How come more people don't think LA is Overrated? (Los Angeles: crime, neighborhoods)

[jm1982]

Originally Posted by UB50

If all the working poor were to leave LA, then businesses would have to close because they wouldn't be able to hire workers.

If parts of town contained nothing but wealthy people living in expensive properties, landlords who own the stores that the wealthy people shop in would realize that they could command much higher rents -- which in turn would shove out businesses that carry "non-wealthy" items (everything but luxury shopping and expensive restaurants). This would result in a lot of retail vacancies. You would get this: Why a booming Manhattan is full of empty storefronts | New York Post

Interesting article. If you look at those example rents, the rents are so high that there are few businesses that could pay those rents and operate at a profit.

I think a lot of the reason is probably this too..speculation. If a landlord wants to sell out to a big time investor or developer , the building might be worth more empty versus occupied with a long lease...
"7. Waiting for a buyout. Thanks to the flood of foreign capital, owners of tenements and towers alike pray to be offered a fortune for their properties, which may be razed to make room for a new skyscraper.
Many dark storefronts on West 57th Street are off the market as landlords try to sell the buildings or put up new ones."

I know in L.A during the recession , there were a lot more visible vacant storefronts versus now.

But, I think the overall 'quality' of the stores has gone down. I was surprised when I drove through my old neighborhood in West L.A a while back and saw so many massage parlors and "we buy gold" type stores.

In my current neighborhood there don't seem to be too many vacancies...but there's a lot of check cashing stores and stuff like that.

Kind of funny it's considered a "lower income area" but the homes sell for $400,000+ these days.

[UB50]

All the charming places make the neighborhood desirable which increases property values -- but once the values go up, the rents go up, which causes the charming places to close.... It's a vicious circle.

[jm1982]

Originally Posted by UB50

All the charming places make the neighborhood desirable which increases property values -- but once the values go up, the rents go up, which causes the charming places to close.... It's a vicious circle.

Yeah , this is why you always hear about artists moving from neighborhood to neighborhood.

First the neighborhood is viewed as , "risky dangerous" , then early 'urban pioneers' artists move in , then hipster, then more 'professionals' or 'yuppies' and then the neighborhood is no longer as interesting or affordable as it once was.

L.A is pretty much out of available cheap or affordable areas to discover just because average home prices are so high, but you see it happening in other cities.

[shunketsu]

Originally Posted by jamills21

That is almost every region in America. Very few cities do not have bad summers.

I swear people want it all..They want warm nights with no day time humidity with no heat during the summer with mild winter weather....I'm sorry, that place does not exist.

It does, it's called San Diego.

Admittely San Diego nights are not exactly warm but they are warm on Chicago standards lol.

[jamills21]

Originally Posted by shunketsu

It does, it's called San Diego.

Admittely San Diego nights are not exactly warm but they are warm on Chicago standards lol.

So, no it does not exist.

[Drake744]

Originally Posted by jamills21

So, no it does not exist.

Eh...if people are generally asleep when it's "not exactly warm", then San Diego basically counts.

[jessemh431]

Originally Posted by jamills21

So, no it does not exist.

Lol yeah. I'd say LA nights are warmer because LA has the worse urban heat island effect, especially places like Downtown and the valleys. On the rare humid nights like the ones after the remnants of the hurricane, the coastal cities stayed very warm since the humidity was higher there. Sometimes the Santa Ana winds keep the coast warmer at night too.

I really don't think anywhere like this exists in the country. Maybe Hawaii? It's humid since it's an island, but the trade winds are amazing there and always cool down the afternoons. Outside the US, the only place I can think of would the coast of Spain. Like Malaga and Barcelona. The coast keeps the cities mild in winter with high usually in the 50s-60s and lows 30s-50s. Summers are usually 70s-90s with lows in the upper 60s-70s. Humidity is not extreme because the comes from the dry mountains around them, but there's just enough humidity from the sea to keep the nights warm. Italy gets much hotter and more humid than Spain. Maybe Lisbon could be added to those cities as well. I honestly can't think of anywhere in the U.S. like this. Places like Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires maybe too. Rio can get swampy being right on the ocean.

[jamills21]

Originally Posted by Drake744

Eh...if people are generally asleep when it's "not exactly warm", then San Diego basically counts.

People are still out and about at night in San Diego.

[jessemh431]

Originally Posted by Drake744

Eh...if people are generally asleep when it's "not exactly warm", then San Diego basically counts.

The whole point of someone moving to a place like SoCal is getting to experience the warm weather year round. When I go out at night in LA, even on my way out, it's already cool. By the time the bars close, it can be quite chilly compared to other cities at 2am.

Oh and speaking of 2am, don't get me started on that. Embarrassing that such a world-class destination like LA closes at 2am

[Drake744]

Originally Posted by jamills21

People are still out and about at night in San Diego.

Yeah I know. I'm just saying like for my daily schedule (which has to be pretty common hours) I'm in for the night generally around 10 and I'm going to work around 8 or 8:30 am....I'd be missing most of the not warm time. Yeah it gets chilly in the middle of the night but most times there aren't many people out at that point unless you're out at bars and stuff.