Is Los Angeles as great as Hollywood makes it seem? LA residents talk about their impressions of living in the City of Angels.
How It Started
“LA will bore you after six months,” said a person’s friend from New York City who was thinking of moving to LA. The friend turned to the internet to see whether Los Angeles transplants regret moving to LA, and the responses were enlightening.
1: Hating vs Knowing
“LA is easy to hate and hard to know,” says one Los Angeles resident. “If you dig into it, it’s so rich and deep. Most people just come and go, missing most of it.”
2: The Fence Sitter
A self-admitted “fence sitter” who’s lived in LA for nine years says while they don’t regret moving to Los Angeles, “I probably won’t stay.” They explain, “I get paid well and so when my debts are gone, I’m outtie.” Their reasons for wanting to leave? Traffic, things closing at or before midnight, pollution, and missing the change of seasons.
3: Reality Check
A commenter challenged the NYC resident’s friend, asking, “Get bored of being able to do things any time of the year?” If boring is what you want, live in Casper, Wyoming, they say.
4: It Depends
An LA transplant who moved to the city three years ago doesn’t regret their decision, but they can see why people do. “To get bored in LA is impossible,” they say, unless “you’re looking for fame or a newfound fabulous life.” Let’s face it: Many people move to LA with the hope of making it big in the entertainment world.
5: Heartstring Woes
A Los Angeles resident who moved to LA for her boyfriend says, “LA is too dirty, crowded, hot, smelly, and the people aren’t friendly AT ALL.” They’re contemplating moving back but struggle with it knowing it would mean breaking up with their boyfriend.
6: No Regrets
“I do not regret a single thing,” says a resident who’s been living in LA for over six months. What’s their favorite part about LA? Unlike NYC, where they felt confined to a “tiny area” of five boroughs, LA offers an “entire region to explore.”
7: Money Troubles
One commenter believes anyone strapped for cash is bound to regret living in Los Angeles. “Unless you have money, you’re gonna have a bad time here.”
8: Put in the Work
An LA resident living in the city for 30 years says that most people who regret their move do so because they’re expecting what they’ve always known. “LA is a very atomized place where you have to work to find or make a community of people that you know. It’s very easy to slip into a routine of doing the same things and not develop connections based on a kind of enforced closeness with others.”
9: Subjective Ponderings
An LA transplant who moved to the city over five years ago says they “don’t regret it at all” while acknowledging that regret is subjective according to how well LA aligns with one’s interests.
10: The Easy Life
A recent LA transplant says “I could see myself spending the rest of my life here.” That speaks volumes, given that they spent 35 years in Brooklyn and 18 months in San Francisco. They argue that LA has as much or more to do as NYC and that everything is “just so much easier.” Besides, “Who would’ve thought life wasn’t meant to be a 24/7 panic attack?”
11: Tough Job Market
A challenging job market makes some LA transplants they know regret moving to Los Angeles, says one Los Angeles native. In their opinion, “the dropout rate is probably around 60%.” The reason people leave? It’s “because they couldn’t find work(at least work that paid ENOUGH) or wanted to have families/own a home,” they say.
12: Love at First Sight
An LA transplant from Minnesota says they love living in LA. They’re happy to put up with the bad drivers and heavy traffic since “the beach and almost all around amazing weather calms me down. Plus the hiking trails!” That said, they’ve had friends move to LA from Minnesota before returning home, saying it wasn’t for them.
13: The Flip Side
One commenter posed a different question: “My fellow Angelenos…How many people regret being born in LA?” Three responded they wouldn’t want to be born anywhere else, and one said they “hate everything LA represents” and the only reason they haven’t moved is because of their family.
14: From Great to Good
An LA native chimes in, saying the city is “a wonderful place to live.” That said, they don’t like the heat or how expensive it’s getting, particularly on the west side where they’re from. “Start with entertainment people and add all the new tech bros and their money and it’s not so great. But LA can still be quirky and charming and interesting overall.”
Source: Reddit.
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