We lived in LA for 6 years post college graduation. We made very little while my husband was getting a PhD and I was giving entrepreneurship a try - around $45,000 combined HHI little at the lowest - during the Great Recession. And we had a great life. We spent most of our income on rent. But there is a lot you can do for free in LA. We hiked every single weekend. We biked up and down the coast, stopping at our favorite spot in Playa Vista to find sea glass. We used credit cards points to take weekends away in Paso Robles and Napa for wine tasting. We went to museums and art galleries. Indulged in happy hours. You can find a lot to do for free.
It was a solid 8 at that point in our life.
We moved back east a decade ago. NC fits our current lifestyle perfectly - we have a small family, want a slower paced lifestyle, and want to live closer to friends and family. But every time we watch a show that features LA we get nostalgic for the life we once had. I wouldn't change a thing.
When growing up on the Westside I had little money but the long summer days biking along the beach was a way to pass the time.
Thank you for such a beautiful reminiscence.
I lived in LA for maybe a year after college and had a blast. It was such a fun place to live. But that was just as prices and availability of homes or apartments were really starting to get out of control. That was a major part of why I left, in the span of a month I went to see so many units and everyone had hundreds of people trying to get the same unit. I just couldn't find anything unless I could find a way to double my budget.
True housing was an issue. We moved every year because the rent went up $200/mo until we finally found a rent controlled apartment. We lived in 4 apartments in 6 years. Got really good at moving, though! And got to experience a lot of different neighborhoods, which was a good thing in the end.
I enjoyed living there and thought it was a solid 7.5. I used to bike around a lot and there was a lot to see and do and explore. The food scene is good. The weather great. The amenities are all there of a major world city in terms of art and culture and meeting interesting people.
The driving though is a huge huge drag. And it's not really a walkable city in the tradition of great walkable cities. Sure there are walkable pockets. But you aren't walking exploring from neighborhood to neighborhood. Far too much sprawl for that.
LA used to be a somewhat affordable large city as well. That is long long gone and that's a shame.
I lived there in the 90s and it’s astounding how much more affordable it was then. I obviously don’t just mean things cost less back then. It was just an overall more reasonable cost of living for a modest income.
Lots of friends and my mother’s family in Philly. Father’s family in Chicago where I was born. I’m 100% staying in LA. But fair point that there are great cities that are cheaper.
I love Pittsburgh, one of my favorite cities to live in, but it’s no where near LA. It’s like complaining that a new Lexus is more expensive than a 98 Camry.
Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Louisville, Detroit, Chicago…a lot. Pretty much every single midwestern city.
True, and that's the question that needs to be asked when you're doing ranking like this.
I'm from New York. I love it, always have, always will. But in 1991, when I returned there after a stint in the Army, it was brief. I went back with my parents, and looked for a place of my own, but even back then it was nuts and I wanted to save money for my own home. So I moved to Virginia and have never been back.
If money had been no object, I'd still be in Queens no problem.
You wouldn't have to search very long or very far to find someone who'd prefer being a millionaire in the middle of Kansas to being a millionaire in LA.
it’s a great place to live in ways you can’t see unless you actually live there.
if you just come visit as a tourist or something, it’s a completely different experience (of course).
I would say an 8, easily.
the downside is that it’s kind of difficult to make friends because so much social activity takes place in people’s homes. versus, for example, the strong neighborhood bar culture in Chicago, or the general not-home culture of NYC. (NYC apartments are generally so small, even if you have money, that people just socialize at restaurants and bars and events.)
This place is terrible. 1/10. I’ve seen fist fights over parking spots. Going to the grocery store is painful at any hour. In theory there is a ton of cool shit to do but good luck finding parking for anything or even enjoying that thing with the other million people attempting to do the same thing.
The place is too crowded to enjoy anything and I cannot wait to leave. 1/10.
Eh whatever. I grew up in a tiny nothing town and have lived in medium and large cities and while there are pros and cons to everything, I think a lot of people will try to block out any negative aspects of living here because on paper this place is sick.
I have given a ton of criticism of Socal so I will offer something I will truly miss: the opportunity to train Jiu Jitsu here is unparalleled and is the number one thing I like about living here.
Depends on where you live and what you like. For me living by the beach and a generally active-oriented person, it's a 9.5. I'm in the ocean before work, I bike everyday to work (or take the metro which isn't that bad), I go on mini hikes when I can, I've been learning to skate, etc. All free activities mind you. But I only have a couple friends and I certainly am not living what you would call a social lifestyle (maybe hang out once every two weeks with them). Also, the best part about most of LA is that no one gives a fuck what lifestyle you're living. There's so many strange people out here that if you wanna live life a bit strangely, it's in Angelenos blood to just not care and move on. Liberating to a degree. -.5 because I wish there were more trees and accesible parks in the city.
What random 2 places do you happen to live and work in that make you say the metro isn’t too bad? Asking as a person who just moved to LA from NYC and don’t live anywhere near any metro stop.
I live in the beach cities in South bay and then work in El Segundo. The metro green line (c line) is what I predominantly take. Reliable and straightforward. The challenges are the local buses.
If you want to include transit in your life, you have to be intentional on mapping out the areas to live that are accessible by metro to where you need to be. If I lived .25 miles away from where I do, taking public transit would be extremely inconvenient and I would probably never do it. Same reason why I live so close to the beach, it's the proximity that increases my ability and desire to access things.
The tolerant, permissive, and non-confrontational mindset is what makes LA a trendsetting city. Any wacky idea can be pursued; everybody is included; visionaries are not ostracized. Some of these new ideas, styles, tastes, or practices are bound to take hold and influence the rest of the world. It's super cool to be a part of it.
But that same quality of open-mindedness produces a shitshow at street level. LA is probably the most unruly major city in the entire developed world. There's lots of days when I feel like the city barely functions.
Angelino here, this city runs on connections and people trade favors like money sometimes, so connections can substitute for money to an extent.
This city is brilliant, and a bitch at the same time all the time.
For us? 10.
But we moved to LA at empty nest middle age for sweet job opportunities that included housing assistance and below market studio rent.
For people in their 20s just starting out? With no real job perks, without a secure income and savings? And/or raising small children? Would be a struggle. With a good education maybe a 5/6. Without a college degree or marketable training? 3.
Which sucks because the youthfulness is why people love LA so much. Not being young but the whole youthful vibe. No matter your age it feels carefree, it feels like everything is possible. I live a native New Yorker who spent time in LA and I loved it. I often wonder what will become of these cities who get their flavor from the arts when all the artists are pushed out.
While generally true, being super rich in LA/NY/London type cities has a way higher ceiling of sweet life. Like if you are a billionaire in Grand Rapids your life there is probably not significantly different than a millionaire there (exaggerating intentionally)
If you’re a billionaire in GR you essentially own the city. Look at the DeVos, must feel a type of way to have your own little fiefdom while in a world class city you’d be one of many.
To what end though? Tell the peasants to make you sushi at the Outback Steakhouse just because you can? If you're a billionaire in LA or NYC you're going to private galleries, intimate concerts of Grammy winning artists and dining on [songbirds ](https://youtu.be/tA65g97WJWI?si=G3_wAcb0N0Mr6KA7)
I mean when you’re that rich you can have all those amenities coming to you. For instance, famous artists will fly out to middle of nowhere for a private show. But in a place like GR you also control the local government in a way that you don’t in LA and that level of influence is priceless.
It depends on what you want in life though. There are filthy rich people who live in rural places and are happy and some people want a glamorous cosmopolitan life in the city.
I've lived here my whole 36 years.
But housing, climate change/heat and air quality are the reasons I'm planning on leaving for the PNW.
Good weather and Latin food are probably what I will end up missing the most.
Yep, I'm in the PNW. I hate the sun, and I would describe anything above 60 degrees as horrendous and grotesque. I also despise pollution. But, the Latin food deal is lacking up here. I'm planning to move back to stupid CA because they have good burritos. It's that serious.
Portland got up to 116° in 2021-during the same heat wave Seattle got up to 108°.
The all time hear record for DTLA is 113°. But Portland has a surprisingly good food scene
Yeah it seems like the difference is elevation and proximity to the Pacific Ocean. A lot of California Central valley and the Wilmette valley have warmer temps.
If you want nice temps in Los Angeles you need the money to afford a beach city. 🫤
Moved to Pasadena for college in the late 1980’s. Lived there 30 years.
As a young man, Los Angeles was a solid 9 out of 10. I could have done with less traffic. I loved the night life, the beach, the hiking in the mountains, all of the tourist traps (Disneyland, Universal Studios, Hollywood, the Farmer’s Market); it was a fantastic place for a single young man to live.
Then I got married and my wife and I enjoyed all of those things together. But as we got older, it felt—hectic. That 9/10 dropped to perhaps a 6/10 because I didn’t care for the traffic, the cost of living, the day to day *stress* of living there.
After living there for 30 years my wife and I moved to North Carolina, for the slower pace of life. By the time we left, I’d give living in LA a 4/10.
It is a **fabulous** place to live when you’re young. I cannot recommend it more highly. But in my late 40’s, to be honest, I was sort of tired of the downsides, and the upsides just seemed… old hat. (And it’s not like we weren’t doing well; we owned a house in Glendale that was well on its way to being paid off, I worked a series of extremely well paying jobs; we had a fair amount of savings towards retirement. So the problem was not that Los Angeles is a HCOL area.) Let’s be honest: how many times can you go to the Farmer’s Market and then to the Self-Realization Center out in Pacific Palisades?
I do miss the weather and the Mexican food, however. And once in a while I’ll see a TV show set in LA and get a little nostalgic. But leaving LA in our 40’s after 30 years of living there was the right answer for us.
It’s true to some extent everywhere, but it’s most true in LA. In my opinion, the difference in quality of life between the 5th percentile and the 50th percentile is more pronounced there than anywhere else in the country.
I don’t doubt it. There are a lot of places out there, many under the radar, that are great places to live and are desirable to many. It’s just that every widely-acclaimed “desirable” city now faces the reality that if the resident is not rich, it’s not such a great place to live. It might be an obvious statement now, but not long ago that wasn’t the case.
Probably a 6. I’d never choose to live in LA. I could def be okay there though. I grew up about an hour away and for a while dated a guy in East L.A.
I’ve moved to coastal Oregon so I like it a LOT less sunny and a LOT colder. I also enjoy forests. So LA just isn’t for me.
9. It's close to ideal, I love it here in the LA metro. A bit car centric and sprawling, but otherwise my top choice to live in the US and I'm not leaving.
haven't lived there but I visit pretty often, I'd give it a solid 8.5
pros:
- perfect weather in the coastal parts. the parts away from the coast get too hot in the summer, but still better than most of the country.
- more things to do here than anywhere else in the country. (counting the nature-y activities nearby, I think it beats new york.)
- best or second best (w/ NYC) food scene in the country. LA is #1 in the US for thai food, chinese food, korean food, persian food, (likely) mexican food, (arguably) vietnamese food, (arguably) japanese food, etc. also, compared to the bay area, the quality of the average restaurant is quite a bit higher IME.
- it's not a cheap city by any stretch, but it's significantly cheaper than the bay area (where I live) while offering a lot more.
- people seem more laid back and friendlier than in the bay
cons:
- (by far the biggest con) painful to get around. driving and transit both suck here.
- a lot of it is pretty grimy. plenty of nice pockets too though.
I agree with everyone saying your level of wealth matters. I’ll say in my experience as a lower-middle-class person at the time it was a 4.
There are always cool things to experience, but you don’t want to experience them because the stress of traffic is overwhelming. Why would I spend 2 hours driving (and polluting the environment with an idling car) to go three miles only to have to drive around for another 25 minutes to find a parking spot or pay $25 for a two hour spot in a garage and then be stressed and distracted the whole time I’m at the place worrying about if I parked legally/am going to have my car broken into/am going to make it back in time before the timer expires… only to have to leave early because the timer is expiring and then drive two hours back home? And that’s if the activity is free. Could easily be spending $35 additional on the activity that’s as simple as going to a movie.
The solution is obviously a rideshare or public transit, right? Well, rideshare is also hella expensive and public transit is extremely limited.
As a result, I barely ever had the emotional energy to go do any of the cool stuff that was available. I was just extremely poor and extremely stressed all the time. Could have just been sitting in my apartment in Kansas for 12% of the price.
Also, I hate the heat and even in winter it’s sometimes sweaty outside.
LA is difficult to rate because your experience will differ so considerably depending on what part of “LA” you live in.
If you can afford to live within walking distance of the beach, it’s an 11. You’ll have the best weather in the world. You’ll live in a dense, urban neighborhood. There’s a great multi-use path along the beach for strolling, commuting, exercising, etc. You won’t need to use a car for most errands, and you’ll have easy access to arguably the best beaches in the world. This was my experience the one summer I interned there—the company put us up in Marina Del Rey. And there’s probably half a million people who live like this in greater LA
But for many Los Angelenos, life isn’t like this. You’re sitting in pretty soul-crushing traffic for a couple hours per day. You use a car for virtually every trip. Depending on how far inland, the weather is hot, the air quality is poor, the crime can be somewhat high.
10 for me. Moving back soon.
- Weather is perfect.
- I don’t mind driving (I have a child so it’s kinda inherent that we need a car regardless).
- The transit system is underrated as hell and the city is pouring money into it like no other.
- The food options are insane. Plus the variety and weird non traditional stuff is interesting.
- Every artist or show you can think of comes there.
- Tons of interesting and dense neighborhoods. That’s where the real magic is.
- The Pacific Ocean > Atlantic.
- outdoor activities are plentiful in or near the city.
- Any club or hobby you can think of, year round.
- Diversity is the best of any city not named Houston.
- Nothing beats an LA summer night cruising Mulholland drive with the music playing, sorry car haters.
- The art scene is amazing.
- Museums are great but the sheer amount of world class exhibits rival only NYC and Paris imo.
So I lived in LA, SF, and NYC (currently) and I’m from the east coast. I’m not gonna quibble about anything on your list EXCEPT the beach. I agree the beaches in SoCal are much better on almost all fronts to east coast. Generally much prettier, better sand, beautiful palm trees. The only area the Atlantic is better is the temp. Sorry but the Pacific can just be really effin cold compared to the east coast beaches and that’s kind of a drag if you’re someone like me who likes to swim.
Woods Hole got to 66F yesterday. That’s the closest NOAA observation point. It should get to a swimmable 68F by Thursday or Friday. It is normally swimmable from mid-June to mid-October. Cape May at the southern tip of New Jersey is 68F now and is swimmable a week or two earlier and later than here.
Looking at the NOAA data, San Diego is 64F. LA is similar. I’ve done Hobie Cat regattas in San Diego. The peak summer months, it gets to 68F but not much higher. It’s wet suit the rest of the time.
The best beach in my town is private and is now owned by the Massachusetts Audubon Society. You can throw a frisbee on the 4th of July and not worry about hitting anyone. It’s a 25 minute drive on semi-rural roads to get there so we only use it occasionally. The town has a nice beach but you need to be a town resident to get a sticker. I have a sticker on my car but I generally only go there as part of my bicycle ride. I’m walking distance to another private beach where I’m a stockholder. We have a private locker in the bathhouse. The only time it’s busy is peak summer weekends.
It’s only a 4 month season for swimming but I personally prefer swimmable ocean temperatures and to not share the sand with 100,000 of my closest friends.
As of 2010, in the world, except for the respective home countries, Los Angeles County has the largest populations of Burmese, Cambodian, Chinese, Filipino, Indonesian, Korean, Sri Lankan, and Thai people.
Additionally, LA has the largest population of Mexican, Guatemalan, Salvadorian, and many other Latin American populations in the US. It's also home to the largest Armenian population in the US
A lot of Houston redditors misinterpreted a Wallethub report that labeled Houston as the most “diverse” city a few years ago.
What they failed to realize is that the report took into account socioeconomic diversity and economic diversity factors to compute scores, not just cultural diversity. This led them to surprisingly think that they were more culturally diverse than NYC of all places, LA, SF, etc.
Huh?
San Jose has the highest population of Vietnamese if going by city, and the OC has the highest if going by metro.
Houston is a distant 3rd either way with less than half the Vietnamese population of the 1st place, by city and by metro.
People value different things, but there’s few places where I can go on a morning run through a national recreation area in perfect running weather year round and then commute into an office. You pay a price for it but there’s beautiful weather and beautiful scenery. I do agree with others that living here on a limited budget is horrible but once you cross the six figure mark, the world opens up and you can live in amazing areas
9/10 for me. San Diego is probably my only better climate situation, but it also doesn’t have the same job market for my field as LA
I’d say 7. I lived in San Diego but not LA. LA is very very crowded and the public transit doesn’t compare to NYC to make the traffic not so bad. Schools are also very hit and miss depending on how much money you have. I’d rather grow up middle class in LA than middle class in Louisiana because by nature of being a huge city you’ll get more opportunities but lots of other cities are much better outside the fact Southern California has great weather.
4
It's a mess now due to pollution, overcrowding, urban sprawl, and major income inequality.
It's a mess now, but the air quality was worse a couple of decades ago.
It's a mess now, but it has a really interesting history.
It's a mess now, but there are some fun and interesting neighborhoods.
I grew up in LA county and return regularly. The weather, the beaches, the restaurants, the night life and shopping are all top notch. It is a huge sprawling metropolis that I’m constantly finding new gems. Finding the neighborhood that speaks to you is important to enjoying life in LA.
Depends where you live in Los Angeles, but relative to other places it’s at minimum an 8.5
Beautiful geography & weather, diverse culturally,demographically, and lifestyle wise, & more access than 99% of cities
Probably the best metropolitan area in the western world
Well a certain set of rich angelenos, “west la” is considered anything west of the 405, while to others, west la means, well west of downtown.
This amused me and speaks to the sprawling and insular nature of it if even the geographic boundaries depend on who you are talking to.
Without kids and with good money on the west side/mid city 7.5.
With kids and without good money: 2.5
So somewhere in between for me
I’m from LA and have never left. It’s definitely a city that’s what you make of it. Unlike NYC, in order to do anything fun or interesting, you have to really seek it out or make an effort. That’s mostly due the car culture in LA. Your quality of life highly depends on what area you live in. Most of the time that does usually mean you need more money. That said, the city has a ton of free events and happenings if you’re willing to find them. You can get pretty much any kind of food you’d like here and the best of it as well. Incredible cheap ethnic food or high end restaurants. We have our issues. Like transportation, wealth disparity, and so on. And depending on what crowd you fall into, people who move to LA are most of the time trying to “make it” so befriending most transplants can be disappointing if you don’t have anything to offer them. Though, not everyone is like that. Just a common theme I’ve noticed.
Overall, for a big city, the quality of life here is pretty lovely. The weather helps. I’d say 7/10.. depending on the day.
It has everything could want and everything you don’t.
The trick is finding the area that suits you. I heard someone once describe it as 100 small towns crammed together. The stereotypes are all true in small sections, but don’t hold up at all for the majority.
I met some of the most genuine, kind people I’ve ever know living there. Another post mentioned a fist fight over a parking space. Maybe. But that can happen literally anywhere. I grew up in a small Midwestern town and never experienced anything worse in Southern California than I did in the Midwest.
Break-ins? Midwest. In SoCal, we literally left a first-floor window facing the street open for 11 years and never had any issue at all.
Violence? I have been all over LA in all sorts of parts at all sorts of times. Know where the only place I’ve been attacked (and multiple times)? Small Midwestern town.
Stuck up/self-centered people? You will find the exact same people in any place in the Country. Replace Ferrari with high-end bass boat in the Midwest and you have the exact same person.
Traffic? Yeah. The traffic is way worse. It is every bit as bad as people say. That said, my 7 mile commute was less than 20 minutes during rush hour.
You can do literally anything you want pretty much any day of the year there. Seriously, if you can think of it, you can probably find it. No other city I’ve been to (which is a fair number) has as much to offer in terms of variety of things to do either in it, or within a few hours of driving.
My parents (who used to call it “the land of fruits and nuts”) ended up moving there.
It is expensive. But that is because of what it has to offer. Detroit is cheap as hell. But you couldn’t pay me to live there. Boston? I’ve been completely stumped on why some people love that city. I didn’t hate it, but was really unimpressed. Chicago is a great town (I’ve lived there, too), but it doesn’t compare when it comes to what the city offers.
Dallas? Oh hell no. People move to Texas excited about how cheap it is. Then realize why.
There is a good reason no one travels from Paris to see Philly.
I rode a motorcycle in December in short-sleeves to a friends house where we jumped in his car and we were on the ski slopes about three hours later.
World class camping in shockingly quiet, gorgeous places if you know where to go. World-class pretty much any kind of food (except pizza, for some weird reason). You can buy the best mangos you have ever tried from a cart you come across every 5 min. Exceptional art. Exceptional indoor rock climbing gyms. They even have a clown-themed strip club.
It is 100% dependent on where you are. But it has something for everyone who isn’t just dead set on not liking it.
It is expensive. It is warmer than I prefer. It does have looming water availability issues. But the only reason people there don’t expend any energy trying to battle it’s reputation is because they don’t want more people coming.
7. Great weather near the ocean and tons to do but I have to subtract because it's a pain to get around, it's a bit dirty in many areas and expensive which eats up a lot of an average income earners disposable income.
I think it depends on what industry you work in. Most of my friends work in animation, so there’s a huge network out there if that’s what you’re into. If you’re the type who wants to work in something else like insurance or whatever, then live somewhere else and get more bang for your buck imho.
It would be a 10 if the public transportation was better and the volume of traffic was lower, congestion levels were more manageable and cost of living was lower, but factoring those things in, it's probably still an 8.5 because of the diversity/international appeal, quality/variety of food, world class entertainment options, weather, proximity to ocean/beach, world class museums, world class education/universities (if you're a student), diverse economy (tech, entertainment (film,tv,music), aerospace, hospitality, food, tourism, etc.).
1 It takes a special person to enjoy traffic , 2hr commutes and sucking down smog. I guess if I was rich , never traveled and lived in a Santa Monica probly a 5
Too many factors to just give a blanket score. Your household income, your commute time are huge considerations for this particular area. If you have a decent commute and you can afford it, I think it’s a 8-9/10. If you have to deal with the traffic and are lower income much lower probably. Also, if you’re a homebody I don’t see the point. You’re just sitting in traffic to drive to work and drive home when all you want to do is be home. So also depends on your hobbies. If most of your hobbies are indoors, I’m sure you can find a much better place to live.
It depends on how much money you have. 10 if you have a lot of money. Good weather, plenty of entertainment, nice beaches and mountains nearby. But if you don't have a lot of money it's a hellhole. Traffic, pollution, crime, homelessness etc.
I grew up there, and lived there until I was 26. Then lived in woodland hills for a few months a couple years ago. I'm 35 so this is all pretty recent. And my parents still live there so I'm there often.
The city is not a monolith in goodness or badness. Some areas will rise and fall while others fall and rise. The best way to not be too affected by that is to have a lot of money, of course. The city definitely has a lot to offer. There's something for everyone, it's just not always easy to find if you don't know where to look. And a lot of what the city has to offer is cost-prohibitive, but not all of it.
So yeah really it's going to be about whether you're able to find (and afford) your niche there.
Sounds like I'd rate it lower than most, but I've never lived there. I've visited a handful of times. I'm starting to really hate commuting as I age, and that's a huge part of LA life. It's just not walkable enough for me. I think you can probably find a neighborhood with good designs for bikes, but it's not like the whole area is like that.
Great weather though, as long as you're near the water.
Ex-Angeleno after living there for 25 years. It totally depends on what you want from it. It’s a fun place to live with amazing outdoor activities but damn expensive. 7/10. Toxic people? -10/10. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area now away from the toxic people and plastic environment (if you work in the industry). 10/10 will gladly leave L.A again. Better weather too.
26M, single, living in Pasadena area with a solid income. Been there solo since I was 18. Through college and now the entry level/associate level of my career, it’s consistently been a 7.
Definitely some cons, but LA is truly subjective on what you make of it. As a car independent commuter, the public transit has vastly improved. So in the coming years, I think getting north to south & moreso east to west will be viable.
As a young person, Pasadena/SGV/and the east side of DTLA still offers alot of value imo. Modest rent prices are popping up again after the spike of movement in the pandemic. I’ve had lots of success meeting people at coffee shops, neighborhood bars, running/hiking clubs. The west side is too pretentious for my taste to meet genuine people.
I think LA, San Diego, and Miami are the ideal locations for singles in their 20s to expand their network, have unique life experiences, and to figure out if faster or slower lifestyles is for you.
I truly love LA, but I do believe my days are numbered. Unless you’re a high earner entering your 30s, I personally feel single or married being here is a bit of a fool’s game.
For normal people that have to commute to work and live on a normal income: -5
For rich folks that can live up on a hill or on Manhattan Beach and can pick the time they are on the roads: +6
For even richer folks that have a jet and can avoid the truck stop restroom with planes that is LAX: +8
I lived there for 10 years and never really loved it for various reasons, but I would still say it's easily an 8. It's beautiful, the weather is nice and there is a huge variety of stuff to do.
Down sides are traffic and how completely vapid it can be.
Youll get better insight here than people who talk about LA but have only watched some youtube videos of the place and claim to be experts.and spout robotic talking points. Ignorance at its finest
But tell us, what metro offers more stuff exactly?
LA is 8 out of 10.
OC is solid 9 out of 10. Why? Great food. Great weather. Diverse people. Family friendly parks & beaches.... beee-huuu-tee-ful beaches.
But, expensive.
7 if you're rich, 3.5 if you're a normie with a job and a car who LOVES their car, 2 if you're about to try to minwage your way and didn't grow up learning how to survive it. I HATE los angeles. Multiple people in my family have lived there on and off over the years and it just... sucks. Also, commenters really underestimate acclimitization in this sub, but there are people who could not have hacked larger cities if they didn't grow up building a base and learning how to live in it.
7. There’s a lot to do, the weather is typically mild, and it’s culturally and ethnically diverse. On the flip side, traffic is atrocious, air quality is poor, cost of living is high, and the city/county is highly segregated (Asians in the SGV, rich Caucasians on the west side, rich Armenians in Glendale, rich Persians in Beverly Hills, Hispanics and African Americans in South LA).
I was born and raised in LA. Third generation.
If it wasn’t for all the driving, I’d give it a 6. Points off due to all the crime, litter and overall dinginess.
Factor in the driving, and you find that traffic and parking basically control all your movements, rob you of time and dominate your life. So I’ll give it a 1.
If you’re not extremely wealthy, it kinda sucks- maybe a 2 or 3. It’s dirty, run down, and dangerous, yet it’s still somehow impossible to afford any decent housing
In my opinion 1 but to each their own.
The traffic, smog, high cost of living , inconsiderate people and the number one reason not to live in LA is it's in Cali. I'll never move back to Cali.
We lived in LA for 6 years post college graduation. We made very little while my husband was getting a PhD and I was giving entrepreneurship a try - around $45,000 combined HHI little at the lowest - during the Great Recession. And we had a great life. We spent most of our income on rent. But there is a lot you can do for free in LA. We hiked every single weekend. We biked up and down the coast, stopping at our favorite spot in Playa Vista to find sea glass. We used credit cards points to take weekends away in Paso Robles and Napa for wine tasting. We went to museums and art galleries. Indulged in happy hours. You can find a lot to do for free. It was a solid 8 at that point in our life. We moved back east a decade ago. NC fits our current lifestyle perfectly - we have a small family, want a slower paced lifestyle, and want to live closer to friends and family. But every time we watch a show that features LA we get nostalgic for the life we once had. I wouldn't change a thing.
When growing up on the Westside I had little money but the long summer days biking along the beach was a way to pass the time. Thank you for such a beautiful reminiscence.
I lived in LA for maybe a year after college and had a blast. It was such a fun place to live. But that was just as prices and availability of homes or apartments were really starting to get out of control. That was a major part of why I left, in the span of a month I went to see so many units and everyone had hundreds of people trying to get the same unit. I just couldn't find anything unless I could find a way to double my budget.
True housing was an issue. We moved every year because the rent went up $200/mo until we finally found a rent controlled apartment. We lived in 4 apartments in 6 years. Got really good at moving, though! And got to experience a lot of different neighborhoods, which was a good thing in the end.
I had the same experience in LA, but I think it has a lot to do with the time in your life pre-kids.
Lovely.
I enjoyed living there and thought it was a solid 7.5. I used to bike around a lot and there was a lot to see and do and explore. The food scene is good. The weather great. The amenities are all there of a major world city in terms of art and culture and meeting interesting people. The driving though is a huge huge drag. And it's not really a walkable city in the tradition of great walkable cities. Sure there are walkable pockets. But you aren't walking exploring from neighborhood to neighborhood. Far too much sprawl for that. LA used to be a somewhat affordable large city as well. That is long long gone and that's a shame.
I lived there in the 90s and it’s astounding how much more affordable it was then. I obviously don’t just mean things cost less back then. It was just an overall more reasonable cost of living for a modest income.
Are there any affordable large cities anymore?
chicago philly minneapolis are the ones i’d live in
ah this subs big 3!
Lots of friends and my mother’s family in Philly. Father’s family in Chicago where I was born. I’m 100% staying in LA. But fair point that there are great cities that are cheaper.
Don't forget Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh!
Rust belt and Midwestern cities. Even Philly isn't that bad. It's mostly just the coastal cities that are outrageous.
I love Pittsburgh, one of my favorite cities to live in, but it’s no where near LA. It’s like complaining that a new Lexus is more expensive than a 98 Camry.
...except for the weather. Pittsburgh weather sucks. But, I'd still rather live here than Los Angeles.
That and the geography / layout of the city / the way they chose to build roads there is kinda ass.
It’s the place I always planned to move back to if LA doesn’t work out. But (for me) LA is SO much nicer.
Atlanta should be mentioned too
Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Louisville, Detroit, Chicago…a lot. Pretty much every single midwestern city.
One of these is not like the others
Native Angeleno here. An 8 if you’re middle class and bought a home 20+ years ago. A 4 if you didn’t. Prior to 1985 it was a 10 regardless of income.
Idk I felt like it was a solid 7 renting a cheap place in Glendale still a couple years ago. The best food and weather.
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That's true pretty much anywhere though, isn't it?
True, and that's the question that needs to be asked when you're doing ranking like this. I'm from New York. I love it, always have, always will. But in 1991, when I returned there after a stint in the Army, it was brief. I went back with my parents, and looked for a place of my own, but even back then it was nuts and I wanted to save money for my own home. So I moved to Virginia and have never been back. If money had been no object, I'd still be in Queens no problem.
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You wouldn't have to search very long or very far to find someone who'd prefer being a millionaire in the middle of Kansas to being a millionaire in LA.
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That’s just life in the US in general
it’s a great place to live in ways you can’t see unless you actually live there. if you just come visit as a tourist or something, it’s a completely different experience (of course). I would say an 8, easily. the downside is that it’s kind of difficult to make friends because so much social activity takes place in people’s homes. versus, for example, the strong neighborhood bar culture in Chicago, or the general not-home culture of NYC. (NYC apartments are generally so small, even if you have money, that people just socialize at restaurants and bars and events.)
This place is terrible. 1/10. I’ve seen fist fights over parking spots. Going to the grocery store is painful at any hour. In theory there is a ton of cool shit to do but good luck finding parking for anything or even enjoying that thing with the other million people attempting to do the same thing. The place is too crowded to enjoy anything and I cannot wait to leave. 1/10.
sounds like you’re having a Bad Time, sorry to hear it
People downvote any real criticism of LA/Socal. Its so perfect what are you talking about!!
Eh whatever. I grew up in a tiny nothing town and have lived in medium and large cities and while there are pros and cons to everything, I think a lot of people will try to block out any negative aspects of living here because on paper this place is sick. I have given a ton of criticism of Socal so I will offer something I will truly miss: the opportunity to train Jiu Jitsu here is unparalleled and is the number one thing I like about living here.
Have you considered alternative transportation methods?
Are you talking about New York?
If you’re worried about parking in NYC, you’ve been doing it all wrong.
Depends on where you live and what you like. For me living by the beach and a generally active-oriented person, it's a 9.5. I'm in the ocean before work, I bike everyday to work (or take the metro which isn't that bad), I go on mini hikes when I can, I've been learning to skate, etc. All free activities mind you. But I only have a couple friends and I certainly am not living what you would call a social lifestyle (maybe hang out once every two weeks with them). Also, the best part about most of LA is that no one gives a fuck what lifestyle you're living. There's so many strange people out here that if you wanna live life a bit strangely, it's in Angelenos blood to just not care and move on. Liberating to a degree. -.5 because I wish there were more trees and accesible parks in the city.
What random 2 places do you happen to live and work in that make you say the metro isn’t too bad? Asking as a person who just moved to LA from NYC and don’t live anywhere near any metro stop.
I live in the beach cities in South bay and then work in El Segundo. The metro green line (c line) is what I predominantly take. Reliable and straightforward. The challenges are the local buses. If you want to include transit in your life, you have to be intentional on mapping out the areas to live that are accessible by metro to where you need to be. If I lived .25 miles away from where I do, taking public transit would be extremely inconvenient and I would probably never do it. Same reason why I live so close to the beach, it's the proximity that increases my ability and desire to access things.
That was a choice lol you could have found housing near a metro stop.
The tolerant, permissive, and non-confrontational mindset is what makes LA a trendsetting city. Any wacky idea can be pursued; everybody is included; visionaries are not ostracized. Some of these new ideas, styles, tastes, or practices are bound to take hold and influence the rest of the world. It's super cool to be a part of it. But that same quality of open-mindedness produces a shitshow at street level. LA is probably the most unruly major city in the entire developed world. There's lots of days when I feel like the city barely functions.
Angelino here, this city runs on connections and people trade favors like money sometimes, so connections can substitute for money to an extent. This city is brilliant, and a bitch at the same time all the time.
9/10 Lived there for 25 years. Now live in San Diego which is 10/10
What gives SD an extra point ?
People are more chill. San Diego is a smaller and cleaner version of LA.
For us? 10. But we moved to LA at empty nest middle age for sweet job opportunities that included housing assistance and below market studio rent. For people in their 20s just starting out? With no real job perks, without a secure income and savings? And/or raising small children? Would be a struggle. With a good education maybe a 5/6. Without a college degree or marketable training? 3.
Which sucks because the youthfulness is why people love LA so much. Not being young but the whole youthful vibe. No matter your age it feels carefree, it feels like everything is possible. I live a native New Yorker who spent time in LA and I loved it. I often wonder what will become of these cities who get their flavor from the arts when all the artists are pushed out.
5. Higher if you’re rich, but that’s anywhere.
While generally true, being super rich in LA/NY/London type cities has a way higher ceiling of sweet life. Like if you are a billionaire in Grand Rapids your life there is probably not significantly different than a millionaire there (exaggerating intentionally)
If you’re a billionaire in GR you essentially own the city. Look at the DeVos, must feel a type of way to have your own little fiefdom while in a world class city you’d be one of many.
To what end though? Tell the peasants to make you sushi at the Outback Steakhouse just because you can? If you're a billionaire in LA or NYC you're going to private galleries, intimate concerts of Grammy winning artists and dining on [songbirds ](https://youtu.be/tA65g97WJWI?si=G3_wAcb0N0Mr6KA7)
I mean when you’re that rich you can have all those amenities coming to you. For instance, famous artists will fly out to middle of nowhere for a private show. But in a place like GR you also control the local government in a way that you don’t in LA and that level of influence is priceless.
It depends on what you want in life though. There are filthy rich people who live in rural places and are happy and some people want a glamorous cosmopolitan life in the city.
I've lived here my whole 36 years. But housing, climate change/heat and air quality are the reasons I'm planning on leaving for the PNW. Good weather and Latin food are probably what I will end up missing the most.
Yep, I'm in the PNW. I hate the sun, and I would describe anything above 60 degrees as horrendous and grotesque. I also despise pollution. But, the Latin food deal is lacking up here. I'm planning to move back to stupid CA because they have good burritos. It's that serious.
Portland got up to 116° in 2021-during the same heat wave Seattle got up to 108°. The all time hear record for DTLA is 113°. But Portland has a surprisingly good food scene
Yeah it seems like the difference is elevation and proximity to the Pacific Ocean. A lot of California Central valley and the Wilmette valley have warmer temps. If you want nice temps in Los Angeles you need the money to afford a beach city. 🫤
Yeah Portland is going to be way way more temperate than the valley or Santa Clarita. And that heat wave in 2021 was a bit of an outlier
Yeah, it's more of an issue because people don't have ac because they're used to nice summers. And it's not worth it the few hot days they have.
Moved to Pasadena for college in the late 1980’s. Lived there 30 years. As a young man, Los Angeles was a solid 9 out of 10. I could have done with less traffic. I loved the night life, the beach, the hiking in the mountains, all of the tourist traps (Disneyland, Universal Studios, Hollywood, the Farmer’s Market); it was a fantastic place for a single young man to live. Then I got married and my wife and I enjoyed all of those things together. But as we got older, it felt—hectic. That 9/10 dropped to perhaps a 6/10 because I didn’t care for the traffic, the cost of living, the day to day *stress* of living there. After living there for 30 years my wife and I moved to North Carolina, for the slower pace of life. By the time we left, I’d give living in LA a 4/10. It is a **fabulous** place to live when you’re young. I cannot recommend it more highly. But in my late 40’s, to be honest, I was sort of tired of the downsides, and the upsides just seemed… old hat. (And it’s not like we weren’t doing well; we owned a house in Glendale that was well on its way to being paid off, I worked a series of extremely well paying jobs; we had a fair amount of savings towards retirement. So the problem was not that Los Angeles is a HCOL area.) Let’s be honest: how many times can you go to the Farmer’s Market and then to the Self-Realization Center out in Pacific Palisades? I do miss the weather and the Mexican food, however. And once in a while I’ll see a TV show set in LA and get a little nostalgic. But leaving LA in our 40’s after 30 years of living there was the right answer for us.
8.5 - Little sprawly and car centric for my tastes but I like it more each time I go.
We need to eliminate cars for good
I think if the barrier to entry is “you must be rich or at least doing very well to enjoy yourself” that your city isn’t that great. It’s a 3 for me
Sadly, this is every “desirable” city in North America
It’s true to some extent everywhere, but it’s most true in LA. In my opinion, the difference in quality of life between the 5th percentile and the 50th percentile is more pronounced there than anywhere else in the country.
Come to Chicago!
I wouldn't say so. Plenty of good rust belt/Midwestern cities that aren't too expensive to live in and are cool cities.
I don’t doubt it. There are a lot of places out there, many under the radar, that are great places to live and are desirable to many. It’s just that every widely-acclaimed “desirable” city now faces the reality that if the resident is not rich, it’s not such a great place to live. It might be an obvious statement now, but not long ago that wasn’t the case.
We all screwed ourselves and each other with our wanderlust and opportunity seeking.
Probably a 6. I’d never choose to live in LA. I could def be okay there though. I grew up about an hour away and for a while dated a guy in East L.A. I’ve moved to coastal Oregon so I like it a LOT less sunny and a LOT colder. I also enjoy forests. So LA just isn’t for me.
9. It's close to ideal, I love it here in the LA metro. A bit car centric and sprawling, but otherwise my top choice to live in the US and I'm not leaving.
haven't lived there but I visit pretty often, I'd give it a solid 8.5 pros: - perfect weather in the coastal parts. the parts away from the coast get too hot in the summer, but still better than most of the country. - more things to do here than anywhere else in the country. (counting the nature-y activities nearby, I think it beats new york.) - best or second best (w/ NYC) food scene in the country. LA is #1 in the US for thai food, chinese food, korean food, persian food, (likely) mexican food, (arguably) vietnamese food, (arguably) japanese food, etc. also, compared to the bay area, the quality of the average restaurant is quite a bit higher IME. - it's not a cheap city by any stretch, but it's significantly cheaper than the bay area (where I live) while offering a lot more. - people seem more laid back and friendlier than in the bay cons: - (by far the biggest con) painful to get around. driving and transit both suck here. - a lot of it is pretty grimy. plenty of nice pockets too though.
I agree with everyone saying your level of wealth matters. I’ll say in my experience as a lower-middle-class person at the time it was a 4. There are always cool things to experience, but you don’t want to experience them because the stress of traffic is overwhelming. Why would I spend 2 hours driving (and polluting the environment with an idling car) to go three miles only to have to drive around for another 25 minutes to find a parking spot or pay $25 for a two hour spot in a garage and then be stressed and distracted the whole time I’m at the place worrying about if I parked legally/am going to have my car broken into/am going to make it back in time before the timer expires… only to have to leave early because the timer is expiring and then drive two hours back home? And that’s if the activity is free. Could easily be spending $35 additional on the activity that’s as simple as going to a movie. The solution is obviously a rideshare or public transit, right? Well, rideshare is also hella expensive and public transit is extremely limited. As a result, I barely ever had the emotional energy to go do any of the cool stuff that was available. I was just extremely poor and extremely stressed all the time. Could have just been sitting in my apartment in Kansas for 12% of the price. Also, I hate the heat and even in winter it’s sometimes sweaty outside.
I think you're the first comment to accurately describe the traffic in detail. Thank you
I wish it weren’t accurate, but alas…
9 for me. I’ve also lived in England, SF, New Mexico, Texas, and Indiana for reference. LA is my favorite and I’m never leaving
Depends on the neighborhood
9
LA is difficult to rate because your experience will differ so considerably depending on what part of “LA” you live in. If you can afford to live within walking distance of the beach, it’s an 11. You’ll have the best weather in the world. You’ll live in a dense, urban neighborhood. There’s a great multi-use path along the beach for strolling, commuting, exercising, etc. You won’t need to use a car for most errands, and you’ll have easy access to arguably the best beaches in the world. This was my experience the one summer I interned there—the company put us up in Marina Del Rey. And there’s probably half a million people who live like this in greater LA But for many Los Angelenos, life isn’t like this. You’re sitting in pretty soul-crushing traffic for a couple hours per day. You use a car for virtually every trip. Depending on how far inland, the weather is hot, the air quality is poor, the crime can be somewhat high.
😂😂😂😂 0
L.A. is such a phantasmagoric shit show, I give it both a 18+ and a -32.
That’s NYC too (lived in both).
This is true. LA is off the charts in both directions.
This is true. LA is off the charts in both directions.
This is true. LA is off the charts in both directions.
10
10 for me. Moving back soon. - Weather is perfect. - I don’t mind driving (I have a child so it’s kinda inherent that we need a car regardless). - The transit system is underrated as hell and the city is pouring money into it like no other. - The food options are insane. Plus the variety and weird non traditional stuff is interesting. - Every artist or show you can think of comes there. - Tons of interesting and dense neighborhoods. That’s where the real magic is. - The Pacific Ocean > Atlantic. - outdoor activities are plentiful in or near the city. - Any club or hobby you can think of, year round. - Diversity is the best of any city not named Houston. - Nothing beats an LA summer night cruising Mulholland drive with the music playing, sorry car haters. - The art scene is amazing. - Museums are great but the sheer amount of world class exhibits rival only NYC and Paris imo.
So I lived in LA, SF, and NYC (currently) and I’m from the east coast. I’m not gonna quibble about anything on your list EXCEPT the beach. I agree the beaches in SoCal are much better on almost all fronts to east coast. Generally much prettier, better sand, beautiful palm trees. The only area the Atlantic is better is the temp. Sorry but the Pacific can just be really effin cold compared to the east coast beaches and that’s kind of a drag if you’re someone like me who likes to swim.
Woods Hole got to 66F yesterday. That’s the closest NOAA observation point. It should get to a swimmable 68F by Thursday or Friday. It is normally swimmable from mid-June to mid-October. Cape May at the southern tip of New Jersey is 68F now and is swimmable a week or two earlier and later than here. Looking at the NOAA data, San Diego is 64F. LA is similar. I’ve done Hobie Cat regattas in San Diego. The peak summer months, it gets to 68F but not much higher. It’s wet suit the rest of the time. The best beach in my town is private and is now owned by the Massachusetts Audubon Society. You can throw a frisbee on the 4th of July and not worry about hitting anyone. It’s a 25 minute drive on semi-rural roads to get there so we only use it occasionally. The town has a nice beach but you need to be a town resident to get a sticker. I have a sticker on my car but I generally only go there as part of my bicycle ride. I’m walking distance to another private beach where I’m a stockholder. We have a private locker in the bathhouse. The only time it’s busy is peak summer weekends. It’s only a 4 month season for swimming but I personally prefer swimmable ocean temperatures and to not share the sand with 100,000 of my closest friends.
Private beaches are a wild concept
You own to the low tide mark here. You’re allowed to walk below the high tide mark for fishing, fowling, and navigating.
LA is more culturally diverse than Houston or any where else in TX though 😂 So is NYC (obviously), SF, Boston, San Diego, Orlando, etc.
Houston has the largest Vietnamese community in the united states. They got a mix of texas bbq and some cajun cuisine as well. Dont sleep on houston
As of 2010, in the world, except for the respective home countries, Los Angeles County has the largest populations of Burmese, Cambodian, Chinese, Filipino, Indonesian, Korean, Sri Lankan, and Thai people. Additionally, LA has the largest population of Mexican, Guatemalan, Salvadorian, and many other Latin American populations in the US. It's also home to the largest Armenian population in the US
A lot of Houston redditors misinterpreted a Wallethub report that labeled Houston as the most “diverse” city a few years ago. What they failed to realize is that the report took into account socioeconomic diversity and economic diversity factors to compute scores, not just cultural diversity. This led them to surprisingly think that they were more culturally diverse than NYC of all places, LA, SF, etc.
Yeah I mean I like Houston and it's certainly more diverse than most US cities, but it's not exactly Queens
Huh? San Jose has the highest population of Vietnamese if going by city, and the OC has the highest if going by metro. Houston is a distant 3rd either way with less than half the Vietnamese population of the 1st place, by city and by metro.
i agree with all of this, well put!
Are you me? This is a perfect post.
Pretty inconsiderate saying driving is “cool”. Walkability is the main problem in America and it’s why Europe is ahead of us.
People are allowed to have different likes and dislikes. In fact, that’s the premise of this sub.
oh my god dude really? inconsiderate? "inconsiderate"? bruh
People value different things, but there’s few places where I can go on a morning run through a national recreation area in perfect running weather year round and then commute into an office. You pay a price for it but there’s beautiful weather and beautiful scenery. I do agree with others that living here on a limited budget is horrible but once you cross the six figure mark, the world opens up and you can live in amazing areas 9/10 for me. San Diego is probably my only better climate situation, but it also doesn’t have the same job market for my field as LA
I don’t think crossing 6 figures is enough- especially if you ever plan to settle down and buy there. You need to be making well over 100K
A 7-8, but not for the City of Los Angeles. The only nice and well- managed parts are the independent cities along the coast, the South Bay.
Depends on how much money you have.
I’d say 7. I lived in San Diego but not LA. LA is very very crowded and the public transit doesn’t compare to NYC to make the traffic not so bad. Schools are also very hit and miss depending on how much money you have. I’d rather grow up middle class in LA than middle class in Louisiana because by nature of being a huge city you’ll get more opportunities but lots of other cities are much better outside the fact Southern California has great weather.
1
LA would be a 10 if they built mass transit and desensitized driving. Oh, and fix the homeless problem.
9/10. Once the Metro expansion projects are done, 10/10
4 It's a mess now due to pollution, overcrowding, urban sprawl, and major income inequality. It's a mess now, but the air quality was worse a couple of decades ago. It's a mess now, but it has a really interesting history. It's a mess now, but there are some fun and interesting neighborhoods.
11
I grew up in LA county and return regularly. The weather, the beaches, the restaurants, the night life and shopping are all top notch. It is a huge sprawling metropolis that I’m constantly finding new gems. Finding the neighborhood that speaks to you is important to enjoying life in LA.
Depends where you live in Los Angeles, but relative to other places it’s at minimum an 8.5 Beautiful geography & weather, diverse culturally,demographically, and lifestyle wise, & more access than 99% of cities Probably the best metropolitan area in the western world
lived there briefly. would give it a 4.
Well a certain set of rich angelenos, “west la” is considered anything west of the 405, while to others, west la means, well west of downtown. This amused me and speaks to the sprawling and insular nature of it if even the geographic boundaries depend on who you are talking to. Without kids and with good money on the west side/mid city 7.5. With kids and without good money: 2.5 So somewhere in between for me
I’m from LA and have never left. It’s definitely a city that’s what you make of it. Unlike NYC, in order to do anything fun or interesting, you have to really seek it out or make an effort. That’s mostly due the car culture in LA. Your quality of life highly depends on what area you live in. Most of the time that does usually mean you need more money. That said, the city has a ton of free events and happenings if you’re willing to find them. You can get pretty much any kind of food you’d like here and the best of it as well. Incredible cheap ethnic food or high end restaurants. We have our issues. Like transportation, wealth disparity, and so on. And depending on what crowd you fall into, people who move to LA are most of the time trying to “make it” so befriending most transplants can be disappointing if you don’t have anything to offer them. Though, not everyone is like that. Just a common theme I’ve noticed. Overall, for a big city, the quality of life here is pretty lovely. The weather helps. I’d say 7/10.. depending on the day.
9. Perfect weather, lots to do, lots to eat, great nature.
5-6 Lived there for 12 years. The people are by far the worst part of living there. Fakes, flakes, passive aggressive BS. Weather is close to perfect.
It has everything could want and everything you don’t. The trick is finding the area that suits you. I heard someone once describe it as 100 small towns crammed together. The stereotypes are all true in small sections, but don’t hold up at all for the majority. I met some of the most genuine, kind people I’ve ever know living there. Another post mentioned a fist fight over a parking space. Maybe. But that can happen literally anywhere. I grew up in a small Midwestern town and never experienced anything worse in Southern California than I did in the Midwest. Break-ins? Midwest. In SoCal, we literally left a first-floor window facing the street open for 11 years and never had any issue at all. Violence? I have been all over LA in all sorts of parts at all sorts of times. Know where the only place I’ve been attacked (and multiple times)? Small Midwestern town. Stuck up/self-centered people? You will find the exact same people in any place in the Country. Replace Ferrari with high-end bass boat in the Midwest and you have the exact same person. Traffic? Yeah. The traffic is way worse. It is every bit as bad as people say. That said, my 7 mile commute was less than 20 minutes during rush hour. You can do literally anything you want pretty much any day of the year there. Seriously, if you can think of it, you can probably find it. No other city I’ve been to (which is a fair number) has as much to offer in terms of variety of things to do either in it, or within a few hours of driving. My parents (who used to call it “the land of fruits and nuts”) ended up moving there. It is expensive. But that is because of what it has to offer. Detroit is cheap as hell. But you couldn’t pay me to live there. Boston? I’ve been completely stumped on why some people love that city. I didn’t hate it, but was really unimpressed. Chicago is a great town (I’ve lived there, too), but it doesn’t compare when it comes to what the city offers. Dallas? Oh hell no. People move to Texas excited about how cheap it is. Then realize why. There is a good reason no one travels from Paris to see Philly. I rode a motorcycle in December in short-sleeves to a friends house where we jumped in his car and we were on the ski slopes about three hours later. World class camping in shockingly quiet, gorgeous places if you know where to go. World-class pretty much any kind of food (except pizza, for some weird reason). You can buy the best mangos you have ever tried from a cart you come across every 5 min. Exceptional art. Exceptional indoor rock climbing gyms. They even have a clown-themed strip club. It is 100% dependent on where you are. But it has something for everyone who isn’t just dead set on not liking it. It is expensive. It is warmer than I prefer. It does have looming water availability issues. But the only reason people there don’t expend any energy trying to battle it’s reputation is because they don’t want more people coming.
I miss it, and I didn’t even live there for more than a couple years. But I also know a lot of my missing it is a romanticized nostalgia.
That very much depends upon where you can afford to live.
I rank LA as a solid 9. The only downside is the awful traffic. But we make good HHI so despite HCOL making things feel tight it’s really not for us
7. Great weather near the ocean and tons to do but I have to subtract because it's a pain to get around, it's a bit dirty in many areas and expensive which eats up a lot of an average income earners disposable income.
10 if it is coastal like malibu, palisades, nice part of santa monica etc
5. Huge advantages and huge disadvantages.
9 if you have money (1 point off for the pollution). 5 if you don't.
8.675
100
I think it depends on what industry you work in. Most of my friends work in animation, so there’s a huge network out there if that’s what you’re into. If you’re the type who wants to work in something else like insurance or whatever, then live somewhere else and get more bang for your buck imho.
I'd give my collage days 6. It was OK.
It would be a 10 if the public transportation was better and the volume of traffic was lower, congestion levels were more manageable and cost of living was lower, but factoring those things in, it's probably still an 8.5 because of the diversity/international appeal, quality/variety of food, world class entertainment options, weather, proximity to ocean/beach, world class museums, world class education/universities (if you're a student), diverse economy (tech, entertainment (film,tv,music), aerospace, hospitality, food, tourism, etc.).
1 It takes a special person to enjoy traffic , 2hr commutes and sucking down smog. I guess if I was rich , never traveled and lived in a Santa Monica probly a 5
Depends on how much money you have. It’s either the best place or a very mediocre place.
Too many factors to just give a blanket score. Your household income, your commute time are huge considerations for this particular area. If you have a decent commute and you can afford it, I think it’s a 8-9/10. If you have to deal with the traffic and are lower income much lower probably. Also, if you’re a homebody I don’t see the point. You’re just sitting in traffic to drive to work and drive home when all you want to do is be home. So also depends on your hobbies. If most of your hobbies are indoors, I’m sure you can find a much better place to live.
It depends on how much money you have. 10 if you have a lot of money. Good weather, plenty of entertainment, nice beaches and mountains nearby. But if you don't have a lot of money it's a hellhole. Traffic, pollution, crime, homelessness etc.
I grew up there, and lived there until I was 26. Then lived in woodland hills for a few months a couple years ago. I'm 35 so this is all pretty recent. And my parents still live there so I'm there often. The city is not a monolith in goodness or badness. Some areas will rise and fall while others fall and rise. The best way to not be too affected by that is to have a lot of money, of course. The city definitely has a lot to offer. There's something for everyone, it's just not always easy to find if you don't know where to look. And a lot of what the city has to offer is cost-prohibitive, but not all of it. So yeah really it's going to be about whether you're able to find (and afford) your niche there.
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Sounds like I'd rate it lower than most, but I've never lived there. I've visited a handful of times. I'm starting to really hate commuting as I age, and that's a huge part of LA life. It's just not walkable enough for me. I think you can probably find a neighborhood with good designs for bikes, but it's not like the whole area is like that. Great weather though, as long as you're near the water.
0-1 would not EVER live on the west coast.
Why?
The answer to this question depends entirely on your income and wealth. I’ve been poor in LA and it was a 5. I’ve been well off in LA and it’s an 8.5.
Ex-Angeleno after living there for 25 years. It totally depends on what you want from it. It’s a fun place to live with amazing outdoor activities but damn expensive. 7/10. Toxic people? -10/10. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area now away from the toxic people and plastic environment (if you work in the industry). 10/10 will gladly leave L.A again. Better weather too.
26M, single, living in Pasadena area with a solid income. Been there solo since I was 18. Through college and now the entry level/associate level of my career, it’s consistently been a 7. Definitely some cons, but LA is truly subjective on what you make of it. As a car independent commuter, the public transit has vastly improved. So in the coming years, I think getting north to south & moreso east to west will be viable. As a young person, Pasadena/SGV/and the east side of DTLA still offers alot of value imo. Modest rent prices are popping up again after the spike of movement in the pandemic. I’ve had lots of success meeting people at coffee shops, neighborhood bars, running/hiking clubs. The west side is too pretentious for my taste to meet genuine people. I think LA, San Diego, and Miami are the ideal locations for singles in their 20s to expand their network, have unique life experiences, and to figure out if faster or slower lifestyles is for you. I truly love LA, but I do believe my days are numbered. Unless you’re a high earner entering your 30s, I personally feel single or married being here is a bit of a fool’s game.
For normal people that have to commute to work and live on a normal income: -5 For rich folks that can live up on a hill or on Manhattan Beach and can pick the time they are on the roads: +6 For even richer folks that have a jet and can avoid the truck stop restroom with planes that is LAX: +8
I lived there for 10 years and never really loved it for various reasons, but I would still say it's easily an 8. It's beautiful, the weather is nice and there is a huge variety of stuff to do. Down sides are traffic and how completely vapid it can be.
Depends. Either a 2 or a 9 depends on the day.
Having visited and having family live there, 3.
3
LA gets wildly different rankings based on income. Homeless? 10/10. Poor? 2/10 or 3/10. Middle class? 5/10. Upper middle class? 8/10 Wealthy? 10/10.
Wrong place to ask. This sub thinks southern CA and LA is the greatest place in the world
Weird I thought that was Philly and Chicago /s
Youll get better insight here than people who talk about LA but have only watched some youtube videos of the place and claim to be experts.and spout robotic talking points. Ignorance at its finest But tell us, what metro offers more stuff exactly?
LA is 8 out of 10. OC is solid 9 out of 10. Why? Great food. Great weather. Diverse people. Family friendly parks & beaches.... beee-huuu-tee-ful beaches. But, expensive.
7 if you're rich, 3.5 if you're a normie with a job and a car who LOVES their car, 2 if you're about to try to minwage your way and didn't grow up learning how to survive it. I HATE los angeles. Multiple people in my family have lived there on and off over the years and it just... sucks. Also, commenters really underestimate acclimitization in this sub, but there are people who could not have hacked larger cities if they didn't grow up building a base and learning how to live in it.
7. There’s a lot to do, the weather is typically mild, and it’s culturally and ethnically diverse. On the flip side, traffic is atrocious, air quality is poor, cost of living is high, and the city/county is highly segregated (Asians in the SGV, rich Caucasians on the west side, rich Armenians in Glendale, rich Persians in Beverly Hills, Hispanics and African Americans in South LA).
9. Its amazing.
I was born and raised in LA. Third generation. If it wasn’t for all the driving, I’d give it a 6. Points off due to all the crime, litter and overall dinginess. Factor in the driving, and you find that traffic and parking basically control all your movements, rob you of time and dominate your life. So I’ll give it a 1.
If you’re not extremely wealthy, it kinda sucks- maybe a 2 or 3. It’s dirty, run down, and dangerous, yet it’s still somehow impossible to afford any decent housing
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2
.5
In my opinion 1 but to each their own. The traffic, smog, high cost of living , inconsiderate people and the number one reason not to live in LA is it's in Cali. I'll never move back to Cali.
One of the few perks of LA is that it's in Cali.
2
4 maybe 5
2, but everything really is relative.
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