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Please give some examples of your favourite/magical places in LA! (As a foreigner I've gotten the impression that LA is a huge superficial city without a soul.

Please give some examples of your favourite/magical places in LA! (As a foreigner I've gotten the impression that LA is a huge superficial city without a soul. Would like to balance that with something else.)

verelo 7y ago
+1. I wish i could love LA the way some do, all my experiences have been pretty gross and i have zero desire to return.
aphextron 7y ago
Werner Herzog describes LA as “the city with the most substance anywhere on earth”. The thing with LA is that it can be anything. It’s so huge, and so diverse that you can find absolutely anything your heart desires there if you seek it out. There is the superficial glamour of Hollywood, but also the high tech cutting edge manufacturing of aerospace, endless immigrant communities from every corner of the world, every food imaginable, even family friendly enclaves of community. LA requires that you know what you are doing and what you want; it wont drop anything in your lap. But the heights of experience to be had there are like nowhere else.
- jvagner 7y ago
  Thanks, I don't think I can say it better. When I lived there, it was best to live/work/play in adjacent neighborhoods, and then explore as you found yourself available the rest of the time. I do love the global diversity aspect of it. But I sympathize with those who didn't like it.. it's a really easy town to "miss" on.
- sologoub 7y ago
  Don’t forget that to experience all this wonderful stuff you have to contend with one of the worlds worst traffic problems. I called LA home for two decades and the transportation hell largely kept me in my general community. Going to Pasadena from the Westside is a full day commitment, unless you leave at sunrise on a Sunday.
  - StudentStuff 7y ago
    Big mood, 3+hrs each way in traffic is hellish :c
kaz_kaz_kaz 7y ago
I've lived in LA for many years. The impression of superficiality might come from people expecting LA to be one city, when it is actually many cities with their own downtown and culture centers. Also, visitors tend to drive too much, which isolates them to touristy areas. Some of my favorites: 1. Old Town Pasadena 2. Baldwin hill Overlook 3. Little Tokyo and Sawtelle 4. San Gabriel / Alhambra (Chinese food) 5. Signal Hill / Downtown Long Beach 6. Melrose and the area near Laurel Canyon I could go on, but really there's gems everywhere. I've found that LA is more so a place you live than a place you visit, despite it's reputation otherwise. It's packed to to the brim with artists, developers, and good food, and there's space to stretch. Not really hacking news, but file this under lifestyle.
- enjo 7y ago
  I’m moving out of LA and this post highlights why. Yep those places are great. In a typical Angelenos year they’ll see maybe one of them. None of those things are near each other. The ones that are sort of close are in reality an hour+ apart because of traffic. I have friends scattered throughout the city and we never see each other. Even the ones who live just a few miles away don’t want to leave their neighborhoods ever because.... traffic. My dream job is in LA. I love the idea of LA, just don’t like living here. That’s just me tho, lots of people do really love it :)
  - idontpost 7y ago
    > That’s just me tho, lots of people do really love it :) And the rest of them are still sitting in their packed U-Hauls in traffic on the Sepulveda pass.
  - sizzle 7y ago
    Where are you headed to with less traffic?
    - enjo 7y ago
      Back home to Denver. Where I can live in a place that affords me the chance to walk to everything, something there just isn't much of in Los Angeles.

verelo 7y ago

+1. I wish i could love LA the way some do, all my experiences have been pretty gross and i have zero desire to return.

aphextron 7y ago

Werner Herzog describes LA as “the city with the most substance anywhere on earth”. The thing with LA is that it can be anything. It’s so huge, and so diverse that you can find absolutely anything your heart desires there if you seek it out. There is the superficial glamour of Hollywood, but also the high tech cutting edge manufacturing of aerospace, endless immigrant communities from every corner of the world, every food imaginable, even family friendly enclaves of community. LA requires that you know what you are doing and what you want; it wont drop anything in your lap. But the heights of experience to be had there are like nowhere else.

jvagner 7y ago
Thanks, I don't think I can say it better. When I lived there, it was best to live/work/play in adjacent neighborhoods, and then explore as you found yourself available the rest of the time. I do love the global diversity aspect of it. But I sympathize with those who didn't like it.. it's a really easy town to "miss" on.
sologoub 7y ago
Don’t forget that to experience all this wonderful stuff you have to contend with one of the worlds worst traffic problems. I called LA home for two decades and the transportation hell largely kept me in my general community. Going to Pasadena from the Westside is a full day commitment, unless you leave at sunrise on a Sunday.
- StudentStuff 7y ago
  Big mood, 3+hrs each way in traffic is hellish :c

kaz_kaz_kaz 7y ago

I've lived in LA for many years. The impression of superficiality might come from people expecting LA to be one city, when it is actually many cities with their own downtown and culture centers. Also, visitors tend to drive too much, which isolates them to touristy areas. Some of my favorites: 1. Old Town Pasadena 2. Baldwin hill Overlook 3. Little Tokyo and Sawtelle 4. San Gabriel / Alhambra (Chinese food) 5. Signal Hill / Downtown Long Beach 6. Melrose and the area near Laurel Canyon I could go on, but really there's gems everywhere. I've found that LA is more so a place you live than a place you visit, despite it's reputation otherwise. It's packed to to the brim with artists, developers, and good food, and there's space to stretch. Not really hacking news, but file this under lifestyle.

enjo 7y ago
I’m moving out of LA and this post highlights why. Yep those places are great. In a typical Angelenos year they’ll see maybe one of them. None of those things are near each other. The ones that are sort of close are in reality an hour+ apart because of traffic. I have friends scattered throughout the city and we never see each other. Even the ones who live just a few miles away don’t want to leave their neighborhoods ever because.... traffic. My dream job is in LA. I love the idea of LA, just don’t like living here. That’s just me tho, lots of people do really love it :)
- idontpost 7y ago
  > That’s just me tho, lots of people do really love it :) And the rest of them are still sitting in their packed U-Hauls in traffic on the Sepulveda pass.
- sizzle 7y ago
  Where are you headed to with less traffic?
  - enjo 7y ago
    Back home to Denver. Where I can live in a place that affords me the chance to walk to everything, something there just isn't much of in Los Angeles.