After living here for a few months, I feel it is time to vent about some of the differences between the lifestyles of the east and west coast. I wrote this about a month ago, and I realize it still makes sense.
LA is a funny place actually. Nothing here makes sense. For example, one minute you are downtown in a hard urban street, and then you drive two blocks in, and you are in the suburbs. Fashion is based on accessories rather than the actual outfit you have on. There is more emphasis on the possessions rather than the living space, like a car or dog rather than the front yard or room decor. Honestly, if LA spent more time on the living spaces, then the roads would be a lot nicer than the cars that drive on them.
One thing I cannot stand about LA is how inconvenient it is. Everyone has a car, and thus no parking. Valet is a must, and it sucks to pay. You get tickets all the time, because the state is so broke, so they are super expensive. I just got one for 50 bucks. Nasty! There is no parking anywhere! I have had to leave and give up attending some of the parties or houses because I could not find a place to park. I do not want to park a mile away from my destination as a girl in an area I do know understand. I really have no idea how businesses survive when the customer's cannot park at their stores! How do they make money?
Then to make things worse, there is real no public transportation. Taxis are so expensive, buses are slow, and subway is not convenient enough to use to get around. This needs to change. Coming from NYC and Boston, I definitely have high expectations on this. In addition, there is no central "downtown" busy hub life of the city. Downtown is full of banks, and becomes a ghost town after dark. The night life is not in one central location, so you have to choose where to go for the night and hope it is busy.
LA is so full of different groups of people for all sorts of lifestyles, and I have no idea where I fit in. LA has beaches, mountains, the artsy culture, the corporate culture, the glamour culture... you name it, it is here. I am not the independent artsy type, so I would not live in that section of town. I want to be in a big downtown area like NYC, but that area in LA is a desert town at night. The corporate culture is full of banks and is pretty straightforward but uninvolved. Then the film/industry culture, which seems to involve everyone, is artsy and laid back. We wear jeans to work and work long hours with lots of time being unproductive. It seems people want to work from the hours of 2-4 and then everything is pushed to later in the day, hence the long work hours.
LA is full of labels. Artsy, hip, fit, producer, actor, classy, celebrity, hourly, rich, poor, etc. Also, depending on what area of town you live in, you have a different label describing your lifestyle. For example, if you live in Santa Monica you are the "beach fit gal" or if you live in Silver Lake of East LA, you are "hip, indie chick." I live in the Valley, so a "valley girl" of suburban lifestyle. If you live in downtown LA, then you are the corporate banker type. The list goes on.
Here is a list of the other differences that I have picked up on:
Have lunches and drinks with co-workers or networking contacts not dinners.
Weekly car wash appointments for a shiny car
Longer hours at work with less family time. No separation of family and work, they blend and boundaries don't exist
Higher divorce rates
Everyone is career focused and defined by their career, everyone is trying to be someone and view each other as competition
Sports fans not die hard or loyal, only popular when teams do well but pure EGO support, "fake" loyalty
Puppies are accessories
Mist is a flood in LA terms, people have no idea what to do or how to drive with rain and city shuts down.
Desert environment, everything is brown, I miss the green!
Everyone is physically fit and active.
Yougurts not ice cream,
Uggs and mini skirts are the combo of fashionable clothing.
These are just some. More to come. But still, it is enough for now.
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