City of Los Angeles

I HATE LA, BUT I LOVE SOCAL.
LA is not the city of Angels. It’s the city of nasty traffic, poor air quality, frightening and sad homeless epidemic, pretentious people, «the industry», and plastic. The west you go the better it becomes.
Before really knowing LA, I saw DTLA and assumed that’s just the real LA and that everybody here claims to live in LA because it sounds «cool». Well reality is, DTLA is not just LA. DTLA is jut a weird place. LA «COUNTY» is huge encompassing several cities and city suburbs that make up LA. Then you have SouthBay and OC and south of that… I don’t refer LA TO LA, I refer anything place in southern Cali as «SOCAL». This place is enormous. And every part of LA is different. The more west you go the better and cleaner. West LA is actually nice. It’s odd when people say «it’s expensive to live in West of LA» … Geez do these people know what expensive is or is it that I don’t know what cheap is because I’m coming from SF. Living in SoCal is way cheaper than the Bay and better living situations and newer buildings.
LA is flat. If you live on a hill you have money aka HollyWood Hills, Beverly Hills, Baldwin Hills. You barely see any green here and the only green I do see are the lovely palm trees that decorate their streets.
DTLA — dirty, but developing
KOREATOWN — dirty, but delicious food
SOUTH LA — hood
WEST LA — nicer
MIDCITY — mix
EAST LA — can’t speak about because I don’t go there.
Hate LA, love SoCal.

Hiking? check
Fine dining? check!
hole in the wall ethnic food from all over the world? check!
snowboarding, skiing, winter sports? check
beach and surfing? check
art and modern art and culture? check
ghetto and the hood flavor– check
fancy neighborhoods — check
ah-​mazing weather all year round — check
bustling infrastructure — check
celebrities sighting — check
hipster heaven — check
City of Los Angeles is one of the most diverse and full of flavor cities I have ever encountered during my world travels. City of contrasts, contradictions and diversions.

Los Angeles… the city of angels. My beloved city.
(Well, I’m from a suburb of Los Angeles. But Los Angeles is still my city)
Some people will whine about the high prices, the traffic, the overcrowded areas, the rudeness, the pollution, the crime, the materialism, and just about any reason they can think in reflection of their miserable lives.
I say this to those people: leave!
LA is a major city, so of course you will get the traffic, the overcrowded areas (in some areas), the pollution, and the crime. It’s LA, home of Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and their ritzy culture. So of course there will be high prices and materialism. The high demand for housing due to the awesome weather and access to the beaches also contribute to the high prices. Rudeness is not unique to LA, you can find it elsewhere in the world. Also, not all of us Los Angelenos are rude. Some of us are rude only when we have to be ;-)
I feel lucky to have grown up in the greater Los Angeles area. There is so much to do. So many cultures all in one big melting pot. I have met people from all over the world, have tried all kinds of foods, have been to countless cultural events. Sure, nothing beats actually going to those countries, but this is a very close second.
If you are a born Los Angeleno, like me, you will find that few places on earth compare to it. If you are a transplant, it may be harder to make it here, but it is well worth it.
My beloved city may have its ups, may have its downs, but it is a part of me and I will always call this place home.

Downtown Los Angeles has changed a lot over the years. Much of the area has been gentrified. There are many new apartments that have been built, and it is now considered ‘cool’ to live there.
There are nice parks, varied architecture, Grand Central Market, and LA Live. What I like most about DTLA is the vast number of great eateries throughout.
Parking can be tough and traffic bad, especially during rush hour, but it’s still a great place to experience.

This is such a cool city.. I don’t understand how it only has 2.5 stars!
There are so many options, varieties, sights, restaurants, stores, and so much more! The diverse cultural and economic activity is awesome! It’s a hub for tourism, the fashion industry, entertainment, sports, education, technology, etc.
My list of things to do, places to see, and restaurants to visit keeps growing! Maybe it’s because The City of Angels is the 2^nd largest city in the USA (next to New York) and the most populated city in California. In terms of economic production, it’s the 3^rd in the world behind Tokyo and New York.
I haven’t seen all of the landmarks yet… and then new ones pop up! There is a fantastic mix of historical and contemporary buildings as well as natural sites such as the Pacific Ocean and the San Gabriel Mountains. One can find snow, deserts, forests, beaches, or high rises… How can anyone get bored here?

I love this city
I feel like a little kid at a candy store every time I’m here
So many things to do and see here.
What sucks about LA? Traffic and public transportation. You REALLY need a car to survive here.
What’s great about LA? The diversity and the neighborhoods. Everybody in the whole entire world will know about Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Malibu.
Chinatown here isn’t great when you compare it to San Francisco or New York City but Koreatown here is absolutely unique and like nowhere else. Los Angeles is the city with the largest number of Koreans outside of the Korean peninsula and Koreatown here literally feels like you’re in Korea. Koreatown is always on my itinerary every time I stop by LA.
The diversity in this city is amazing and rivals that of New York City or London. Want some authentic Ethiopian, Moroccan, Russian, Sri Lankan, or Korean cuisine? You’ll most definitely find it here.
Los Angeles is where I’ve tried «sannakji» for the first time. What’s that? It’s a Korean specialty where you eat live octopus. Yes, that’s right, live octopus. It’s very common in South Korea but considered exotic here in the US or every where else for that matter.
There’s many more things I want to add but to keep this review short and simple, I’ll just conclude with this statement: Los Angeles, I love you. Always have. Always will

who the hell wants an average life???
ohhh… city of Los Angeles…
well first of all it is a beautiful city… but there are some area that is ugly and dangerous… but it is still beautiful… it has great weather… but the weather can get a little crazy though… its hot today… windy tomorrow… and raining the next day… at least there’s always something going on… people mainly come here for the beaches! many places to sight see like tourist locations…

I don’t care what people say, I love LA, its good and its bad. It’s a happening place with endless places to eat, hang out and people watch. I like the standup comedy here, the diversity, people trying to be somebody culture, the real life actors. There’s also the shitty streets… What a shame. Producing million dollar movies and their streets could ruin your tires.

My review is coming from a tourist’s perspective from 5 consecutive years
That my best friend and I have been coming down here.
We come to go to concerts, not really to vacation like other tourists do. In fact we more consider ourselves visitors more than anything.
I can’t really blame the city of Los Angeles on this one, however, the smog made this Canadian who is used to clean air and water sick. It was really awful this year.
The transit system is bad but cheap. Everything on the map that we wanted to get to was in theory close but the transit is terrible for getting around. Driving is worse. No one checks tight first before turning. Peter and I almost got hit a few times.
Hollywood is a filthy place in general.
People on the Hollywood strip are pushy either soliciting aggressively to have a picture taken with them in costume or some aspiring rap artist trying to push their CD on you.
I met some nice people but the majority are rude as fuck. Maybe it’s the Canadian in me. I’ve meet some awesome folks but the service industry needs a make over.
The saving grace is the food scene.
Hollywood smells like piss and there are tons of homeless people.
It’s all smoke and mirrors in a smoggy town.
As mentioned I only come here for shows not really to «vacation»

Shame on city officials. Homeless people are sleeping on street with tents and shopping carts one block from Spring St. This really ruins the city image.

It’s a shame that such a shitty city is home to many of the world’s greatest attractions. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of individual locations I love in LA. Overall though, I wouldn’t touch this city with a 10 foot pole.
~ Getting Around ~
I don’t drive, and coming to Los Angeles without a car is hell (coming to LA with a car is hell too, but I’ll get to that later). Public transportation linking the city centre to elsewhere is absolutely pitiful. I don’t think any government official ever sat down and actually planned out the city’s public transportation because it’s a mess. For example, during my last visit, I needed to get from Point A to Point B — 10 minutes driving. To accomplish that with public transportation, it would’ve taken me 50 minutes with 2 bus changes — WTF?!
Even if you have a car, it’s not like life is easy either. Traffic here is notoriously horrendous. I end up spending fortunes on taxis every time I visited (this was before Über blew up).
~ Safety ~
Laughably unsafe. The hilarious thing about LA is that it’s just like what it’s famous for — the movies. Everything is smoke and mirrors. You’d be walking around in a fancy picturesque looking place and 2 steps out of the way and you’ve ran into a group of junkies with dilated pupils intimidating you for money for a «sandwich». And yes, this has happened to me before; it’s not a made up scenario.
~ Cleanliness ~
Everything smells like piss and/​or shit.
—
The only potential saving grace about LA is that even I have to admit the food scene here is A+, especially when it comes to Asian food.
The best way to describe LA is beautiful on the outside, but absolutely rotting on the inside. This city needs a major overhaul. Tourists beware: you’ll be heavily disillusioned if you think this place is anything like it’s shown the movies.

Born, bred and raised in the City of Angels. What more can I say that hasn’t been already said? Like the late great Tupac once said, «To live and Die and L.A. the place to be!!!» Ain’t no other city like Los Angeles. Why else does tourism skyrocket here than anywhere else!!! From Hollywood to Disneyland to Malibu to Venice Beach to Long Beach to USC/​UCLA to the Dodgers, Clippers, Lakers and Kings to Beverly Hills to East Los to Watts to Compton to Long Beach to the Coliseum to the most reviewed place in Unilocal history-​Bottega Louie-​to possibly some of the best eateries in town, Los Angeles got it all, and much more!!! Oh yeah… we also got the best weather around!!!

There are so many things I could say about Los Angeles and they are all good things. I mean I could say stuff all the way from dodger Stadium to the staple center and even all the way down to Koreatown. You can’t say anything bad about Los Angeles because there are so many good qualities about it. The best part of Los Angeles has to be Hollywood I mean come on that’s where stars are made. Yes some people might not like Los Angeles because they think it’s full of crime, but they don’t know the real Los Angeles. I love Los Angeles!!!

Review 44
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Thanks Garland R. for the tip!!!
I was born and raised in Los Angeles, family and friends still live here. The city has so much positive to offer, museums, theme parks, city parks, Lakers, Kings, LAPD, Dodgers and too much traffic! (like any city). Los Angeles has it all, in exception to a NFL Football team!
As large as the city is, it’s kept up as best as one can imagine, roads and sidewalks are always at their best and safest in comparison to other cities.
The best part of Los Angeles is it’s central location to beaches, mountains, deserts and snow resorts. You can drive less than 2 hours and get from ocean to snow.
The food here is diverse, with hundreds of cultures that have their unique menus, followed with fusions and specialty restaurants. Most important to be noted is Studio City for being the Sushi Capital of the USA.
Living here you adapt to a new culture; our own culture…
We are Angelinos!
Plan B

I stand in the middle of Hope Street and take a picture of the iconic Central Library. I have the walk signal. I have 9 seconds left.
Downtown is deserted. It is the 4^th of July. I walk towards Broadway. On Broadway, I stand in front of the oxidized-​copper-​colored Eastern Columbia Building… hmm…terra cotta. Would I love LA even more if I lived here?
I imagine a new police procedural. The washed-​out detective played by Vincent D’onofrio…no…maybe Sam Shepard… yes…the detective played by Sam Shepard lives across the street from the Eastern Building. He stares out his window every day at the turquoise terra cotta. His studio is modest. He has a fan.
His LA is faded. His LA is shifted roughly 15 degrees east of the longitude. His LA is different than the one that we, the audience, are used to seeing, the one near the amusement park on the pier, the one with blondes and palm trees, the one with the Thalberg screening room. Art deco hides his sunshine.
I imagine all the murders take place in the sunshine.
Maybe the filmmakers could capture LA with quick edits from fade to chrome and back. Maybe I’ll come back and write the first episode.

Thank goodness I do not live in Los Angeles! As a San Diego resident I can truly say that I am fortunate to live 2 hours from Los Angeles or «LA» as it is commonly referred to as.
I used to travel to Los Angeles often but after a 3 year heists i hope I won’t ever have to return! Don’t let Hollywood fool you, it’s not all its made out to be.
There is smog everywhere and traffic at 1am! Highways or freeways as we refer to them die here are always being worked on no matter what time it is. They rarely get completed so expect to be stuck in 30 minute traffic to exit 3 miles away.
«Los Angelinos» are rude, angry and do not welcome tourists. Good luck inhaling toxins day in and day out. If you’re thinking about moving to California, I highly encourage you to look elsewhere, The Bay Area, Orange Count, San Bernadino, San Diego, NorCal. Anywhere but LA.

What can I say? LA is a megalopolis. High density. I love to visit.
There are miles and miles of urbanity, nonstop businesses, houses, streets, and freeways in every direction. Go up to Griffith Observatory on a clear day (soon after a rain fall) and see how the city just flows into its neighbors, clear out to the ocean, nonstop into hillsides and valleys. The population of 3,700,000+ (2014 census) in the city of Los Angeles is almost half that of the entire state of Washington, at 9,000,0000+. LA County’s population, including the city of LA, is over 10,000,000 in roughly 4,000 square miles. See what I mean about density?
There is a lot to be said for LA. The freeways are not visitor friendly, simply because there are so many of them. However, they actually move the city. However, rush hour, as well said by Robin Williams, is a misnomer because …“no one is moving”. There is a multitude of eateries, bakeries, diners, restaurants, food carts, stands, coffee shops, delis galore for the tasting. I won’t even go into the entertainment, shopping, and amusement opportunities. The beauty of the diversity of cultures in LA is unsurpassed. You don’t have to spend a lot to have a good time. Be big city cautious.
I can ramble on and on and on. But I’ll stop. I love to visit but the population density is too intense for me to want to stay. Do some homework before visiting to make the most of a trip here. Come with a mindset that LA has much to offer and you can have a good time.

I’m an Angeleno. There are ups and downs to living in LA. On the downside, you must regularly deal with traffic and smog. On the bright side, there are lots of things to do in LA and it’s neighboring cities to entertain yourself (think shopping centers, movie houses, concert venues, and theater venues).
For the record #1: I believe LA has a decent transportation system (think bus and rail lines).
For the record #2: Depending on where you are in LA or it’s neighboring cities, you may have a view of the mountains or the ocean.

Ahhhh Los Angeles…
The self-​proclaimed «City of Angels».
Perhaps the ugliest, smoggiest, sh! ttiest, most effed up eye sore of a beautifully splendid, aesthetically pleasing, perfect climate having, multi diverse place on Earth.
Sadly…I’m slightly compelled to give Los Angeles it’s props. At least in this town you’re able to see where your money is going. Traveling down 6^th Street… ONE WAY for 6 miles alone, you’re able to commute through 5 countries.
Think I’m joking? Go ahead… Take my tour…
Start ^ on Whiitier Blvd & Lorena (it’ll turn into 6^th Street as you traverse westward, forcing you to merge onto 5^th Street at Alameda to continue west) and make your way west from East Los into DTLA. You’ll bypass working class Hispanics and effervescently coalesce directly into the confines of Skid Row.
#lockyourdoors-​and-​pray
Clearly our taxes aren’t going into the restoration of these areas.
Thereon (speed the hell up) continue westward on 6^th and I kid you not, no sooner than you reach Alvarado — you’ll swear you’ve been derailed and rerouted back directly into East LA. It’s as if the city has gone completely out of their way to segregate each nationality cohesively.
Travel another mile and a ½ west… still on 6^th and you go from Tijuana directly into Seoul, Korea as the building logos somehow morph completely over from Espanol into Korean at the blink of an eye yet should you sneeze, you’ll up and miss traveling through the mansions of Larchmont right afterwards.
This is where signs of money become all the more prevalent. Who in the hell designed this city and who, for the love of God, delegates where our taxes monies are to be allocated???
Oh…but I’m not done by a long shot. Keep cruising on 6^th & no sooner than you’re out of Larchmont somehow you’ll find yourself in Beverly Hills; the city’s real money maker.
What the hell is this about?
The depressing thing is just how quickly this metamorphosis transpires,…from potholes and potheads… to palm trees and pristine private driveways. You honestly don’t even realize you’ve only sauntered a duration of a mere SIX miles!!!
Oh ho hooooe. And don’t even get me on parking and signage. I suppose I’ll highlight the deficiencies in elusive form of a backhanded compliment. Having visited Long Beach, it’s evident that they could take a lesson from L.A.
Whereas LA’s signage is completely OVER posted and bears absurdly confusing verbiage (e.g. «NO PARKING — Mon-​Fri — 7am-10am…EXCEPT Sunday’s…Jesus’ birthday… and/​or upon Obama visitations…») to the point of delusion if not dementia, at least when the sun sets, you can’t state that it wasn’t there to begin with.
The City of Long Beach’s signage solely exist WITHIN THEIR HEADS… they then, ding visitors afterwards by faulting them for NOT reviewing city ordinances by way of their website. WTF is that phukkery about!!! I’ve honestly never seen anything like it. Smfh.
#baz’terds
Thereon, I’d suppose a lot is to be said when you’re merely driving through this town and take notice that even the frikkin’ mailman has received a parking citation for stopping to deliver and/​or parking temporarily within a red zone. Smfh.
I tell you the truth — –

This neighborhood is perhaps one of the most bustling and great places to be in and around recently. For years and years this part of LA was to be avoided at nearly all costs. However with the gentrification going on, this has turned into a great area to come and live, work and play for many. Its not all skid row and you wont be shot for simply being here after dark.
I remember when it was a scary proposition to head over to DTLA from USC (just down the street). Literally it was kinda crazy, dark, foreboding, full of weird homelessness, vagrants, and thieves. I knew a lot of people who had been mugged here. Thankfully I haven’t heard about that in years.
The city center is cleaning up. Its always been a hive of activity during the day. It is only becoming more so. Its a beautiful place with great views. Some great restaurants, taco trucks, danger dog, and other random vendors are all over the place here. In addition to that the bars, clubs, lounges, and coffee shops have seriously upped their game as well. Add in a number of new activities and you can see how awesome this place can be. Some of these new things are running and biking clubs where groups of over 100 people meet up to workout and takeover streets while they are trotting or riding down them. There are bouldering/​rock climbing places, winter outdoor ice skating rinks, lots of gyms, you get the idea I think. Its not just grime and trash in DTLA anymore. Heck you have within a mile or two of DTLA the LA Kings, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, and USC Trojans. Talk about a bunch of championships. Let alone lots of theaters/​music halls/​convention centers.
There are a number of distinct districts within DTLA as well. So you can find all kinds of stuff and while its a small city center, it is starting to remind me of places like San Francisco, New York, and Chicago with the vibrant buzz of activity that these other cities have at their heart.
So if you havent been out here for a little while, I highly suggest that you check it out and see what is going on. You could be missing out on a lot of great fun and interesting stuff. Its all here from things to eat to great beautiful murals and artwork randomly adorning buildings… Enjoy it folks…

I am a small business owner in Los Angeles. When I say small, I mean no single business of mine exceeds $ 100k in annual revenue. Luckily L.A. gives such businesses (less than $ 100k rev) an exemption on sales tax. This sounds good on the surface and very SBO-​friendly, but that’s lip service compared to how they enforce their policy and harass SBOs.
You see, despite NEVER coming close to $ 100k in yearly sales, the City of LA Finance department will still «estimate» your revenue FOR YOU on a quarterly basis and send you a bill. It’s then your responsibility to correct them. This last quarter the City assumed I suddenly was going to make a sum equal to my highest-​ever annual revenue (which was before the Great Recession, mind you). That’s right, they assumed my business was going to take off out-​of-​the-​blue and assessed taxes IN ADVANCE. Since it was the holidays I was remiss in responding fast enough and their made-​up tax figure suddenly becomes a real number in their system (taxes on revenue that do not exist). To add insult to injury, the City of LA then sends out my account for collections in less than 30 days to a company of attorneys in — get this — Chicago, Illinois !!!
Burned and lesson-​learned, City, it’s on me. You fooled me once. Little did I know that you could make up tax revenue out of thin air and then use Chicago thugs to collect it from small business owners.