33 Things Everyone From Los Angeles Know To Be True

LA transplants are sycophants. Those born and bred in LA are not.

Sycophants to who, R1? (Not challenging, just asking...)

To me almost *all* the transplants come across like shallow, arrogant assholes, while those native to L.A. do not...

Not sure why this is though.

Also: who handles actually working in the industry better, transplants or locals?

R2 Transplants are sycophants because they came to LA to competitively prove something. They relate to LA as a company town. I was born in LA. I’ve worked in the industry all my career, but I see LA as home and not some conquering adversary.

Got it, R3. Thanks; makes sense.

LA is over half Latino - many who live in LA were born in Mexico and Central America. They heavily outnumber "transplants".

What is this, buzzfeed?

It sounds like Hell to the rest of the country.

Most of the Asshole behavior that people visiting complain are from out of state, often from the the east coast and the UK. Born and raised here, people often tell me that they didn't think I was from LA. When I ask why they say some stereotypical thing about how fake and disingenuous people in LA are. Yet they hold the belief even though I am the only one born here that they have met.

Only people from other places call it "Cali". And no, living here for 5 years does not qualify you to claim you are a native Cali.

LA seems obsessed with hotdogs. Are you all skinny fat?

Agree, R8; transplants also move here and drive like maniacs. Most of the worst drivers here on the roads aren’t originally from SoCal..

Actually, the only people I know in LA obsessed with hot dogs are NYC transplants. It's not a good dog if its not a Sabrett according to them. They love to compare LA to NYC and talk about all the things LA does wrong as self appointed experts. They do that a lot with pizza. Love talk about how you cant find good pizza in LA. Which is false.

[quote]23. The distance from one location in the city to another is not measured by miles, but by time.

They forgot to add the phrase "by freeway" or ""by surface streets" to this.

Also, only people NOT from one of the beach cities use the word "beach" in the city name when speaking of it (except for Seal Beach, oddly).

Street Tacos and Mexican food in general are awesome here. Sadly, transplants think Taco Bell is authentic Mexican.

What about Long Beach R13?

[quote]only people NOT from one of the beach cities use the word "beach" in the city name when speaking of it (except for Seal Beach, oddly).

What about Venice Beach? I used to live on 4th Street in Ocean Park, and called Venice "Venice," including the part near the beach, only to be corrected—do you mean "Venice [italic]Beach[/italic] ?"—by an out-of-towner whose LA friends live in Lahs Feel Us and never say "Venice" without adding "Beach."

I’m going to echo what the rest of the native Angelenos are saying. The transplants are the most arrogant, insipid and superficial people you can ever come across. They have delusions of grandeur and all of them have this aggressive compulsion to prove they are SOMEBODY. They manifest this through exaggerated displays of designer crap, the first to be at a buzzy restaurant and a haughty attitude. Meanwhile, those of us born and raised here are pretty down-to-earth and find pleasure in the simple things of life, like a hotdog or a hole in the wall ethnic restaurant. I know I’m dealing with a fellow native when we reminisce about our moms taking us to Gemco or Zodys, while fantasizing about who the fancy, old white ladies were who shopped at I. Magnin and Bullocks. The transplants have no idea what that even means.

And NOTHING warms my black heart more than when a transplant decides to move back home, with their tail between their legs. I just laugh and laugh. Yes, I’ve dealt with a lot of assholes.

In certain parts of the city like downtown LA, Hollywood, we have the 3 light rule. Light turns red, 3 more cars make a left turn. Totally illegal of course.

It's legal to drive through a corner business like a gas station to avoid a right turn wait at the light. Cop pulled me over for it once and even he could give me a ticket because there is not code for not breaking the law.

One thing that seems to be flying under the radar except for the people who live here is the mass migration for Brits to LA over the last 10 years. Way before Brexit, everything from uber millionaires to my UPS guy. Not complaining, just an observation.

[quote]only people NOT from one of the beach cities use the word "beach" in the city name when speaking of it

imagine the hilarity that must ensue when someone says they live in "Manhattan."

Like 10% of those were about hot dogs. The rest meant nothing to me but made me glad I don't live in LA.

[quote]33 Things Everyone From Los Angeles Know To Be True

"Knows," dear.

R17 Dear beloved Zodys. As a kid, I saved my babysitting money and bought my first stereo there.

Is traffic really that hellish?

Sounds like Uber/Lyft/Postmates would be useless, even if you decide not to drive yourself. They still have to get to you. Same problem with buses/public transportation.

The only beach town that people drop the “Beach” on is Redondo.

How many native born Angelenos vs. how many transplants make up the power structure of “the industry”. Aren’t most industry execs and agents not originally from here?

(Is that why they’re such awful people?)

[quote]What about Long Beach [R13]?

No one thinks of Long Beach as one of the beach cities. No one.

[quote]What about Venice Beach? I used to live on 4th Street in Ocean Park, and called Venice "Venice," including the part near the beach, only to be corrected—do you mean "Venice Beach ?"—by an out-of-towner whose LA friends live in Lahs Feel Us and never say "Venice" without adding "Beach."

The key phrase "corrected by an out-of-towner - "only people NOT from one of the beach cities (meaning we grew up in that beach city) use the word "beach" in the city name..."

[quote]The only beach town that people drop the “Beach” on is Redondo.

Other than Hermosa, Manhattan, Laguna, Huntinton, Venice, Newport - sure. I don't know anyone who grew up in any of those cities who append "beach" when speaking of them. It actually was a source of humorous laughs in college because you could always tell someone who grew up in Costa Mesa because they'd say "Newport Beach" instead of just "Newport."

R17--Before we had a Gemco we had a GW Grant's store. I still have a few spools of their thread from a sewing kit my mom assembled for me when I was in 2nd grade. Do you remember Grant's? They had everything including pets.

Do you remember WHITE FRONT? I remember passing that store on some major OC boulevard back in the day, but we never shopped there. I feel a slight twinge of a memory of Allen Ludden being the WHITE FRONT tv spokesman. I could be wrong.

I got busted by my mom shoplifting at Zody's when I was real small. I stole several individually wrapped lemony fresh moistened towlettes from a box and my mom made me return them to the cashier. One Christmas I got a faux suede fringed shoulder bag from Zody's.

Also: remember Buffum's? That store also passed for fancy when I was a kid.

Gemco! Zody's! White Front!

What about The Treasury and Licorice Pizza and 15 cent triple scoop ice cream from Thrifty's.

the morning haze will burn off and it will be sunny by 2 00 pm. there isnt a june but there is june gloom.

[quote]Weekday rush hour traffic starts at 6 a.m. and ends around 7 p.m., with a one-hour break around 10:30 a.m.

It used to be rush "hour" and last in the morning from 7:30 to 8:30, and at night from 5:00 to 6:00

[quote]The best Chinese food is not in Chinatown, it’s in Monterey Park.

Wrong -- it is now in San Gabriel.

Regardless of whether it’s Monterey Park or San Gabriel (or even Alhambra), the point is that the best Chinese food is in the San Gabriel Valley. Let’s not get tedious.

R29, R30 Yup, I remember Buffums! Way too fancy for us poors. My mom would very rarely get stuff from the Broadway when she wanted to be spendy. White Front was before my time unfortunately.

And yes to Thrifty’s ice cream! Best way to feed all 14 of us cousins on long weekends! Packed in our grass green Oldsmobile station wagon, most of us squeezed in the back with our limbs hanging out the windows.

Gemco, White Front!!!! I remember the WF Christmas jingle.... “Are you dreaming of a White Front Christmas....”

"White Front" sounds so...

R1. Isn’t this true of any major city with a dominant industry?

[quote]No one thinks of Long Beach as one of the beach cities. No one.

Yet another pretentius uppity vapid queen from West Hollywood posting again. Sorry I blew a hole in your theory, but no one calls Long Beach "Long" for short. As for it not being a beach city you really need to get out more Dear.

One thing he forgot: The holidays are a magical time for LA natives. The city becomes a veritable ghost town. It's when I leave my particular neighborhood and venture to other points of interests. No traffic.

@militantangleno

Why has no one yet opened a Mexican restaurant in #Alhambra with the name "Al Hambre"?

If I leave my house at 5:30 am, I will arrive at work 25 miles away by 6:00 am. If I leave 5 minutes later, I will get there by 7:45 am. Those few minutes of time can seriously alter your commute.

Because R41, no one really gets into Chinese Nooooooodle Burritos.

As others have mentioned the list is oddly hot-dog-centric.

The three cars making a left thing is very LA though.

R17 Wow, I forgot about all those stores. Gemco, Zodys, White Front. My mother loved Bullocks and shopped there all the time but would only buy stuff when it was on sale. Then she would brag about the great price she got. She used to manage a store in Fashion Square. It had an I Magnins and the women's bathroom was wall to wall mirrors. I was about 11 or 12 and used to go in just for the mirrors. Fashion Square used to be this little open-air shopping mall. I don't even know if it is there anymore, I moved away from LA in 1979.

You’re not a true LA’er if you’ve never eaten at the Trifecta of deliciousness that is the Apple Pan, Tito’s, and Johnnie’s Pastrami.

For 97% of the year, the LA river is not really a river-river.

R28 Oh heavens, imagine being from Costa Mesa!

I think of Long Beach as a beach town. In fact, it has the best dog beach in LA County! The water is calm and there aren't really waves so it's perfect for floating around with your pooch.

I'd love to live in LA it's just too expensive now, you guys are lucky you're already there.

God this is a boring thread.

Dorothy Chandler of Pavilion fame or at least name)was a Buffum (as in the Long Beach Buffums) before she was Mrs. Norman Chandler of the LA Times.

All of which once mattered. Not anymore.

Buffums'

Not one correct usage in the whole thread.

R45, do you mean the Sherman Oaks Fashion Square? It is now Westfield Fashion Square and it is an enclosed mall anchored by Bloomingdale's and Macy's.

I remember when the parking lot crashed in ‘94.

Most outsiders don't realize Hollywood has a real lake behind the sign.

I used think LA was like everywhere else---natives are ok, transplants are insufferable, until I knew enough natives to realize they're jerks, too. All that carrying on about the weather (neglecting the June gloom, the depressing winters, the misery of the valleys, etc.) as if that made the traffic, the smog, and the general superficiality of people wonderful.

R47, You can kayak down the LA River.

The favorite spectator sport of people from Los Angeles is the televised police chase, hopefully with the perp getting killed at the end.

I used think LA was like everywhere else---natives are ok, transplants are insufferable, until I knew enough natives to realize they're jerks, too. All that carrying on about the weather.

LOL the ONLY people I know that talk about how great the weather is are people from the East Coast. Living here all my life in never really occurs to me that it sucks weather wise to live in other places. I just assumed if you live in the snow, you love the snow. You live in the desert you love the sun. I only get reminded when some transplant brags about moving here for the weather. Which actually seems odd to me.

There’s no place like L.A. Lived there for 10 years and even as I’ve moved around to different cities in other states, I will always miss my time in L.A.

LA natives are total twats.

[quote]Yet another pretentius uppity vapid queen from West Hollywood posting again. Sorry I blew a hole in your theory, but no one calls Long Beach "Long" for short. As for it not being a beach city you really need to get out more Dear.

Think what you want.

Of course, no one calls it "Long" as I noted because most people I know wouldn't consider it one of the beach cities. But, I suppose anything in CA is probably extremely expensive and highly sought these days.Most people I know wouldn't think of El Segundo as one either although it clearly is on the beach, as well. It's a historical and community sense, not a geographic or topological one. Long Beach was a harbor and more industrial until much more recent development, but not one of the classic communities that come to mind when you think of the Beach Boys songs or 1960s surf movies that shaped perceptions of Southern California.

The real question is why so angry. I was merely sharing something all of my friends and I knew and did while growing up and met others from other beach cities. It was something we all joked about since it was a sure tell with a high degree of accuracy. Obviously, nothing is perfect and people will adapt their speech. You want to say "beach" in all the city names, go ahead. Like the entire list, it's simply a generalization, not a rule.

While you may want me to get out more, DEAR, you may want to get out more to some anger management sessions.

The freeways and highways all have "The" in their names. The 5. The 210. The 163. When I moved to California twenty years ago, it cracked me up. In other states, freeways were just a number.

R54. Yes, Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks. Much different now from the Pic you posted.

R58, I actually would like to try that some time.

Whoever made that list comes off as an insufferable asshole.

You can still buy Thrifty's ice cream at Rite-Aid stores. A triple scoop is more than fifteen cents, but still inexpensive.

[quote]Long Beach was a harbor and more industrial until much more recent development, but not one of the classic communities that come to mind when you think of the Beach Boys songs or 1960s surf movies that shaped perceptions of Southern California.

R63, do you enjoy digging yourself in to a deeper hole for fun or are you really that stupid? Long Beach is has a population of 600,000 people and ranks 7th largest city in California. It's beach history goes back more than 100 years.

I think of the Queen Mary and Belmont Shore area when I think of Long Beach.

Surfing was very popular indeed in Long Beach, especially after the WW2 when most of the men stationed in Hawaii came back to port in Long Beach.

[quote]I think of the Queen Mary and Belmont Shore area when I think of Long Beach.

I think of vapid queens when I think of West Hollywood.

^I rarely think of West Hollywood.

Long Beach today.

The only difference from LB than beaches like Santa Monica is that during the middle of the week, the beaches are open and clean because most of the people living there are working class. They don't have "industry jobs" where they can hang out at the beach and chat on the phone or set their own hours like the volume of people who live in Santa Monica.

Long Beach has a huge Gay Pride festival. About 200,000 people attend every year from all parts of the city, state and US. Official stats say 17% of the local residents identify as LGBTQ.

Long Beach has an openly gay Mayor.

34. Tom Hatten was the kids TV host

34. Tom Hatten was the greatest kids TV host

Is long beach still affordable ?

hopefully with the perp getting killed at the end.

[R59] I always hope for them to send in the dog.

34. Cal Worthington once owned a pussy cow

35. Penguins Yogurt was the best

What do you mean by affordable? Compared to San Francisco, NYC, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood? Yes, its a lot more affordable than those areas. Compared to flyover states like Texas, probably on the high side for you. There is a ton of new construction, going on in LB right now. Not kidding, at least 20 new high-rises, apartment building and condos. Especially downtown by the marina. The gayborhood is only a couple blocks from the water. Inland like North Long beach is boring suburban breederville. You wont like North LB if you are gay. Fab by the water.

[quote]The freeways and highways all have "The" in their names. The 5. The 210. The 163. When I moved to California twenty years ago, it cracked me up. In other states, freeways were just a number.

I remember before then. "The 10" was "the Santa Monica Freeway" or simply "the Santa Monica." "The 5" or "the 405" was "The San Diego Freeway."

36. There is no better ice cream than Thriftys

Oh, fucking PLEASE, r85.

[quote] 36. There is no better ice cream than Thriftys

I used to like a place called Farrell's Ice Cream parlor when I was a small child, but I think they're all gone now.

The thing about L.A. is that you can dissect it into many different regions and make a unique lists for each that aren't universally L.A., but very specific to their area/zip codes. The SFV ("The Valley"), Santa Monica/Venice/Marina Del Rey, West L.A./Culver City, Silver Lake/Los Feliz, East L.A., Downtown, the "Beach cities", etc.

[quote]There is no better ice cream than Thriftys

Gross, you realize that Thriftys ice cream is loaded with wax right? It helps keep it from melting. That's what that funny build up in the roof of your mouth after a scoop of Thriftys.

Real ice cream does not contain wax as a filler.

To add to R88's comment, LA is also a patchy neighborhood of rich and poor. One block might be full of million dollar house, a few blocks over it's 3rd world, a few more and its rich again. It's like a checkerboard of rich and poor neighborhoods.

My grandmother worked at Wil Wright’s in Beverly Hills. She was the candy lady.

Wil was a gay man murdered. Never solved.

I've noticed there has been a lot of hot dog shilling in local media recently.

Natives like hot dogs, but not in the way of Chicago or New York, so I suspect it is transplants intruding.

R47---"Ain't ya gonna take me for a ride/drink and drive/down to the LA riverbed/I'll make no mistakes and I'll behave"

~~X~~

*best band from lA ever. EVER!

R53 = That cantankerous fucker just waiting to swoop on a misplaced apostrophe applied to the name of a department store that has been defunct for thirty years. PLEASE NOTICE R53 IS SUPERIOR TO ALL OTHER HUMANS! This is IMPORTANT!

[quote]Wil was a gay man

"Wright followed one of his high school buddies, Tyrone Power Jr., to Los Angeles."

Mmmm hmmm.

Not only that, R95, but he's wrong.

[quote]The freeways and highways all have "The" in their names. The 5. The 210. The 163.

The 163 is in San Diego, not LA.

[quote][R63], do you enjoy digging yourself in to a deeper hole for fun or are you really that stupid? Long Beach is has a population of 600,000 people and ranks 7th largest city in California. It's beach history goes back more than 100 years.

I'm more than happy to admit my ignorance on Long Beach's vaunted history. I suppose, I should have written that "I" don't think of Long Beach as one of the classic Southern California beach cities, as I do the others, so had not included it among the exceptions, as I had with Seal Beach. Out of curiosity, I checked with a few friends who had the same impression I had of Long Beach. They lumped it with San Pedro, and as r70 said "the Queen Mary and Belmont Shore area" - industrial, harbor, shipping port. Admittedly, none of us live in California anymore.

We all grow up with perceptions of various local areas, whether correct or not.

If it'll make you happy, I'll amend my original statement: "everyone with whom I grew up or subsequently met who grew up in one the beach cities drop the word "beach" when speaking of it (except for Seal Beach and LONG BEACH)."

Rather than couching the statement as had the original article as a general truth, since I've limited to people with whom I grew up and people I've met, unless you know that entire subset of humans on the planet, I can safely say it's accurate without further debate.

Who knew that a small, mildly amusing observation would draw such rancor. It's not as if the other 33 things listed were factual truths that were 100% accurate.

Cheers.

During World War II my grandfather used to take my mother as a small child down to the Long Beach shipyards and hoist her into the metal trash bins to fish out Navy cutlery. We used those knives and forks growing up.

[quote] LA is over half Latino - many who live in LA were born in Mexico and Central America. They heavily outnumber "transplants".

California used to be Mexico so many of the Latinos are native born.

[quote] During World War II my grandfather used to take my mother as a small child down to the Long Beach shipyards and hoist her into the metal trash bins to fish out Navy cutlery. We used those knives and forks growing up.

That is a funny story. Did your mother remember it fondly? My grandfather would always tell stories of his time during WWII with fondness even though the things he'd talk about sounded horrible to me. They were very poor.

How cloudy and cold it is there, more than people visiting think. The constant marine layer in June, the icy cold Pacific.

For the posters upthread RE Long Beach. It's a weird little enclave. In my nearly 40 years (30 of which I lived in LA) on the planet, I've only been there maybe ten times. The beach isn't great. It's tucked away and hard to get to. It's not LA. It's its own thing. Which is cool.

There is/was a massive, multi-line giant traffic rotary in Long Beach or somewhere in that vicinity; it was the most frightening thing I have ever driven in. I've done rotaries before but this one had me and everyone in my car screaming like banshees from the time I tried to pull in until we made it to the other side and got out. And then, of course, we laughed but we also avoided it on the way home.

[quote] Street Tacos and Mexican food in general are awesome here. Sadly, transplants think Taco Bell is authentic Mexican.

No one believes that.

Outside of restaurant owners and newspaper subscribers; were most people really familiar with Jonathan Gould?

R105 Los Coyotes Circle. Still there. The city has made some imorovements with yield signage and road stripping. But traversing still makes drivers nervous.

R107, I enjoyed Jonathan Gold. When he moved over to the LA Times, he sure was a major upgrade from crusty, out of touch S. Irene Virbila.

R108, is this it?

I'll add one to the list:

Loquats (below) grow abundantly, even wildly, all over the city in April and May, though many Angelenos don't know the name of the fruit. It's drought-tolerant and resilient.

I never liked the weather in LA. Same weather almost every day. Bright, relentless sun that bleaches out everything around you. Sky without any pattern.

Sameness of any kind is oppressive. Monotony is depressing. And the weather in LA is as monotonous as it gets.

People cross the street real SLOOOOOW (while cars are waiting to make a turn).

Drivers use emergency car lights instead of signals when they are about to stop or slow down, if they signal at all. The mind boggles.

I'm not a foodie, but Jonathan Gold was just fun to read. I first noticed him in the LA Weekly and was delighted by his reviews of food and service. My one criticism is that, when he didn't like something, he rarely said why.

R112 - I lived in LA for 7 years - and the sameness of the weather was unnerving (for a New York native) because you lost the subliminal sense of time passing that changing seasons give you - suddenly it was just Christmas, again.

Riverside Roundabout in Cypress Park.

The end of today's early afternoon South La car chase

@E_SGVScanner

Recap of today's South LA pursuit:

[quote]LA is over half Latino - many who live in LA were born in Mexico and Central America. They heavily outnumber "transplants".

The majority of Latinos that live in LA area are citizens. The largest influx of Transplants into LA county in the last 10 years are Easterners coming in record numbers never before seen in California, especially from New York and those fleeing repressive Deplorable states . Then you have the British, Australian, Canadian, Chinese, Filipino, and Indian explosion of Transplants and you got yourself a very naughty list. I prefer British people since the ones we get are nice and hardworking.

New Yorkers in particular have done great damage to Los Angeles by causing, along with the Chinese, the housing crisis. Not only that, New Yorkers are bringing problems not native to LA area, like certain STIs. To quote Los Angeles Times:

[quote] "When [bold]New York[/bold] sends its people to Los Angeles, they’re not sending their best. [bold]They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with them.[/bold] "

LA county population in 2018 was 10+ million with

Latinos 48.6%

Whites 26.2% (Thank the Italians and transplants)

Asian 15.3%

New Yorkers are the top transplants in Los Angeles area.

r119 = Mr Pew Research, always waiting to hump away at any thread mentioning that forgets the fact that many, many, many Latinos in LA have not been counted

I actually did work for The Pew Research Center, as a contractor, and other field information companies. You better recognize bitch !

I have talked about how one of our studies was shut down because the number of males living in Los Angeles area with same-sex experience was yielding a 65% result which cause quite the scandal. My supervisor was even fired.

Pew Researcher with "data"

R108, thank you. That must have been it. I remember part of the intimidation was there were no lanes, it was like three or four lanes-worth of cars racing around a circle--but no lane markings. And I couldn't tell if I could pull in or not because cars were just all over the place--and, of course, no one was using turn signals as they approached exits. Hysterical but scary as hell.

R108 R124 the most stressful roundabout is the Arc de Triomphe/place de l'Etoile in Paris. Just to make it more complicated, the priority is given to the cars getting in, unlike regular roundabout, just too much traffic to have a chance to get in.

Monterey Park having the best Chinese food was true about a couple of decades ago. Now the best Chinese restaurants are all over the San Gabriel Valley and are heading way out east.

Valley and New Ave is currently the ground zero for Neo-Chinatown, which mostly caters to tourists from the Mainland.

[quote]Lahs Feel Us

My opinion of LA as a whole took a nosedive when I discovered that people don't pronounce Los Feliz correctly. Los Angeles is one thing, but Los Feliz is not that difficult to pronounce in Spanish.

R129 And then there's Lahsi Ennegah (the Boulevard in Hollywood).

[quote] the best Chinese food is in the San Gabriel Valley

The last time I went to San Gabriel Valley, it seemed that Vietnamese food was gaining as almost equally as prevalent as Chinese.

Definitely a good amount of Vietnamese food in SGV, but it's way overshadowed by a multitude and variety of Chinese cuisines. Vietnamese in SGV is a combo of Viet and Chinese-Vietnamese. The best Vietnamese, of course, is in Orange County, namely Westminster and Santa Ana.

Where are UCLA students living who can't get in the dorms or Greek system? How about at USC?

How's the smog in SGV and downtown LA?

LA Weekly still a good read?

What's the cost of parking at South Venice Beach/Marina Del Rey?

Most Viet immigrants are ethnic Chinese. The Vietnamese immigrants have been settling and opening restaurants in that area since the 90s.

R133, LA Weekly is not what it used to be. Taken over by a conservative owner. They fired a bunch of staff and writers. I haven't picked one up in years.

The Taco Cart Guy is tired.

Even if you're not in the business, someone will still ask you to read their terrible screenplay.

R137, decades ago, I worked at a retail establishment whose clientele were mostly in the entertainment industry. The place attracted wannabe filmmakers and many of my co-workers had written scripts that they wanted me to read. One obnoxious co-worker, who had a pattern of schmoozing at length with customers, was caught slipping his script into a customer's bag. When contronted, he unapologetically explained to the owners that he had come all the way to Florida to break into the film industry and he was determined to use whatever resources he had at hand to do it. The guy thought it was his god-given right to network while on the clock.

/confronted

/all the way FROM Florida

[quote] When I moved to California twenty years ago, it cracked me up. In other states, freeways were just a number.

This is a SOUTHERN California thing. I was born in San Francisco and nobody put 'the' in front of the freeway number.

In fact. we old-timers and traffic announcers used to refer to major roads by name, not number (Bayshore Freeway, the Nimitz, El Camino, Eastshore Freeway, James Lick)

r140 I'm a Bay Area-to-SoCal transplant and I remember the named freeways in the Bay Area, but they existed in LA as well -- the Hollywood, the San Diego, the Ventura, etc., etc. -- but that's kind of gone by the wayside in both places--no? I go up north a lot, and people say "101" and "880," right? Most under-50s probably don't even know the names of the freeways. The one big difference between N and S is the use of "the" before the number -- much more prevalent down south.

Numbered freeways make more sense to me as an Angeleno. I'm many miles away from San Diego and I rarely ever go to SD, so calling the 405 the San Diego Freeway doesn't make much sense, especially when I'm heading north towards the Valley. Also, the Ventura Fwy is the 101 through the Valley, but becomes the 134 at the Hollywood Split, while the 101 becomes the Hollywood Fwy, which, in turn, becomes the 170 heading north. So referring to these freeways by number gives me a better sense of direction or location.

[quote]I checked with a few friends who had the same impression I had of Long Beach. They lumped it with San Pedro, and as [R70] said "the Queen Mary and Belmont Shore area" - industrial, harbor, shipping port. Admittedly, none of us live in California anymore.

What an idiot statement. Just admit you are wrong. Long Beach has been well established as one of the major beach cities in LA county for longer than you have been alive. Just because you live in a bubble and fact check with the same people in the same bubble does not mean its even close to being accurate or in any way a true sample of the general population. Did any of your friends ever live in Long Beach or San Pedro? I am guessing not. It's circular logic.

LA has double decked freeways most people are shocked to discover once they see them.

Also the Pasadena freeway being the oldest in the city and first in the country is crazy curvy and has freaking stop signs just before you get on the freeway At the time it was built, engineers imagined the top speed of a car would be 45mpr. With no on ramp, you literally have to floor it and go from a complete stop to 65 mpr in a few seconds or you ass will get hit with another car who cant see you coming.

[quote]Also the Pasadena freeway

I learned to drive on that freeway. Now, it is a parkway, in an attempt to keep the speeds down, but Mexicans and Chinese don't know the difference and are always flying off the pavement into the Arroyo Seco or crashing into each other.

Ooh, r144, I hate that portion of the 110 with the white hot heat of a thousand suns.

As I work in the entertainment industry, we crew often talk about how we get/go to work/home at lot. It sounds exactly like, "The Californians" skit on SNL.

The obsession of hot dogs is odd- I've never heard anyone talk about them-It's more about tacos.

[quote]Did any of your friends ever live in Long Beach or San Pedro?

I'm sure they watched the "San Pedro Beach Bums" a few times in 1977.

Any other WeHo residents here?

R148 Is that you, Aaron?

[quote]The obsession of hot dogs is odd- I've never heard anyone talk about them-It's more about tacos.

Look at the website -- it is an article by outlander real estate shills.

All of that sounds perfectly dreadful. I'm only in LA for a movie or TV shoot, to get a little beach time and I'm outta there.

Don’t have a dog in the fight - but I will say as a regular LA visitor - occasionally for months - over 40 years, Long Beach is considered more of a city than a beach town. The ugly ass port and ancillary business ruins most of the “beachy” vibe. Santa Monica, Venice, Marina Del Rey, Laguna are destination beaches. Long Beach is for ships.

LA has possibly the best East Asian food in the country. So much better than what can be found in Chicago. LA doesn't have great European food though, or breakfast type food.

R144 is 100% correct. The Pasadena Freeway is utterly insane. It's also gorgeous.

The once great LA Weekly is now the size of a single ply Kleenex. It's mainly an ad flyer for the pot industry and titty bars. Sad.

I lived in LA for 10 years. Loved it. Worked at Fox CC. Exciting, great weather, the beach, quick drive to SF.

r156 Seven+ hours is a quick drive?

r152 No one thinks of Marina del Rey as a beach town.

Vin Scully isn’t dead.

We had an F2 tornado on March 1, 1983. It touched down near USC and traveled north to the Convention Center where it tore up the roof.

The first time I drove the Pasadena Freeway, I nearly shat my pants. Everyone was zooming past me as I plugged along at 45mph. As I was attending PCC from DTLA, I was driving that freeway daily. By the end of the week, I was a pro. You can always tell who the newbies are because they are driving 45mph the entire way and sweating bullets.

I've been away from LA for 15 years but when I go back, I still drive that freeway at 60-70 mph. You never forget. It does blow my mind it's pretty much the same--I guess there's are only so many ways you can improve the safety of that freeway. The best way of course is to enforce the speed limit but that's never going to happen. I have never seen a patrol car on that freeway. Ever.

My favorite memory of the Pasadena Freeway was the Sunday morning they closed it from the Figueroa ramp all the way to the end at Pasadena and allowed cyclists and pedestrians free way. Cycling the freeway opened up my eyes to how undulating it is and now when I drive it, I can't unsee it.

Been here 7 years and barring a financial disaster, no plans to leave.

Long Beach had the first surf contest on the west coast and was known as the Waikiki of the West ( same wave breaks). Huge destination for wealthy Pasadena families in the summer. The Navy ruined it all in WW2, when they built a breakwater, which destroyed the waves and turned the beach activities to non existent. The navy bailed on Long Beach in the 90’s, but left their shitty breakwater in place. I’ve been here 26 years ( from LA) and Long Beach is really fun and a foodie paradise now. It’s changed in so many good ways.

Long Beach is also VERY gay these days, and even has a gay mayor.

R138, all those thousands of people desperately trying to break into the business must give the city a kind of depressing vibe, doesn't it?

R163, Long Beach is OK. The most interesting thing about it, to me, is it has the largest Khmer population outside of Cambodia, and you can ride a bike from LA, along the LA River, and end up there. I have some friends out there and in Lakewood.

[quote] What did this list miss?

While it's a geographic feature more commonly associated with San Francisco, we have hills, too.

[quote]What an idiot statement. Just admit you are wrong. Long Beach has been well established as one of the major beach cities in LA county for longer than you have been alive. Just because you live in a bubble and fact check with the same people in the same bubble does not mean its even close to being accurate or in any way a true sample of the general population. Did any of your friends ever live in Long Beach or San Pedro? I am guessing not. It's circular logic.

You, sir, are an idiot.

From my post at r99

[quote]I'm more than happy to admit my ignorance on Long Beach's vaunted history.

Unlike you, I am more than willing to admit my error, but you're like a dog with a bone.

R132, you're definitely right about the number of Chinese restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley. An ex-BF of mine used to work for the Edison Company, so I'd make it out there pretty regularly for dinners. My favorite was a Chinese Islamic hole in the wall that made lamb dumplings. Lots of good eats out there -- maybe some of the best 'ethnic' food in So Cal.

Born in Los Angeles lived in Burbank, grew up in Costa Mesa/Huntington Beach (Divorced parents) and we only ever went to Long Beach for the nightlife or to enter the ocean for jet skiing. I see what that poster means about not considering LB as a “Beach” obviously from the pictures posted it was different in the olden days and people did go to the beach there I guess.

LA is the capital of Kansas.

In the late 90’s, i used to get drunk at WeHo on weekends with some buddies, then we take the bus to Santa Monica beach after the bars close and hang out there until we sober up and take the bus back to our cars and grab an early breakfast at Denny’s. I miss those days.

I hate these “listicles” they are so pretentious and factually inaccurate.

[quote] 33 Things Everyone From Los Angeles Know To Be True

The metro buses used to be called the RTD.

[quote]Unlike you, I am more than willing to admit my error, but you're like a dog with a bone.

I will admit I am wrong when its actually true. But sorry, I am not part of the 80's self help BS (lets agree to disagree) mantra when clearly facts substantiate my comments as factual; unlike you who base your facts on opinion.

Our beach water is cool/cold. It seems a lot of tourists are surprised by that because they've seen shows like Baywatch and maybe think it's more like Miami. It makes for a refreshing dip during the hot summer months though.

[quote]I will admit I am wrong when its actually true.

You mean like when you were WRONG here in r143:

[quote]What an idiot statement. Just admit you are wrong.

When I had, in fact, admitted I made an error in the opening sentence of the paragraph you went on to misinterpret?

Dog, meet bone.

R176 is that Santa Cruz? The water in Southern California is warm. Northern California beaches are cold.

R178, Malibu. I would categorize So Cal beach water as 'cool.' Definitely not as cold as farther up north but my balls shrink when I initially get in.😆 I like it though -- I'm not a big fan of bathwater-temp beaches.

R175, sorry but I've lived in LA for many many years. I'm prob not ancient like you are, but LB, while technically on the water, is NOT considered a beach city by anyone other than people FROM Long Beach. While in its heyday, it prob was. Now it's sort of this non entity if you ask people from LA proper. Don't get your Depends all in a twist.

I am proud not to be from LA.

Land in LA and one sees many plastic surgery freaks before even exiting the terminal.

You can usually tell who is not from LA (or familiar with it) when their entire opinion of it is based on these Real Housewives caricatures.

@BDP473

SoCal Poll, What happens next: Another earthquake in The IE or another dead horse at Santa Anita?

On the 110 Freeway, the ramp to the 5 North was so poorly marked, regular citizens fixed it themselves.

[quote]Land in LA and one sees many plastic surgery freaks before even exiting the terminal.

I was just in LA for the weekend and saw no "plastic surgery freaks" in the terminal or on the streets...and I was even in Beverly Hills. Obviously they exist, but they are hardly common in most parts of the city. On the other hand, I don't think I've ever spent a day in LA where I didn't encounter at least one homeless mental patient screaming obscenities.

Generalizations create a village...

For a brief number of years in the late '70s until the mid '80s, Los Angeles County had possibly the greatest concentration of department / large specialty stores in the United States, and yes, I'm looking at you New York:

1. Bullock's

2. Robinson's

3. May Company

4. The Broadway

5. Buffums'

6. Bullock's Wilshire

7. I. Magnin

8. Saks Fifth Avenue

9. Neiman-Marcus

10. Bonwit Teller

11. Nordstrom

12. Ohrbach's

13. J.C. Penney

14. Montgomery Ward

15. Sears

16. Henshey's (Santa Monica & Ladera Heights)

17. Mervyn's

18. Webb's (Glendale)

I've never heard of #16, but there was a store called HINSHAW'S in Whittier and Arcadia. Also farther east -- Harris's. There was also a chain called Robert's that had nine stores.

Zody's was mentioned upthread and at first it didn't ring a bell. But then it came back to me, going occasionally as a kid. I checked Wikipedia and the last store was closed in 1986. Thanks to DL for reviving this long-lost memory.

Like others have said, that article talked about hot dogs way too much. What people from L.A. really want to know is where you can get the best burrito.

Exactly. My friends talk about Mexican food. I can't recall a single conversation I've had about hot dogs.

R193, me either.

R186, Great story but also proves exactly what's wrong with Los Angeles. A well run city management would have instructed Cal Trans to add the sign. The unsung hero knew that adding a very helpful sign quickly was beyond the capacity of government. That's why LA is becoming a failing city.

The sign wasn't a city problem -- CalTrans is a state agency. And it happened 10 or 20 years ago.

I lived in LA for several years and I loved every minute of it. I still kick myself decades later for ever leaving and moving away for a career I never really liked in the first place. I should have stayed in LA and done something for a living I liked. I am fro, the midwest and los angeles struck me as the big leagues and exciting. Guess I am more easily impressionable than some.

r178- for most of the year, it's pretty cold (I surf) 55-65 degrees. Then we'll get a month of "warm" water- about 70 degrees. However the last few years, the warm water period has been much longer, almost the whole summer, due to those horrible heat waves.

@TheTweetOfGod

White, black, brown, yellow, man, woman, transgender, gay, straight, Christian, Muslim, young, old, ALL of you will taste the same to the zombies.

^ what you drinking tonight, R199?

I used to like a place called Farrell's Ice Cream parlor when I was a small child, but I think they're all gone now

R87 There’s Farrell’s in Orange County, in Brea.

Farrell’s was so fun, I never did try that pig trough of ice cream where you get a ribbon for finishing it. They had a band that played for Birthday’s and whatever else and a candy store, we would always get the jawbreakers. Good times.

Farrell's advocated the best diet. Remember the pig trough but never ordered it. Loved their caramel sauce.

R201, thanks! I may have to make a stop in Brea, with the nephews and nieces, just for old times sake. The Farrell's I remember was in Rosemead -- the last time I drove by there, it had converted into a Chinese seafood restaurant.

Thanks R190. I'd never hears of Roberts, despite the fact that they were around until the 1990s. It looks like they were in secondary locations, not the big regional malls. Who knew there really was a 'beautiful downtown Burbank'?

Here's Henshey's logo, quite stylish if you ask me

@ReporterClaudia

Homelessness jumps 12% in L.A. County and 16% in the city, leaving officials ‘stunned’

R206, those officials must not look at housing prices. Rent is unaffordable for most unless they have roommates. I honestly don't know how some people can afford to live here. I fee lucky where I am.

R207 is right. The ridiculous surge in housing and rent prices are directly to blame for a large portion of these people no longer having somewhere to live.

In Northeast LA, 80% of the homeless are evicted renters.

It sounds so....not NYC

God, I love this thread!! I'm from Santa Barbara, 90 miles north, but I've spent enough time in LA County to consider myself a local there. From the Bob's Big Boy in Toluca Lake/Burbank to the Amoeba Records store on Sunset to the Santa Monica Pier to LAX and to all points in between, it's all good.

My Farrell’s became an El Pollo Inka.

The Farrell's on Van Nuys Blvd is now a Sizzler.

I believe someone mentioned Naugle's earlier in this thread. Like Farrell's, Naugle's has returned, but only at one location in Fountain Valley.

I was priced out of LA and miss it terribly. I go back often to visit but it’s not the same.

My mom worked at The Treasury. We had a Zody’s nearby. I loved it there. We all had Gemco and Fedco cards. There’s a museum now that has memorabilia in the Valley including old signage and they’re on Instagram. There’s a lot of people reminiscing about the old days on there.

Any other fans of Charles Phoenix here? I love his appreciation for all things vintage LA.

I moved away from L.A almost 20 years ago but it will always be home for me— I still have family there (mom, bro and sis) and enjoy the familiar sights and streets whenever I visit.

R217, same, moved away in 2004, god the years have flown by. Up until a few years ago, I would still say I was going home for the holidays and my friends here would point out it was years since I lived in LA. But as long as my mom and my childhood friends are in LA, it's home.

Where did people who left LA move? Have to start facing the cruel reality of moving.

@Venice311

FUNFACT: Apparently as numerous as LA’s homeless, electric scooters are having the batteries ripped out by the local unhoused and are being used to charge (your stolen) cell phones. When cops find them in tents, squat sites & barricades - they have to call the bomb squad.

@LosFelizDaycare

Is there a specialist present who can administer third eye drops for Zimbabwe Cohen (81 weeks)? Zhe may be suffering from Fox News exposure (zher troubled uncle is in town)

R215 What's the Instagram account?

Valleyrelicsmuseum, R222. They’re in Van Nuys.

R219, tons of them are going to Las Vegas. Nevada has turned blue because of ex Californians.

I was just talking to an LA real estate agent about this yesterday. Some are going to Phoenix and Tucson also, but Arizona is very red. I visit there sometimes and I think it’s a much more Republican state. Of course it won’t stay that way as Californians pour in.

Both of these states have a couple large cities surrounded by a whole bunch of nothing and are very hot. This week is the first week this year in Vegas where every day is supposed to be upper nineties or about a hundred degrees. Advantage is they’re both about five hours from LA, so it’s not like you’re never going to be able to go home again and see family or friends.

R223 Thank you. The Instagram account is great. This is where I bought all my Vans shoes when growing up

And where I bought my music...

I loved the Shadoe Stevens Federated commercials

Another Instagram account I follow is retro_relics_etc, which is an antique store in Canoga Park on Antique Row.

If you follow a few accounts like this, you get some idea of local events. I also follow pccfleamarket (Pasadena City College flea market), malibupost (pictures of the Malibu area). and topanga_vintage_market, which is for the Pierce College antique flea market they have once a month. There’s another link they post occasionally that’s for weekly flea markets in LA.

R219, I moved to DC for grad school and not because of cost of living issues. Thought it was going to be a 2 year deal but found I prefer the non-car lifestyle I have here. DC is not that much cheaper than LA, btw. I will move back one day though--for my mother. She's nearing 70 so I may not be away for too much longer. I do dread the drop in living standards. There's no way I could afford what I have here in the DC area back in LA. It may be some depressing 'burb east of Chino Hills for me.

I lived in L.A. from 1983 to 2008, and moved to New York City simply because it was time to move on. I was 20 when I moved there, and I recall rollerskating up and down Hollywood Blvd., over La Brea to Santa Monica Blvd., and stopping at Oki Dogs where at the time all the male hustlers made stops. I got solicited several times by alleged porn producers, but I think they were sex freaks looking for freebee's. West Hollywood in the mid-late 80's was fantastic: The Mother Lode, the Revolver (which closed, became East West, and later re-opened as a completely unrelated Revolver), the Rail (now Trunk's), the Four Star (now Mickey's), the Rage, and Studio One, which underwent many name changes over the years. The bachelorette parties which have become common place didn't exist, and you only saw straight women there with their gay male friends. The Revolver was known for Karaoke, Broadway night (Tuesday), and had fantastic video editors who mixed comedy with disco and standards and knew how to keep the crowd there all night.

Being there in my 20's throughout the 1980's was a fabulous time as long as you remained healthy, but I saw a lot of friends get ill and quietly disappear, and didn't find out for years that they had indeed passed away. I went to both LACC and PCC and loved some of the off the Blvd. smaller restaurants that were fabulous and not too expensive for someone struggling. I returned there for several visits several years ago and knew I had aged out of it. In New York, you can be of any age and find your scene, but I gladly passed the WeHo torch onto what I saw there on those visits. There were great record stores all over, plus fabulous video stores (Music Plus, Video West, Tower for purchasing) and all sorts of terrific thrift shops. One thing I noticed about West Hollywood really was how cramped it seemed after nearly a decade away. Fond memories, but you have to be motivated to continue to live there, just like you do in New York. I learned quickly in New York how to find the best deals and have a decent rent, so I don't struggle like my friends warned me I would.

Good insight R230. NY is much more accommodating of a variety of ages and types. It’s hard to live in WeHo after 40. The ones who stay seem like tragic plastic surgery messes trying to stay young.

I love the greenery, ocean and sunset of LA. Hate the driving. Always a tough call between NY and LA - but at 50, NYC feels more appropriate.

Thank you, R231. The only real thing I miss is the mountains and hills. I would hike around the horseshoe trail in Runyeon Canyon, and a few friends drove me to Switzer Falls (about an hour outside of L.A.) which is very nice. When I went back to WeHo, there were only a few old friends who were still going out, usually happy hour get-togethers, and they were drunk by 9:00. I hated driving in L.A. I learned quickly in New York when to catch my morning train so I wouldn't hit the crowds, and exactly where to stand so I could get off quicker and out of the station rather than dealing with the idiots who pull out their dumb phones the moment they are out of the car, if it isn't out already.

I know they weren't specific to Los Angeles, but I do miss the oversized banks. Compared to today's standards several banks were absolutely cavernous. What did they need all that space for?

I remember the Glendale Galleria before it was two buildings on both sides of Central.

I grew up just outside of DTLA and since there wasn't much going on there in the 80's, the Glendale Galleria was the hangout mall for my friends. Seems weird now, we would ride the bus all that way, but that's LA I suppose. Plus, we had monthly bus passes so it was unlimited rides (I think it was $12 for the student pass in the mid-late 80's). I only had enough money for fast food OR a movie but not both.

I meant to say I remember the Glendale Galleria when it was just on one side of Central. I remember being in awe of the addition going up over the street while it was being built.

R234, I took the bus there once by myself and didn't have enough money for the ride back. I ended up asking a handful of strangers for money in small coins because I thought that would be easier to get than asking people for the full amount I needed. It worked.

R235, I haven't been to the Glendale Galleria in at least 15 years. I wonder if it's still popular or dying like most malls?

Survival skills in LA: knowing how to parallel park and how to make sense of the confusing mess of parking sign restrictions below.