Los Angeles is an f'ing dump

L.A. certainly didn't come across well in "Into the Wild" (which is quite good, by the way). The lead character would rather float down the sewer that is the aqueduct to Mexico rather than hang with the homeless downtown.

 

"Post Office" by Bukowski is probably my favorite book set in LA. It's his best work, IMO...but since I prefer prose to poetry, I might be missing something in Bukowski's poetry. I'll take "Post Office," with "Ham on Rye" a close second. I guess Bukowski's the poet laureate of LA, by default.

 

The last time I went to LA was a couple years ago, and I had a blast. I spent half my time in the city and the other half checking out the mountains, the beach and the desert.

The only complaints I had were there are 20 El Pollo Locos for every In-n-Out Burger; there is ONE bar in East Hollywood; and the 405 sucks. (Hint: Do NOT take the 405. Ever.)

 

Compton used to be a high-class neighborhood in the 60s and 70s before it morphed into what it was in the 80s and 90s. Don't know if it's improved or not. One of my favorite things in high school was driving to Compton High on the banana on wheels for soccer games. Covered many football and basketball games at Tarbabe High, too, and their gym is cool, especially with that massive-painted Tarbabe on one of the walls.

You grow up there and take all that is SoCal for granted. You can't judge L.A. properly unless you spend a good amount of time there. Visiting for 4 days isn't perspective enough to thrown a line like "LA is a f'ing dump" out there.

 

Not saying Poin in particular, just those who go there for a few days and comment on a massive area like LA.

You want picturesque? Drive along the coast from Santa Monica up through Paso Robles in the late afternoon.

 

actually i've lived there and have spent enough time to have a good perspective.

 

I like the razor wire protecting the highway sign. Nice look.

 

He's right, there. Drive Pacific Coast Highway north, too.

 

But is the PCH really LA? It's not everyday working LA. And that's kind of skirting the issue anyways. Nobody disputes that LA is naturally blessed. With the weather, beaches, and background mountains its about the most aesthetically pleasing location for building a city imaginable. The point of Poindexter's post was not that, it was what we've done to it in recent years. Which is turn vast sections of it into some of the dirtiest, ugliest, and most congested urban blight in this country.