to live and die in LA. it probably should have been to love or hate LA. i've said it once, i've said it thrice and i'll say it again - if your distaste for our fabulous town runs that deep, mapquest LAX and go back to wherever it is you came from. the odds are they're missing their village idiot, and despite what it would seem, we're not really suffering a shortage of wait staff on the west side! hopefully you'll enjoy the following blogs from allan weiner and some folks on metroblogging as much as i did. i couldn't have given a better rebuttal myself. word to the wise, allen - when heading to LAX, it's best to take an airport shuttle (about $30) or hire a towncar (about $50). silly man.
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Why I Hate LA
by Allen Weiner on Fri 03 Feb 2006 09:36 AM MST
I hate LA. I always have, and suspect I always will.
Reasons? The traffic, the smog, the $60/one hour cab ride from the airport, the plastic people, mindless conversations about long work commutes, oddball posers on the street, the pretense and did I mention the traffic? And how can you like a place that recognizes the talent of the Olsen Twins by rewarding them with a Star on the Walk of Fame. And what's there to like about the Dodgers and/or The Lakers?
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February 03, 2006
Why I Don't Care Why You Hate L.A.
Metroblogger
Allen Weiner hates L.A. I know this because his post "Why I Hate L.A." popped up on the one of the L.A. feeds in my RSS reader this morning and caught my eye. I took the time to post a response to what I found to be a lackluster, empty rant, but strangely (and by strangely I mean "stupidly") my comment magically disappeared right after the author logged in around 2:00MST. While what I had to say wasn't complimentary, I wouldn't say it was anti-intellectual or pointless. From memory, it was something along the lines of...
Boy, that sure is a controversial stance you've taken there, complaining about the traffic and all the fake people. I've never heard that before. To borrow a phrase, you are what you eat. Nothing like journos and insiders that surround themselves exclusively with Silverlake hipsters or industry Westsiders and then complain about how shallow everybody is.
Wake me up when you've got an interesting analysis to share, instead of just masturbatory troll-bait.
Since I'm on the subject, and since Mr. Weiner has prevented any of us from continuing the conversation in the comments on his site, allow me to expand. To all of you who constantly complain about how shitty L.A. is, let me say this....I don't fucking care. I've heard these same four or five arguments a million times. You think everybody is shallow and fake? I've got a couple of hundred hard working, down-to-earth, working-class neighbors that spend their days staffing your gas stations and your hotels and your restaurants and your hospitals that would take great umbrage at your boneheaded attempt to paint 12 million people with one brush just because you've never been east of downtown except to drive to Vegas.
In fact, I'm glad all of you hate L.A. Do the rest of us a favor and move back to San Francisco or New York and leave this huge, awesome, multi-faceted city to those of us that are willing to take the time to appreciate it. I have a sneaking suspicion that you're going to find something to complain about anywhere you end up.
ADDENDUM: hexod.us adds brings up another good point in the comments that I forgot I wanted to mention, though I alluded to it a bit. Los Angeles is not Hollywood. If you want to bitch about Hollywood, fine. But be smart enough to know the difference.
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check out the original post here.
and while we're on the subject of the city, this little link is fabulous - even for a native like me. an exhaustive list of LA neighborhoods from Wikipedia.
do you live in silver lake or sunset junction? echo park or pico-union? beverly glen, beverly crest or beverlywood? this growing list of neighborhoods in LA on Wikipedia might help you figure it out. who knew there were that many? i stopped counting around 974.
where you at? check yourself. you may be surprised. i'm still trying to figure out where irwindale is. maybe it's its own city? if you know, let me know. enlighten me!
