LA and my Love/Hate relationship
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6/22/2011
Well, I've lived in LA since 2006. Before that, I spent 7 years in Portland, OR, and 3 years in Houston, TX. Now what I do like about LA is that there is lots of great food, plenty of diversity, politically open-minded people, though in the suburbs are typically more conservative than those in the city, but still open-minded in their attitudes. Plenty of places to see and things to do, and great beaches and great mountains. However, the main downside is that it is DIRTY, just filthy. It's rated the dirtiest city in the US, and to me it's possibly the dirtiest in any developed country. The fact that there is not enough inner-city nature makes the place even more disgusting, and every time there is a space of land that you can build on, city developers will build on it! I also don't like how it is a city of no-opinion. When a trend hits LA, everyone follows it. If you don't, you look like a black sheep. Also, the weather. As a person who prefers cooler and rainier weather (being from Oregon originally), not my place. If you like sunny and hot, be my guest. You could live in the beach towns, but it is horridly expensive. And on that note, yes, really expensive place to live. You might make five times as much as anywhere else, BUT you'll be paying ten times more just to even live. Don't get me started on the houses too, oh and the taxes, we have high sales tax and state income tax. BOTH! It seems like it's impossible to have a different opinion of this place without being ridiculed. Also the traffic, and the fact that it's virtually unavoidable. There is hardly any mass transit, the metrolink is not the most efficient light rail, yes there's buses everywhere, but they're not that efficient either. In other words, it is almost a legal requirement to have a car here, not joking on this one. I miss having the MAX train of Portland, that went almost anywhere. Once I have my chance, I'm leaving this place, most likely it'll be San Francisco or New York, or some place like those.
Mars | La Habra, CA