What’s your experience like in Los Angeles?

21 comments

1. Chaotic, diverse, soulful…did I mention diverse?

   The stereotypes of Los Angeles are all wrong and take away from a truly multicultural monster of a region.

2. /r/losangeles may be of interest

3. I went there once and had a good time

4. I visited when I was 12, saw hookers on the street, and was warned by a police officer not to be outside at night because the city is dangerous and my state is a “wimpy place”.

5. Current LA resident. It’s chaotic, fast-paced, and expensive. It’s such a large county, it feels like a whole country in and of itself.

   Santa Monica, Downtown, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, etc. are all so different. You’d have to get more specific about what “part” of LA you’re looking into visiting/moving to.

6. Didn’t like it. Seemed rough and kinda run down. Waaaay too much traffic…. We went to the airport 5hrs early to get out of there.. that says a lot😂

7. It is surprisingly more functional than most other Western US cities. Residential and small scale retail are mixed together in many neighbourhoods, completely unlike (say) Albuquerque which is based on the “this square mile is residential… that square mile is commercial” zoning plan.

   Parts of LA have serious social issues; other parts of LA are rich and smug and calm.

   I think it’s an interesting, but rather otherworldly, place.

8. I like it. It’s more diverse than where I live. I don’t mind driving a lot. Love the weather. My judgement may be clouded because I’m usually in Glendale/Burbank or out in the eastern sprawl.

9. I had a good time visiting this past summer. Its a very lived in and real, breathing city and isn’t Disneyland. I mean there is a Disneyland there, and you can do that, but if you actually visit LA you’ll quickly realize the area isn’t like that. Food scene is ridiculously good with a variety of pricepoints. Did a lot of walking. Put in 10+ miles on some days. Good weather but dear god put on sun screen. Lots of good nature even within the urban areas.

   Don’t go expecting a beach vacation. I mean there are beaches but the water is mostly too cold to swim in.

10. I’ve lived in this area my whole life, and I just see it as urban blight in every direction for miles. If I could afford to leave I would.

11. I go for business fairly often, I quite enjoy it and the weather is absolutely perfect. Maybe a little too much traffic, but other than that I don’t have any complaints.

    I personally wouldn’t live there just because I’m not much of a “city person,” but visiting is nice!

12. LA’s great. Santa Monica, Pasadena, Los Feliz, Griffith Park, San Gabriel Mountains, Channel Islands NP, etc. There’s a lot at your fingertips here. That said, San Francisco is better.

13. I’m loving it. It’s like we have the entire world in one city. Best city

14. It was awful when i visited. Way to much traffic, dirty and filled with homeless people.

15. Its a bunch of suburbs all next to each other dressing up as a city. That said, they are pretty cool suburbs and it is overall pretty exciting.

16. I thoroughly enjoyed my times in LA, but I was visiting so I didn’t have to put up with most of the living there annoyances except traffic.

    Great music scene, beautiful places to visit, nice museums, great food. Huge amount of diversity in people and neighborhoods.

17. Been here for almost two decades. Overall I love it. One of the best food and entertainment cities in the country. Great weather, insane museums, access to just about every type of climate and hike you could imagine.

    But it costs a lot and there’s a lot of traffic and homelessness.

    Keep in mind LA is huge. I mean HUGE. The greater metro area has roughly 45% of the population of Texas. Take pretty much every major city in Florida and stack them all in one area and that’s getting close to the size.

18. Visited. Big city, lots of traffic, more than a little dirty – even the mid range shopping centers I went to while I was there felt *grimey* somehow even though they were pretty well kept.

19. LA is cool.. one of the best cities in this country

    (Mostly a visitor but probably spent somewhere around 200 days in and around LA)

20. There’s truly a place for everybody here.

21. It’s amazing. Best city on earth for me. Weather, mix of all my fave cultures(East Asian, black and Hispanic). I miss it every day and hopefully, god willingly, I get in my PhD this cycle and will be back in the fall.