You live in Miami and prefer it to Los Angeles. Why? (Fort Lauderdale: city hall, credit)

[Nolefan34]

Originally Posted by polo89

Isn't that pretty much I-95 throughout much of South Florida?

Yes. And your point is?

[polo89]

Originally Posted by Nolefan34

Yes. And your point is?

I don't see how that can be a strange thing about LA, if the same thing happens in Miami.

[SalParadise]

Originally Posted by perry335654

Smoke and Fog= No can see LaLaLand

Yes, Miami has better air quality than LA (as do San Diego and San Francisco) but your comment is a big overstatement.

Plenty of days when it is clear in LA and no matter how blue the sky is in Miami it will never have a landscape as dramatic as this.

Hollywood Hills


Downtown LA - Wintertime Shot

[rnc2mbfl]

Miami got my vote for MANY reasons.
1. It's on the East Coast
2. The weather is warmer year 'round
3. The Ocean is way warmer year 'round
4. The sky is clearer
5. It's more affordable
6. The Latin culture is more diverse and I love it!
7. Surprisingly, it's less pretentious
8. Nobody cares whether or not you are "in the business"
9. New Yorkers! I love New Yorkers
10. It's not as sprawled
11. December, January, February and March!!!!

[polo89]

Originally Posted by rnc2mbfl

Miami got my vote for MANY reasons.
1. It's on the East Coast
2. The weather is warmer year 'round
3. The Ocean is way warmer year 'round
4. The sky is clearer
5. It's more affordable
6. The Latin culture is more diverse and I love it!
7. Surprisingly, it's less pretentious
8. Nobody cares whether or not you are "in the business"
9. New Yorkers! I love New Yorkers
10. It's not as sprawled
11. December, January, February and March!!!!

LA has plenty of New Yorkers from what I heard, and plenty of people from all over the East-coast. But I don't really see that as a positive for either city.

[rnc2mbfl]

Originally Posted by SalParadise

Yes, Miami has better air quality than LA (as do San Diego and San Francisco) but your comment is a big overstatement.

Plenty of days when it is clear in LA and no matter how blue the sky is in Miami it will never have a landscape as dramatic as this.

Hollywood Hills


Downtown LA - Wintertime Shot

Sure it has its good air days but I have NEVER seen one of them and I have been to LA many, many times. Miami always has good air days. What use is a view of the mountains if you can rarely see them? What good is a view from the hills (I have a friend in the Hollywood Hills) if you have to try to look through haze to see the city or the ocean?

[SalParadise]

Originally Posted by xS☺Be

I spent two weeks in LA so I certainly can't present any in depth comparison, but given that these are my impressions:

LA has a far deeper richer culture than Miami IMO. It has just SO much more than Miami in just about every category. And when you throw in the Hollywood factor, LA is just bursting with iconic places. And all the celebrities there! You could probably count on your fingers the major celebs in Miami. In LA you couldn't even count them all. So much more possibility it would seem. LA just seems to burst with fame and glam.

However, maybe LA is just too spread out. In Miami, everything that matters is in one spot - SoBe. You're there, everything is there, all the time. I wonder how could I live in Hollywood, shop in Beverly Hills, and go to the beach anytime I wanted? You can do all that on SoBe.

1) And the famed Rodeo Drive? 3 blocks long! Jeez, talk about overhyped! I also noticed driving around LA in many places you see nothing but walls or hedges. People barricading themselves in. What good is all this fabulousness if no one can see it?

2) Miami or LA? If a car wasn't so absolutely required in LA, I'd probably go with LA w/o a second thought having already spent 3 years in Miami - just for no other reason to explore someplace new. But in reality, I wasn't totally sold on LA. To me, Miami is just way more beautiful, and so are the people. At least they were.

3) I saw the Sunset Grill in Hollywood from the Don Henley song. The location sure isn't as romantic as he makes it seem. I think I'd be better off at the "Sunrise Grill".

xSobe: Thanks for your comments. If anyone views my post history, they will know I LIKE Miami. But I did want to respond to a couple of things in your post.

1. Rodeo Drive: Overhyped tourist trap for sure. But quite honestly I am surprised you even wasted ANY time there. As a local, I NEVER go there. Next time try taking Wilshire Blvd from Downtown LA to the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica and you will see the many, many deep layers of Los Angeles. Far more interesting with much more character and it's a 20 mile stretch to boot.

2. People do live in LA without a car. I understand the scale of LA is quite intimidating (and from that standpoint Miami is an easier, less stressful place to live). But if you lived in So. Beach without a car, there is no reason you could not do the same thing in Santa Monica (for example).

3. "Sunset Grill" by Don Henley. I suggest you not let pop songs be your tour guide next time. That song was NEVER meant to romantize Hollywood or the Sunset Grill. Didn't you hear the line in the song that says, "watch the working girls go by..." That part of Sunset Blvd, when the song was written, was FILLED with prostitutes ("working girls") and pimps and far seedier than it is today. Henley often writes with a critical eye...he was not trying to be romantic or sentimental in that song.

[polo89]

LA peaks my interest. I'm interested in most parts of LA that most people don't really discuss. The whole South Central LA region looks super interesting to me. So do the South bay cities(Torrance, Gardena, etc).

[SalParadise]

Originally Posted by rnc2mbfl

Sure it has its good air days but I have NEVER seen one of them and I have been to LA many, many times. Miami always has good air days. What use is a view of the mountains if you can rarely see them? What good is a view from the hills (I have a friend in the Hollywood Hills) if you have to try to look through haze to see the city or the ocean?

My camera does not lie. This shot was taken from my office window during the summer (peak smog and haze season).



View of the San Fernando Valley (the "smoggiest" section in the City of Los Angeles)





Yes, it would be nice if LA had San Francisco's air quality (it's really the geography that makes the difference). And it would be nice if Miami had LESS humidity in the summer. No place is perfect.

But LA's air quality is MUCH cleaner than say 30 years ago (thanks to California's strict tailpipe emission standards & pollution controls). And the photos of clear days that I have posted are NOT rare events.....

[SalParadise]

Originally Posted by polo89

LA peaks my interest. I'm interested in most parts of LA that most people don't really discuss. The whole South Central LA region looks super interesting to me. So do the South bay cities(Torrance, Gardena, etc).

Polo89: You sound like an adventurous traveler. The "South Central" part of LA generally refers to so called inner-city parts of Los Angeles such as Watts. But perhaps you meant to say "South Bay" which refers to places like Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, etc.

Regardless, the neighbohrood of Watts does have one of LA's more interesting landmarks. The famed Watts Towers which are considered one of the best pieces of folk art in the United States.

I would avoid the area at night but I've never had any problem visiting during the day, esp. the annual Watts Towers Jazz Festival which is a great event. The landmark is easily accessible by light rail.







I wonder if Miami has anything like this....maye something in Little Havana????