L.A. & California.. One Man's Opinion
 

LAX is not as bad as people make it seem.

Traffic is every bit as bad, and even worse, than many make it seem. However, if you have driven in and out of Detroit at peek times. It's comparable. Just double or triple commute times.

L.A. is dirty. Filth everywhere, as well as graffiti.

If you are white, prepare yourself to be a minority. Rodeo Dr.. you may see other whities, but they are going to be Albanians, Armenians, Russians, Italians, and so on. Basically foreigners. Also a ton of Japs. Only place you will find whitie is behind the counters.

A lot of mom and pops, and few chain stores. I found it crazy that there were not all the chains you see around most places I have visited. Target, Macys, McDonalds even. Olive Garden, I mean you name it! I found more of them when I headed out to Orange county and the burbs. But not a lot in L.A. other than Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.

The beaches are fucking insane. I went to Huntington, Laguna, Newpot, Venice. All are fucking packed as hell. As for nationalities. More whitie, but see the above description.

Speaking of Laguna, talk about wow. Those 75 degree angled roads climbing up and down the hills for the super houses, and fancy cars. That town was packed as well. Foot traffic, and tourists everywhere.

One Mexican owns all the shit shops. Whether downtown, or anywhere in town. They all had the same keychains, and 75% of the same trinkets as other Mex shops. Seen one, you've seen almost all of them.

Nothing about L.A., Beverly Hills, Bel Aire, Laguna, Hollywood is as glamorous as it seems on TV. So just a wake up call for those who thought some of these areas were 'dreamy' and would curl your toes.

I did not get north into Van Nuys, or Malibu. But we did cover greater L.A., including the supposedly nice areas, and part of Orange county down to Laguna.

All that said, the climate was lovely. Not a single sinus headache caused by 30 degree temperature shifts in a 8 hour period. :thumbsup

Lastly, for those just getting their traveling chops in gear a word of wisdom. Go with someone low key, and minimal bitching. When I am on vacation. I do not give a shit about the $500 car rental, the $5 gas, $25 a day valet, or $20 tuna salad sandwich. I AM ON FUCKING VACATION.

Nothing worse then listening to a bitching accountant throughout your trip. :disgust

Ver few look like this.
:winkwink:

I've been there a couple times and I had no problems

Next time you are in LA let me know. ;)

LA is a lot of fun but really depends on what ya do. LA is just too fucking big.

LA is boring for the most part. The traffic kills the fun of everything.

amen brother

OK I had to laugh that you even included & California in your topic. So much of it is not anything at all like LA or anywhere near it.

good point, i forgot to address that. i was in LA this weekend and it was much like what is described above by Barefootsies. However, San Francisco is a different world.

Honestly, if you don't like it don't come back. The only people who like LA (like myself) are the ones born here. Sorry you had a bad time, but shit one less car on the road for me. If you want to be in the adult DVD game there's no where else to go other than the Valley & LA fyi.

I lived in LA for 7 years, in the south bay, Hermosa Beach, I loved it there but Hollywood and that whole corridor around the 101 by downtown I can live with out. I used to go there a lot to like Hollywood and highland area to go out drinking but its too much of a hassle...There are nice parts to LA and perks to being there (like authentic burritos) or being able to surf in the morning and snowboard in the afternoon (yes i did do that hermosa to mtn high)...but traffic sucks and everything is so far...its must really suck now because gas is so expensive...But there are worse places you can live

not true.

I was born there and left that polluted shithole two years ago. Never going to live there again!

and actually... most of the people in LA weren't born there...

So did you eat In N Out burger while you were here? That's one of the best things about California, In N Out burger!

Overrated, that's for sure

was at hermosa beach last weekend. love the vibe at the beach

Which is why I clarified it in the subject toots. :winkwink: Orange County is not L.A., but the title does not have enough spaces for me to type it out to everyone's satisfaction.

:2 cents::2 cents:

i moved to redondo beach (just south from la la) ~1 month ago and my experience is completely different.

there's no real traffic issues UNLESS you get on the freeways, and that is usually only at an inopportune time, otherwise the freeways are just difficult to navigate, lot's of lanes and lots of freeways. but very little construction on any of them.


i can walk to a retail area (riviera shopping center) that has shops, restuarants and grocery stores, etc. post office. i live on the beach esplanade and while the beach does get more crowded on the weekends, there are always still places to park and big empty spots on the beach to set up your gear and during the week i can take my dog down on the beach and we can play around with no hassles, it is that empty, and the surf!

i was telling my family from back home just the other day that i have yet to see ANY graffiti ANYWHERE i have gone in redondo beach and that is a fact.

i find most the people very friendly and chatty, with plenty of white americans. i went to cal for college, lived in san francisco for a while of that and the ethnic variations there were more prominent, as i recall.

and there's nothing like seeing the cali girls riding their beach cruisers in bikinis!

life's a garden, dig it!


:)

Yes. Big time. But as I said, some good, some bad. Just very different then expected.

Next time, I hope to get to Malibu, Van Nuys, and northern Cali. But we'll see.

This city is a fucking playground for me. Love every second of it. I have been all over this planet and there is nowhere that has anywhere near as many extremely hot girls who are up for a good time. Nowhere! That is because those hot girls in your hometown MOVE to La. :pimp

Weird as I love visiting LA. Hung out with Latincash Gary and XXX Jay. Had one of the best times of my life. The traffic never bothered me but we have traffic here also (minneapolis). I was on sunset and hung out in that area. Otherwise I have been to Manhatten beach several times and love it to.

a couple snaps i took of redondo beach from my beach pad, 2 different days, not crazy at all.



http://www.dvdhotties.com/images/beach1.jpg


http://www.dvdhotties.com/images/beach.jpg

Learn to swim.

I had no problems!

LA is for hookers.

Never been to LA, but the portions of the Left coast I was at, I did not like.

Neither did I hoss. As I said, just very different then expected.

I thought there would be some shady areas, but did not expect as many as I ran into. Also the lack of the chains to eat at. Although a good mom n pop can be advantageous if they have the "A" in their window. :winkwink:

One more tip for people, along with History lesson. If you wanna get around greater L.A. without being bogged on the highways. Use the major road named (surname) after one of the first Spanish settlers to the area. :winkwink:

wow, first time leaving Michigan dude....really , L.A. has traffic....wow...called the AP just now....

these are the things i miss most about LA :(

i hate how there is no diversity where i am at (central PA). everywhere you look is fucking chain restaurants, walmarts, targets and shitty malls. I miss the good food and the variety between places.

there was different types of sushi places, here, there is a SUSHI/ITALIAN restaurant about 10 minutes away... ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!?!?!

sure, the traffic sucked at times and there was always a million people where ever you went, but the variety and things to do around there was endless. i could find whatever i needed around west la and never had to go into a target or walmart. here, its impossible.

plus people around here are dicks... either white trash ignorant shits who think they own the town, or people with a chip on their shoulder thinking they are owed a small fortune because their life sucks and they are to lazy to get off their ass and work. its sickening just how lazy and stupid people are and not willing to try a little harder at life.

the only thing i dont miss about LA is how dirty it is and how no one cared. thats the only advantage here... that and eggs, milk and rent is cheaper :winkwink:

Is that a house or an apartment and if u dont mind how much is it?

if it's a house has to be over 1 mil for sure to be on the beach like that.

Did I say that? Funny. I think I was talking about my first trip to L.A.. :disgust

Learn to fucking read bitch. Typical GFY asshat.
:2 cents:

As a resident of the Valley, I can certainly say you did not miss anything by not making it to Van Nuys. Don't get me wrong, the San Fernando Valley can certainly be a nice place to live (unless it's summer, then standing outisde in 120 degree heat is a bit of a buzzkill).

Things that are great about the Valley are...um, let me think... North Hollywood weird art galleries and shops. Lair De Sade. Ummm...still trying to think...nope, that's really about it. Until someone comes up with a porn valley tour bus, we pretty much look the same as everywhere else.

Places in the LA Area in general I can reccomend are Downtown Culver City (and the Museum of Jurassic Technology). Downtown Hollywood has gotten much better in the past 10 years so I can reccomend that. Melrose. Universal City Walk. Downtown Burbank. Beverly Hills...oh, and Jesus lives at Venice Beach, I'm convinced of it. Rent a bicycle for a ride down the venice beach bike paths, it's fantastic (and it's a good way to zip away from the crowds). Griffith Park. Santa Monica's art colonies and major shows (such as Cannibal Flower).

Places I personally would avoid are Chinatown and Olvera Street. Definitely overrated.

Places I personally enjoy are the Downtown LA Public Library. USC, CSUN, Stony Point in Chatsworth, the bazillion places to eat virtually anywhere, the Malibu beach, the Gene Autry Museum, Bob's Big Boy car night in Toluca Lake (every Friday). Granted, many people would be bored to tears by these things.

Oh yeah, and there's always Disneyland, Magic Mountain, or Knottsberry Farm. Those places kind of bore me though.

Best wishes always,

Jay

Yeah, the mad rush to live in New Orleans is amazing.

Anyone that bitches about LA traffic obviously hasn't driven in many places.

Oh man . . . . no wonder you have no life.

The best way to see LA and hollywood is with a local. We know how to get around the bad traffic areas pretty easily and know all the cool places to go and eat.

Meh. Everything is more or less the same everywhere you go. Personally I don't think I could stand living in such a huge crowded place but thats just me. Otherwise its all just people, cars, stores, rivers, houses, etc. Same as every other city. Now if I could visit a place where hamburgers were trying to eat me instead of the other way around, that might be interesting.

Also a ton of Japs.....:disgust

Most of the people in LA were born in Mexico.

I lived in LA for a long time.

LA can be heaven for anyone. If you have 2 of 3 things (in order of importance):

1. Good friends
2. An important job
3. A lot of money (that's like X10 of what's considered a lot anywhere else)

It's not the most open to people with none of the above. If you don't have any really good friends in LA or at least connected to the hot stuff that goes on you will not get the true LA experience.

Also, having a good job, preferably in entertainment, sports or nightlife will open the doors to a whole different level of partying for you. It's not something most people get to see.

It has it's negatives for sure, but overall LA is a pretty cool place. It can wear on you. I lived in LA and NY at the same time for most of the 90's and the part of the '00's. If I wasn't able to split it up those negatives would have driven me crazy.

I grew up just north of LA, after the military, I lived at the beach in the Santa Monica area and in the Valley.

Tommy burgers are better than in and out

Cupids and Pinks are the best dogs

I miss the best mexican food in the world

Great night life

Van Nuys and Malibu? You're not missing much, all though the oldest head shop in the country is still in Van Nuys unless they finally closed it down