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Los Angeles Plays Itself

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Re: Los Angeles Plays Itself

#51

Post by JoshTriplett »

johnsberd wrote: post #50
JoshTriplett wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on your sensibilities and what you're used to, but personally, I consider an hour exceptionally long. For me, it takes roughly 20 minutes to get into the nearest major metropolitan area by car, or 30 to an international airport. Almost anywhere we'd regularly travel to or run an errand to is within 5-10 minutes; more unusual destinations are within 15-20. An hour is what it would take to drive to the ocean or…

I'm that person. For me it's all about cost. I rent a room in a house in the suburbs for $400mo where if I wanted to live in the city where I work it would cost me around $1k. I don't make a lot of money so even though my time is valuable, it isn't helping my bank account. Until I get a better job it just isn't an option to move into the city.

That's what I meant when I said "despite having options within 5-10 minutes"; I very much meant "viable options within their price range". When you're constrained by cost, you may have to trade time for money.

Re: Los Angeles Plays Itself

#52

Post by wj »

crimsonalucard wrote: post #40
asavadatti wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure I'd want to do that as it gets quite hot in LA.

Not true. LA has some of the best weather in the world.

I agree with you but temp varies greatly. It often is 30 degrees warmer in the valley than in Malibu which you notice immediately driving over Topanga.

Re: Los Angeles Plays Itself

#53

Post by jamra »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #19
Tenoke wrote: post #2

>She refers to their relationship as long-distance. It takes her an hour to get to where he lives, so she stays for three days at a time, then comes home for one or two. I assume this isn't a typical reaction? I live in London, and if it takes me an hour to get somewhere, I consider that fairly reasonable. Is it actually common for people over there to consider an hour journey as something extraordinary?

Depends on your sensibilities and what you're used to, but personally, I consider an hour exceptionally long. For me, it takes roughly 20 minutes to get into the nearest major metropolitan area by car, or 30 to an international airport. Almost anywhere we'd regularly travel to or run an errand to is within 5-10 minutes; more unusual destinations are within 15-20. An hour is what it would take to drive to the ocean or…

Some people don't have great options about where they work. I personally would not move close to downtown LA if I worked there. I'm more comfortable in a safe suburb, but the good jobs are in Santa Monica.

At one point, I drove about 80 minutes to my University and about 60 minutes back to work, which was by my home. If I got lucky and there was no traffic (rare), it was 45 minutes. You get used to it, but it's not something one should get used to.

Even now, I live 2 minutes from work. In traffic, it's 15 minutes. You can't avoid traffic in LA. There needs to be a better public option.

Re: Los Angeles Plays Itself

#54

Post by kepano »

9999 wrote: post #30
maceo wrote: post #22

This is written by someone who has little knowledge of Los Angeles, especially east of Los Feliz. Her descriptions of downtown are outdated. Yes, Skid Row and the surrounding area still has the largest concentration of homeless people in the US. Just a block east of Skid Row is The Arts District, which is in terms of real estate prices, the hottest neighborhood in Los Angeles right now. It's where all the trendy cafe…

I completely concur with you on her knowledge of Los Angeles, I think she is basing her entire opinion of the downtown corridor on a ten minute long drive. The transformation of the Arts District has been truly incredible. Virtually unrecognizable from what it was 5 years ago. It's interesting how the original anchor location for that transformation, The Brewery, has been more or less ignored as development focused o…

Thirded. I've lived around downtown LA for the past 5 years, at the Brewery and in the the same building as R23. It's been wild to see it change so fast. It's now one of the most walkable areas in the county. I feel lucky to have my rent locked in!

I'm not an LA native but I've grown to love it and hope to see more tech develop here.

Re: Los Angeles Plays Itself

#55

Post by anon13839 »

jessaustin wrote: post #24
sahat wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually commute every day via 405 and 10. You are right, it's awful during the rush hour, but during non-rush hours it is still faster than taking local streets. A few weeks ago I left work via 405 at 4:45pm and arrived home at 7:10pm, the commute that would take no more than 12-15 minutes without traffic.

You've never been tempted to bicycle that short a distance? Sure it wouldn't be 15 minutes but it also wouldn't be 2.5 hours.

Lol. On what? Sepulveda? Up the freaking hill? No one wants to shower at the work toilet.

Re: Los Angeles Plays Itself

#56

Post by jedberg »

maceo wrote: post #22

This is written by someone who has little knowledge of Los Angeles, especially east of Los Feliz. Her descriptions of downtown are outdated. Yes, Skid Row and the surrounding area still has the largest concentration of homeless people in the US. Just a block east of Skid Row is The Arts District, which is in terms of real estate prices, the hottest neighborhood in Los Angeles right now. It's where all the trendy cafe…

> Walk into a popular restaurant around here and the sights, sounds, and smells will be almost identical to Hong Kong.

Actually, most of the Chinese in LA are Mandarin speakers from places like Beijing and Shanghai. If you want Hong Kong you have to come to the Bay Area or Sacramento. :)

Re: Los Angeles Plays Itself

#57

Post by jedberg »

stephengillie wrote: post #11

It's amazing in a kinda-depressing way to think of LA as a "City without a name/face". It's really a melting pot in more ways than one. Are all of the landmarks there really so generic? Did the movie industry influence less-recognizable monuments and other features in the past? Or is it just that the city's culture lends itself to a "scrubbed" culture?

Do you remember the movie Independence Day? You know the part where the aliens are blowing up landmarks in cities. You probably remember the Empire State building and White House. Do you remember LA?

It was the First Interstate tower (now called the US Bank Tower), a fairly unremarkable building downtown, other than the fact that it is the tallest building in California and tallest building west of the Mississippi.

So to answer your question, yes, the landmarks in LA are very generic and non-memorable.

Re: Los Angeles Plays Itself

#58

Post by christianbryant »

Born and raised in Los Angeles. Lived in Downtown Los Angeles, Venice Beach, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Marina Del Rey, Playa Del Rey. Lived on a boat, in apartments, in houses. Commuted 2 hours one way, 1 hour the other, and then 10 minutes max each way.

I love L.A. - every facet of it, top to bottom, rich to poor, chilled to stressed. But there are more L.A.'s than two. Los Angeles is a bona fide schizophrenic. If the layers of Los Angeles were onion layers, you'd need a thousand onions to demonstrate the complexity of this county, of this town.

I appreciate the article, but I recommend taking a trip to the library and checking out a book from each decade going back to 1930, written by an Angeleino, preferably a few from different ethnic and social backgrounds (and genders), and then you will closer to unraveling this beautiful mess I call home.

Re: Los Angeles Plays Itself

#59

Post by cf »

jedberg wrote: post #57
stephengillie wrote: post #11

It's amazing in a kinda-depressing way to think of LA as a "City without a name/face". It's really a melting pot in more ways than one. Are all of the landmarks there really so generic? Did the movie industry influence less-recognizable monuments and other features in the past? Or is it just that the city's culture lends itself to a "scrubbed" culture?

Do you remember the movie Independence Day? You know the part where the aliens are blowing up landmarks in cities. You probably remember the Empire State building and White House. Do you remember LA? It was the First Interstate tower (now called the US Bank Tower), a fairly unremarkable building downtown, other than the fact that it is the tallest building in California and tallest building west of the Mississippi. S…

I think the landmarks are just less well-known. Things like the Getty and Griffith Observatory. Others are generic, but instantly recognizable, like Venice boardwalk and the LA river.

Re: Los Angeles Plays Itself

#60

Post by remarkEon »

christianbryant wrote: post #58

Born and raised in Los Angeles. Lived in Downtown Los Angeles, Venice Beach, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Marina Del Rey, Playa Del Rey. Lived on a boat, in apartments, in houses. Commuted 2 hours one way, 1 hour the other, and then 10 minutes max each way. I love L.A. - every facet of it, top to bottom, rich to poor, chilled to stressed. But there are more L.A.'s than two. Los Angeles is a bona fide s…

Do you have any recommendations for an overview of the architectural history of LA? Moving there this summer...every time I move to a new city I like to understand the how and why of the way it looks. I especially enjoyed this[0] piece that popped up on HN a few months ago.

[0] http://blog.longreads.com/2015/03/23/the-last-freeway/

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