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The reason why the redline didn't reach the Wilshire corridor past Vermont was because the people in the neighborhoods that are in west L.A. didn't allow it to reach there. They got in an uproar about "those people" (eventhough "those people" are the ones who work for them and don't drive so they need public transportation) being able to come into their neighborhood and now they're stuck with the congestion. I'm sure that's the same thing that happened in Santa Monica. There will probably be an expansion of the redline and a line leading to Santa Monica soon but we're seeing other cities like Pasadena, who didn't resist it, get their light rail first.
LAX IS expanding. They've already spent billions buying land around it and relocating it's residents to places like Palmdale (which Palmadale residents hated because only the poorest took the deal and now there are areas there known as "Pompton") and there are screenshots of their future plans on these very forums.
Downtown has been regentrefying for at least 20 years now and a lot of the areas that used to be known as urban warzones have turned into hipster meccas. I never thought I'd see the day when the majority of the people in Echo Park were white joggers with their pedigree dogs.
We have rude- I mean "straight forward" people in this city too and they are usually the type who will get physically violent when you are just as "straight forward with them". They also all speak English.
Diversity? You got it. I live in the San Fernando Valley and, from one street to the next you will get a taste (literaly since the most common way we share our cultures is through our ethnic restaurants) of Mexico, El Salvador, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, China, Greece, Armenia, Russia, India, France and America and all from places where the employees speak English.
Also, all this without having to live in the congestion of downtown or the surrounding cities of downtown but with the option to take mass transit to downtown via the orange bus line which leads to the metro and light rail system. I can also drive my car through Topanga Canyon and be in Malibu in about half an hour or drive north on the same street and go rock climbing at Stoney Point in fifteen minutes.
My home is 1400 square feet, has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a big backyard with a pool, is in a decent neighborhood near one of the best schools in the LAUSD (which, I know, isn't saying much but at least my kids will be safe if I ever have any) and near a great community college. I have friendly neighbors from all different cultures and backgrounds and we all look out for one another.
Could I afford to live like this in NY? Probably not. I may get SOME aspects of everything that I just mentioned but I'd probably have to give up others including weather.
Don't pretend that good weather is not a big deal, by the way. If it wasn't then Seattle wouldn't have such a high suicide rate (related to the year-round gloomy weather) or cities like NY and L.A. would be in Alaska or Arkansas.
In the end, it sounds like L.A. is just not for you or you refuse to really open yourself up to experiencing it. Either way, enjoy yourself wherever it is that you prefer to enjoy yourself. Those of us who like L.A. will enjoy ourselves here.
You can only compare NYC to Hong Kong, London, Paris and Tokyo. Nothing in the US can compare to NYC.
But is that a good thing or a bad thing? From what I've heard, all the places that you mentioned are great to visit as long as you ignore the people. My uncle told me that the people (well, the merchants is probably more accurate) that he dealt with in Paris were extremely rude and other people have told me that it stems from them always having to deal with tourists and that smaller cities or towns or even villages in France are populated by much friendlier people.
I had a friend who went to Japan on a yearly basis and he told me hated Tokyo because of all the congestion.
London is gloomy and the brits I've met here have turned me off of even wanting to visit because they've been so pompous and plain rude. They're actually worse than east coasters when it comes to being critical of L.A. since they're critical of the entire country.
i JUST got back from New York City and I can say without a doubt, that compared to New York City and other large cities mainly (New York) and Chicago, Los angeles is failing miserably in many areas. Cant speak too much on Chicago because I havent been there recently but in comparison with New York, we are a disgrace. I know i'm going to get alot of flack about this but I really think Los Angeles with planning could be so much of a better place. I think the leaders of Los Angeles have become too reliant on L.A's image of a perfect weather paradise where stars roam freely and people "make it big" and come with dreams of making it in "Hollywood" which as far as I'm concerned isn't a real place but some talked about location that you cant quite pinpoint. That is clearly not enough to make this city run. In the last seven years of living here(I stayed because of the income and job) whenever I speak about the negatives of L.A. i get the same response: YEAH BUT THE WEATHER...........okay the weather is the weather and L.A. is L.A. A GREAT CITY DOES NOT JUST GET BY ON GOOD WEATHER. There are some just horrible things about this city that I feel could be changed here is my list.
LAX
our airport is a crying shame. Compared to JFK its a dismal failure. its way too small. The terminals are outdated. Runways are too close. No trains. and it takes forever to get in and out of.
MASS TRANSIT
ridiculous. when I was in new york, I realized for once what great freedom it is not to have to sit on the 405 at 1pm on a sunday stuck in traffic. We need subways POINT BLANK. those who want to keep your cars GREAT. i love mine too I cant lie, but it is nice to have the freedom to use mass transit and get to where you are going QUICKER. which is the whole point. L.A. MASS TRANSIT IS A JOKE BECAUSE IT DOESNT GET YOU THERE QUICKER and it doesn't connect the places that need to be connected.
ie
subway line connecting, China Town, Downtown, Mid Wilshire, Century City. West L.A. and Santa Monica. imagine how that subway line would relieve traffic.
PEOPLE
New York has a cultural diversity unparalleled. And with all that diversity people still understand that they need to speak english. They're also a lot more real and straight forward.
DOWNTOWN.
still waiting for us to build one. GOD i want to see Los Angeles with a real downtown. I was so happy to see that new hotel go up. KEEP BUILDING PLEASE.
FREEWAY LIGHTING
I asked this question on a previous thread. Why are the freeways here so dark. I FIND it amazing that so many people dont know what I'm talking about. Maybe they've never been out of Socal. But in Major cities throughout the U.S. once you see that sign that says ________CITY LIMITS the freeways are lit continously. pole after pole from beginning til the end. Not just in the exit ramps upon approaching the streets. 101 in San fernando Valley is pitch black through most parts.
HOLLYWOOD.
THE place that so many people flock to from around the world to me is like a major disappointment. When my partner recently visited from New York I took him there and he was like, IS THAT IT? In seven years of living here I've been there like 3 times. West Hollywood, West L.A. Beverly Hills are nice areas but the rest of our city is falling apart. L.A. is just looking a little run down. what can we do to make it better?
I think what you're saying actually reflects California as a whole unfortunately. I had a similar, though not exactly the same, eye opening experience when I went to Seattle. Once you get out of California, you see our state with new eyes if you really get a feel of where ever it is you're visiting. All of California is a joke. I hate to say that as I was once so pro California.
However, New York is really without peer in the USA. It's always going to have a big wow factor. In California all of our metro areas have major issues. You talked about LA's here are a couple of more:
San Diego: Very corrupt city government. The city wasn't poorly planned, it wasn't planned at all. We seriously have streets that go no where, especially in Mission Valley. Public transit here is also a humiliating failure. Also has the "perfect weather" syndrome and uses this as it's excuse.
San Francisco: May have very good public transit and it lucky to be so compact but that's it. This city's crime rate is something to behold. The crime is also rampant and seemingly random. The police as mentioned in the San Francisco thread are more concerned with writing tickets than actually stopping crime. I'm a liberal person and like both LA and SF because they are liberal. SF is perhaps too liberal at times however.
East Bay: My home and I love it but issues...lots of issues. Berkeley has a drug problem that it doesn't seem to concerned with. You will get a ticket if your car is an inch into a red curb but double parking is the order of the day in that city. Oakland has a similar set of problems.
Then there's just the state government as a whole. IOU's to employees and not being able to decide on a budget? And as long as you have a face, you can be governor.
i JUST got back from New York City and I can say without a doubt, that compared to New York City and other large cities mainly (New York) and Chicago, Los angeles is failing miserably in many areas. Cant speak too much on Chicago because I havent been there recently but in comparison with New York, we are a disgrace. I know i'm going to get alot of flack about this but I really think Los Angeles with planning could be so much of a better place. I think the leaders of Los Angeles have become too reliant on L.A's image of a perfect weather paradise where stars roam freely and people "make it big" and come with dreams of making it in "Hollywood" which as far as I'm concerned isn't a real place but some talked about location that you cant quite pinpoint. That is clearly not enough to make this city run. In the last seven years of living here(I stayed because of the income and job) whenever I speak about the negatives of L.A. i get the same response: YEAH BUT THE WEATHER...........okay the weather is the weather and L.A. is L.A. A GREAT CITY DOES NOT JUST GET BY ON GOOD WEATHER. There are some just horrible things about this city that I feel could be changed here is my list.
LAX
our airport is a crying shame. Compared to JFK its a dismal failure. its way too small. The terminals are outdated. Runways are too close. No trains. and it takes forever to get in and out of.
A $1.5 billion makeover aimed at handling more overseas travelers and accommodating larger jetliners at Los Angeles International Airport was approved Wednesday by the Los Angeles City Council.
Airport officials plan to expand the Tom Bradley International Terminal by 1 million square feet to make room for ticketing desks, security screening, lounges, shops and restaurants.
The project, dubbed "Bradley West," also calls for building nine new airline gates capable of handling the next generation of super-sized jumbo jets, including the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Two of the new airline gates are scheduled to open by the start of 2012, while the overall project is expected to be completed by mid-2013 and funded entirely by the sale of airport bonds.
More than $1.1 billion in construction contracts to renovate facilities at Los Angeles International Airport were approved today by L.A.'s airport commission.
The plan, a major step in the modernization of LAX, also calls for building new gates to accommodate the next generation of large commercial planes.
The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners awarded two contracts to the Walsh Austin Joint Venture, which will reconfigure the Tom Bradley International Terminal.
“This action is a tremendous step forward in the modernization of LAX,” said commissioner Walt Zifkin. “Nothing has really happened since 1984. Hopefully, it won’t take this long to do the next modernization project.”
The Metro Green Line might finally wind its way down to the terminals at Los Angeles International Airport, thanks to the recent purchase of an adjacent 20-acre parking lot that's ripe for use.
The Los Angeles City Council's Trade, Commerce and Tourism Committee on Wednesday directed airport officials to spend the next six months studying whether it's possible to bring the light rail line directly to LAX by building a stop on the site of the Park 'N Ride at Park One lot, located just east of Terminal One.
The Board of Airport Commissioners agreed last month to buy the parking lot for $126.5 million. The full City Council is expected to sign off on the expenditure by Friday.
"It's a no-brainer that every major airport has a rail line going into it," said Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, whose district includes LAX.
The Green Line's estimated $200 million, two-mile extension would likely be funded by Measure R. Los Angeles County voters approved the half-cent county sales tax measure, which went into effect last week and is expected to generate $40 billion for local transportation projects over the next 30 years.
MASS TRANSIT
ridiculous. when I was in new york, I realized for once what great freedom it is not to have to sit on the 405 at 1pm on a sunday stuck in traffic. We need subways POINT BLANK. those who want to keep your cars GREAT. i love mine too I cant lie, but it is nice to have the freedom to use mass transit and get to where you are going QUICKER. which is the whole point. L.A. MASS TRANSIT IS A JOKE BECAUSE IT DOESNT GET YOU THERE QUICKER and it doesn't connect the places that need to be connected.
ie
subway line connecting, China Town, Downtown, Mid Wilshire, Century City. West L.A. and Santa Monica. imagine how that subway line would relieve traffic.
“30/10” Will Push to Accelerate Use of Measure R Transit Funding
LOS ANGELES – Promoting his vision for sustainability and an improved public transportation system, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today announced
that he is beginning to build a coalition to support the acceleration of the 30 years of transit projects included in Measure R into 10 years. The “30/10” program would leverage the $13 billion approved by voters for 12 transit projects to expedite construction and bring jobs
and environmental benefits to LA sooner.
"Thirty years is too long to wait when we can build all twelve projects in the next decade,” said Mayor Villaraigosa. “When we have workers
hungry for high quality jobs, companies that are ready to hire, the dirtiest air, and the worst traffic congestion in the nation, thirty years is just too long.”
BTW, the Gold Line stops in Chinatown...
PEOPLE
New York has a cultural diversity unparalleled. And with all that diversity people still understand that they need to speak english. They're also a lot more real and straight forward.
Los Angeles has more ethnic enclaves in the city/county limits than anywhere else in the country. Other ethnic enclaves bound to come into fruition in the next decade are Little Bangladesh and Little Italy. L.A. also rivals NYC in diversity, it's the varying degrees of diversity that are different between both cities. I'f you wanna see links, I'll go dig them up.
DOWNTOWN.
still waiting for us to build one. GOD i want to see Los Angeles with a real downtown. I was so happy to see that new hotel go up. KEEP BUILDING PLEASE.
Downtown actually has many skyscrapers and revitalization projects on the table. The only thing that has held us up from accomplishing any of that was the credit crunch, otherwise you'd see many of these projects under construction right now. Look for revitalization to resume as soon as next year, and look for construction to resume as soon as the market stabilizes. As with the diversity issues, it's going to take me a long time to post a bunch of links up so if you wanna see them just ask...
FREEWAY LIGHTING
I asked this question on a previous thread. Why are the freeways here so dark. I FIND it amazing that so many people dont know what I'm talking about. Maybe they've never been out of Socal. But in Major cities throughout the U.S. once you see that sign that says ________CITY LIMITS the freeways are lit continously. pole after pole from beginning til the end. Not just in the exit ramps upon approaching the streets. 101 in San fernando Valley is pitch black through most parts.
I've never had a problem with this. [shrugs] But then again, I've never really been out of SoCal so I don't know. Maybe you can post some pictures up or something?
At any rate, we're experimenting with these so these should help a little. You may already know of them, though:
HOLLYWOOD.
THE place that so many people flock to from around the world to me is like a major disappointment. When my partner recently visited from New York I took him there and he was like, IS THAT IT? In seven years of living here I've been there like 3 times. West Hollywood, West L.A. Beverly Hills are nice areas but the rest of our city is falling apart. L.A. is just looking a little run down. what can we do to make it better?
Hollywood went through the beginning of it's revitalization this decade and there's a lot of projects going on right now to further spur revitalization. Hollywood is due to get a central park of it's own in the next decade, and the Sunset Strip is due to undergo a massive revitalization starting next month. BTW, where exactly do you go in Hollywood? Because news reports and my personal experiences are stating the complete opposite.
In short, we're working on all of that. The L.A. you know now will be completely different in the 2010's.
But is that a good thing or a bad thing? From what I've heard, all the places that you mentioned are great to visit as long as you ignore the people. My uncle told me that the people (well, the merchants is probably more accurate) that he dealt with in Paris were extremely rude and other people have told me that it stems from them always having to deal with tourists and that smaller cities or towns or even villages in France are populated by much friendlier people.
I had a friend who went to Japan on a yearly basis and he told me hated Tokyo because of all the congestion.
London is gloomy and the brits I've met here have turned me off of even wanting to visit because they've been so pompous and plain rude. They're actually worse than east coasters when it comes to being critical of L.A. since they're critical of the entire country.
See? I can be pessimistic too.
Same can be said about California, or anywhere. There are rude people everywhere, conversely I have found just as many nice friendly people in SF as LA as NY. I have lived in them all. NYrs generally have a tough demeanor, but are very friendly people, very willing to engage in conversation and very willing to laugh with complete strangers without worry of social status.
People I guess we can compare, although it is pretty pointless and based on myths.
Infrastructure you cannot compare when it comes to NY vs L.A. NYC blows it away.
San Francisco: May have very good public transit and it lucky to be so compact but that's it. This city's crime rate is something to behold. The crime is also rampant and seemingly random. The police as mentioned in the San Francisco thread are more concerned with writing tickets than actually stopping crime. I'm a liberal person and like both LA and SF because they are liberal. SF is perhaps too liberal at times however.
Really? It’s that bad? Now I know SF has a higher crime rate than Seattle or San Diego, but I’ve never thought of the place as being dangerous, especially when compared with two East Coast cities I grew up around. As of right now, San Francisco, a city of 800,000, has recorded somewhere around 45 homicides for 2009. Compare that with DC, a city of 600,000 that has recorded 134 homicides in 2009; or Baltimore, a city of 630,000 that has 215 homicides in 2009.
Los Angeles isn't so lucky and any underground transit system runs the risk of caving in during an earthquake. NO tunnel can be made perfectly earthquake proof, so are you willing to take the risk of being buried alive everytime you ride the subway? If so, have at it. I think I'll stay above ground.
Why do people continue to say this? I guess it's ignorance.
You're actually safer in a modern subway tunnel than you are above ground in a big city.
The proximity of the border might be the reason Spanish is so widely spoken in LA rather than a higher LA tolerance for a language other then English. There are simply so many immigrants coming from the poorer south of the border countries that it is possible for many to earn a living without really learning English.
I do believe that blksophisticado is right re: LA's over-reliance on good weather when it comes to its overall reputation. That might be why some businesses and good people are taking off; good weather is not enough to keep either around - for that LA needs good infrastructure. But building or maintaining infrastructure is an expensive proposition.
And here is where the challenge lies - LA does not like taxes.
Proposition 13 brought about more than thirty years ago kept LA at a disadvantage when it comes to infrastructure, not it's relatively younger age in comparison with other big cities. Many cities built overnight are actually done right with its inhabitants benefiting from it.
And that brings us to the reason this law came about in the first place - LA's unique cultural character.
NY city was populated along the ages by waves of immigrants who managed to survive by sticking together and developing a sense of community.
LA's history is different. Founded by a Spanish governor in 1781, part of Mexico from 1821 to 1848,
by 1820 LA was inhabited by 650 residents.
Below is a colorful quote from Wikipedia regarding this era:
"In 1848, the gold discovered in Coloma first brought thousands of miners from Sonora northern Mexico on the way to the gold fields. So many of them settled in the area north of the Plaza that it came to be known as Sonoratown.
During the Gold Rush years in northern California, Los Angeles became known as the “Queen of the Cow Counties” for its role in supplying beef and other foodstuffs to hungry miners in the north. Among the cow counties, Los Angeles County had the largest herds in the state followed closely by Santa Barbara and Monterey Counties.[30]
With the temporary absence of a legal system, the city was quickly submerged in lawlessness. Many of the New York regiment disbanded at the end of the war and charged with maintaining order were thugs and brawlers. They roamed the streets joined by gamblers, outlaws, and prostitutes driven out of San Francisco and mining towns of the north by Vigilance Committees or lynch mobs. Los Angeles came to be known as the "toughest and most lawless city west of Santa Fe."[31]
Some of the residents resisted the new Anglo powers by resorting to social banditry against the gringos. In 1856, Juan Flores threatened Southern California with a full-scale revolt. He was hanged in Los Angeles in front of 3,000 spectators. Tiburcio Vasquez, a legend in his own time among the Mexican-born population for his daring feats against the Anglos, was captured in what is believed to be present-day West Hollywood. He was found guilty of two counts of murder by a San Jose jury in 1874, and was hanged there in 1875.
Los Angeles had several active Vigilance Committees during that era. Between 1850 and 1870, mobs carried out approximately 35 lynchings of Mexicans—more than four times the number that occurred in San Francisco. Los Angeles was described as “undoubtedly the toughest town of the entire nation.”[32] The homicide rate between 1847 and 1870 averaged 158 per 100,000 (13 murders per year), which was 10 to 20 times the annual murder rates for New York City during the same period.[33]"
In 1892 oil was discovered in LA; by 1900 the population surpassed 100,000 residents.
By 1923 LA was producing more than one-quarter of the world's petroleum. In 1920's, the motion picture and and aviation industries flocked to Los Angeles. By 1932 LA's population surpassed 1,000,000.
So LA was built by business. And business is in the business of making money, not develop communities.
Strong individualism and shrewed business sense in what many of the LA's pioneers had in common.
And this reflects in LA's run-down infracture and heterogeneous character.
Love it or hate it, this is LA.
Last edited by learningCA; 12-03-2009 at 03:28 PM..
Diversity? You got it. I live in the San Fernando Valley and, from one street to the next you will get a taste (literaly since the most common way we share our cultures is through our ethnic restaurants) of Mexico, El Salvador, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, China, Greece, Armenia, Russia, India, France and America and all from places where the employees speak English.
You are making me so hungry.
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