I used to think, well, I'd really rather live in the city.
Then I realized that all the places I counted as desirable to live in - Malibu, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, etc - are not actually part of the city! They are small cities. The City proper has been mismanaged into oblivion!
Certainly there are many great things about LA - the Westside's fabulous restaurants, the beauty of the Hollywood Hills, the tacky grandeur of Hollywood, and so on.
But absolutely none of those things depend on the Los Angeles City Government, which is known for being corrupt, incompetent and altogether unlikeable.
And check this out:
Riordan listed some of Los Angeles' best features, the Hollywood Bowl, Venice Beach, the Dodgers and the Lakers. He said that without help from the city and union labor workers, the Valley would not have recovered as quickly as it did from the 1994 Northridge Earthquake.But none of those features are part of the Valley!
I think the Valley should split off just so it can gain a little respect. And I say this as someone who would still really, really rather live on the Westside [this is the most expensive region of an absurdly expensive city].
So yes, GoldStateGOP is right. The way I think of it is that we're loved for our money, but not for ourselves. And that's a sure prescription for a bad date.
D