Why does everyone hate LA? (Los Angeles, Pasadena: crime, school, quality of life)

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Preconcieved notions on what to expect is one reason for the love hare relationship found in the area. We have the new cool show "Southland" and other former TV shows that people watch and get an idea of what the area is like. I bet a lot of people used to watch the original BH90210, Melrose Place, and a host of other shows thinking that when they get here it will be like that. Others don't want to come because of shows like "Southland". We have a diverse landscape to choose from. One reason that is makes for a great place to run a film studio. Anything you want is here in the area.

Proximity to friends and family is another problem with people working in one local and commuting to another. In many parts of the nation you work, socialize, and live near your friends and family. Here many of us live an hour or more from home and chances are don't have the time to socialize with someone from work or near home for that matter. If you are new to the area that makes things even harder if you don't have a base of friends nearby. Maybe I am an unusual case as I live in the same community that I grew up in. My home is less than 7 miles from work.

[matt345]

LA is probably one of the most difficult cities for an outsider to grasp, if that's even possible. I've lived here for about a year and half and almost every weekend I make an effort to gain a greater understanding of this city...and I still don't feel like I've truly grasped LA. I've found myself asking, is there really anything one single thing to grasp when it comes to understanding LA? Is there truly any single defining LA experience? I say no and while that may turn off some people, it's the reason why I love this city.

Koreatown, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Boyle Heights, Little Tokyo, Silver Lake, Venice, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Little Ethiopia, Los Feliz, Leimert Park, Pacific Palisades, the San Fernando Valley - all these far-flung places are extremely different from one another and provide experiences that are in no way related or similar. Yet none of these places is any more "LA" than the others. They are all equally Los Angeles.

If you come here, you have to make an effort to go out and find LA. LA isn't going to come to you. I frequently visit the tripadvisor boards and I've noticed a lot of tourists will post things like, "I'm coming to LA next week. I want to be in the center of it all and within walking distance to all the sights because I won't be renting a car. How does the Sheraton at LAX sound?" - I seriously wonder if these people do any research on this city at all, other than what they see on TV. It actually scares me to think that people are visiting here right now, with no prior knowledge of where things are or how this place works. I can't imagine that makes for a pleasant vacation...then of course they go home and tell all their friends how much LA sucks because they couldn't walk from their hotel at Universal Studios to the Santa Monica Pier.

[Lovehound]

Originally Posted by squeezeboxgal

I think that, many times, people come to Los Angeles with a preconceived idea of what it will be like, based either on what they've seen in the media or, perhaps, previous visits. Once they get here and realize that it's not what they expected, they can become disappointed and bitter.

I got borned here. I don't have that excuse.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

matt345, Looks like you nailed it here. I think that people need to look at this place on a map and see what makes up LA. Look at your example with the Sharaton at LAX. When I was younger I couldnt understand how LAX was even a part of the city. I didn't comprehend how a smaller city can exist inside a larger one, or so it seems with places like Torrance, Beverly Hills, and other places. If you are heading south on the 101 not too far outside the Ventura County line past Westlake Village you will see a sign informing you that you are in LA. For some it is too big and spread out to understand I guess.

[matt345]

^^^In order to understand LA, people need to forget about the traditional model where you have one large city centered around a large bustling downtown, with neighborhoods radiating outward from that center, eventually becoming suburbs. LA isn't one city and really never was. Santa Monica and Beverly Hills are separate cities, while the San Fernando Valley is a part of Los Angeles. But I don't think anybody is going to call the Valley "the city" and Santa Monica the suburbs.

[Lovehound]

Originally Posted by matt345

Santa Monica and Beverly Hills are separate cities, while the San Fernando Valley is a part of Los Angeles. But I don't think anybody is going to call the Valley "the city" and Santa Monica the suburbs.

We tried to secede. You won't let us get away. You love us so much that you are smothering us.

Please, let us leave!

We love you, but it's over.

[gypsystar]

Originally Posted by Lovehound

We tried to secede. You won't let us get away. You love us so much that you are smothering us.

Please, let us leave!

We love you, but it's over.

Love this!

[zenkonami]

Many people (myself included) like to say that L.A. is a love it or hate it town. In reality it's kind of like a love to hate it and hate to love it town. It's a very diverse metropolitan area made up of many very distinct neighborhoods, cities and regions.

Though culturally worlds apart, Los Angeles is more like London than New York or Chicago. Obviously L.A.'s history doesn't span back that far, but there is plenty of history here to be had (far more than most people realize) and that history is very different from a city like London...yet it's a huge, sprawling metropolis spotted with Central Business Districts and each area having it's own personality.

L.A. is an awesome and awe inspiring place, where deserts meet the mountains meeting the ocean, where you can find some of the country's wealthiest and some of its poorest, with almost every industry imaginable and every kind of personality to match. I could just go on and it really wouldn't mean anything...it's every contrast and paradox you can think of rolled into one fast moving, epic place...

In Los Angeles, so long as you can afford it, you should never be bored. Yet for so many of us, so much of our time is spent just trying to afford living here, we don't even get the luxury of contemplating boredom. This is not a laid back city. Traffic here really is something else and to make matters worse, you're always at least 20 minutes from wherever it is you want to be. (Running joke in L.A. is "how far is [insert place here]"..."20 minutes") Some people dig that kind of life. Some soak it up. So just know how to relax in a place like this and how to make it work for them. More power to them.

I hate it. I mean, when I leave I'm going to miss it terribly, but I'm also going to be so happy I left. It's just too much. I'll be glad I did my time here and learned what I learned, but I'm far more London than L.A. (though even London is too much in the long term.)

So many of the replies on this thread about preconceived notions are spot on. This is not the town you think it is. It's dozens of cities over dozens of microclimates with dozens of different ideas, cultures, characters and people. This is one peculiar place.

[thefunkyone]

Well, i've been here for a few days and although it's great to visit. I just wouldn't like living here. I wouldn't mind living in California but not LA.

It's not the climate
It's not the traffic
It's not the attitude of the people


It's that there are too many people. I like living in the middle of nowhere on 25 acres of land. Privacy is what I go for. There is no privacy in LA or any other city for that matter.

[Venom]

Because it's dusty and looks like a suburb.