8 ms·

This is a perfect way to put it "Los Angeles is a great place to live, but I wouldn't want to visit." Once you understand how to travel the city, it's hard to

This is a perfect way to put it "Los Angeles is a great place to live, but I wouldn't want to visit." Once you understand how to travel the city, it's hard to live anywhere else because quality of life is so ridiculously high. It's why people tend not to leave if they make it past their two year mark.

village-idiot 8y ago
Shhhh, stop telling everyone!
flyinglizard 8y ago
Genuinely interested - what makes LA a great place to live?
- taurath 8y ago
  There's always activity and something interesting and new everywhere, but you can still get privacy and quiet. Very open culture, easy to make friends (though can be hard to find good ones). Easy to find an enclave you like (if you can afford it).
- borkt 8y ago
  It has every type of food known to man, and often truly authentic restauarants if not neighborhoods devoted to specific regions/groups. People are generally much nicer than the bay area, and the weather is great most of the time. Proximity to the Ocean, not too far from mountains, LAX goes everywhere basically. I agree that it is not a place to visit, but the 2 years I lived there were great.
- starpilot 8y ago
  You can grow pomegranates in your backyard and go on breathtaking group night bike rides: http://www.thepassageride.com/Photos http://www.thepassageride.com/Photos You can afford a place with a yard even if you don't work in tech, though it'll still take a few decades to save up.
- zjaffee 8y ago
  Weather, accessibility of diverse food options (this exists in new york too, but you'd need to go to queens), housing that is cheaper on a price per square foot basis (units are still expensive, but they tend to be larger), larger geography (beaches, mountains, national parks). The list goes on.
- 8f2ab37a-ed6c 8y ago
  As far as the larger LA area goes, it's a few hours from Vegas, next to the beach, Santa Barbara and San Diego next door. Access to various Mojave type deserts and national parks (Joshua Tree is amazing). Big Bear / mountains nearby. Various price points of housing, anything from affordable-ish family homes to expensive upscale condos (downtown) and ridiculous mansions (Hollywood hills, Malibu, Belair etc). Great for all stages of life, whether you're young and want to mingle, or have a family and want to live somewhere safe (Pasadena, OC). Access to decent UC schools. Absurd amount of entertainment all day every day for whatever taste you have. Food from every corner of the Earth. Ethnic diversity. Major airport next door. If you're into fashion, arts, cinema, music, tech, real estate, science, there's a place here for you with that interest. Tons of people from all walks of life. Oh yeah, shorts and t-shirt weather all year round. Only big downsides are commuting and cost of living. Also homeless everywhere unless you're locked up in a suburb, but not as bad as SF since they stick to certain areas. Skid Row is both fascinating and terrifying to visit. Please don't come here though, rent is going up as it is.
  - electricslpnsld 8y ago
    > it's a few hours from Vegas Many would consider proximity to Vegas as a downside
    - 8f2ab37a-ed6c 8y ago
      Ha! Drive in for a show, a couple of rounds at the casinos, a nice stay at a hotel and a trip to the buffet, then drive back home. It's a great option to have in one's bourgeois boredom toolbox.
    - AnimalMuppet 8y ago
      If you're the kind of person who considers proximity to Vegas a downside, in LA you're far enough away to ignore Vegas entirely. It's not like you're going to wind up there by accident...
  - blackhaz 8y ago
    Was visiting LA a couple years ago, originally from Prague. Absolutely fantastic city to visit if you do your homework first and know where you wanna go. Wander about like in a European city - not going to work. I was set on relocating there but real estate prices, taxes and distance from relatives forced me to backpedal. I think LA has a fantastic fuutre, especially once efficient public transit system will fully emerge. Recently I was shocked to learn that LA has better air quality than Prague. Can you believe that? Everybody drives fucking diesel on a stick here while you guys are migrating to hybrids. Go LA.
starpilot 8y ago
I live in Seattle now and I dearly miss LA. I still love the Seattle area for the mountains, but as a city, LA is my favorite in the world (yes I've visited plenty of others and my sister lives in NYC).
- fjabre 8y ago
  There are 12000 foot mountains within 2 hours of LA and visible from most of its sprawl. California has plenty of mountains all over.
  - starpilot 8y ago
    There's one 11,503' peak within 2 hours of LA. Don't get me wrong, the San Gabriels and the rest of the Transverse Ranges are great fun. But they're not the same as the glaciated stratovolcanoes in the Cascades.
    - fjabre 8y ago
      Correction it has mountains close to 12000 feet near by and the Sierras about 3-4 hours north. Yes I know the Cascades are amazing Ive been, but I was simply pointing out that there are plenty of high elevation and forested mountains close to LA and California has the highest elevation mountains in the lower 48 if you include Sierras with much better weather to boot so they are more accessible. You said you missed mountains around Seattle, so I had to point out that while not glaciated, the Gabriels and San Bernardino mountains are breathtaking in their own right. And the Sequoias by Yosemite just 4 hours north arent bad either where you have peaks over 14K feet. I live in the mountains, I moved to California for the mountains.
synaesthesisx 8y ago
> "Once you understand how to travel the city, it's hard to live anywhere else because quality of life is so ridiculously high" Agreed. The tech scene here has also been exploding (especially along Santa Monica, Venice etc) to the point where colleagues of mine from SV have been relocating here. As a former New Yorker I honestly feel lucky to be living here - LA is a remarkable city and is continuing to evolve rapidly.

village-idiot 8y ago

Shhhh, stop telling everyone!

flyinglizard 8y ago

Genuinely interested - what makes LA a great place to live?

taurath 8y ago
There's always activity and something interesting and new everywhere, but you can still get privacy and quiet. Very open culture, easy to make friends (though can be hard to find good ones). Easy to find an enclave you like (if you can afford it).
borkt 8y ago
It has every type of food known to man, and often truly authentic restauarants if not neighborhoods devoted to specific regions/groups. People are generally much nicer than the bay area, and the weather is great most of the time. Proximity to the Ocean, not too far from mountains, LAX goes everywhere basically. I agree that it is not a place to visit, but the 2 years I lived there were great.
starpilot 8y ago
You can grow pomegranates in your backyard and go on breathtaking group night bike rides: http://www.thepassageride.com/Photos http://www.thepassageride.com/Photos You can afford a place with a yard even if you don't work in tech, though it'll still take a few decades to save up.
zjaffee 8y ago
Weather, accessibility of diverse food options (this exists in new york too, but you'd need to go to queens), housing that is cheaper on a price per square foot basis (units are still expensive, but they tend to be larger), larger geography (beaches, mountains, national parks). The list goes on.
8f2ab37a-ed6c 8y ago
As far as the larger LA area goes, it's a few hours from Vegas, next to the beach, Santa Barbara and San Diego next door. Access to various Mojave type deserts and national parks (Joshua Tree is amazing). Big Bear / mountains nearby. Various price points of housing, anything from affordable-ish family homes to expensive upscale condos (downtown) and ridiculous mansions (Hollywood hills, Malibu, Belair etc). Great for all stages of life, whether you're young and want to mingle, or have a family and want to live somewhere safe (Pasadena, OC). Access to decent UC schools. Absurd amount of entertainment all day every day for whatever taste you have. Food from every corner of the Earth. Ethnic diversity. Major airport next door. If you're into fashion, arts, cinema, music, tech, real estate, science, there's a place here for you with that interest. Tons of people from all walks of life. Oh yeah, shorts and t-shirt weather all year round. Only big downsides are commuting and cost of living. Also homeless everywhere unless you're locked up in a suburb, but not as bad as SF since they stick to certain areas. Skid Row is both fascinating and terrifying to visit. Please don't come here though, rent is going up as it is.
- electricslpnsld 8y ago
  > it's a few hours from Vegas Many would consider proximity to Vegas as a downside
  - 8f2ab37a-ed6c 8y ago
    Ha! Drive in for a show, a couple of rounds at the casinos, a nice stay at a hotel and a trip to the buffet, then drive back home. It's a great option to have in one's bourgeois boredom toolbox.
  - AnimalMuppet 8y ago
    If you're the kind of person who considers proximity to Vegas a downside, in LA you're far enough away to ignore Vegas entirely. It's not like you're going to wind up there by accident...
- blackhaz 8y ago
  Was visiting LA a couple years ago, originally from Prague. Absolutely fantastic city to visit if you do your homework first and know where you wanna go. Wander about like in a European city - not going to work. I was set on relocating there but real estate prices, taxes and distance from relatives forced me to backpedal. I think LA has a fantastic fuutre, especially once efficient public transit system will fully emerge. Recently I was shocked to learn that LA has better air quality than Prague. Can you believe that? Everybody drives fucking diesel on a stick here while you guys are migrating to hybrids. Go LA.

starpilot 8y ago

I live in Seattle now and I dearly miss LA. I still love the Seattle area for the mountains, but as a city, LA is my favorite in the world (yes I've visited plenty of others and my sister lives in NYC).

fjabre 8y ago
There are 12000 foot mountains within 2 hours of LA and visible from most of its sprawl. California has plenty of mountains all over.
- starpilot 8y ago
  There's one 11,503' peak within 2 hours of LA. Don't get me wrong, the San Gabriels and the rest of the Transverse Ranges are great fun. But they're not the same as the glaciated stratovolcanoes in the Cascades.
  - fjabre 8y ago
    Correction it has mountains close to 12000 feet near by and the Sierras about 3-4 hours north. Yes I know the Cascades are amazing Ive been, but I was simply pointing out that there are plenty of high elevation and forested mountains close to LA and California has the highest elevation mountains in the lower 48 if you include Sierras with much better weather to boot so they are more accessible. You said you missed mountains around Seattle, so I had to point out that while not glaciated, the Gabriels and San Bernardino mountains are breathtaking in their own right. And the Sequoias by Yosemite just 4 hours north arent bad either where you have peaks over 14K feet. I live in the mountains, I moved to California for the mountains.

synaesthesisx 8y ago

> "Once you understand how to travel the city, it's hard to live anywhere else because quality of life is so ridiculously high" Agreed. The tech scene here has also been exploding (especially along Santa Monica, Venice etc) to the point where colleagues of mine from SV have been relocating here. As a former New Yorker I honestly feel lucky to be living here - LA is a remarkable city and is continuing to evolve rapidly.