Monday, August 27, 2007

L.A.: The Good, the Bad & the Smoggy



What I like and dislike about my hometown, Los Angeles:

Good:
More diverse than E-bay!
Cool sounding names like "Cuhanga" and "Topanga!"
Neon!
Funky goofy shops, cafes, galleries.
Googie!
Big Donuts!
Hollywood!
Disneyland! (ok, it's one county over)
Bungalows!


Could be Better:

Traffic. Words Fail.
Sprawl- Everything's spread out- it can take two hours or more to get from one end of town to the other.
Public Transportation (better in Santa Monica and Culver city).
Older architecture, even famous places, typically razed instead of preserved.
Earthquakes (though I'd rather shovel my apartment every 10 years than shovel snow all winter).
Trees and shrubs typically the color of Hefty Bags.
That concert hall* looks like wreckage.
No cardinals.**


*Normally I like goofy buildings, but this one has a cold, aloof vibe. Each time I see it I get flashbacks of getting cut on the jagged lid of a can. It looks somewhat better at night.
**They were introduced here but I've never seen one!

5 comments:

Sally said...

Tujunga was the one that got me when I first moved here... I'd think "Tujunga, and neva be satisfied..."

I feel the same way about the concert hall. I thought I'd find it thrilling but instead it made me want to look the other way. Funny about the jagged can lid. And nice illustration!

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

Thanks, Sally.
Nice Tujunga pun too. :D

Sally said...

I also like: wild parrots.
home.
privacy.
wild country around giant city.
citrus trees laden with fruit.
keeping chickens as pets.
The Channel Islands.
3 racetracks nearby.

I've been thinking about this post for awhile. A lot of what we experience good and bad in L.A. is all in store for the rest of the country, coming soon to your neighborhood...

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

Wild parrots? Cool. What kind? When I lived in Redondo Beach we had a flock of conures that squawked through town.
I agree that it's nice to have generous chunks of wilderness nearby. :)

Sally said...

They're Mexican red heads, I forget their official name, bright green with a red head, more conure size, and they fly in flocks. They love all the citrus trees in the Valley.