Los Angeles is an f'ing dump

I went to LA for the first time when I was in fourth grade. My father moved there in 1987 looking for a different life.

First summer I spent there, it struck me how oversold the image of the city is.

It's not like I live in Shangri-La or anything, but LA's fucking ugly, the assholes-per-capita is far higher than any other American city I've been to, and all that's before we get into the discussions on earthquakes, drought and the fact that throwing a lit cigarette on a hillside will start a fire that takes 3 weeks to put out.

 

The problem is that LA is so large, those who say "It's great!" have as much weight as those who say "It sucks!"

I grew up in the South Bay beach cities, and my attitude toward this thread (as it was in college) is that if you hate LA, no problem. I happen to like it a lot. I personally am not a fan of New York City, because I like to see the sun hit the ground every once in a while. Sounds dumb from someone who has never lived in NY, right? Eirther way, to each their own.

Now, had I spent my formative years in a desert like Riverside or a crime-ridden, run-down area like Compton, I might feel differently about LA. But like any big city, there are good parts and bad parts. It's just that, unlike a New York, Boston, etc. it's tough for a citywide cleanup, since it's not really a city. It's a bunch of suburbs loosely surrounding a downtown that lacks a centralized identity.

And yeah, the drive on the freeways away from the coast is full of unpleasant sights.

 

I was there once, years ago, and thought it was a shithole then.

 

Well-said, Piotr.

I've lived in L.A. since '94. I love it. It gives me great money, great opportunities, a receptive audience and great weather. I've also lived in NYC (although I'm thinking about moving back). I like both very much, but to your point, every big city has its good and bad.

For all you bashers, not all of us wanna live in a goddamn flyover state in the middle of nowhere, doing Pee-Wee League gamers for the Dicklicker, North Dakota Bi-Monthly Gazette/Auto Shopper and calling it a career Shangri-La.

 

I grew up in the IE as well. Wasn't a bad place to grow up in, although outside of places like Redlands, Rancho Cucamonga, Claremont or Upland, I wouldn't want to move back and raise a family there today.

Then again, I still live in SoCal and can see the downside. Many of those points are well-taken. But give me SoCal ahead of anywhere in Texas, Florida, New York or virtually any of the flyover states other than Colorado.

 

Well said, Piotr. The question is, what where is L.A.? That's not as easily definable as some may think.

Westwood? Compton? The South Bay? South Gate? San Pedro? Hollywood? North Hollywood? Those places are so different, but they're all part of L.A. It's like comparing the Village to Times Square to the Bronx.

"Los Angeles is an f'ing dump" might be right, to some. But which Los Angeles are we talking about here?

Anyway, I've lived on the Atlantic Coast, in the South and in Texas ... for my money, there's no better place to live than Southern California, where I've been for the last 2.5 years. I haven't found any reason to want to leave. I'll take the smog, the quakes, the traffic and the crime for the opportunities, the people and the weather. There are places I'd never want to raise kids, but there are other places I'd never want to leave. I love living out here.

Like Bird said, the downside is apparent. But there's a ton of upside, too. To each their own.

 

I'm not bashing it, I was born here 43 years ago. It saddens me. Granted, the strip along the coast from Santa Monica thru OC and the mile inland is great... but that's not much of LA.

There is a mid-sized apartment complex being built next to the 10 fwy at National Blvd (west LA). As the mother-f'er is being built, it has been continually graffiti'd, tagged, and sprayed. Every single day. Fresh coat of paint, another round of tagging. It kills me. It's a blight. If something doesn't have razor wire around it, it's tagged. I was in a public restroom, somewhere. I am looking *underneath the sink* and there is graffiti. Who the F would stoop over and scrawl on the porcelain and pipes under a stupid sink in a stupid one bathroom restaurant?

Spray paint on the windscreens of the tennis courts I drive by. Who does this crap?

Tagging is just a blight, and it reduces the quality of life, and so unnecessary. Very ugly.

 

It's not that hard to figure. SF Valley to the northwest. Santa Clarita to the north. Covina to the east, OC to the south.

Make the borders of LA Lancaster to the north, IE to the east. It doesn't matter, my point is the same.

 

I know. And they're all tagged.

 

Love to visit. Love the weather, generally. Love Manhattan Beach and south. Wouldn't want to live there. And I wish more Californians would stay there instead of moving to other western states. ;D

Never been to Dicklicker, N.D. Is that another word for Alice, Sharon, Ashley, Taylor, Napoleon, Max, Stanley or Flasher? Because I've been there.

 

I shake my head at that building every time I drive by (just this morning, sitting in traffic, actually). It's about the only time in my life I've ever felt sorry for a developer.

And in downtown, on the overpasses on the 110, they've managed to tag beyond the razor wire.

Oddly enough, in my hood (Los Feliz/Silver Lake), the tagging's actually pretty good and for the most part, people leave the artwork alone.