To complement the NYC thread.

After grading assloads of papers tonight, I went out to procure a beverage. Ended up talking to this cock from L.A. who claimed that Chicago was backward, had no culture, that in four years he hadn't met anyone he liked, and that rock was irrelevant. After I tried unsuccessfully to make him argue those "positions," he then went on to talk about how he is having a couple of friends "in the industry" read his script, and how feminism is crap.

Good G-d. I've never been to L.A. But right now, I'm inclined to think it's crap. Prove me wrong.

I really wanted to like LA when I visited, but it seems like a wasteland... No centre, very few public spaces - I even saw a "no smoking" sign in an outdoor park! And the big one, the worst public transport I have ever experienced, you need a car to go anywhere!

I like LA. Being from LA and all. You can't really look at it as a City, like Chicago or New York, but more like a megasprawl, like Tokyo - it just keeps going, and there are little centers here and there.

We do have great culture, though Chicago is definitely nothing to fuck with. The weather is fantastic. Got beaches, right there...

I would like more public transport, though. It's just hard to work it in such a spread out THing.

L.A. is total crap,
But there are certain places away from the metropolitan area that are beautiful, and entertaining - just like any city, really.

San Diego, from what I've seen is nice, but I guess it depends on where you go outside of the metropolitan area of LA. I thought everything from Camp Pendleton to Cardiff is crap. Almost moved to Oceanside last year, and I think that would have made me go insane. It's the sprawl, and the never ending strip malls. It's like a hilly version of suburban Indianapolis. I have not seen much north of LA but would like to.

I do like metropolitan LA. It's just... so... unreal? A friend lives in West Hollywood, and had great fun there, and doing all the touristy stuff in Santa Monica, Venice, etc. Drove around Laurel Canyon/Mullholland Drive which was pretty cool. Would like to someday drive up Hwy 1 all the way to San Francisco.

Like New York, if I could afford it, I could probably live there.

Hiking (they've got state parks with steep trails in the Hollywood Hills), ocean, Mediterranean weather, not crap...busy skilled people, meritocracy, not crap...Bicycle Club, not crap (though I didn't think it would feel like a roadside reservation casino)...all the Waits/Bukowski/Harry Dean Stanton types...screenplays in used bookstores...but then there's also the yes-that's-interesting-but-what-can-you-do-for-me industry-town atmosphere...

Sockmonkey, if you ever do take Highway 1 to San Francisco, you should really take it for another day or two north from there, past Bodega Bay, the Sonoma and Mendocino coasts, etc.

LA is wonderful, but after living here 19 years, i have no choice but to vote crap. it's that kind of love-hate relationship. there are some great things about it, and a lot of not so great things about it.

i'm from the suberbs anyways. those are not crap, but LA on the whole craps out. lots of those selfish moneygreedy bastards that Flaneur mentioned. lots of people who don't know how to drive, rushhour traffic is the worst thing ever. and no public transport makes a night of drinking very difficult if you want to be responsible.. coming home drunk on a subway or metro is pleasant. in a car, not so much.

nice weather though.

Crap, 9

I lived in LA for a couple years as a kid. It's pretty stressful as far as the traffic and the crime, and apparently the showbiz factor can be nauseating, but it does seem to have that kind of paradise gone bad atmosphere that can be kind of interesting.

sockmonkey wrote:San Diego, from what I've seen is nice, but I guess it depends on where you go outside of the metropolitan area of LA. I thought everything from Camp Pendleton to Cardiff is crap. Almost moved to Oceanside last year, and I think that would have made me go insane. It's the sprawl, and the never ending strip malls. It's like a hilly version of suburban Indianapolis. I have not seen much north of LA but would like to. .

Hey, I live in Oceanside (save your apologies Monkey boy!)
it ain't that bad.

L.a. on the other hand is total shite. Delightful homeless population though.

glynnisjohns wrote:Hey, I live in Oceanside (save your apologies Monkey boy!)
it ain't that bad.

L.a. on the other hand is total shite. Delightful homeless population though.

Girl, Monkey Girl. Oceanside seemed like a really good idea the first time I was there. The office was 3 blocks from the beach, and there was a bowling alley nearby. That would have been really awesome. We stayed in Vista, and after a couple days of driving back and forth, it started ooking me out. I probably would have moved there, or at least spent a couple weeks there every other month if they could have nailed down a liveable salary.

It reminds me visually/architecturally too much of the midwestern suburbs that I so dispise. I like cities, charming homeless people, stink, and all.