LA is arguably the dumpiest looking big city in the US (Los Angeles: how much, home)

[OptimusPrime69]

I mean, It's pretty shocking how dumpy, dirty, run-down most places in LA look. Even the "nice" areas of LA.... have a certain "seen better days" vibe to them...places like Santa Monica, Bev Hills, Bel Air, etc... Granted, those areas are still "nice" but they look....... old...or past their prime.

Not trying to hate on LA at all. Naturally, it has some breath-taking views and nature trails/. Naturally, LA is quite pretty, but the city itself is actually a horrible place. Depressing, trashy, homeless everywhere. Rotted and depleted... I live in Irvine and when I got home yesterday was all the more thankful I don't live anywhere in LA county. Even Pasadena.... Diamond Bar, etc... just look tired. The roads, the parks, the buildings... run down. Venice is another awful area to visit. Used to be a cool/funky/kinda fun/hippy-esque type place....alternative lifestyle type of place. Now, it's a literal toilet.

Sad sad sad. I remember when I was younger 5 to 10 years ago, I though LA was the place to be.... Now, I am so thankful I don't live there. Infrastructure is not maintained. Trash everywhere. Literally driving in the freeways and they're all covered in trash. Homeless encampments everywhere. Oddball nut jobs roaming around like night of the living dead. Truly disgusting. Even the street signs and signs on the freeways are covered in soot and graffiti..... the roads are all super bumpy and worn out. Place just looks so tired and gross....very ugly

Again, sorry, I was just so shocked when I went up to LA yesterday. I was in Pasadena. Griffith/Hollywood are and downtown LA. Also, swung through santa Monica. All of it was underwhelming and has deteriorated so much from the days when I used to go and be enamored by it all. If I had out of town guests visiting me in orange county and I would take them everywhere EXCEPT LA. I would literally be embarrassed... the sheer degradation.... the squalor, the soul-sucking nature of the trash and homeless.. of the run-down nature of it. Like, everyone just gave up....

[eureka1]

Disagree. Merry Christmas!

[OptimusPrime69]

Originally Posted by eureka1

Disagree. Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you too!
I'm glad somebody likes LA. Honestly.

[Finper]

I agree. I lived in Santa Monica when I was a kid and LA looks like a different world now. My friends in OC refuse to go there unless they have to. Unfortunately I think LA is past the point of ever returning to a nice dynamic city.

[TheseGoTo11]

I generally agree, though much of LA south of the hills and in the SF Valley is exceptionally flat with six lane boulevards, which adds to the dreariness of its design. I've always liked the part of Silver Lake by the reservoir for this reason, defies the standard LA look.

Re: trash and degradation, been wondering a lot lately how much of this is bad government vs. other factors. Trying to do good and having bad turn out unintentionally has become standard with California pols, especially the Dems.

[Avondalist]

All types of development eventually look dated and dumpy. It's probably just the time now that the postwar sprawl that composes much of LA has run its course and needs to be replaced. Especially since LA is a relatively young city, it can be jarring when things look old in a city accustomed to things looking new.

[Racer46]

Originally Posted by OptimusPrime69

I mean, It's pretty shocking how dumpy, dirty, run-down most places in LA look. Even the "nice" areas of LA.... have a certain "seen better days" vibe to them...places like Santa Monica, Bev Hills, Bel Air, etc... Granted, those areas are still "nice" but they look....... old...or past their prime.

Not trying to hate on LA at all. Naturally, it has some breath-taking views and nature trails/. Naturally, LA is quite pretty, but the city itself is actually a horrible place. Depressing, trashy, homeless everywhere. Rotted and depleted... I live in Irvine and when I got home yesterday was all the more thankful I don't live anywhere in LA county. Even Pasadena.... Diamond Bar, etc... just look tired. The roads, the parks, the buildings... run down. Venice is another awful area to visit. Used to be a cool/funky/kinda fun/hippy-esque type place....alternative lifestyle type of place. Now, it's a literal toilet.

Sad sad sad. I remember when I was younger 5 to 10 years ago, I though LA was the place to be.... Now, I am so thankful I don't live there. Infrastructure is not maintained. Trash everywhere. Literally driving in the freeways and they're all covered in trash. Homeless encampments everywhere. Oddball nut jobs roaming around like night of the living dead. Truly disgusting. Even the street signs and signs on the freeways are covered in soot and graffiti..... the roads are all super bumpy and worn out. Place just looks so tired and gross....very ugly

Again, sorry, I was just so shocked when I went up to LA yesterday. I was in Pasadena. Griffith/Hollywood are and downtown LA. Also, swung through santa Monica. All of it was underwhelming and has deteriorated so much from the days when I used to go and be enamored by it all. If I had out of town guests visiting me in orange county and I would take them everywhere EXCEPT LA. I would literally be embarrassed... the sheer degradation.... the squalor, the soul-sucking nature of the trash and homeless.. of the run-down nature of it. Like, everyone just gave up....

If you are talking about the down town City of LA as the general area, probably true, but the city actually covers a lot of area that most people see as other cities and they are not. So overall it has good and bad areas. Just like other cities.

[NJ Brazen_3133]

Originally Posted by OptimusPrime69

I mean, It's pretty shocking how dumpy, dirty, run-down most places in LA look. Even the "nice" areas of LA.... have a certain "seen better days" vibe to them...places like Santa Monica, Bev Hills, Bel Air, etc... Granted, those areas are still "nice" but they look....... old...or past their prime.

Not trying to hate on LA at all. Naturally, it has some breath-taking views and nature trails/. Naturally, LA is quite pretty, but the city itself is actually a horrible place. Depressing, trashy, homeless everywhere. Rotted and depleted... I live in Irvine and when I got home yesterday was all the more thankful I don't live anywhere in LA county. Even Pasadena.... Diamond Bar, etc... just look tired. The roads, the parks, the buildings... run down. Venice is another awful area to visit. Used to be a cool/funky/kinda fun/hippy-esque type place....alternative lifestyle type of place. Now, it's a literal toilet.

Sad sad sad. I remember when I was younger 5 to 10 years ago, I though LA was the place to be.... Now, I am so thankful I don't live there. Infrastructure is not maintained. Trash everywhere. Literally driving in the freeways and they're all covered in trash. Homeless encampments everywhere. Oddball nut jobs roaming around like night of the living dead. Truly disgusting. Even the street signs and signs on the freeways are covered in soot and graffiti..... the roads are all super bumpy and worn out. Place just looks so tired and gross....very ugly

Again, sorry, I was just so shocked when I went up to LA yesterday. I was in Pasadena. Griffith/Hollywood are and downtown LA. Also, swung through santa Monica. All of it was underwhelming and has deteriorated so much from the days when I used to go and be enamored by it all. If I had out of town guests visiting me in orange county and I would take them everywhere EXCEPT LA. I would literally be embarrassed... the sheer degradation.... the squalor, the soul-sucking nature of the trash and homeless.. of the run-down nature of it. Like, everyone just gave up....

You never been to NYC then, or Philly for that matter

I take the worst nabe in LA over ok areas of NYC or Philly. At least the weather is great.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGjaIfB36Ws

[Ergo Para Bellum]

Originally Posted by Avondalist

All types of development eventually look dated and dumpy. It's probably just the time now that the postwar sprawl that composes much of LA has run its course and needs to be replaced. Especially since LA is a relatively young city, it can be jarring when things look old in a city accustomed to things looking new.

Hahaha, I am afraid not. Just one example: Savanah. Oh and Europe.

[Ergo Para Bellum]

LA is a victim of its own success. It has managed to draw in millions. More recently and most strikingly, during the last decades, it drew in millions of poor and unskilled people. It has been slowly (sometimes not so slowly) deteriorating since the 70s when these waves overwhelmed much of the city. Its demographics are completely changed. It's atmosphere in terms of taste, quality and cleanliness, has drastically changed in poor areas. Nonetheless, immensely attractive pockets remain which is what foreigners imagine. (What they find is a far cry from what TV shows them.)Pity those areas are a sliver of Los Angeles' land. And pity too that those poor areas seem to be the majority of areas.

In addition to demographic change, there are fiscal disasters that LA has wrought. LA allowed its roads to rot while putting all of its resources into mass transit. LA now has a moderate system for mostly poor people to get around. However, even with those investments, Los Angeles is still too spread out. Investments into mass transit seem to have been misplaced. Now the city finds itself in a disastrous state, with failing schools and much else.

As for Downtown, it has been fairly successfully rejuvenated. However, it lacks the feel of an eastern city in some parts. For example, Five star residential buildings see relatively few residents walking around, often its just the same DTLA crowd walking around. It therefore lacks the feeling of an organic city, at least for me since the residences seem to only drive. Other parts of DTLA really have achieved a real city feel. I like those areas.

When I was a kid in the LAUSD, LA bragged about how good its schools were.