will do anything to be here". i mean, LA is LA, the idea that you have to live in a certain neighborhood to make it or be "near the action" is nearly victorian in its backwardness. i would rather never deal with another Hep Young Thing again and just deal with working class (generally non-white) people who just wanna keep tortillas/name-your-cultural-equivalent-of-bread on the table.
anyway, i am glad some others chimed in, this thread was starting to smell like a mall.
I love how non-Westside residents on this forum deride and generally look down upon Westsiders... aren't you doing to others what you wish they would not do to you? Guess that makes everyone equals.
I love how non-Westside residents on this forum deride and generally look down upon Westsiders... aren't you doing to others what you wish they would not do to you? Guess that makes everyone equals.
The people from the non Westside are generally more down to earth than most Westside residents. Even upper middle folks in the South Bay are less snobby and more friendly than Westsiders. It seems like Westsiders have a superiority complex and look down thier noses at the other parts of LA.
I forgot to add. I remember going to a Sushi spot on National Blvd with friends from the South Bay. And one of the waiters asked me what we were doing there, as we were dressed in the typical South Bay style of Dickies and Spyders. The place didn't look upscale, and I thought it was a rude question to ask.
Nighthouse, I admire your candor. There are lots of people in here and in general that will not admit that there is a class divide that's huge in this city and in the country. They think it's another "stereotypical" generalization to talk about people belonging to a class and addressing its culture. They think of it as akin to being racist, or engaging in "class warfare". Most people do not realize that it because they never came from an upper middle class family. I did and can tell you that when you reach a certain leve of income, you're not just entering a new income bracket but literally a culture defined by class. This is something that Americans are just not used to thinking is true but it's very real. Most Americans just think of it as being "snobbery" and dismiss it as a "character flaw", but it's something much deeper that that. Richer families like even my own felt more connected to wealthier families in other nations than their own countrymen who may be working class. A lot of people in this bracket feel the same way whether Democrat or Republican.
I know this way too much over analyzing of a simple issue. I apologize OP, but I just didn't want this thread to be bombarded with posts saying, "well I live East of La Brea, and go into Westwood all the time so don't generalize." I just get tired of these comments. It's like when I read when someone posts that Mexicans or Asians tend to be short (which statistically on average ethnic Mexicans and East Asians as an overall majority tend to be shorter than Caucasians) yet there will be someone on here who will chime in and say, "well I am Mexican or Korean and 6'5 so don't generalize".
Nighthouse people will just interpret your posts as being envious or consider the snide comments against richer Westsiders as being "vulgar". Do not take it to heart. People just know a nice boss or a friend who made mucho dinero in some cupcake shop or whatever else young people do make their millions, so they think this negates your own experiences with an actual class of people (which in the US is turning slowly into almost a 'caste'). I don't know why Americans are so averse to accept the experiences of working class people as anything other than "class warfare envy".
I love how non-Westside residents on this forum deride and generally look down upon Westsiders... aren't you doing to others what you wish they would not do to you? Guess that makes everyone equals.
yes, all i read in this post are east siders taking hours of their time writing pages huffing and puffing about how terrible westsiders are. I don't even have the time to read the posts. And I'm about as westside as it gets, actually from there and never left, not a midwest transplant, and I don't think I have any of those qualities. I have no issues with the eastside, I just have little reason to go there because everything I need is west (besides my job, which is near highland/vine area so I guess that's the border)
I will add this fuel to the fire though - the snobbiest people I've met in LA are the hipster/artsy types who live in Echo Park, Silver Lake, and Los Feliz. Some of them also live in North Hollywood, Studio City, Venice, and Downtown. They all think they're better than everyone and special, and if you're not like them they won't acknowledge, and most of them live in the Eastside. I'll take the midwest transplant working a yuppie office job in Santa Monica over some stuck up idiot with sucky art in Silver Lake who spends all day in a coffee shop stroking his ego and going to "local, better" concerts at night
one more thing: You mean to tell me those rich people in pasadena, san marino, and parts of sgv aren't snobby either? Especially those newly wealthy chinese who obsess over fancy sports cars?
Last edited by disgruntled la native; 03-06-2013 at 01:41 PM..
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