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Tell me about Los Angeles

Scrubb is on a downward spiral

07:48 / 12.01.05

Like it says: I'll be moving to LA at the beginning of February for 6 months to do my PhD fieldwork. Whilst I think I'm ready to leave the UK, I'm still not quite sure what to expect when I get out there; the range of opinions I've garnered so far have ranged between "It'll be great! - they'll love you and your accent and you'll get a lovely tan" to "Jesus, you're moving there? Don't walk alone after dark; carry mace; be prepared to spend your entire time in traffic, and just remember that you're going back home afterwards".

Any first hand experience of living/working/wearing a stylish hat there would be enormously good (as would offers of a room to rent/car to buy from Los Angeleno Barbeloids - my good nature and kindness to animals can be vouched for by others here...) Are the freeways really that hellish? Is is still raining there now? Will I have a fabulous time?

Tell me things, ask me questions; I will reward all useful information with love, huggles (or not, if the word repels you) and biscuits.

08:02 / 12.01.05

LA is fantastic, and terrible, just like any big city.

Do you have any ideas as to where you'll be staying (it can make a difference).

I've stayed on the Westside (well, Brentwood) and East side (Echo-park, Silverlake) in my time, both very different. Also, never had any trouble while there (haven't been in any too rough areas though, except to drive through or past).

I love LA.

Let us know where you'll be and I'll recommend some places to eat, visit, buy music, watch films etc.

Freeways aren't that bad, as long as you get an idea when in the day to use which ones. There is terrible tailgatting and weaving, so just pay attention to the car in front, on the left, the right and behind! And when it rains, most Californians don't have a clue about how to drive. Make sure you have a road map (can't remember the A-Z brand name equivalent) and get a feel for the area that you're in.

Scrubb is on a downward spiral

08:22 / 12.01.05

Thanks, Benny. Not sure where I'll be living yet - I'm based at USC, but most of my fieldwork stuff is probably going to be in San Fernando and West Hollywood. Probably Downtown somewhere, I need to see what rents are like.

Driving - I can drive through central London without too much trauma, so am assuming that the fear levels and madness at rush hour are going to be similar to that. Will this stand me in good stead? Hopefully the rain will have stopped in a few weeks.

I am very excited and utterly terrified about this in pretty much equal measures, and I haven't even started factoring in the fear about my fieldwork...

08:54 / 12.01.05

Bits of Downtown will probably be expensive, as it is becoming the place to live for money people. But if you're down there at least you'll be close to all the art museums (well, some of them) and the Disney music hall, which is pretty good. The Bradbury building (from the end of Blade Runner) is nice to look at inside, but you can't do too much as it's a private building. Also close to Chinatown. Driving is faster than rush hour london or complete at a standstill, so you'll be well prepared. Didn't do too much eating in the Downtown area. Westside, there is an italian restaurant called Bread and Olives, which is close to Venice beach (Venice Beach can be a little like Camden town, but with rollerbladers and sun/sea/sand), which is very good. Electric Lotus is a great Indian Restaurant, on Franklin in Vermont, but may be more East Side. Westside restaurants have become a little pricey and not that great of late. There is a Mexican Restaurant called Gardens of Taxco, N Harper Ave, West Hollywood, which is fantastic. Oh, and a Japense restaurant, Yamishiro, on N Sycamore Ave, which is in the hills, very famous, and overlooks Hollywood, it was a real 30's star hangout, really amazing building, with a courtyard and little watergarden, was shut during the war and fell into disrepair, but has opened since and is fantastic.

Make an effort to visit the Getty Centre (north west/west? of Bel Air) - I think that it's shut on Monday's and can get busy at weekends (you need to book a parking space for weekend visits). It's an amazingly designed centre.

For films and Music, well, on the west side there's 3rd street prominade, which has a mall (okay, but just a mall) and several shops, cinemas outside - there is also a british pub down this way if you get homesick, and a British shop selling chocolate, marmite, tea etc. But, if you have transport, it's worth travelling to Amoeba Records at 6400 on Sunset, and also the Arclight cinema which is next door, which are both good.

If I think of more I'll post later.

21:03 / 27.01.05

How did I miss this thread? It must've popped up while I was out sick. I recommend taking a look at Koreatown -- the rents are most reasonable there, and if you're near the 10 freeway you'll have access to both the east & west sides.

Drop me a line when you get to town & I'll happily give you a tour. I've done it a million times and am pretty good at it, if I say so myself.

We're The Great Old Ones Now

10:50 / 28.01.05

No one walks in LA.

Angelinos are very proud of their Earthquake stories. Almost none of them do the thing with the shoes or have a sealed rubber flashlight by the bed.

No one in LA is a waiter.

You will have fewer meaningful conversations than it at first appears. People will start what sound like deep conversations, but the final result will be curiously like dialogue from Bill & Ted.

When totally drained, go to Ojai and drink juice.

LA is a created town. It's in about the dumbest place you can imagine putting a living city if you actually made a list of bad places. You could stick a pin in a map of Africa and find a more naturally habitable area. Although that has little direct effect on the daily life of the place, its sub rosa effect is pretty profound.

11:19 / 28.01.05

we were talking about this in the boozer last night, and it would put a serious hole in my wardrobe if it were true: do you get shot if you wear red or blue (in the wrong bit of town of course)?

11:38 / 28.01.05

I'm thinking about going in summer if I can get the cash together...

I should be fine, I've watched Angel.

Scrubb is on a downward spiral

14:12 / 28.01.05

I've also watched Angel. And Go. And LA Confidential. Thus my confusion.

D-Day in 3 days...

Ex

14:20 / 28.01.05

But also LA Law? Amanda Donahoe will meet you from the arrivals lounge!
Take a cross and stake in case I'm wrong.

14:34 / 28.01.05

Yeah but dude LA Confidential is set in like 1820 it's no help, Angel shows LA as it is now.. you know dark and brooding.

14:40 / 28.01.05

Go to the Museum of Jurassic Technology. It's dreamlike.

From there, you will be able to reach out to the city's secret corridors. Read the flyers. Follow the patrons.

Where in LA are you going? My sister lives in Santa Monica.

Oh, and other locals I know say Huntington Gardens are worth getting to know. There are always *things* going on there. I don't know, I've never been.

Lilly Nowhere Late

17:24 / 28.01.05

LA is my favourite place I've lived so far. It's something I've discussed at length already in other "LA" threads so I'll keep this to a minimum.
My main advice is to ignore what everyone negative says, and enjoy the multi-terrain availability which goes so nicely with waking up every morning to another beautiful day.
PM for more info which might be out of date or if you want to meet old friends of mine.
Saying all that, Amerika is a bit weird now from how it was 5 years ago. I doubt LA escapes that.

00:12 / 29.01.05

Thank you Lilly! It's heartbreaking to see all the same, tired old insults being levied yet again.

Things I love about Los Angeles:

Breakfasts at the Omelette Parlor on Main Street in Santa Monica, or at the S&W Cafe in Culver City, or at the notoriously greasy Millie's cafe in Echo Park, or at the time warp Pantry in downtown LA.

Hiking in the Santa Monica mountains, near the Will Rogers estate where you can watch polo in summer, or the waterfalls in the Palisades, or the secret gardens in Griffith Park, or the sandy caves out in the Valley.

Riding a bike along the boardwalk in Venice, watching the crowds of tourists, bums, miscreant youth, gay moms with strollers, and that one Sikh guy with red & white electric guitar who rollerblades around, serenading the girls.

Making a tour of all the record shops, starting with Record Surplus on Pico and working through Aron's on La Brea, Amoeba on Sunset, on to the many tiny shops on the east side that cater to jazz collectors and DJs.

Stocking up on Japanese candy on Sawtelle, heading over to Western to play Ms Pac Man at Chabelitas, where they have a lunch truck parked right outside their own taco stand to handle the overflow of loyal customers, grabbing some late night Thai and few rounds of Elvis at the Palm cafe.

Then waking up the next morning and doing it all over again.

00:15 / 29.01.05

Gumbitch, the parts of town where you'd get shot for what you're wearing pretty much announce themselves. You wouldn't wander in there by accident. Having gone to schools with affiliations on both sides, I can tell you that gangs can tell civilians apart from rival gang members fairly easily.

01:48 / 29.01.05

Keep in mind that what we call "LA" is approximately a jillion miles across. I've heard that there is a point somewhere in California where you can stand and say, "Ah, there is Los Angeles," but I don't believe it—when you're there, for all you know the entire planet could be that city.

This is why I maintain that LA makes a better place to live than to visit: it has everything you could ever want, yet somehow that thing you want is always at least half an hour away, plus traffic. It can be hard to figure out what would be a good place to check out. That said, I think there is a lot of very worthwhile stuff there despite the haters. You'll just need to do some research, like you're doing, to find it.

Lilly Nowhere Late

05:58 / 29.01.05

I used to stand in the road(Marengo) just outside my house and stare down over the whole sprawl of Los Angeles. At least I pretended it was the whole sprawl I could see. It's also worth the trip up to the top of Mt.Baldy to look out over everything. You have to drive most of the way then take a scary chairlift to the summit. From there you can see right across to the coastline and behind you is all the wilderness of the Angeles National Forest and beside you(sort of) is the desert and it is all just breathtaking. Of course Griffith Observatory lends its vast views nightly and there are many points to see from along the Hollywood hills. The sunken city cliffs at San Pedro also make a stunning look from point to see the end of the earth. Not to forget the many rooftop vistas down in the warehouse district which are totally dreamy. Definitely make friends with artists and musicians.
I agree that you would have to be blindfolded and stupid to mistake a bad area of danger. I worked for several years with kids from gang families and they are so incredibly organized in their own distinctions between rivals and civilians that getting caught up in violence or crime is unlikely. Like anywhere, one should watch one's back for petty criminals, but you'll be hard pressed to really get up against the wall due to gang problems.
My best friend from LA is on her way to London next month for a visit. I wonder if she'll take me home with her...

17:01 / 31.01.05

http://www.knurdle.com/albums/escondido_falls/IMG_4378.jpg

From Saturday's hiking trip, which proved to be half hiking, half rock climbing. The achy quads & triceps are worth it.

19:38 / 31.01.05

los angeles is a disease.

...er, sorry. everything dwight said, i mean.

20:13 / 31.01.05

You bastard!

We're The Great Old Ones Now

07:36 / 01.02.05

I didn't think anyone said anything that was particularly insulting. Gang jokes aside (and yeah, okay, the 'conversations' thing is unkind, though not one hundred per cent untrue) I thought there were some pretty useful things said here.

We're The Great Old Ones Now

07:37 / 01.02.05

Oh, and the disease thing, but Mantis is a kidder.

17:47 / 01.02.05

From a list I started compiling for prayingmantis, but have yet to complete:

Atomic Records in Burbank (3818 W. Magnolia Blvd., 1 1/2 blocks west of Hollywood Way; 818-848-7090).

Record Surplus (11609 Pico Blvd., between Barrington &
the 405 Freeway; 310-478-4217) in West L.A.

Rhino Records (1720 Westwood Blvd., between Santa Monica
and Wilshire Blvds.; 310-474-8685), the retail store that led to the record company of the same name.

Aron's Records (1150 N. Highland Ave., between Santa Monica
and Sunset Blvds.; 213-469-4700). Located near Hollywood.

Counterpoint (5911 Franklin Ave. near Beachwood; 213-957-7965), a used bookstore with an extensive collection of vinyl, CDs and tapes.

Amoeba is huge and so good it effing hurts (6400 Sunset
Blvd.; 323/254-6400).

21:25 / 01.02.05

yes, there is great shopping in l.a. yes, you are near the beach, yes, the weather is great. yes, w/a bit of time in a car you can be in the desert OR the mountains. yes, there is a shitload of cool stuff to do. yes, people are friendly.

but, i don't like l.a.'s whole steez, okay? i'm just a girl from the midwest. i won't elaborate cos i don't want to piss on scrubb's parade. come on down, you might like it. many, many people do, as evidenced by the sheer amount of traffic.

22:51 / 01.02.05

You're entitled to dislike. Don't mean to come off like your experience is somehow not valid. I'm sorry you're not having a better time.

Lilly Nowhere Late

05:08 / 02.02.05

What does steez mean?

If I still lived in LA, I'd call you up Ms Mantis and encourage you to come exploring. Certainly in a place as big and bolshy as lost angeles, one must explore and find things which are more to one's liking. But, everywhere is not for everyone. Perhaps you'll like it more if you leave? I always think that about London, that once I escape it, I'll miss it all somehow.

13:02 / 02.02.05

you know that funniest thing about LA? and i've probably gone on about this in all the other LA threads before but... I've lived in Cambridge, MA; Paris, New York... and LA. and by far, LA has yielded the smartest people i've ever met. by the large handful. go figure. you just have to dig a little.

15:33 / 02.02.05

Steez = style.

Living in Torrance (great dim sum, farmer's markets with actual farmers, broad flat streets, stucco) is very, very different from living in Echo Park (seedy nightclubs, vintage clothing stores, great taco stands, old craftsman homes in the hills).

The only generalization I've been able to make about people, though, is that the ones from Chicago are really lovely.

Scrubb is on a downward spiral

19:16 / 02.02.05

Well, my darlings, I'm now here. It's all very sunny (unsurprising, that) and USC is doing a very good impression of UC Sunnydale.

23:53 / 03.02.05

Welcome! How are you settling in?

Lilly Nowhere Late

06:13 / 05.02.05

Mystery gypt, Isn't it logical that the smartest people would choose to live in the easiest climate? It's only us dim folks who fall in love with Londoners and suchlike and move away.

Enjoy yourself Srub one. In fact, we all should enjoy where we live more.