“I don’t want to get into a New York versus L.A....”
It’s not a pissing match, LA and NYC are not in the same league. The only people who seem to care are those in LA who try hard to be NYC-West. LA is Hollywood, hateful liberal stars, in the sparsely populated western half of the country, while NYC is is at the heart of the free-market and the the historical entry point to freedom and western civilization. LA is an afterthought.
I daresay the quality of life is better in L.A. than in NYC any day of the week and twice on Sunday—even as unpleasant as traffic can be.