Why woud someone choose SF over LA? (Oakland, Berkeley: pharmacy, living)

[NewbiePoster]

Originally Posted by jade408

They prioritized funding and expansion with a short timeline. In the time it is taking us to build the 1.5 mike Central Subway, they are wrapping up like 3 light rail lines and the subway to the beach as it is dubbed. We are apparently content taking 40 years to build BRT on Geary even though the buses are packed, carry 50% of the people using the corridor and take forever.

SF def needs BART or some kind of express svce to the beach!

[wrayco]

I've lived in or near LA most of my life so I can speak from the other perspective: wanting to move to SF.

One of the things that makes me dream of going further north is the overall cooler temperature. I don't like the heat. Los Angeles does have the beaches, and the excitement of Hollywood glamour and the movie industry, but if you aren't part of it, or aren't excited by it, the attraction dwindles, IMHO.

Despite it being the hub of the entertainment industry, if you are a musician, it's nearly impossible to make a living as a working musician here. Clubs often make you pay them a fee to play. It does have a vibrant arts community, and a lot of interesting lofts downtown. There is an active garment district, lots of great old theaters, and plenty of explore if you are a photographer interested in the capturing the seedy side of glamour.

There are a lot of outdoor recreation opportunities in the LA area, and you can drive from the mountains to the beach in an afternoon. You can camp on the beach, drive to Mexico, or end up in Las Vegas if you change direction. Being a desert climate, there are more dust and rocks than naturally occurring greenery, but you can find pockets of pretty hiking areas such as Griffith Park. There is almost no time of day you won't see traffic, and the public transportation system still leaves a bit to be desired, but it's slowly improving.

There is a certain superficiality that goes with Los Angeles, which revolves around how you make a living, where you live, what car you drive, how good-looking you are and if you are in "the Industry." The closer to the west side you are, the more obvious this becomes. To get away from this, you might move to the Foothills area, where there is still a bit of culture but not less overt superficiality. Often you can even get a small-town vibe.

No matter your predilection, however, in LA there is so much diversity that you will likely be able to find like-minded folks to mingle with.

My desire to move further north could also stem from an urge to have a whole new world-class city to explore, with all the cautions and delights that portends.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by NewbiePoster

SF def needs BART or some kind of express svce to the beach!

MUNI Metro does go to the beach.

[NewbiePoster]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

MUNI Metro does go to the beach.

Still a lot of stops, though. Except the L line has fewer stops. I'll try that.

[Chimérique]

http://s3.amazonaws.com/movotoblog/2...ies/table.html

See link of Snobbiest cities. (50 total cities)

San Francisco is the #1 snobbiest city.

Bay Area, #1, #5, #16, #20 snobbiest cities.

Los Angeles is #31. Long Beach #45.

[beb0p]

Originally Posted by Chimérique

Historically, SF always had a bit of envy-jealously-attitude toward LA especially regarding pop culture mostly because of film and television. Are you old enough to remember the 30's through the 90's? Regarding media, communications, and pop culture no city could touch LA's influence upon the nation and world. Even NYC couldn't compare because it was an old tired city, everything cool and hip came out of LA. LA, overwhelmingly, received the lion's share of the young, hip and creative. LA's only competitor was SF, and SF suffered from being too small and provincial.

Today, there are many hip and progressive cities in the US with booming economies, "back in the day", LA and SF were the only hip and progressive cities with booming economies, and SF was always second to LA.

Arrrrr, the "SF is jealous of LA" crowd. I never understand this crowd, it just reeks of inferiority complex. And it's almost always coming from the LA side. It just screams of, "Love me! Love me! Be jealous!! Ha ha!" You rarely see any SFers say, "LA is jealous of SF..." or any SFers mentioning LA at all. Seriously, the only time we think of you guys is when our team plays your team.

Maybe it's time some of us act like grownups? No city is ever jealous of another city. You could go to Sacramento or Stockton and you'll find that they like their cities just fine. No jealousy there. We all live where we are because there's where we want to be. If someone from SF likes LA more, guess what, they could just move there and vice versa.

To top it off, you actually said "back in the day" LA and SF are the only hip cities with booming economies??? This is just another whole new level of dumb-down thinking right there.
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[drunk on kool aid]

Originally Posted by NewbiePoster

"until relatively recently virtually no public transportation"

This is totally false unless PT means rail only. LA's had a massive bus fleet, which along with a dozen or so municipal bus systems, covers virtually every corner of the metro. Many lines are rapids with limited stops and some are 24hr. As reliable and quick as rail? No, but the notion that LA has been devoid of PT since the demise of the Red and Yellow Cars is flatly wrong, yet persists to this day.

Originally Posted by NewbiePoster

Impressive. I wonder how they do that? Voters support public transit, and there's enough of a tax base to pay for all that? What have they got that we havn't got in NorCal? Besides Hollywood megabucks and the tax income from that.

We decided to tax ourselves. In 2008, we passed Measure R to raise our sales tax by 0.5% for 30 years to accelerate/pay for transit projects. In 2012, we almost passed Measure J to extend the sales tax increase for an additional 30 years but it just missed passage with a 66.1% yes vote vs. the 66.7% required. NorCal could do the same thing.

Originally Posted by jade408

They prioritized funding and expansion with a short timeline. In the time it is taking us to build the 1.5 mike Central Subway, they are wrapping up like 3 light rail lines and the subway to the beach as it is dubbed. We are apparently content taking 40 years to build BRT on Geary even though the buses are packed, carry 50% of the people using the corridor and take forever.

Previous LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's “30-10 plan” uses Measure R funds to accelerate 30 years worth of projects into 10.

"Subway to the sea" is an extension of the Purple Line (heavy rail) to Santa Monica and won't be done for about a decade. However, the Phase II Expo light rail extension from Culver City to Santa Monica will finish sometime in 2015, providing a single seat ride from DTLA to the ocean.

Originally Posted by beb0p

Arrrrr, the "SF is jealous of LA" crowd. I never understand this crowd, it just reeks of inferiority complex. And it's almost always coming from the LA side. It just screams of, "Love me! Love me! Be jealous!! Ha ha!" You rarely see any SFers say, "LA is jealous of SF..." or any SFers mentioning LA at all.

Interestingly, it's one of your own who stated this very idea: Oakland = mini LA?. See bullet point #9.

Reading this thread, I'm agog at the level of stereotyping, of the good and the bad, of both cities.

Do people really believe that the entertainment industry is that dominant an influence on the life of Angelenos? It isn't unless you're part of that small slice of the population (5%?) that has any connection to it. And I'm estimating 90+% of those people are behind the camera, in largely blue-collar work. Someone intimated that SF is largely tech. I can't challenge this but I have a hard time believing that there aren't also a lot of people doing government work, plumbing, trade, auto repair, dishwashing, delivery, retail, etc., etc. I suspect that SF tech, like Hollywood A-listers are a small but highly visible minority of the population.

[Chimérique]

Originally Posted by beb0p

Arrrrr, the "SF is jealous of LA" crowd. I never understand this crowd, it just reeks of inferiority complex. And it's almost always coming from the LA side. It just screams of, "Love me! Love me! Be jealous!! Ha ha!" You rarely see any SFers say, "LA is jealous of SF..." or any SFers mentioning LA at all. Seriously, the only time we think of you guys is when our team plays your team.

Maybe it's time some of us act like grownups? No city is ever jealous of another city. You could go to Sacramento or Stockton and you'll find that they like their cities just fine. No jealousy there. We all live where we are because there's where we want to be. If someone from SF likes LA more, guess what, they could just move there and vice versa.

To top it off, you actually said "back in the day" LA and SF are the only hip cities with booming economies??? This is just another whole new level of dumb-down thinking right there.
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You obviously don't get it. This is just another example of a complete lack of COMMON SENSE. People are, at times, envious of other places, ether superficially, or for deeper reasons. People make comments all the time, For example, "I wish it wasn't so cold here, I'd love to live in Florida because it never gets cold", thats being envious or even jealous. You can be envious of someone or something without having an inferiority complex.

For decades, LA and SF, WERE, I REPEAT WERE, in DECADES PAST, the only affordable hip cities with booming economies in America. NYC may have been hip with a growing economy but it was extremely expensive compared to LA and SF. I'm talking about the decades from the 40's through the 90's - LA was the media darling and it deserved it.

[Bonez765]

Originally Posted by Chimérique

You obviously don't get it. This is just another example of a complete lack of COMMON SENSE. People are, at times, envious of other places, ether superficially, or for deeper reasons. People make comments all the time, For example, "I wish it wasn't so cold here, I'd love to live in Florida because it never gets cold", thats being envious or even jealous. You can be envious of someone or something without having an inferiority.

You talk like a non-California native. California natives aren't envious of other cities. I'm certainly not envious of LA or SD. I dislike similarity LA and SF (the latter because it had changed to become full of liberal asses instead of just liberals). Friends from LA are the same way. Transplants fight the stupid wars.

[jesse977]

I noticed people from SF talk more crap about LA. People from LA don't give a rats ass about SF. Funny thing is both cities are very similar.