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L.A. is infinitely more challenging, but also infinitely more rewarding and exciting, as a place to live than S.D. L.A. people are somewhat impatient and aloof at the outset (especially on the road), but in the right social settings, can actually open up and become rather friendly and engaging. And, once you leave the whole vapid Hollywood/entertainment industry scene, a plethora of amazing neighborhoods, restaurants, and world-class universities all abound. Plus, In-N-Out originated here.
S.D., on the other hand, portrays a "happy go lucky" vibe to tourists, but I found the locals to actually be generally vapid and rude, from unexplainably hostile and unhelpful coworkers, to encountering no shortage of road-raging drivers far worse than any I've ever seen in L.A. (who I did not engage or take any "bait" from), to having the worst landlord ever, etc.... However, with the exception of the bad traffic on the 5 Freeway all the way up to Orange County at this point, S.D. living is overall less complex or challenging than L.A.
Ive been living in la for a couple years and I'm becoming worn down by:
Crazy traffic Greater L.A. has crazy traffic, no doubt, but S.D. blew me away by the incompetence and road-ragin' attitude of its drivers. At least L.A. drivers are skilled and limit (generally) their road rage to blowing their horns and tailgating you, rather than damn near killing you like some do in S.D.
How hard it is to find a decent and decently priced apartment because of the competition I actually found that apartments were more difficult to find in S.D. than in L.A., for some odd reason. However, I won't negate that L.A. can be challenging, too, in this regard.
No parking when you go out Very true.
No parking in residential areas unless you're out in the valley And, this is becoming more challenging even in the San Fernando Valley, it seems. Go out to the Santa Clarita or San Gabriel Valleys if you want more abundant free parking in residential areas.
The self absorbed dudes I can't disagree, and I'm a guy. On the other hand, replace "dudes" with "girls" and you have my situation. Also, this isn't endemic to L.A.; I found S.D. women to be arrogant and vapid, as much as, or even worse than, in L.A.
The difficulty living here day to day It can be difficult, very difficult, but it is also far more rewarding and exciting than S.D. or, for that matter, O.C.
The congestion No argument there.
The picture perfect facade everyone tries to keep up It is the absolute worst on the west side of L.A., the southern edges of the San Fernando Valley, and O.C., but this facade mentality has spread throughout coastal California at this point. Go to S.D., Santa Barbara, Redlands, Riverside, San Luis Obispo, the Bay Area... You'll see it ever-increasing in those places, too.
The amount of crappy run down parts/neighborhoods there are While crime has improved greatly from the 1970s-early 2000s highest-crime era of L.A., many of the neighborhoods that were so afflicted by such high crime have still struggled to recover economically and, hence, aesthetically.
I like the resources and classes and entertainment here but the day to day sucks.
it's mostly the apartment finding no parking always in traffic thing that's getting to me. Maybe I'm describing any big city but I'm just...tired. For those who've lived in both cities, Is sd any better????? I'm originally from oc but oc gives off such a family vibe which I'm not ready for.
My responses are in red above.
I personally prefer L.A. to S.D., having lived and worked in both. However, you might take 2-3 extended weekend vacations in S.D. and check it out for yourself. And, don't just limit yourself to downtown or Balboa Park; drive out to Imperial Beach, Chula Vista, Carlsbad, Encinitas, etc., and get a feel for the different living arrangements, communities, and vibes throughout the area.
Thank you everyone who chimed in with informative responses! I can understand the perspectives here. Harder to live in la but a more happening place to live. I think I'll give it one more year and then drag my tired self down south
L.A. is infinitely more challenging, but also infinitely more rewarding and exciting, as a place to live than S.D. L.A. people are somewhat impatient and aloof at the outset (especially on the road), but in the right social settings, can actually open up and become rather friendly and engaging. And, once you leave the whole vapid Hollywood/entertainment industry scene, a plethora of amazing neighborhoods, restaurants, and world-class universities all abound. Plus, In-N-Out originated here.
S.D., on the other hand, portrays a "happy go lucky" vibe to tourists, but I found the locals to actually be generally vapid and rude, from unexplainably hostile and unhelpful coworkers, to encountering no shortage of road-raging drivers far worse than any I've ever seen in L.A. (who I did not engage or take any "bait" from), to having the worst landlord ever, etc.... However, with the exception of the bad traffic on the 5 Freeway all the way up to Orange County at this point, S.D. living is overall less complex or challenging than L.A.
Give me L.A. any day.
I completely agree with this post.
I was just in Costa Mesa yesterday to visit friends, and then drove around L.A. and got food before coming back home to SD.
By far O.C. L.A. feel much more intense and fast-paced, rewarding, urban, dense, and exciting than SD ever will. It's littered with freeways everywhere (which BTW have been heavily improved, expanded, and smoothed out vs SD, that feels old, dilapidated, behind the times, and rough to drive on) industry, businesses all over the place, from Anaheim, to Long Beach, while SD feels rural, countryish and backwater for the most part compared to all of O.C.. It's amazing the differences from one place to another. You can never get bored up there, while in SD, you can see everything in a weekend!
San Diego in comparison still feels like a resort town where everybody is on vacation, people walking or jogging around everywhere in the middle of the day like nobody is working, it's population looks older, less young people in SD, especially from all ethnicities. SD is also extremely segregated, I was driving around all over in OC/L.A. and I saw a mixture of all races everywhere I went, no matter what freeway I was on, great diversity is bounded there. Our freeways are in severe needs of upgrades, it looks like all the Caltrans money went to OC first, and is barely trickling down to SD. The vibe in SD is very very very laid back and calmer, it's geography is hilly and less cohesive.
We think traffic is bad in SD, yeah right, just drive to L.A. for a weekend and its bumper to bumper at 10am on Sat!.
I couldn't believe the traffic congestion on the 55, the 91 and 405 yesterday, it felt like rush hour traffic down here on the 805, but on a much larger scale.
Hands down, give me O.C./L.A. any day over SD. There are a million times more things to do, eat, see, it's entertainment, shopping, and vast amounts of older charming neighborhoods are all over the place compared to San Diego. North Park, Hillcrest, Normal Heights, Kensington, Mission Hills are a tiny blip on a radar screen in L.A., it doesn't register because they're tons of those kinds of neighborhoods in L.A./OC, that are even more historic and cool.
If you can still tolerate the traffic, I say stay in L.A., believe me, once you move to SD, you'll mentally start to slow down from it generally being so slow since we don't have the same kind of hustle and bustle like L.A. does. Far less work opportunities as well but with similar housing and rent prices.
I was driving around all over in OC/L.A. and I saw a mixture of all races everywhere I went, no matter what freeway I was on, great diversity is bounded there.
I wanted to comment on this portion of sdlife's post, "no matter what freeway I was on"
Not ...
street
club
church
park
mall
neighborhood
business
beach
but freeway...
if this doesn't speak to the freeway centric world view of Southern California, nothing does.
Dude, you're spending too much of your life stuck on the freeway!
I went to college in LA and now live in SD. The traffic is Way worse in LA than SD. People drive crazier there too. I had a car but took public transportation as much as possible or walked. I think the vibe is very different in LA versus SD. I wouldn't live in LA again if you paid me.
L.A. by far has more to offer. It has a lot more entertainment, good food, lots of diversity, better politics, and a lot more fun. Orange County for the most part feels very fake, and superficial. This is especially obvious in southern Orange County. Endless shopping malls and cookie cutter homes. Once you get into LA the fun really begins!
San Diego feels so sleepy and like a small town sometimes. I hate when the media plays up this "America's finest city" stuff. The media also pushes a pro-military attitude because of the military influence. They do these gushy stories about military members coming back. Sorry, I am not a fan of the military industrial complex.
Parts of the county feel like the south or rural midwest. It's truly strange how it can go from that backwoods redneckish feeling of places like Lakeside to a more diverse urban feeling of La Mesa and City Hieghts all within 10 to 15 miles.
The Gaslamp is filled with drunk military members, bros, and other people like that. Outside of the Gaslamp there aren't too many centralized places for nightlife.
The politics also seem backwards compared to other cities of a similar size. Just listen to all the right wing radio in San Diego or just turn on K.U.S. I. Like Orange County there are a lot of shopping malls and cookie cutter blandness to be found.
Very expensive and low wages all over San Diego.
I am a native of San Diego and I am probably leaving very soon. San Diego just isn't where I want to be anymore. The only thing I will miss is being close to Mexico because I go there often and love it. Everything else about San Diego doesn't appeal to me. To answer the op LA definitely has more things to do and a better job market.
L.A. by far has more to offer. It has a lot more entertainment, good food, lots of diversity, better politics, and a lot more fun. Orange County for the most part feels very fake, and superficial. This is especially obvious in southern Orange County. Endless shopping malls and cookie cutter homes. Once you get into LA the fun really begins!
San Diego feels so sleepy and like a small town sometimes. I hate when the media plays up this "America's finest city" stuff. The media also pushes a pro-military attitude because of the military influence. They do these gushy stories about military members coming back. Sorry, I am not a fan of the military industrial complex.
Parts of the county feel like the south or rural midwest. It's truly strange how it can go from that backwoods redneckish feeling of places like Lakeside to a more diverse urban feeling of La Mesa and City Hieghts all within 10 to 15 miles.
The Gaslamp is filled with drunk military members, bros, and other people like that. Outside of the Gaslamp there aren't too many centralized places for nightlife.
The politics also seem backwards compared to other cities of a similar size. Just listen to all the right wing radio in San Diego or just turn on K.U.S. I. Like Orange County there are a lot of shopping malls and cookie cutter blandness to be found.
Very expensive and low wages all over San Diego.
I am a native of San Diego and I am probably leaving very soon. San Diego just isn't where I want to be anymore. The only thing I will miss is being close to Mexico because I go there often and love it. Everything else about San Diego doesn't appeal to me. To answer the op LA definitely has more things to do and a better job market.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
7,409 posts, read 6,547,418 times
Reputation: 6682
Very well stated...to those who claim about SD, "well, we're not LA", I could not agree with you any more.
I did catch up with friends yesterday who said the SD homeless situation--bad, very bad, when I left--has gotten even worse. Any concrete action steps in place to finally tackle the problem or just more task forces which is akin to blowing smoke up one's ***?...if I were Bosa or Manchester I would be all over Faulconer like a dog after a piece of meat on this issue.
Quote:
Originally Posted by aboveordinary
L.A. by far has more to offer. It has a lot more entertainment, good food, lots of diversity, better politics, and a lot more fun. Orange County for the most part feels very fake, and superficial. This is especially obvious in southern Orange County. Endless shopping malls and cookie cutter homes. Once you get into LA the fun really begins!
San Diego feels so sleepy and like a small town sometimes. I hate when the media plays up this "America's finest city" stuff. The media also pushes a pro-military attitude because of the military influence. They do these gushy stories about military members coming back. Sorry, I am not a fan of the military industrial complex.
Parts of the county feel like the south or rural midwest. It's truly strange how it can go from that backwoods redneckish feeling of places like Lakeside to a more diverse urban feeling of La Mesa and City Hieghts all within 10 to 15 miles.
The Gaslamp is filled with drunk military members, bros, and other people like that. Outside of the Gaslamp there aren't too many centralized places for nightlife.
The politics also seem backwards compared to other cities of a similar size. Just listen to all the right wing radio in San Diego or just turn on K.U.S. I. Like Orange County there are a lot of shopping malls and cookie cutter blandness to be found.
Very expensive and low wages all over San Diego.
I am a native of San Diego and I am probably leaving very soon. San Diego just isn't where I want to be anymore. The only thing I will miss is being close to Mexico because I go there often and love it. Everything else about San Diego doesn't appeal to me. To answer the op LA definitely has more things to do and a better job market.
Last edited by elchevere; 05-16-2017 at 06:08 AM..
The differences between LA and SD are getting smaller every day... a lot of SD is essentially the same as Anaheim / Garden Grove / Long Beach. LA at least has jobs and all the upside of a major global city. Depends what you want in life I suppose
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