Can LA survive for another 30 years? (Los Angeles: rent, homes, neighborhood)

[newportbeachsmostwanted]

IMO, Los Angeles, Palmdale, Lancaster, and San Bernandino will continue to fall as other areas of the Inland Empire, OC and burb's will become increasingly wealthy and improved. It's like what happened in Detroit. However, fortunately due to uncontrollable natural circumstances, I don't think LA will ever be as horrible as Detroit.

[newportbeachsmostwanted]

Originally Posted by majoun

One of L.A.'s problems has been the lack of a common spirit and common identity. .

First step: Get rid of all the La Raza politicians.

[snb3]

For LA to turn for the better, it must start with our Mexican American gangmember mayor. That is not a slight but a fact. Ask any LAPD, LA Sheriff or any city hall workers. Has anybody seen him roll up his sleeves or publicly and directly denounce any and all Latin gangmembers? Just curious. I wouldn't mind being corrected if that is false.

If you've seen the Cali section of LA Times ( that is LA as in LA Opinion, not L.A.) the last 2 days, maybe what happened in front of his eyes will make him change. maybe not.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by newportbeachsmostwanted

IMO, Los Angeles, Palmdale, Lancaster, and San Bernandino will continue to fall as other areas of the Inland Empire, OC and burb's will become increasingly wealthy and improved. It's like what happened in Detroit. However, fortunately due to uncontrollable natural circumstances, I don't think LA will ever be as horrible as Detroit.

I'm much more pessimistic on the future of the entire Inland Empire than you are. If anything I'm more pessimistic on the future of the IE than I am on LA's future. LA will continue to export its underclass to the IE and long term trends in fuel shortages and the availability of water portend a very bleak future for the IE UNLESS more of a public transport infrastructure involving rail is built. This would not only do much to solve L.A.'s problems but it is the only hope for the I.E.

As far as O.C. goes, I'm really not sure.There's not that much difference between the areas right by either side of the Curtain. (Remember OC is not just Newport, Huntington, Costa Mesa, and Laguna.) If L.A. goes on the downhill slide more, OC will be dragged down along with it. I do think OC has more of a future than the IE.

On a positive note, at least L.A.'s dirty laundry is being openly discussed and talked about now, and there does seem to be a wide perception that Business As Usual is not working. Once that is realized then there at least is some hope for change for the better. It should be remembered that we are not living in the worst period in L.A.'s history right now - the first half of the 1990s takes that dubious honor. Of course, if we accept the status quo, what happened during that era - or worse - could happen again.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by snb3

For LA to turn for the better, it must start with our Mexican American gangmember mayor. That is not a slight but a fact. Ask any LAPD, LA Sheriff or any city hall workers. Has anybody seen him roll up his sleeves or publicly and directly denounce any and all Latin gangmembers? Just curious. I wouldn't mind being corrected if that is false.

If you've seen the Cali section of LA Times ( that is LA as in LA Opinion, not L.A.) the last 2 days, maybe what happened in front of his eyes will make him change. maybe not.

I guess you haven't been paying attention to any of Tony's speeches since his school district plan failed and he's been belatedly talking about the gang issue. It's a step in the right direction that he's planning to cut off funding for the L.A. Bridges program, which has not only been a complete failure but which the LA Weekly revealed has been thoroughly infiltrated by La Eme who are milking city funds for their own purposes. He's also approved of Bratton's goals for reducing gang violence - blame the City Council for not making more funds available to hire more cops.

Tony wasn't a "gang member" in the current sense of the word during his youth - IIRC he was in some biker group or car club as a young man, which isn't what we today would call a "gang".

I don't think Tony's particularly biased or prejudiced, though I now think more likely than not he will be remembered as a failed mayor. I do think that someone who runs against him in 2009 may have much more of a chance than anyone expects right now - any particularly likely candidates to run against him that year (other than Bernard Parks who despises Tony but who has ZERO appeal outside of the African American community?)

[Sorcerer68]

Ahhh, another doom and gloom thread. There's a reason I keep coming back here...

I've done quite a bit of traveling and the more I do, the more I love L.A. I think L.A.'s biggest problem are the people who move here from "elsewhere" and I'm not talking about other countries, I'm speaking of the other 49 and other parts of California. I'm all for people being able to live where they'd like. Unity, yes it's what we need. Time and time again I see Joe and Tina come from Smalltown, Squarestate with visions of Beverly Hills, 90210 in their mind and complain from the time they get here until their more than welcome departure. Joe and Tina have been my neighbors, my coworkers, the people in line at the grocery store, on the next treadmill at the gym and the car behind me on the 405 Southbound at 4pm. The amazing thing I find is that it never occurs to Joe or Tina how they might bring something to our city, all they think about is what it's not giving them and when it doesn't meet their unreasonable expectations, they leave, telling everyone who will listen that Los Angeles is hell...which would be great if it would prevent more of them from coming but it doesn't. I had some downstairs neighbors like my mythical Joe and Tina. They were miserable brutes. They complained nonstop from their arrival in our gentile Old Pasadena until their welcome return to their almost 100% Caucasian, sanitised square state.

I've been to all the suggested L.A. alternatives. Not for me. I'm not one for sanitised or all-white. If I can't order Mexican food from a taco truck at 2am in Spanish, it's not home. Many are nice places to live, they are squeaky clean and really boring and too quiet. Many people like that. I need a little noise, some grit with my beauty. Everyone who comes to visit from a square state gets to see Skid Row after I've given them the BH tour. People complaining about L.A. haven't seen much and should see cities like Bogota'. If they haven't, they have no idea what crime, pollution and filth really are. IMHO, L.A. is much nicer than Chicago and most of Miami. NYC is a different animal and I don't compare the two. In many ways, I consider it the center of the world...and it already underwent the growing pains L.A. is experiencing about 100 years ago. I like San Francisco a whole lot but L.A. housing is reasonable in comparison and I'm not fond of the weather. No cities in Texas for me and no place without an ocean or cold weather.

Los Angeles will continue to grow and thrive. Downtown is being turned into a Bona Fide core as we speak. Huge amounts of money are being spent to make Southern California a prime manufacturing center as well. Port of Los Angeles is being expanded in ways most people can't comprehend. Expect these changes to become concrete in 7 or so years. I could go on and on. Illegal Immigration will have a reverse effect many people don't realise and haven't anticipated...it will provide the largest force of cheap labor anywhere in the United States. And these are jobs I'm not willing to do and most others aren't either. This will drive the continued growth...which will center more around urban villages and less around suburbs. Far out suburbs will decline, the urban core will thrive. Another change with Immigrants is that many have been here long enough to become educated and productive, with enough money to affect the economy. Think about that one for a while. With the growth of urban villages, people will have more informal gathering places and once again get to know each other. I've lived in a place like this, Old Pasadena and it was an eye-opener of just how wonderful gentrification can be.

[Need_affordable_home]

I agree with the others, I dont see LA being popular nor desirable in the near future. Even the rich people are not going to want to move there due to the pollution, traffic, crime and illegals. Why when they can choose from many other cities in CA or other states without the problems of LA?

[bmurphy]

[quote=Need_affordable_home;429434Why when they can choose from many other cities in CA or other states without the problems of LA?[/QUOTE]

Cause the problems will just follow them. If EVERYONE in LA just moved all of a sudden, the problems would go with them.

[tired of being inside]

Hey I know I'm just a junior member here, but I have to comment on this thread. It's a killer thread with a lot of interesting perspectives (none more so than the one that started it off). But I think that IMHO only Sorcerer68 understands why people come to LA - or any big city. I lived in a wonderful little city across the river from NYC for 11 years, just moving to a town down the train's coastal line (still working in NYC) and people go there for one reason - to experience what a big city is. There are some who like to stay in the "new" Times Square with its Disney-fication, which is fine but those who stay do so because they want to hear 1,000 different languages, have 1,000 different eating choices, experience the Sheeps Meadow of Central Park in the summer or see 100s of people on the street even at 5 am on a Sunday morning.

Of course I want to leave (!) and come to LA. Why, because I really dislike the cold, plain and simple. It's hard on my two young boys because taking them anywhere is a fight to bundle and buckle down against bone chilling winds. But where else could I look but LA? Who wants to live in a sanitized suburb with only one group of people as though no one else exists? Illegals? Man, there are tons of them in my small (but cool) Jersey town and they are the ones who seem to work the hardest. Real nice kid (don't know if he was illegal, but didn't speak the best English) knocked on our door during a snow storm and asked if he could shovel for us. Poor kid had no gloves or hat and my wife gave him some from our closet. He almost jumped up and down he was so appreciative and she gave him $30 though he asked for $10. Point is, the complaints I read on this site about illegals seem to me to be perception rather than reality.

But back to LA, I'm hoping I can move my family there and enjoy the same kind of diversity, urban grit/urban renewal, just with beautiful mountains and better weather! I LOVE LA!

[reverendjohn]

with the rise of islamic extremism in the world and the emerging nuclear third world powers there is probably a very good chance LA will be turned into a crater when the United States is attacked by one of its many enemies.LA having a large population of Iranian Jews in beverly hills, and being the second largest city makes it an obvious big target. In the next war I would be suprised if it is not hit by a terrorist attack with a suitcase nuke or a north korean attack. The world is becoming more dangerous and LA would be one of the biggest targets.