Been gone almost a year...was asked to check back later - Los Angeles - California (CA) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

sourdough · 09-08-2016, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AJT123

Hey everyone. I used to frequent the Los Angeles forums quite a bit back when I lived there, and for a little while after I moved away (last November). I participated in lots of threads, and started some. Some of you know exactly who I am, lol, as we used to argue on here. Others I had nice relations with. I'm not here to get into it and/or argue, but to basically honor a request from one of you, also to just chime in on my experiences and looking back on living in Los Angeles for 2 years.

I posted a goodbye thread which inevitably turned nasty lol, however one person told me to be sure to come back after a while and check back in. So, here goes.

Like I said, I've been gone and back home in Knoxville, TN nearly a year, and am and have been completely immersed in the life I missed so much when I was out there. My "old life".

So, the big question: Do I miss Los Angeles?

Short Answer?

Kinda. And that's a big "kinda" lol.

To sum it up concisely: I would LOVE to return back for a nice visit, as there are definitely things that I miss. However, I know for 1000% certain that I'd be MORE THAN READY to leave once my time there was over. I could take bi-yearly vacation to Los Angeles but I wouldn't want to live there again, unless I was rich and could afford a decent house west of Fairfax and worked no more than a mile or two away. But I'm in no position to spend 7 figures on a home.

I look back with many fond memories; we used to do so many fun things like take the subway into DTLA and Chinatown, walk around the Sunset Strip, WeHo (we lived right there), and Beverly Hills, and of course go to the beach at Abalone Cove near RPV and then take the 110 back home and gawk at all the buildings. Those were AMAZING memories. Probably our favorite thing to do was go downtown and just walk around. We had a little route we'd take from (the amazing) Grand Park, weaving in and around all the iconic skyscrapers and ending up at LA Live. Definitely want to do exactly that once we visit. Also we miss Beverly Hills alot, just a lot of fun to go walk around there and people watch.

I definitely miss the views. Driving on Mulholland (I lived right at the base of it) I made sure to do until I was blue in the face bc I knew I'd miss pulling off and seeing those amazing views. And I do. I wish I were there to see the skyline myself with the new Wilshire Grand. We moved to LA right when they dug the foundation out and left when it was about halfway erected (I think). I still am not sold on the new building; I came to really, really love the U.S. Bank tower. The WG IS NOT taller, and I can tell that just by looking at pics. Spires don't count, and it doesn't seem to dominate the skyline like the USB tower does.

Oh, the legal weed. I loved walking into the weed store and getting an 1/8th for $15 (of halfway decent stuff), no BS, no hassles, no having to call drug dealers and pay inflated prices and wait, etc. I have no problem scoring the stuff here, it's just more expensive and half of the time you have to take a gamble on the quality. Weed should be legal everywhere. Unfortunately, it'll be 25 years probably before it is. LOTS of people smoke around here though and if it were legal it'd be the same glorious way it is there with weed, lol. Smelling weed on the streets, weed stores everywhere.

Missing the year-round pleasant weather is a no-brainer.

The cars....I'm a car nut and Los Angeles is literally the car capital of the world. I still think it's crazy and amazing how I would just drive to Burger King a block away and pass 3 Bentleys, etc. The amount of S Class and 7 Series cars (german cars in general) I saw there was dizzying.

Also, being so close to Vegas. Damn, that was nice.

I guess that's about it, though. Like I said, I'd love to come back for a visit in the next few years (and am..our next vacation to Vegas we plan to rent a car to drive to LA for a few more days then fly out of LAX back to TN), but I don't actually miss LIVING THERE. I don't really want to start arguments with people, but just the usual things that annoyed me there (traffic, congestion, absolutely ludicrous COL, etc.) I could never deal with again on a regular basis.

I guess I just prefer the simpler life at the end of the day, call me what you will. It's nice now that when my husband occasionally texts me "leaving now" (from work), he gets home in 12 minutes as opposed to 1:30 (sometimes more) of soul-crushing gridlock. I will admit though we put ourselves in that situation. His job was in Torrance and we lived in West Hollywood, but we didn't move across country, uproot our lives, etc. to live in Torrance...no offense to the Torrance but I'm sure some of you can understand that. In any case, though, taking 1hr30 to drive 16 miles is insanity. Traffic is nothing here. It's more of, "Be there in 10-15" anyplace/anytime. The interstates do get backed up sometimes but it takes me about 13 minutes to get 15 miles to work like clockwork usually.

It's been a GREAT summer, been out on the boat plenty (sooo glad I didn't sell it) and to the Great Smokey Mountains (40 mins away) at least two dozen times to go tubing down the lazy rivers and hiking, camping, etc. It's VERRRY beautiful here, but in a very different way than L.A. is beautiful. Still LOTS to do here, just in a completely different way. Summer has been very hot and humid, 90-95 degree days with lots of humidity, but it doesn't honestly bother me too much, as there is A/C blasting everywhere and probably because I'm used to this and grew up with it. Also it's not hard to go to a pool or take the boat out to beat the heat. It's also been somewhat dry. I missed the rain so much when I lived out there but unfortunately, this summer has been mostly dry. Storms occasionally but not the usual amount. That won't last, though; as soon as fall hits we will get PLENTY. I hate winter, and the fact that it's coming up, but I do enjoy having the four seasons now again. It definitely gives the year a "rhythm". Winter sucks but it rarely gets brutally cold here, and occasionally it'll snow an inch or two and literally the whole city will shut down. That's always fun, not being sarcastic.

This also goes without saying but money goes so much farther here. We eat out constantly and spend money like it's nothing again. Just picked up a slightly used Lexus IS350 for the hubs. BTW, our insurance for two Lexus cars, boat, AND renters is $160/mo here. We found a house about six months ago but it failed inspection and the seller wouldn't budge so we are still kind of "on-hold", stuck in a lease until spring. I am on Zillow just about daily looking at homes, and, just for example, this is the sort of home we are looking to buy. This is just about perfect, actually, except I don't love the small lot. Too bad we have to wait another 6 months.
4730 Pecanwood Way, Knoxville, TN 37921 | MLS #975571 | Zillow

IDK, maybe hopefully it will still be for sale when we are officially back on the market. That's just our starter, as we do want that "4,000 sq ft McMansion" eventually.

For perspective, here is a home in Knox that would probably go for $15milion in West LA (I'm speculating but you get the idea):
5332 Bent River Blvd, Knoxville, TN 37919 | MLS #961691 | Zillow

This house is literally one of the most expensive in town, complete with BevHills-esque cherubs and all. It's actually a bit too ostentatious IMO. GOD ONLY KNOWS how much this house would go for in actual Beverly Hills. https://www.coldwellbanker.com/prope...919-MLS-977477

Kinda crazy, lol. But, LA is LA so of course it's going to be much more expensive. Knoxville isn't a super cosmopolitan city but it is so beautiful and there is so much to do here. It's definitely more conservative, and there are the country folks here and there, but honestly I'd rather see the Bubbas in their pickup trucks than illegals I'm paying for if I'm picking my poison.

Speaking of that, lots of SUVs and trucks here. Not crossovers, but old school body-on-frame SUVs. We like our Suburbans, Yukon Denalis, Escalades, and Mercedes GLs here. Unfortunately, not too many flashy MB S550s and BMW 740s, Porsche 911s, etc. People spend their money here on the 75-100k body on frame SUVs, which I guess makes sense around here. Lots of people tow boats and have families and lots of stuff to haul. Gas is $1.92 so why not. Though, I did see a Bentley the other day and a Ferrari pull out of my work as I got there. There are those types here, it's just not prevalent. Frankly, people here hoard their money and don't spend it on flashy stuff.

It's conservative in a financial sense. Sure, there are churches and religion pervades the south, but you can easily avoid that mess. I have for 33 years of my life and couldn't be happier. As a gay married couple, we feel nothing but 1000000% accepted here. It's not even an issue. We welcome pretty much everyone here, and it's just a matter of time before the idiot bigots of that generation die off anyway.

Hmm what else. Sorry this is so long but this post has been long-overdue, and my computer has been screwy and there's no way in hell I'm going to type this all out on my iPad.

Los Angeles is always going to hold a special place in my heart, and I 10000% agree it's easily the coolest city in the world. But it's still good to be back home. I guess the bottom line here is that you can live quiiiiiite a nice lifestyle here on a middle/upper middle class income, whereas IMO you have to be filthy rich to live the ideal "California Los Angeles life" there. Best wishes to the kind people on here with whom I used to interact.

https://www.google.com/#q=materialistic+person