Why do R&E bash LA so much?

[Wood Dragon 1988]

So I've been wondering this for a little while, but it especially sparked my interest now that I have a slight reason to move west in a few years. It is pretty clear that Robb, Elissa, and some other SoCal locals on this board.....well....don't like SoCal. Why is this?

 

I've never been there, but I can't help but be intrigued by the beautiful places, beautiful people, and great weather SoCal seems to promise.

 

I know some people think the parks are a bit sub par, and the traffic sucks, but is there anything else?

[paintballer]

I dunno... Grass Fires...Shitty Air...Earthquakes...Crime (Ok...it's probably not bad at all(Except in South Central))

[Meteornotes]

As someone that lived there for eleven years, I can tell you some of the reasons why I would not move back:

 

Traffic (some of the worst, if not the worst, in the US)

Housing Prices (seriously, houses are insanely overvalued there)

General Cost Of Living (Food, gas, everything is more expensive)

Shallow, Horrible People (granted I worked in the entertainment industry which is full of worthless humans, but still, I've always said SoCal would be a great place if almost no one lived there. Way too many people that think they're "cool" simply because they work in entertainment and/or just because they live in LA).

 

Are there positives? Sure, the weather is nice most of the time, you have easy access to all sorts of entertainment, there's a lot of fun outdoor stuff to do...but in general, I really don't think I could deal with living there again. Maybe if I was very rich and could afford to have someone drive me everywhere. Maybe.

 

dt

[SteveC]

^ ha that reminds me so much of a 10 year stint I did in central London (excepting using public transport is not a problem forget the car though)

 

Looking back on London it was great fun but it had a sell by date, I think if you haven't lived there it is worth a shot, but once you have done it (the parties, the fun, the ....insert whatever you want as it is all available) then you just get the hell out. I don't regret my time in the metropolis but I would not go back now. Still, I'm glad I did it. Can't say that compares exactly with SoCal but I sense the vibe.

 

Oh the weather wasn't so hot in London - but that didn't seem to matter so much with all the other stuff going on

[ChrisZer0]

I have a sis-in-law and husband who live in north LA (eagle rock, near the ventura). They moved down due from San Francisco due to him going after his doctorate in education. One complaint they have about living there is traffic 24/7, as well as the occasional d-bag hipster asshats they run into that come up from LA on Bruins gameday. Elsewise, they love it

[Carnage]

I wouldn't group SoCal and LA in together though.

 

On my few visits I definetly like parts of SoCal.

 

However LA itself is just a disgusting hole of a city. I would never want to live within the LA city limits.

[ChrisZer0]

Shallow, Horrible People (granted I worked in the entertainment industry which is full of worthless humans, but still, I've always said SoCal would be a great place if almost no one lived there. Way too many people that think they're "cool" simply because they work in entertainment and/or just because they live in LA).

 

I'll agree to a point with you on this. I provide IT support for one of the worlds largest entertainment companies and I can tell you theres a difference between the people in city and commuters. Mostly the people who commute from the burbs(pasadena, glendale, ect..) are pretty laid back, very so-cal and seem to enjoy life. Its the d-bag a-holes who live in city proper (LA, Hollywood,ect..) who make it miserable accordingly. But, you can make that argurment concerning other "hip cities" (portland, seattle, austin, NYC,ect..) as well.

[SharkTums]

Living in SoCal...

 

Pros

Weather

Flight Availability

Scenery

 

Cons

Traffic to get anywhere

People and their attitudes

Everything overpriced (Housing, Food, Tax, etc.)

No way to do driving long weekend trips outside of California or Vegas, have to fly

Poor public schools

[Sir Clinksalot]

I've lived in SoCal all my life. Up until about 5 or 6 years ago, I never could have pictured myself living anywhere else. That was until I started travelling outside of CA.

 

I pretty much agree with the Pro/Con list that Elissa came up with. I REALLY want to move outside of CA, and REALLY want to do it before our daughter is in HS. (that gives us another 1 1/2 years at most).

 

Unfortunately, because my wife's family is here, and my wife is VERY close to her family it makes this iffy.

 

We've almost got her Mom convinced to move to FL if/when we do so. Since Kristi's dad passed away about 2 years ago, his health is no longer an issue with moving.

 

We are in a good place where we could both actually keep our existing jobs, live somewhere like FL and have our CA salary (which is like REALLY good in FL).

[TheBannedKid]

I have no problem with traffic. I have patience. I drive a good 45 miles to work and I just know when I have to be on the road by. As long as I stick to that schedule it's fine.

[Wes]

The LA area would basically rule if there were like two million less people and they actually made public transportation that was worthwhile.

[BelizeIt]

Living in Orange County.

 

Pro's

 

Weather (Obviously)

The Ocean, Mountains, Clear Blue Skies.

Lots to do (Theme Parks, Beach, Skiing. You name it, you'll probably find it somewhere in L.A./O.C.)

The friendly Alvey's are just up the road, always willing to invite you to a TPR get together.

 

Con's

 

Traffic (Obviously)

Cost of Living. I live in the city of Mission Viejo, and the rent for a 1 Bedroom Apt typically goes for about $1400.00 per month. Oh, and do you happen to have a pet cat??? Well that Kitty Cat will cost you an extra $350.00 security deposit, as well as another $45.00 per month ($500.00+ a year) for 'Pet Rent'. Yeah!!!

 

But, I've lived in Orange County for over Ten years and even with the good/bad aspects I still love it here.

[ebl]

I've lived in Southern California all of my life and like living here despite the high prices/taxes, traffic, etc.

 

You can't beat the weather, and we're one of the few places where you can visit a theme park any time during the year. Fresh, locally grown produce is available pretty much all year (for me that's a plus).

 

It is crowded, and a lot of people are pretty lame. It's all about physical beauty, perhaps because of the proximity to Hollywood. Public transportation can certainly be better---especially in L.A., but it's really spread out too far to make bus transit work well. It is developing a rail system, but it's almost too little too late.

 

I live in Ventura County---far enough away from L.A., but close enough to everything should you want to go there. For us, we got into the real estate game when prices were low (1998 to be specific), so that's not an issue with us.

 

Eric

[robbalvey]

I really hate so cal for many of the reasons that Dave and Elissa have already mentioned (and Wes too.)

 

Now granted, there are basically two different "lives" I have in So Cal and one is my "work life" and the other is my "home life"

 

I will say that I really can't stand 90% of the people I have had to work with in my "work life" during my career in Los Angeles. That being said, I *much* prefer the people who I am now working with in Valencia as there isn't as much of the "LA Attitude" up here. I can't really explain it, but I think most people who have worked in LA, especially the entertainment biz will know what I mean.

 

As for my "home life" I think the people I interact with are much better and less "LA", same with most of the TPR people that I meet.

 

I dunno, there is just a VERY different attitude in So Cal. It's a very "me first" attitude and a real lack of respect to the other people around you.

 

Great example is that if you put your blinker on to move over a lane, in So Cal, usually the person you're trying to get in front of you will speed up so you can... "YOU'RE NOT GETTING IN FRONT MY CAR!!! ME FIRST!!!" Most other places in the USA, you put your blinker on and the person slows down to let you in. That doesn't happen ALL the time in other areas, but this is clearly the norm.

 

I've lived on both the west coast and the east coast and there is QUITE a different in how people treat each other.

 

For example, people in New York may be "brash" but "honest", and people in So Cal may be "Nice" but "Fake." I'd personally rather have someone be honest with me than fake with me. If you don't like me, tell me. Don't "pretend" to be my friend and then when something better comes along, or when I am no use to you any more drop you me a rock. *cough*penguin*cough*

 

As crazy as it might sound I also miss "seasons." California basically has one season all year round, and every once in a while it gets a bit colder or it rains a little bit. I really liked being in an area that had four distinct seasons. I really miss that.

 

I liked living and working in Orange County, and I really like living and working up in Valencia...I did NOT like Los Angeles proper. But if I had the choice and the means, I'd rather not be in California at all.

 

I respect those who do like So Cal, but if you've never lived anywhere else, I'd reccomend giving it a try, some people love it here, some people are here because they need to be. I'm the latter.

 

Just my thoughts.

 

--Robb "As long as I can stay in Valencia and not have to go into LA that often, that's even better!" Alvey

[SharkTums]

I like your 'blinker' example.

 

It reminded me of so many other examples of people we've dealt with.

 

- The airline agents at LAX compared to the airline agents at MCO...omg, totally different. The LAX ones are just terrible, rude, and not helpful at all. They have an attitude of "Um, you're bothering me"...excuse me, I'm trying to make YOUR job easier by getting my stroller tag ahead of time!!! Whereas in Orlando I'm often greeted by a "Thank you, it's so nice that you're doing this early".

 

- Grocery Store Workers! I can't tell you how many times we have found food way past it's 'good by' date at our local store. Sometimes really serious stuff like BABY YOGURT!!!! You probably don't want to feed your baby yogurt that's 2 weeks past date. I very nicely will bring one up and tell the checker about the problem and I get rolling eyes back to me! First off, I've never even had this problem at Publix in Florida, and on our last trip to Publix I even had this super awesome deli worker go search in their back freezer for Pita Bread for me! This would NEVER happen in SoCAl.

 

- USPS - We have the WORST Postal Woman who delivers our mail. First off stuff is always put in the wrong box, stuff is delivered late, stuff never shows up, etc. But the kicker was last week I get a knock at the door. It takes me all of about 8 seconds to get to the door and there's another more obnoxious knock. I immediately open the door and there's the woman: "Oh good you're home, I was going to be really pissed if I climbed the stairs to get this letter to you and you weren't here". Um, are you kidding me!?!? You had to walk up ONE flight of stairs to do your job and get me a registered letter and now you're complaining about it to me!?!? WTF!!>

 

Again, like Robb said, I do see this SoCal attitude in more places now, and it's not going to be perfect anywhere. But it's just SOOOO overwhelming out here that I really don't like it.

[ChrisZer0]

I think you can also make the argurment that this happends alot of times in big cities. I live in Dallas for example and I had similar situations with the airport and grocery store. when you point it out to them, you first get a dumb look, then a look of awe, then a lack of resolve. With your orlando example, I work with alot of orlando folks in my job, and they are some of the nicest folks out there. They remind me of the california of the 60's (laid back, really mellow, ect..) and the business a good number of them are in (tourism)

 

I believe alot of this can be tied to one thing: A good number of folks in this country has become a bunch of obnoxious jerks. We've become that neighbor who turns up "freebird" at 2am on a wednesday morning and wails accordingly, who leaves his Ford Ranchero up on blocks out side their doublewide that already has a toliet in an overgrown yard of weeds. I think part of that is due to supposed "national pride" due to our ex idiot in chief, who made being an asshat a national past time.

 

Apologies for throwing in a little socio-political talk

[larrygator]

No need to bring politics up to put out that America has become obnoxious.

[ChrisZer0]

Apologies on that larry, just using it to make a point. Im of the belief we should strive to be better to our neighbors, not just the old lady who lives next door or across the street, but around the world as well.

[Sir Clinksalot]

I dunno, I don't think it's just "Big Cities".

 

Granted, I've never lived anywhere else, but I've spent over a month in Atlanta and about the same in Indianapolis over the past 4 years because of work. The people there couldn't be nicer. From the hotels, restaurants, people I work with, drivers on the road (great example Robb), etc.

 

Sure, there are bad-eggs everywhere, but there just seem to be MORE in LA/SoCal.

 

Like EBL, I live north of LA (we live about a mile away from each other), and don't generally have to go over the hill anymore. I work 2 miles from home, and work at home quite a bit. But, having now lived out here 7 years, I'm starting to see some of that "LA Attitude" creeping in, and it's sad.

[cfc]

Great example is that if you put your blinker on to move over a lane, in So Cal, usually the person you're trying to get in front of you will speed up so you can... "YOU'RE NOT GETTING IN FRONT MY CAR!!! ME FIRST!!!" Most other places in the USA, you put your blinker on and the person slows down to let you in. That doesn't happen ALL the time in other areas, but this is clearly the norm.

 

--Robb "As long as I can stay in Valencia and not have to go into LA that often, that's even better!" Alvey

 

This is getting to be pretty typical in Virginia, too. Northern Virginia is sort of "SoCal Lite"; in fact, DC is often referred to as "Hollywood for ugly people" (such as senators and congressmen). South of Williamsburg is getting worse, too. It's the most densely populated region of Virginia next to northern Virginia (Virginia Beach is actually the state's largest city in terms of population). Traffic jams in the summer, although nothing compared to what you see in California, can be pretty annoying because of inadequate roads and the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (not to mention people who scream for road improvements, yet don't want to pay for them).

 

That being said, I'd rather be here than in California.

[mcjaco]

I used to think I'd like the LA area. That was until I had a class in Santa Monica for two weeks for business.

 

Good lord, two weeks was all it took for me to pretty much never want to return.

 

Although my hotel was across the street from the mall in The 40 Year Old Virgin, so that movie has a special place in my heart.

[BeemerBoy]

It's funny to me how much the cons of SoCal living parallel South Florida. Both places are filled with a$$hats. I spent the first 28 years of my life in a big city, and the last 6+ in "small town, USA." I think the "SoCal" attitude has crept into everywhere in America.

 

If you think about it, just look at how much craptastic "reality" television is related to Hollywood, and SoCal in general. Personally, I really think this is a huge factor in the way kids, and even many adults, are carrying themselves these days. Everyone wants to pretend like they're a star, living the "L.A. lifestyle." For example, between work environments and casual settings I can't tell you how many conversations I've overheard about last night's TMZ and who was spotted making a fool of themself at The Ivy, or the current MTV teenage "reality" garbage.

 

Seriously, I've never seen a single episode, but I can tell you that every teenage jacka$$ in the Chattanooga mall thinks they're on The Hills because they shopped at Hollister or work at PacSun. And you know these morons couldn't tell you difference between a surfboard and a broomstick if their life depended on it.

 

L.A. is the nucleus for poor human behavior, and unfortunately it's beamed into every location on earth 24/7. When that happens, it's inevitable that much of it becomes inspiration for otherwise good societies to imitate it. Sad, really.

 

I still love San Diego though.

[ChrisZer0]

Seriously, I've never seen a single episode, but I can tell you that every teenage jacka$$ in the Chattanooga mall thinks they're on The Hills because they shopped at Hollister or work at PacSun. And you know these morons couldn't tell you difference between a surfboard and a broomstick if their life depended on it.

 

Quote of the day!

 

I agree, you see it everywhere. Ive run into a few of those little punks (im 32, I can call them little punks now) all the time at the mall, doing nothing but being pains in the ass to everyone. They have smart mouths and think mommy/daddy will pay for everything...

[robbalvey]

^ It's funny that you say that because I've always felt that the Miami area is the closest I've seen to Los Angeles anywhere in the US.

 

And yeah, you DO find these similar things we mentioned in other areas, and sadly more and more lately, especially other big cities, but I think they are most prominent here in So Cal.

 

Keep in mind we have traveled a *LOT* in our career and have lived in many places in the USA (and I've even lived in the UK for some time) and in our experience you see these things far more in So Cal than you do anywhere else.

 

For example, when it happens to us in Orlando, you notice it because it's not the norm, but in So Cal, it's an every day common occurrence.

 

--Robb

[Teacups Make Me Sick]

I think SoCal is much like Northern NJ...except you have much better weather and Portos (I freaking love that place).

 

People are just nasty in the Northeast and are the worst drivers (traffic isnt much better then SoCal).