Leaving La / California - Asap (Los Angeles, Beverly Hills: automobile, rated, transit)

[JerZ]

Originally Posted by AnUnidentifiedMale

To all of the people in L.A. who say they're leaving California because of traffic: Do you realize that there are other cities in California besides Los Angeles?

I don't understand the one-dimensional thinking.

This made me sorta chuckle ruefully...because I have only JUST come to this realization myself recently.

CA is a huge, huge, huge state. Third largest, right? (Geographically.) And it's VARIED. There is soooooooooo much here. It's a good thing to think about...and gives one a much better attitude about the state. There is just so much...beaches, desert, mountains. Everything.

And cities with less traffic than L.A.

[JerZ]

Originally Posted by AliveandWell

Yes, of course there are other cities in this state besides Los Angeles but I can understand why people are leaving. The cost to live in CA is much too high now and the state is so broke that it cannot even pay its bills. In 1983 when I first arrived, someone could work a job that was paying $12 an hour and live pretty well. But not anymore.

Yes. The cost of living in L.A. is certainly high. That is true. Like other major, costly cities, people tend to move out largely because of just that: the cost. We are lucky enough to have just bought our house (the one we were renting). Because from here, hell. We can go practically anywhere else (with a few notable and very upper-crust-y exceptions) once cashed out.

[sarahkate_m]

Originally Posted by fastfilm

On my journey in life, I've lived in Westwood, West L.A., Venice and now the S.F. Valley. Believe me, you're "sheltered" in Santa Monica. Wealth cocoons people from the bad in life everywhere, and more markedly in Los Angeles. If you lived in the L.A. of, say, Panorama City, I doubt if you'd write the the first nine words of your above post.

Does Santa Monica have shelters?

You're the first person I've seen who has more points than posts, hence I hesitate to feed your ego. I must give points to the more underprivileged! I suppose I can give you a THUMBS UP

However, I did love the above post. Especially the last sentence. I'll have to read up on more of your wisdom

Did you see the thread about the "conflict between Hollywood & the Valley" ??? I'd be curious what you'd have to say about that. I guess I"ll check to see if you already posted there...

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by looking4home

Why lawmakers don't want to do something to correct this is beyond me. The only thing I can think of is there isn't any real benefit to either party, so why bother? The Republicans don't care because social welfare isn't their thing, and there aren't any big PAC's involved from which they can fill their campaign coffers. The Democrats conveniently use the homeless issue to demonize the Republicans, as they did in the 1980's, and when it suits them, they bring it up to show how uncaring the Repubs are, and how their economic philosophies can ruin people's lives and force them out on the streets.

Very well said. I think this part of your post answers your question about why we the homeless/mental illness problem is allowed to fester.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by olecapt

It is a country thing. In the NW of Vegas we fought it off for years...but lost to the air polution police. No sidewalks, curbs or streetlights though.

Yuck. That's awful. Why would anyone want to live like that?

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by Raggy dee Ann

I don't discount some of what he says, I'm sure he's seen a lot uglier things than I have, I just thought ranting on about the ACLU, liberals and the ninth circuit was a little out there.

It's not as "out there" as you might think. The problem is that the legal framework in which the police, courts, state legislature, etc. operate is invisible to most people. But it has real effects.

Just to give you one example I know of:

--The 1981 Supreme Court decision in Plyler v. Doe was the one that said schools had to provide children a free education, even if they were here illegally.

The effects of such a decision are to make it easier for people to immigrate illegally and the taxpaying citizens have no recourse. This is just one example of many that are not mentioned in the mainstream media.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by Anonymous Political Junky

CA has many problems and it just doesn't seem like they are truly willing to fix said problems and would rather act like there is no problems.

That sums it up quite well. Or, alternatively, they think the way to solve the problems is to keep doing the same things that caused the problems in the first place.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by AliveandWell

It is actually called realizing and accepting the reality that CA has too much traffic because there are too many people living here.

Too many people is not the problem. Poor planning is the real cause of the traffic problem. If you don't want a lot of traffic, build a mass transit system. You can not have endless surubran sprawl and no mass transit system. It doesn't work.

Good management means accepting reality and building transit. Some other American cities are (finally) figuring out that the sprawl development model is not sustainable.

The rest of your post makes sense.

[AliveandWell]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

Too many people is not the problem. Poor planning is the real cause of the traffic problem. If you don't want a lot of traffic, build a mass transit system. You can not have endless surubran sprawl and no mass transit system. It doesn't work.

Good management means accepting reality and building transit. Some other American cities are (finally) figuring out that the sprawl development model is not sustainable.

The rest of your post makes sense.

Yes, you are right. The city and the LA metro in general was constructed for use by automobiles. The area is so spread out that using the bus to get from one city to the next would take too long. No wonder why no one walks in LA and just about everyone drives.

[TheCaliforniaBear]

Originally Posted by Sorcerer68

I have lived in and traveled to many other places besides L.A. I've lived in the south with it's forests, waterways, sugary beaches and hospitality. You can have it. I don't even like to visit. Bugs, rampant ignorance and poverty, stifling, sticky summers, snakes, rain, bugs...and backwards, backwards people. No thanks. I arrived in a town of 35000 and wanted a book. I walked around the Wal Mart a few times and finally asked a cashier "where are the books?" She looked at me suspiciously "buuuuhks? Wut kaynkda buuuuks?" She explained to me that there was a Christian bookstore and that was it. I was in hell. In the South I experienced an undercurrent of hate the likes of which I've never seen before. In my head (IMHO), an imaginary line runs from Kansas south and then due east to the Atlantic. The small-mindedness and intolerance are dizzying. There are parts of the South I find charming such as Savannah and New Orleans pre-Katrina (all those wonderful cemeteries are gone!). When I got a whiff of the smog and gunned my Mustang on the 10 west on the way home, I was pleased to be within striking distance of normalcy. For the record, I've lived in 3 Southern states for a total of 6 years.

I've been in Hawaii for over 3 years (I left Pasadena in 2003). I lived here as a kid too. I've never been so depressed in my life. There aren't any of the entertainment or cultural opportunities here that exist in L.A.. There are sheets of rain and clouds of mosquitos. I can't even pay anyone to wash my car. You can't get anything done here. Everything is outrageously expensive. Poverty and ignorance are rampant. It's really difficult to find someone with whom I can have an intelligent conversation. One of the most annoying things is that ALL the art is tropical themed! They don't paint anything else! Yes, the scenery is stunningly beautiful. The other things have worn me down. I briefly considered moving to Honolulu (a few islands away) but cost of living is even higher, the weather even hotter and a tiny house (550 sq ft) in the city is a million bucks.

To the OP, I've spoken to law enforcement in NYC, Miami, Detroit, Chicago southside...I don't think L.A. has anything on them in regards to murder or any other violent crimes. I always tell people if you don't like major cities, don't live in one. I'm the opposite, I hate the boonies. To me a town of 75,000 people is the boonies. I love the Mediterranean climate of Los Angeles, the topography and just about everything else about it. It definitely has it's shortcomings. My personal least favorite is rush hour traffic but I lived in L.A. long enough to learn my ways around it. Rule #1, never commute. I haven't had the experience of living in areas where I had any problems with crime except one: Westlake district. We had 2 drivebys in front of our place in 1 month back in '95. I was only staying there temporarily for 3 months. I wasn't there long. The rest of my time was spent in Redondo Beach, Torrance, Glendale South Pasadena and Old Pasadena. This period covers about 20 years on and off. I never had any problems with crime of any kind living in these places except the sign from our antique and vintage goods store Sloppy Seconds was stolen once. It's not hard to figure out why. I went to stores, shopping, college...everywhere I needed to and the only problem I ever had was being accosted by panhandlers when we went to Hollwood for a night out. I've had no more than door dings happen to my cars. Nothing was ever stolen. Nothing. Boring, bland suburbia or someone clubbing me over the head with their old time, small town "value system" just doesn't appeal to me. That's why I will be moving back to L.A. next month (and never, ever leaving again!) and the OP will load up his U-Haul go to Hickville, Squarestate and we'll both be happy.

I agree with you in most ways. MOST of the USA truely is awful, especially the south. So I too, always end up going back to California.

Now, i'm about to get out of the whole country. The USA is a strange place. Most of it is rather unsavory. Everything the OP said about LA is true, and everything you said about the south is true.

I have also tried to live in Denver and Utah. And these places were both awful for various reasons.

Welcome to the "New America", where every place is an extreme, and every place is bizarre and hard to deal with in a different way.

Personally, when I get back to the US after being overseas, I will gladly live on a rural property somewhere and isolate myself from this strange society.