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> LA is a car-centric sprawling cesspool. Even for the US, it’s uniquely terrible.

LA isn’t even the worst in that regard (I’d take LA over DFW)

I don’t know where you are from, but LA is actually representative of large swaths of the US, and highlights some of the best things about America (namely multiculturalism and diversity)



True. I did love the multicultural aspect of Los Angeles, but it got blown to pieces during 9/11, and once the hatred and the flags came out, it was definitely time to leave .. But for many years I considered LA to be a very fine example of people living together, relatively peaceful. Well, after the RK riots, that is ..


If you moved out of LA 20 years ago and lived there for 15 years you would not have lived in LA at the time of Rodney King incident and the LA Riots which was in 1992. As such you have no basis or credibility to make commentary and comparisons between LA before versus after the Riots. As someone who was there before, during and after I can say you have no idea what you are talking about. There was no momentous shift or even appreciable difference in LA in the aftermath of the riots. Further the "multicultural aspect of Los Angeles" did most certainly not get "blown to pieces." The weeks after 9/11 the palpable feeling was one of introspection, unity and kindness. So much so that the joke was it was starting to make people uncomfortable.


I haven’t spent enough time in LA to comment on the rest of your post but 2022 - 20 years = 2002; 2002 - 15 years = 1987, which was before 1992.


Post 9/11 America was indeed very toxic, but I have to ask how much you have been back since? (Not to say our political culture isn’t still toxic)


Yes, multiple times and my viewpoint remains.


That’s fair, I never had the fortune to live in pre 9/11 America as an adult, so I lack that perspective.

I share a lot of your perspectives too, but I’m pretty content with my little corner up in the PNW.


> I don’t know where you are from, but LA is actually representative of large swaths of the US

I actually grew up in LA, and now live in the foothills outside of Boulder on a large forest property — which is nothing like LA or Vienna.

I haven’t run into many areas of the US reminiscent of LA, and the US is enormous. It can’t be painted with a single (and such a reductive) brush.


Land wise the US is enormous, yes. But given the topic at hand, when discussing “car-centric” and “sprawling” metro areas, LA isn’t that distinct in that regard. And there are a large percentage of Americans that live in one of them.


>LA is actually representative of large swaths of the US

No, not even close.


Yes, yes it is.

Not identical, but representative yes.




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