Everybody who has argued against my points is basing their entire argument off of something false: that I don't have perspective of other major cities. I've lived in 4 and have a sister who lives in Philly that I visit regularly. In terms of race and class issues, my job has forced me to look them straight in the eye in the past couple of cities I have lived in, and LA is off the radar. Its so big and sprawled and lacking public transit that the kids in the ghetto are lost in their own little world, with the cops forcing them to stay there and doing nothing to ensure their safety. That's why LA has gang problems that are far worse than any other city in the U.S. No other city comes close in terms of gang related crimes. I'll admit, I've heard that Chicago is comparable in terms of the giant endless ghettos, but it still has the "L," which makes a difference. Again, that's why LA has race riot after race riot, and other cities really haven't since the 60's.
In terms of moving to SF? I'll be fine, I lived there before and loved it, left to go to graduate school, and am going back because I loved it so much
LA isn't my style. I'll stop trashing on a "city" that isn't walkable, has no public transportation, or real neighborhoods and just say that the things I just mentioned are musts for me to find a city even acceptable, let alone great.
In terms of the "American city" I think of East Coast cities- New York, Boston, Philly, DC, or other places that are nothing like LA like Chicago, New Orleans, or San Francisco.
Cities like phoenix and LA are those weird western sprawl zones that have come to be known as cities.
Oh, and don't worry about Harry Crews opinions of women, he's LA trash. He wants them to be under 5 pounds of make up, have bleached blond hair, fake tits and to spend at least 20 minutes picking out her outfit when she goes to the store to pick up a gallon of milk. That's what he means by "style." This is my point about LA sucking. That's what Angelinos think qualifies as "style," looking super duper plasticky.
Fuck, I said I'd stop trashing LA...well, if it makes Angelinos feel better, San Diego is even shittier.
I see what you're saying and LA's indeed a take it or leave it place for most. The sprawl of cities like LA and Phoenix indeed cause problems unique to their layout but also offer things that I'm fond of such as the anonymity it offers. I'm also a fan of the space I'm able to have here without feeling like I'm giving up the diversity of a city like NYC - true, I do have to drive to areas for certain cultures as they don't tend to be side by side like in a metropolis like NYC. With a city like LA it's definitely easier for minorities to be pushed or kept within certain areas of the city which in my case makes it where I hardly ever encounter what you've probably seen through your job. I go skate in areas like Boyle Heights all the time and there's a bar in skid row I'm keen for so I'm not saying I'm not aware of things like hospitals dumping of patients on skid row. At said bar, I actually saw a person in a hospital gown get dropped off by a taxi which was pretty fucking surreal but then again in NYC I saw a cracked out naked lady wandering around in Bushwick.
Obviously within bad areas of cities notoriously known for gang crime the odds are higher in getting mugged, stabbed, or shot however in the states I kind of feel uneasy in most places walking to my car at odd hours of the night. I mean, ANYONE could have a gun here. In Europe it's hard to get guns and odds are the most anyone has is a knife so it would either turn into a knife fight or I'd be able to run away but you can't outrun a bullet. And when I refer to LA in terms of "America's take on a city" I just mean we're a country based on oils and cars to an extent and this is what all those companies wanted - they essentially planned and built LA. You can still look up the old subway maps which were meant to rival if not be better than NYC's. NYC, Philly, and SF are comparable to other worldly cities that offer public transit and urbanity. SF and NYC just aren't what I'm into really but I love visiting them. But hey, when someone sternly thinks LA is a piece of shit I get it. The first time I lived here I hated it and the reasons why are still apparent it's just kind of grown on me and I appreciate it for what it's worth to me. To me, I love cities like Krakow because you can walk everywhere, take public transit, or drive your car. Plus when I'd walk around there the scenery just made walking 6 miles seem like 10 feet because there was so much to marvel at while even when you walk in LA it's pretty fucking dull and empty.
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