No landmarks, no tall buildings, no walkable areas. Absolutely not true - and shame on you if you've never explored the older neighborhoods downtown. However

No landmarks, no tall buildings, no walkable areas. Absolutely not true - and shame on you if you've never explored the older neighborhoods downtown. However I definitely agree that overall it's a huge did of a city for its size (and most especially for the housing costs). And that you're saying applies to at least 90 percent of it by surface area. "Not a real place" absolutely nails it. Won't find anywhere livable west of Chicago until you reach Tokyo... Not true at all. Sounds like you've almost never been out there, except for a random business trip or two. The west coast isn't my ideal either, but it has plenty of perfectly livable places (if you can only somehow afford to settle down there).