I wish it had been twice as long just to enjoy the vibe of Los Angeles in the late 1960s.
I returned from overseas in 67 and went to work in LA. The riots had just cremated a rather pleasant Watts and led many large businesses (I recall Royal Rubber with 150 employees) to leave that section of LA. Freeways were beginning to drive people nuts. The war in Vietnam had its effect. The one benny, it was an enjoyable drive to Tijuana where one could load up on cheap Mexican booze and authentic tamales, or Temecula where one could purchase good cheap wine and locate nearby fine picnic grounds.
I was in LA quite a bit on business during the 2010’s and really liked it except for one thing, the traffic, which pretty much ruined it. I would often think about how great it must have been in the pre traffic era and the movie gives you a sense of that. You make a good point about the smog, btw. In the movie there’s no smog so it’s sort of an idealized portrayal in that way.
That is where I grew up . I liked the movie because it was a real nostalgia rush for me. It was also an eye opener for me because places that I had taken for granted were revealed to have very interesting histories that I was unaware of.