I grew up in Westchester, near LAX. In grade school we studied the local Indians and had a project to make an adobe brick. The clay isn’t particularly strong, so they mixed it with straw. We drove just South of LAX on Sepulveda to a horse stable to collect some straw for my brick; I think I was the only one in my class who had a brick with straw in it.
That’s the L.A. I enjoyed. It’s now pretty much solid pavement from Calabassas to San Clemente. Yuck.
He’s not 55 yet.
The fact that so many American cities don’t have a city centre confuses me. and its crazy that you can’t walk to places.
What’s Pasadena like? Is it quite close to LA?
Ha Ha, No issues, was just wondering.
Americans do some of the strangest things sometimes, the whole world migrates torwards cities and you run away from them
@FT per my research and talking to people who live there, living in Newport, or even Huntington, Beach and commuting to downtown would really not be worth it. Otherwise, I’d definitely do that.
Agree with cleverCFA that something around Santa Monica could make sense. What about Silver Lake?
Decent article on downtown LA.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303532704579477374278821010
Newport is like another world. I enjoy visiting but I think all that ostentatious prosperity would wear on me after a while. It’s ground zero for So Cal, Phoenix, Nevada commercial real estate and of course Pimco is there.
OP: the west side is great but santa monica is expensive. marina del rey is a good alternative as is playa vista, which is a brand new neighborhood sprouting out of the ground as we speak. PV is going to be great when everything is done in the next year or so.
Downtown LA has been an upcoming neighborhood for the past 30 years.
Except for San Franciso, New York, DC, and maybe Chicago, all American cities are like that. They have a downtown district, but nobody lives there. They drive there, go to work, then drive home. Everybody lives in the suburbs.
^uhhh boston, DC, seattle? I’m sure there are many more.
Here’s the thing: most cities have neighborhoods and most people don’t live downtown. Take London: not many people live on Canary Wharf, but I know tons that work there. Tons of peopple like in downtown Philly, but it is so expensive that most people live in another more “neighborhoody” area like Fairmount, Bella Vista, Queens Village, etc. In NYC, it seems like everyone works somewhere in midtown, but very few live there.
Old cities have a “city centre.” Cities that developed during/after the advent of autos do not and tend to be much more sprawling.
Seems like most people who live in dense US cities are either poor or rich, and not in the middle. The poor people tolerate crime, lack of space, and other disadvantages like that. The rich people can just pay for everything.
Nobody lives in Canary wharf because its a purpose built area for offices. plenty of people live in “downtown” london areas though.
Right next door.
Probably only an hour commute to downtown.
haha.
As to gringo’s point Downtown or city center is a tough thing to define in lots of cities. In Texas, virtually nobody lives in Downtown as in the central business district that usually surrounded by freeways. But lots of people, especially young professionals live in the revitalized areas that are adjacent to downtown. Prople don’t want to live in an area that is mostly offices and big businesses don’t want to be in areas that are mostly residential…
In London, do you define downtown as pretty much any densely populated part?
And on a Friday before a long weekend, a two-hour commute back home. Or three.
I think Newport or any of the beach cities south of LA would be cheaper overall unless you’re a baller looking for oceanfront - rent and house prices drop steeply once you move 6-7 blocks away from the beach, and it’s a densely overconstructed area in all directions so there’s no shortage of places available for rent. But you must work somewhere “nearby” in OC - commute to LA would be a nighmare indeed
Me either. A few years ago, I paid $1,350/mo in Cleveland (which has a revitalized downtown) for a 2br apartment on Lake Erie. If I were paying $2k to $3k every month for an apartment the size of a shoebox, I think I’d cry every time I made a rent payment.
I value this, I’m not exactly a fresh grad looking for a 24-7 frat party scene around. But I don’t like deeply residential quiet suburban neighborhoods (being close to nature on a ranch like s2000magician is completely different). If I live in a city, I like the neighborhood to show some signs of life.
Well I share your sentiment about Orange County - it’s too overdeveloped and overconstructed in a cookie-cutter way. When I go to the beach with friends, I always go north - the Malibu coastline and the canyons of Santa Monica mountains are such an amazing escape, can’t ever get enough of it there!