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Old 04-30-2009, 02:42 PM
 
1,714 posts, read 6,031,290 times
Reputation: 696

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Quote:
Originally Posted by SanJose_121 View Post
haha what a loser...

and whats this infatuation with earthquakes people from the east coast always talk about? they are always saying "Cali will fall into the ocean" or something...its just weird.
I know!! I get that from people all the time...

That's OK, if they weren't so afraid of the earthquakes, it might REALLY get crowded around here.

 
Old 04-30-2009, 04:20 PM
 
9,725 posts, read 15,104,835 times
Reputation: 3346
Quote:
Originally Posted by EnchantedEvergreen View Post
The days I left, one of the cheerleaders wanted to come with me back to Chicago. I got angry at the end of each of my visits that I told her off.
Cheerleaders?!! CHEERLEADERS???!!!

The only cheerleader (or ex-cheerleader) I know of in LA is Paula Abdul and she always seems so nice on TV!
 
Old 04-30-2009, 11:31 PM
 
Location: West Coast
1,308 posts, read 4,117,151 times
Reputation: 698
Quote:
Originally Posted by A.J._in_L.A. View Post
LOL.

If we can't handle winters, everyone else outside of L.A./California must be wussies to be unable to handle earthquakes. And I have a similar story to share as well.

When I was in high school there was a girl from Ohio who had just came to our school and she happened to like her new California home... that is, until we had an earthquake before class. While everyone else was kinda standing still and waiting out this small tremor, do you know what this girl did?

She just ran straight out of the door in a straight line, out of the building and she ended up almost on the other side of campus... after that, she started crying.

We all just kind of chuckled afterwards.

LOL, great story.
 
Old 04-30-2009, 11:42 PM
 
10,629 posts, read 26,623,399 times
Reputation: 6776
Quote:
Originally Posted by UB50 View Post
Cheerleaders?!! CHEERLEADERS???!!!

The only cheerleader (or ex-cheerleader) I know of in LA is Paula Abdul and she always seems so nice on TV!
He also mentioned something about hanging out with honor role students and soccer moms, so perhaps these trips of his were while in high school?
 
Old 05-01-2009, 02:18 AM
 
Location: Los Angeles
125 posts, read 384,064 times
Reputation: 68
Quote:
Originally Posted by matt345 View Post
What's all this talk about people here not knowing what "real winter" is? I grew up in Maryland and never once used snow chains until I moved to California.

Do you live in the mountains or something?


I hear from the locals this whole town shuts down when you get like 1/2" of snow. (the cold kind, not the drug)
 
Old 05-01-2009, 12:25 PM
 
Location: NYC
1,213 posts, read 3,595,545 times
Reputation: 1254
Quote:
Originally Posted by thefunkyone View Post
Do you live in the mountains or something?
No, but I don't stay in the LA basin and Valleys all winter. I drive to Vegas, Big Bear, up the 5 through the grapevine and there are many times when snow chains are required to pass through these areas in the winter. This was a completely new concept to me as snow chains were never required where I lived on the east coast.
 
Old 05-01-2009, 02:06 PM
 
Location: International Falls, Minnesota
232 posts, read 732,731 times
Reputation: 325
I haven't been to Los Angeles but after spending a lot of time in the Phoenix area (which, geographically is spread out like Los Angeles with all the people, places, and such) - my biggest shock coming from Duluth/Minneapolis, MN was how impossible it was to meet anyone and really feel a connection. For example, in MN, let's say you want to be a part of the gay community - great - everything is downtown or in Loring Park. The shops, coffee hangouts, etc are literally side by side. Everything and everyone you would possibly be able to meet are within that radius. In Phoenix, which goes on and on in pockets for over 90 miles, there was no central spot to meet anyone. So while you knew there were millions of people around, they were so spread apart. They might be a 20 minute drive away or they might be 100 miles away. It gives you a false sense of community because for one, you have to own a vehicle, and for another, the friendships you develop are really hard to continue on a daily or every other day basis if you never cross paths (90 miles is really hard to cover every two days). And from watching the morning traffic on KTLA, I can only imagine how difficult it is to navigate through greater LA. Another thing I noticed (again this might be similar with Phoenix and LA) is that a lot of us are used to the downtown being the center of it all - in Duluth, downtown has been so redeveloped that the skid row bums are now barfing on the sidewalks on near the west end bars and the downtown is now home to 2 million dollar condos with those wave swimming pools built in and rooftop tennis courts - something that NEVER would have been imagined a decade ago. People want to come downtown. In Phoenix it was all about Scottsdale, or Biltmore, or other very spread apart places. As much as I enjoyed them, I didn't like having to cross the metro just to get to one place - and then get in the car and do it all over again. Everything was a project - usually lasting hours. Now being someone who loves urban life, I did a lot of reading about Little Tokyo Lofts and was very intrigued, specifically because I know a little bit about the location and was wondering if, being right on the edge (?) or middle of skid row, would this be a successful beginning to downtown Los Angeles? Or (I haven't followed in recent months) has it been a disaster? Are people skeptical to buy their housing so close to skid row, or if they did, are they as comfortable with their surroundings as they originally thought? The 'not needing a car' thing is definitely New York, Boston, (sometimes) Minneapolis and Duluth, but definitely not Phoenix and Los Angeles because there is so much open land. So culturally and geographically it's a much different way of life that a lot of people don't really grasp until arriving. I know that's how it was for me: I first arrived at my aunt and uncle's house in North Scottsdale assuming that downtown Phoenix was at most a 20 minute bus ride; turns out there is no public transportation and it's 45 MILES to downtown - needless to say I never got to see it!
 
Old 05-01-2009, 02:58 PM
 
10,629 posts, read 26,623,399 times
Reputation: 6776
LA is not nearly as sprawled as you're thinking - LA County is actually has the highest density of any urbanized area in the country. As a native Minnesotan (Minneapolis) I can tell you that most parts of LA feel far more dense than Minneapolis. My former LA neighborhoods had a higher walkabilty rating than my Uptown, Minneapolis neighborhood, usually considered one of the best walking neighborhoods of Mpols.

The secret to LA is finding smaller communities within the larger metro area. It's really the same way everywhere - in Minneapolis I rarely, if ever, have any reason to visit Chaska, for example - but it's heightened in LA because of size and traffic. Both areas where I lived had a good sense of community.

Downtown LA is a very bustling place, and I don't think many people are deterred by Skid Row. Little Tokyo is near Skid Row, but there are other places more directly in the middle of things. There was one development downtown that overlooked one of the streets lined with tents at night; I did find it mildly amusing that the luxury condos there advertised their "unique urban" location.

Also, for what it's worth, I grew up in Minneapolis, lived in LA for three years, and have never once had a driver's license. It's definitely doable in LA, and I thought LA's public transportation was actually much better than that of Minneapolis. Both cities have a ways to go, of course, but LA is not nearly as bad as people not familiar with the city assume.

I've never been to Phoenix, but I doubt that LA and Phoenix have much in common.

So, in short, while I think many of your characterizations of LA are off, I appreciate your post, and the fact that you took a balanced, thoughtful approach to analyzing what it is about the city that sets it apart. Come visit LA sometime - I think you'll like it, especially downtown.

Last edited by uptown_urbanist; 05-01-2009 at 03:56 PM..
 
Old 05-01-2009, 02:59 PM
 
Location: los angeles
5,032 posts, read 12,564,303 times
Reputation: 1508
Quote:
Originally Posted by Duluth07 View Post
I haven't been to Los Angeles but after spending a lot of time in the Phoenix area (which, geographically is spread out like Los Angeles with all the people, places, and such) - my biggest shock coming from Duluth/Minneapolis, MN was how impossible it was to meet anyone and really feel a connection. For example, in MN, let's say you want to be a part of the gay community - great - everything is downtown or in Loring Park. The shops, coffee hangouts, etc are literally side by side. Everything and everyone you would possibly be able to meet are within that radius. In Phoenix, which goes on and on in pockets for over 90 miles, there was no central spot to meet anyone. So while you knew there were millions of people around, they were so spread apart. They might be a 20 minute drive away or they might be 100 miles away. It gives you a false sense of community because for one, you have to own a vehicle, and for another, the friendships you develop are really hard to continue on a daily or every other day basis if you never cross paths (90 miles is really hard to cover every two days). And from watching the morning traffic on KTLA, I can only imagine how difficult it is to navigate through greater LA. Another thing I noticed (again this might be similar with Phoenix and LA) is that a lot of us are used to the downtown being the center of it all - in Duluth, downtown has been so redeveloped that the skid row bums are now barfing on the sidewalks on near the west end bars and the downtown is now home to 2 million dollar condos with those wave swimming pools built in and rooftop tennis courts - something that NEVER would have been imagined a decade ago. People want to come downtown. In Phoenix it was all about Scottsdale, or Biltmore, or other very spread apart places. As much as I enjoyed them, I didn't like having to cross the metro just to get to one place - and then get in the car and do it all over again. Everything was a project - usually lasting hours. Now being someone who loves urban life, I did a lot of reading about Little Tokyo Lofts and was very intrigued, specifically because I know a little bit about the location and was wondering if, being right on the edge (?) or middle of skid row, would this be a successful beginning to downtown Los Angeles? Or (I haven't followed in recent months) has it been a disaster? Are people skeptical to buy their housing so close to skid row, or if they did, are they as comfortable with their surroundings as they originally thought? The 'not needing a car' thing is definitely New York, Boston, (sometimes) Minneapolis and Duluth, but definitely not Phoenix and Los Angeles because there is so much open land. So culturally and geographically it's a much different way of life that a lot of people don't really grasp until arriving. I know that's how it was for me: I first arrived at my aunt and uncle's house in North Scottsdale assuming that downtown Phoenix was at most a 20 minute bus ride; turns out there is no public transportation and it's 45 MILES to downtown - needless to say I never got to see it!
I've been to Phoenix several times & it reminds me more of the Inland Empire\ San Bernardino\Riverside area than Los Angeles. Suburban spread in LA covers several counties [including Orange] but LA is an older city compared to Phoenix & the basin is half the size of the Phoenix area.

The gay community is pretty much integrated everywhere in the city but the entertainment district is West Hollywood & accessible by bus\ train. Traffic, however is probably worse in LA over Phoenix so if you drive expect gridlock more often than not.

I once worked close to the Skid Row\ Little Tokyo districts & saw the renovation moving into Skid Row. City housing depts are trying to get affordable housing going in order to help the poor stay downtown but the need for middle-class renters has meant that Skid Row continues to shrink. The worse problem is out-of-control drug use & people sleeping on the streets overnight [which is allowed] in Skid Row. The irony is that criminal activity is actually lower downtown than many other police precincts.
 
Old 05-01-2009, 03:00 PM
 
Location: Sinking in the Great Salt Lake
13,139 posts, read 22,707,159 times
Reputation: 14115
Quote:
Originally Posted by joejitsu View Post
I've only been there once and I was 14 or so, but it seems that LA gets a real bum rap. I mean i've met people who have loved it, but they always move out saying they cant afford to live there. I have had people literally refer to it as a hell on Earth. What is it about LA that causes this reputation? Just so everyone knows im not trying to diss LA or say its bad.

Southern California would be heaven if only there were 30 million less people living there. I don't miss it.
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