This is the difference between Chicago and LA (Long Beach, Pasadena: transporting, crimes)

[HyperionGap]

They have cows in their metro area. Nuff said.

[the12ronin]

ROFLLLLL


A+ my good man.

[Dunbar42]

Originally Posted by the12ronin

-Barring skid row, L.A. downtown is far safer than Chicago. I walk it at least once a week and often at night. I've been to DT Chicago multiple times. No comparison here.

Downtown LA may be safe but as long as you don't venture too far south or west (and a tourist would have no reason to) downtown Chicago is very safe. I worked in downtown Chicago for 3 1/2 years and anyone who says *downtown* Chicago is not safe is deluding themselves. If you want to start bringing up the south/west sides of Chicago than we should be talking about South Central and East LA to keep things fair...

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by HyperionGap

Exactly, I would never tell someone from out of the country to go "visit" downtown LA (apart from seeing maybe Disney Concert Hall for 5 minutes, eating lunch in Chinatown, and maybe a trip up Angels Flight what is there to do downtown on a Saturday afternoon?. Instead, you would tell them to go to Disneyland, Santa Monica Pier, Hollywood, Getty Museum, Rodeo Drive, etc. All of which are spread out over the entire metro area.

Downtown Chicago on the other hand has Grant Park, the Shedd Aquarium, a billion museums, the Bean, etc. all within walking distance from Lake Michigan. On top of that it has significantly better restaurants and theater scene than anything downtown LA can boast of.

I think that it is worth a visit if they are a fan of architecture or just visiting the historic parts of cities. However there is no question that Chicago's downtown offers more for the casual tourist.

I will say that there are more and more attractions coming every year - Broad Museum will open soon-ish, Grand Park has events, Little Tokyo is worth a stroll, and even Broadway is worth taking a look at - if only to see how far the area fell from grace.

And speaking of Broadway, someone mentioned the city should do something about those theaters - well they are privately owned so that is not going to happen, but there are plans to adaptively re-use the theaters: Family Looks to Upgrade Four Broadway Theaters - Los Angeles Downtown News - For Everything Downtown L.A.!: News (old article but this is still in the works, just the first article I found).

[HyperionGap]

Well obviously the Bradbury building is a must for any fans of blade runner

[the12ronin]

Originally Posted by Dunbar42

Downtown LA may be safe but as long as you don't venture too far south or west (and a tourist would have no reason to) downtown Chicago is very safe. I worked in downtown Chicago for 3 1/2 years and anyone who says *downtown* Chicago is not safe is deluding themselves. If you want to start bringing up the south/west sides of Chicago than we should be talking about South Central and East LA to keep things fair...

There were multiple instances I witnessed a crime take place within the Loop.

I have yet to personally witness a crime happen in the dozens and dozens of walks I've taken downtown.

So that's my experience, and if that's not fair to you, my condolences.

[mayorhaggar]

Originally Posted by HyperionGap

Luckily LA has way more than its downtown going for it, and Chicago, for the most part, does not.

Lakeview
Lincoln Park
Ravenswood/Lincoln Square
Andersonville
Bucktown/Wicker Park

All of these are way more awesome urban neighborhoods than anything in or around LA. The rest of Chicago definitely ranges between boring and dumpy though.

[HyperionGap]

I've only been to comment on Wicker Park and Lincoln Park so I will only comment on those. I liked both those areas and it was fine to spend a weekend there, go to some restaurants/bars and generally just hang out. However, neither of those 2 have world class attractions that are very impressive to out of town guests. I cannot name one tourist attraction that is outside of downtown Chicago other than the Frank Lloyd Wright Museum in Oak Park and I have been to the metro area over 1/2 a dozen times.

On the other hand, as I have previously mentioned, there are numerous attractions outside of DTLA: Hollywood, Disneyland, Getty Museum/Villa, Huntington Library/Gardens, Santa Monica Pier/Promenade, Griffith Observatory, etc)

[the12ronin]

Let's not forget Universal Studios..

[TBideon]

Originally Posted by Mashi

Nine dead in Chicago's most violent weekend of the year

And that's just from yesterday. Get your head out of the sand.

As opposed to 9 dead during weekend shootings from any warm weekend in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, and early 2000s. It's been a violent city for a while now...but that's not a new thing.