Comments on: Los Angeles myths

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 23:59:36 +0000

Try actually WALKING in Los Angeles. I lived there for a year and took up walking for exercise, eventually walking up to five miles a day. I developed a persistent hacking cough that I finally got over about a month after moving away.

By: Meghan

Meghan — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:06:52 +0000

As for mass transit— it’s there and it’s used quite a bit. It just isn’t used by anyone who can afford a car.

By: Paula

Paula — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 22:03:52 +0000

Me too.

By: Josh

Josh — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 03:36:14 +0000

I was robbed four times on my way home from Trader Joe’s.

By: daveednyc

daveednyc — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:52:59 +0000

Our gangs can beat up your gangs…

By: Paula

Paula — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 21:23:36 +0000

@mankiboi, No, that part is true. I was robbed just last night and again this morning.

By: mankiboi

mankiboi — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:19:19 +0000

one more thing: gangbangers. it seems that the whole city is full of violent gangs and you cannot go out at nights because bunch of gangs come right away and waste you or rob, if you´re lucky, immediately. is it myth?

By: Paula

Paula — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:09:28 +0000

I skimmed the comments, so forgive me if someone already said this: Who Cares? Does L.A. have more traffic and less air quality than my home town of Tallahassee, FL? Of course it does, but who cares? In deciding whether to move to L.A. for your career, I can't imagine what air quality and traffic have to do with it. One makes trade-offs in life, so the real question for anyone to weigh is whether the pros outweigh the cons. For some people the answer is yes; for others it's no. Of the people I know who answered no, none of them cited traffic or air quality as a factor. They did, however, cite the culture of Hollywood. At the end of the day, it comes down to what you want your life to be. If being very successful in this business is so important to you that it overshadows everything else, L.A. is probably a good bet. If it's important, but not everything (and you want, say, the kind of lifestyle that you can't have here), then maybe you live somewhere else and accept the corresponding career trade-offs, whatever they may end up being.

As for the traffic, there are a couple of work arounds. 1) Live in a central location 2) if you work in features and long-form television, schedule meetings so that you aren't driving at rush hour (surprisingly easy to do). I do both of those things and haven't found the traffic to be much of a problem, save for the occasional odd experience.

By: Danny Cohen

Danny Cohen — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 08:34:36 +0000

Fred, having grown up in DC, the Metro is great and the traffic comes from the people who commute into the city. The city in itself is tiny (less than ten squared miles) and incredible walkable (you don’t need a car) but swells everyday with the Maryland and Virginia residents who work in the district. The Metro is great and continues to improve in areas it services. Now, if you meant “DC Metro Area,” then, yes, there are people who decided to live in the suburbs far from where they work so they don’t have to pay high property taxes or live in a city where you have no federal rights… but that’s besides the point, which is that the DC Metro is quick, clean and services much of the city.

On the other hand, living in LA requires you to own a car or be willing to bike a lot (I have a friend who bikes over the mountains all the time, but I couldn’t do that .) I haven’t found the drivers here to be terrible nor the driving to be unbearable if you are willing to take a side street once in a while. That being said, the public transportation here just isn’t as good as other major cities that are far more geographically dense, such as those on the East Coast. There’s a subway here, but I’ve never been on it. There are buses, but they take too long.

LA isn’t terrible. I think Mr. August’s comment that “…you’re not required to go everywhere…” is a refreshing one, but I do still need to go from Culver to get my fish tacos in Silverlake, and maybe one day I can get on a subway car and sit for an hour to get there, but until then I’ll be chugging along with everyone else on the freeway.

By: daveednyc

daveednyc — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 16:40:29 +0000

Fred, I agree that there are significant limitations to the DC Metro. However, I've lived for 10 years in the District without a car.

I always thought some people's objection to living in LA had more to do with the people and culture instead of transportation shortcomings. I say this as a general observation, not having lived in LA, nor having any particular aversion to doing so.

By: Josh

Josh — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 15:39:49 +0000

@Mike Bell

Native Californians, and those who've been in L.A. a long time, do seem to be much more patient about traffic. Those of us who've been there less than five years are way less patient. I've noticed this in talking to other transplants, and from seeing frustrated faces in traffic, and then noticing out-of-state plates on their cars. I've noticed the same thing in the Bay Area, though if you live in San Francisco, it's mute since you don't need a car in the city.

Part of that might just be that those who've been here longer know the roads better and can get around traffic a little easier. Or maybe they've been beaten into submission and just accept it. I have a friend who says it takes five years to fall in love with living in L.A. To me, that's not falling in love, that's just how long it takes to build up a solid network of friends and colleagues to the point where you accept the place as home. It took me five minutes to fall in love with living in Chicago. L.A.? We'll see.