Big Cities for Dummies
Phoenix vs Los Angeles.
That is what it came down to, not which city is better, so much as which city is less awfull. Before these last few weeks I had my well cherished, highly biased, and certainly ignorant opinions. Then I was confronted with stark reality and a lovely tour guide. So what following are my findings, following nearly 7 years of living in the Valley of the Sun and less than 2 weeks in the City of Angeles.
Traffic: LA is worse, by a long shot. In the way that the rest of the world keeps an eye on the weather and makes plans accordingly, LA folks do this with traffic, a force of nature not to be toyed with. I mean really, do you want to spend 2 1/4 hours in traffic to travel 35 miles?
Food: Phoenix is worse. In LA I could wander down the street and find Thai food, Greek food, Korean food, Indian food, Armenian food, and more. I don't even know what Armenian food is, but I can find it and much more there. In Phoenix there is alot of very good Mexican food, lots of taco joints, some New Mexican food, and plenty of Southwestern and West-Mex food.
People: LA is worse. Even though every one I met was a seemingly nice person, the overwhelming majority have a New York sydrome of gazing at their navel and believing it to be the center or the universe. Unfortuntaly, it seems like most folks in Phoenix are just California transplants, but at least they got out.
Character: Phoenix is worse. This one suprised me, I thought that because Phoenix is a sea of cookie cutter subdivisons, strip malls with chain resturants and shops, and endless beige, that LA would be the same. Wrong. LA has actual neighborhoods with locally owned independant buisnesses and houses that didn't all come from the same 3 floor plans.
Impact on the world at large: Draw. LA is the home of Hollywood and many network TV shows, and the drivel and mind numbing rot that comes with it. On the other hand Phoenix has hundreds of green manicured golf courses in the middle of a desert.
Final tally: Both citys disqualified on the grounds that they are not entities unto themselves but rather single cities surrounded by scores of other cityies like Scottsdale, Tempe, Glendale, Mesa, Burbank, Pasedena, Venice, and so on. Instead, stay the heck out of both of them if at all possible, but if you have to go for some reason, such as that is where your girlfriend's parents live or you have friends and a major airport there, then at least you can enjoy the food.
That is what it came down to, not which city is better, so much as which city is less awfull. Before these last few weeks I had my well cherished, highly biased, and certainly ignorant opinions. Then I was confronted with stark reality and a lovely tour guide. So what following are my findings, following nearly 7 years of living in the Valley of the Sun and less than 2 weeks in the City of Angeles.
Traffic: LA is worse, by a long shot. In the way that the rest of the world keeps an eye on the weather and makes plans accordingly, LA folks do this with traffic, a force of nature not to be toyed with. I mean really, do you want to spend 2 1/4 hours in traffic to travel 35 miles?
Food: Phoenix is worse. In LA I could wander down the street and find Thai food, Greek food, Korean food, Indian food, Armenian food, and more. I don't even know what Armenian food is, but I can find it and much more there. In Phoenix there is alot of very good Mexican food, lots of taco joints, some New Mexican food, and plenty of Southwestern and West-Mex food.
People: LA is worse. Even though every one I met was a seemingly nice person, the overwhelming majority have a New York sydrome of gazing at their navel and believing it to be the center or the universe. Unfortuntaly, it seems like most folks in Phoenix are just California transplants, but at least they got out.
Character: Phoenix is worse. This one suprised me, I thought that because Phoenix is a sea of cookie cutter subdivisons, strip malls with chain resturants and shops, and endless beige, that LA would be the same. Wrong. LA has actual neighborhoods with locally owned independant buisnesses and houses that didn't all come from the same 3 floor plans.
Impact on the world at large: Draw. LA is the home of Hollywood and many network TV shows, and the drivel and mind numbing rot that comes with it. On the other hand Phoenix has hundreds of green manicured golf courses in the middle of a desert.
Final tally: Both citys disqualified on the grounds that they are not entities unto themselves but rather single cities surrounded by scores of other cityies like Scottsdale, Tempe, Glendale, Mesa, Burbank, Pasedena, Venice, and so on. Instead, stay the heck out of both of them if at all possible, but if you have to go for some reason, such as that is where your girlfriend's parents live or you have friends and a major airport there, then at least you can enjoy the food.
posted by Jared | 9:20 PM
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