Warning Please read this BEFORE you think about moving here! (Los Angeles: home, neighborhood)

[Marka]

A lot of posts have been removed from this thread as personal attacks - from both sides of the argument. Maintain civil debate without ad hominem arguments or this thread will be closed permanently. Thank you.

[Prariedamngood]

Originally Posted by CaliNative83

SF is NOT the bay area. Moderator cut: orphaned The bay area does have a lot of diversity but SF does not. If I was referring to LA I would not be including, Newport Beach, Temecula, Riverside, Covina, Fullerton, Agoura Hills etc. Besides SF in many ways is very segregated where you have chinese, black and white only neighborhoods. I have had black friends here that felt it was very racist whenever they got on Muni white women would hold onto their purses. Diversity means to me that people with different backgrounds are mixing with one another and dont hold onto things that separate them. How many gays only go to gay bars in castro and dont mingle with straight people? How many chinese people would live in a black neighborhood in SF or vice versa? none because they dont get along. ...

By your definition then Madison would be more diverse than San Francisco. I am originally from San Francisco, and I'm not jealous, but I do find it diverse.

[els0425]

wow, thats quite the fury. but i must say, SOcal and NORcal are 2 completely different places, and you really cant compare them; both have pros and cons, and theres no way a norcal person will be able to confince socal person its better, and vice versa

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by skatealoneskatetogether

ever been out east? Chicago, detriot, st louie, indianopolis, miami, etc??? all cesspools and fly over cities.

Try going west IF you ever make it at all. Once I get in the Rockies, I don't know if I am going to make it out alive.

"Fly over cities?" The West is pretty much ignored by the Eastern and Central Time Zones. After all who cares what goes on in the Rockies and the West Coast? The power centres are located in the East, NYC and DC, so this country can go on without you. It's already been done before!

[majoun]

Originally Posted by els0425

wow, thats quite the fury. but i must say, SOcal and NORcal are 2 completely different places, and you really cant compare them; both have pros and cons, and theres no way a norcal person will be able to confince socal person its better, and vice versa

Here's a question I have, and I hope it doesnt sound stupid. I'm a Southern Californian from L.A. (born in Hollywood, raised in West L.A., currently in Culver City) and it looks like I'll have to move to the Bay Area next year for work related reasons. I've always liked many aspects of SF and have always liked going there, and most of the negatives aren't too different than some of LA's negatives (the homeless problem in LA is comparable to that in SF, for example) but one thing that bothers me is the INTENSE prejudice in SF against Southern Californians and particularly Angelenos - would that have any effect on me when I move there? I'm not one of the stereotypical "SoCal" types, would I get hassled in SF for my southern origins and roots?

[BearBranch]

Not at all.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by BearBranch

Not at all.

Good to hear that a non-stereotypical Angeleno wouldn't be discriminated against. It's encouraging to know that I wouldn't get hassled. Maybe it's because most of SF's population now is from somewhere else (same with LA)? (Guess as long as I keep my mouth shut about the Dodgers/Giants rivalry I should be fine....)

Anyways, I look forward to joining all of you next year in your great part of the state.

[Milliano]

Yes definitely. Only about 35% of SF residents were even born in California, let alone SF. (according to http://www.sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/moed/economic_strat/ExecutiveSummary_EconomicPerformanceReview.pdf (broken link) (PDF file) )
Almost half the population wasn't even born in the United States.
Except unlike LA, they aren't all from Mexico (...just kidding... sort of)

[gentlewoman]

CaliNative83, dear... you have finally met someone who has lived in all the places you mention in your bitter little missive. I cannot understand why you came... LA has Universities and in an urban setting. S. F. is not nearly as ‘urban’ as LA.

I have lived in NYC, in Chicago, In LA, In Buffalo, Detroit, Cincinnati, Lexington, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Memphis and several other large, very large, and moderate sized cities, including Amsterdam and Baarn, Netherlands. I have been in every state of the Union, including Hawaii and Alaska, where I stayed with my daughter who lived in Fairbanks. So, I feel I can speak with some weight when I say that I worked for forty years to get to San Francisco, as it is, in my mind, the best City to live in in these United States, and I have lived happily in The City for the last 25 years. (I do not include Europe, as there are several places I would gladly live there.) I have had several friends who came here from England say that SF is like living in their old village, as you meet people you know everywhere, even on the bus -- it’s true, and I know several of the bus drivers on my line -- maybe because I am very old, dye my hair purple and am often called ‘the purple lady” as I dress in purple also.

I will not attack other cities, as you have S.F., because, I still have many friends and relatives in many of them, particularly Chicago, which can be difficult, as it is very much broken up into ethnic communities who do not like having ‘outsiders” (anyone NOT of their nationality) moving in, and often show their displeasure by throwing rocks through windows, burning crosses on lawns, and generally making life difficult for all. They also do not have good public transportation from some communities outside the city. LA is much like Chicago, except the people there seem to live in their cars. Their public transport system is almost non-existent (I realize they are trying to improve it, but not very speedily). It seems to me to be a city of loners from other places, primarily unhappy kooks from other cities here and abroad, except for some charming ‘natives.’ (Oh, the 'homeless' are from all over... they moved to SF or LA to keep from freezing back East, just as I did... and so many others.)

With the terrible slump we are in now, housing prices have gone down in many places, (oh, you can go and live very cheaply in Montana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Mississippi... DO go, your space here will be filled fast) unfortunately not as much in CA because of our lovely climate, If you really want warm or hot... go to LA, or move inland, or go North or South of S.F., which can be what the natives call ‘cold’... and I laugh and go out in shorts -- to me it’s just right.

I suppose. Now if I were speaking to people who are thinking of moving here, I would say this: If you want to live cheek on jowl with a lot of other people from all over the U.S. and the world, choose S.F. If you like cool weather most of the time, we have it. During the 2 or 3 HOT days we have (at odd times...summer here is cool) most people just rush to the beach... fast, as it is not going to last! I’m here because I LOVE the fog and the wonderful winds (often worse than Chicago, but not quite as cold) that have cured the asthma I suffered in Chicago. You will definitely pay HIGH prices to live here. I am one of the lucky ones. I live in a subsidized Senior Building near the original Mission Dolores, and sold my car before moving here, for SF is like NYC. Do not drive unless you have to. (Most of my friends in NYC cannot drive... people from the theatre who come out to LA have to learn to drive, as there is so little public transportation.) We in S.F. have some of the best public transportation in the country. No just cable cars, but also trains and buses -- and the BART, which can get me over to the theatre in Berkeley in minutes... or out to El Cerrito to visit my boyfriend in half an hour or less (or usually him in to see me in that time). Also, we now have City Cars, which you can rent if you are foolish enough to want to drive anywhere... well, it is sometimes fun to go up to Marin or Santa Rosa with a car... although one can do it on a bus.

Where on earth have you been living CaliNative? What a sad little life you must lead... I have (since my children live in Chicago and Kentucky) an adopted S.F. family, full of diversity -- gay men (2), Chinese (4), Mexican-American (3), English (2), Russian (3), 1 Wisconsin WASP (like me, only I was born in Michigan), 1 sailor from everywhere, 1 Parisian, 2 Guatemalan, 1 African-American from here, 1 from Ghana, and one Lesbian, who unfortunately moved down to Palm Springs as she likes HOT weather... and a fleet of the cutest and nicest taxi drivers from Luxor Cabs, who come when called and are mostly CHARMING. As I said, as we live on top of each other in tiny little apartments and houses, I guess we have to learn to get along with each other. I have, and so have my friends.

I was once joking with three young girls and saying that I was beginning to feel that I had become a real San Franciscan. One of them leaned over to me, put her hand on my arm and said, “Peg, you were BORN a San Franciscan, it just took you longer than most of us to get here.” So that is my love song to The City, my place of residence for the rest of my life. I even have plans as to where my ashes will be dropped in little spoonfuls by my son, around MY City.

[City Boy]

Wow this is an old thread, ^^^^ anyways, how is LA more urban than SF? SF is more dense and has more people per square mile than LA.