Mo Money, Mo Problems in Los Angeles..? (Santa Monica, Cudahy: living in, rich)

[Double Six]

What's the general attitude to high earners in LA?

I was thinking about living in Los angeles sometime and starting a few businesses etc. Europe can seem a bit anti-business/anti-money/anti-risk/anti-success sometimes... what's the general attitude when you're doing well for yourself in Los Angeles?

The perfect scenario would be that no cares one iota and you can just enjoy life - is that the general way in LA? (or is there an undercurrent of resentment like in the Europe?)

[MordinSolus]

Do you mean the attitude of the general public? No one cares if you're rich, but no one likes rich people who flaunt their wealth. Don't be a caricature of a rich European douche and you'll be fine.

[Double Six]

Yeah I was just meaning general attitude, like you can drive a decent car without it getting keyed and scratched up while it's parked.

Also, maybe a bit of a different question - what's the turnover of people like in LA? It's hard to keep longterm friends in places like London because the city is so transient - is there more staying power in LA? Is it an easy place to settle?

[highlanderfil]

Originally Posted by Double Six

Europe can seem a bit anti-business/anti-money/anti-risk/anti-success sometimes...

How so?

[highlanderfil]

Originally Posted by Double Six

Yeah I was just meaning general attitude, like you can drive a decent car without it getting keyed and scratched up while it's parked.

Of course you can. Plenty of people in L.A. drive $50K+ cars and nobody harbors any kind of resentment towards them. It's mundane at this point.

Now, on the other hand, if you drive to Cudahy in a gold-plated Bentley Conti GT and leave it there for a minute, things can unravel fast. Just depends on what your definition of a "decent" car is.

[Double Six]

Originally Posted by highlanderfil

How so?

It's hard to describe - it's a passive aggressive, under the breath "who do they think they are!" attitude towards people who start businesses and succeed in them.

Whereas in america, there's a stereotype at least, that you can do well for yourself and most people don't feel resentful towards it. (Flashy idiots aside of course!)

[nightlysparrow]

Originally Posted by Double Six

Yeah I was just meaning general attitude, like you can drive a decent car without it getting keyed and scratched up while it's parked.

Parking lot dings are the rule.

[ryanms3030]

I see hundreds of Bentleys, Rolls, Ferrari, Lamborghini etc and nobody is running them off the road or anything

[thenext88]

I think everyone in general is just happy to be living here. High earner or not. At least that's been my experience living in Santa Monica for the past 2-3 months.

[highlanderfil]

Originally Posted by nightlysparrow

Parking lot dings are the rule.

Yep, that's why sometimes you will see a random Ferrari parked somewhere far, far away from all the riffraff. Often transversely across a few spots.