A Chicagoan's review of LA (San Francisco, Long Beach: live in, shop, moving)

[2Easy]

Originally Posted by Nafster

Honestly, I'm saddened to say that this doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

Yeah, there are some more skyscraper and developments going up - and there are some amazing restaurants and bars and it's miles ahead of what it used to be.

But the homeless population and the crime just keep getting worse and worse in that area. I wanted to move there so bad but after working there for over a year and constantly seeing what goes on Downtown on a daily basis I couldn't. It literally smells like feces and urine almost EVERYWHERE, needles and trash are everywhere.

The Worsening Downtown Crime Rate | Opinion | ladowntownnews.com

So many other options to choose from that are safe and nice in LA.

Like West Hollywood? West Hollywood has one of the highest crime rates around. The same violent crime rate as Inglewood and double Inglewood's property crime rate. West Hollywood is twice the state and national average for both statistics.

I've lived downtown for over 3 years and have only seen a needle once in my neighborhood. And the trash is generally in the trash can. Homeless isn't increasing here either, although I can't speak for neighborhoods next to skid row. They may well be increasing.

[2Easy]

Originally Posted by frimpter928

I could see that. I remember walking passed the Pershing Square metro stop during lunch on my visit, and got uneasy, as there was a lot of suspicious folks in front of that stop. And I am not talking a few, like a good 10.

I think LA's downtown has so much potential. Last time I was in LA was 10 years ago, so I have definitely seen the improvement since then, but it still has a lot of work to do. Sounds like unfortunately it's taken a step back.

Pershing Square is bad. Dudes hang out all day just like you say.

I don't know how much worse it's gotten. It's way better than 10 years ago if you ask me. The LAPD was trying to push the homeless out to the east, but courts stopped them. But I don't notice much difference. There were lots years ago and there's lots now.

[Nafster]

Originally Posted by 2Easy

Like West Hollywood? West Hollywood has one of the highest crime rates around. The same violent crime rate as Inglewood and double Inglewood's property crime rate. West Hollywood is twice the state and national average for both statistics.

I've lived downtown for over 3 years and have only seen a needle once in my neighborhood. And the trash is generally in the trash can. Homeless isn't increasing here either, although I can't speak for neighborhoods next to skid row. They may well be increasing.

You cannot be possibly serious if you LIVE Downtown and have only seen one needle and that the trash is generally in the trash can. Pershing Square is part of Downtown and there are needles and trash littered outside the Red Line Metro Stop.

Homelessness NOT increasing there????? K. https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/05/polit...unt/index.html

No, WEHO is not anywhere near that bad, but frankly - this is an LA County problem all over. Homeless people are everywhere and it's very obvious and every year, if not every couple months, I see and more and more of them popping up. But it's really bad Downtown.

Denial of this problem and minimizing it to make ourselves look better or a better city will make it worse. We need to own it and face it and make this better because LA's mayor and the city government suck.

[pwright1]

Originally Posted by Nafster

Honestly, I'm saddened to say that this doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

Yeah, there are some more skyscraper and developments going up - and there are some amazing restaurants and bars and it's miles ahead of what it used to be.

But the homeless population and the crime just keep getting worse and worse in that area. I wanted to move there so bad but after working there for over a year and constantly seeing what goes on Downtown on a daily basis I couldn't. It literally smells like feces and urine almost EVERYWHERE, needles and trash are everywhere.

The Worsening Downtown Crime Rate | Opinion | ladowntownnews.com

So many other options to choose from that are safe and nice in LA.

Downtown is the fastest growing area in the city. I moved downtown and love it. It's not perfect but many of us love it and people continue to move downtown in record numbers. The 50 story 825 S. Hill Street apt tower which opened in March is already over 50 percent occupied. Unbelievable imo. As a former westsider I got tired of driving everywhere, strip malls, uninteresting architecture, gas stations, gigantic wide streets filled with cars and no one walking. Plus it has its fair share of mentally ill and homelessness. The key is walking everywhere. Grocery stores, movies, great restaurants, nightlife, cultural amenities, a big beautiful library, beautiful architecture and the hustle and bustle at your feet. Plus an excellent public transportation network. I do own a car but living downtown I don't use it as much. Everything isn't needles and homeless. I find it an enjoyable place to live and play. Here are a few pics I took.

[Californiaguy2007]

Those were wonderful pics you posted,and i'm glad you see the positives of living in Downtown,because it get's extremely annoying when certain people think L.A is only a city of problems or they only focus on the negative side of things.

Downtown L.A in my honest opinion is definitely improving and on the upswing,and yes it still has it's problems as does every other city,but it will continue to get better as time goes by.

When it comes to L.A and California I am extremely optimistic because I truly see a bright future ahead

Originally Posted by pwright1

Downtown is the fastest growing area in the city. I moved downtown and love it. It's not perfect but many of us love it and people continue to move downtown in record numbers. The 50 story 825 S. Hill Street apt tower which opened in March is already over 50 percent occupied. Unbelievable imo. As a former westsider I got tired of driving everywhere, strip malls, uninteresting architecture, gas stations, gigantic wide streets filled with cars and no one walking. Plus it has its fair share of mentally ill and homelessness. The key is walking everywhere. Grocery stores, movies, great restaurants, nightlife, cultural amenities, a big beautiful library, beautiful architecture and the hustle and bustle at your feet. Plus an excellent public transportation network. I do own a car but living downtown I don't use it as much. Everything isn't needles and homeless. I find it an enjoyable place to live and play. Here are a few pics I took.

[2Easy]

Originally Posted by Nafster

You cannot be possibly serious if you LIVE Downtown and have only seen one needle and that the trash is generally in the trash can. Pershing Square is part of Downtown and there are needles and trash littered outside the Red Line Metro Stop.

Homelessness NOT increasing there????? K. https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/05/polit...unt/index.html

No, WEHO is not anywhere near that bad, but frankly - this is an LA County problem all over. Homeless people are everywhere and it's very obvious and every year, if not every couple months, I see and more and more of them popping up. But it's really bad Downtown.

Denial of this problem and minimizing it to make ourselves look better or a better city will make it worse. We need to own it and face it and make this better because LA's mayor and the city government suck.

I mentioned WeHo only because the crime stats are indeed similar to Inglewood and higher for most crimes. No idea what it’s like for homelessness.

Haven’t seen needles downtown. Don’t know what to say. And I walk and take public transportation everywhere. And I look at the ground a LOT just to avoid all the **** on the sidewalk. I don’t use the subway at Pershing square but I walk by sometimes. And we don’t have any more trash in South Park than the rest of LA. It’s not historic core filthy but it’s not clean. Mostly dog poop and pee. It does smell like urine although I may be desensitized compared to most.

Not denying at all that we have a problem of ridiculous proportions. Just saying that I have not personally noticed an increase of homeless in my little corner of downtown - South Park. Crime seems to be increasing though that’s likely because we have many more people in the neighborhood now compared to when I moved in. And I can’t speak for the rest of downtown, but I absolutely have not noticed a significant increase in homeless in my neighborhood. Yeah there’s a lot around Pershing Square and historic core. Maybe more than before but there were always a lot except those couple of years that LA tried to move them out. The amount of people sleeping outdoors on the street is much higher in LA overall and maybe just not as noticeable for me downtown because they’ve always been here in high numbers.

[Angelino19]

Originally Posted by Nafster

Honestly, I'm saddened to say that this doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

Yeah, there are some more skyscraper and developments going up - and there are some amazing restaurants and bars and it's miles ahead of what it used to be.

But the homeless population and the crime just keep getting worse and worse in that area. I wanted to move there so bad but after working there for over a year and constantly seeing what goes on Downtown on a daily basis I couldn't. It literally smells like feces and urine almost EVERYWHERE, needles and trash are everywhere.

The Worsening Downtown Crime Rate | Opinion | ladowntownnews.com

So many other options to choose from that are safe and nice in LA.

I visit downtown often and although there are areas I avoid, most of downtown is pretty civil and relatively clean. I don't know where you worked in downtown LA, but to say "It literally smells like feces and urine EVERWHERE" is quite and exaggeration.

[Nafster]

South Park is totally different than the rest of Downtown because of LA Live and the resurgence there.

It’s in my opinion one of the nicest parts of the city - agreed - no it does not smell like poop and pee there - but I stand by my statement for the rest of DTLA. It’s filthy and the homeless in particular are much more aggressive than other parts of the city.

I think the cops make sure South Park remains sanity but that’s it. The rest is typhus central - particularly Pershing Square.

I love our city and want it to be clean and be fixed - we need to get rid of our mayor and corrupt city and county officials. All these taxes and what are we getting!

[LA Fan]

Originally Posted by Nafster

South Park is totally different than the rest of Downtown because of LA Live and the resurgence there.

It’s in my opinion one of the nicest parts of the city - agreed - no it does not smell like poop and pee there - but I stand by my statement for the rest of DTLA. It’s filthy and the homeless in particular are much more aggressive than other parts of the city.

I think the cops make sure South Park remains sanity but that’s it. The rest is typhus central - particularly Pershing Square.

I love our city and want it to be clean and be fixed - we need to get rid of our mayor and corrupt city and county officials. All these taxes and what are we getting!

I wouldn’t exactly call Bunker Hill filthy, which is a big part of downtown LA as well, perhaps more like it’s a bit sterile. This is the opinion of many people.

[Cowboy310]

Originally Posted by Californiaguy2007

L.A is unique which is a good thing

Thread's about L.A from out of towners are always something to ignore in my opinion.

It'll always be LA is great but it ain't that or this lmao.

If you don't like LA than why make a thread about it ?
Why say what it needs to get better at ?
It doesn't need to be NYC or Philadelphia lol

People need to realize that California is a totally different culture from back east so the cities out West we're built different.

The closest thing you'll get to an Eastcoast city is San Francisco.

But In the real world L.A is a top 5 world city based on influence and impact. And it's the only other mega city in North America next to NYC. You take it or leave it.

The same things can be said about New York.
The bad weather,the rats,the old buildings...No city is perfect so it's better to say what you like and leave the bad opinions alone 😉