How much of LA do you need to see?

[jethrien]

I'm home, gratefully so. I think I continue to dislike LA, although I'll admit that I'm not sure how fair that is. I've spent very little time there in any meaningful way. But the clothes and overall vibe of the people is just...not my people. And the fact that it took us twenty minutes to cover a five minute drive when we tried to go off the reservation for dinner, and then having to wait another half an hour for a cab we'd called to come pick us up again (not to mention the fact that none of the cabs seem to take credit cards or give receipts) reinforces how much I like New York's transportation system.

Comments

[mithras03.livejournal.com]

I lived in LA for a year. As soon as my plane landed on my first day, I wanted to leave. A couple days is all anyone really needs.

I didn't have my car out there - so I took public transportation everywhere, such as it was, which meant buses. I hate buses. I was at USC, so I was traveling from South Central to Beverly Hills for internships, and wow, taking buses really gives you a perspective on the city that a car can't. Everyone who got on the bus with me was Hispanic and poor - they all got off in Beverly Hills at various stops off of residential areas. I.e. they were the nannies and gardeners for the rich white people. USC is a very wealthy university, but they haven't seemed to do anything for the local community. Once you leave campus, you're in South Central - now I don't know if this was a function of the university not wanting to do anything or because of zoning laws or what, but it was disgraceful.

Also, LA is home to the largest populations of many ethnicities outside their home countries, but it's so compartmentalized that no one mixes together, unlike NYC, where you can find, for example, a Kosher Pakistani Italian Restaurant (trufax - I've seen one). Also, at least regarding the people I interacted with, there was a complete lack of curiosity about other cultures and places. There was an Indian restaurant on the opposite corner from one of my internship places, and one day someone decided that we should all go there for lunch. This place had been there for years - none of them had ever been, and when we went, they all asked me, "ooh, have you ever had Indian food before?!" o.O And this wasn't limited to other cultures - even other places within the US. When I went to job fairs and asked if the companies had options in New York, they looked at me like I just mentioned a planet they'd never heard of - the attitude being, "why would you want to leave LA?" OMG, let me list the reasons....