<p>I’m heading off to Los Angeles from New York City in a few months for college and I’m quite curious about this. New York City is alright, although I don’t like a few things here (mainly the pretentiousness). But ironically enough, when I’ve asked people who’ve been to L.A. about their opinions, I usually hear the words “crap-hole”, “superficial”, “self-conscious”, and a slew of pejoratives. </p>
<p>I’ve been there once, but I wasn’t there long enough to grasp the place in its entirety. I DID think it was laid-back in a cool way, though.</p>
<p>Aside from the fact that NYC is a lot more compressed than L.A., are there any noticeable cultural differences between two places?</p>
<p>That all depends on WHERE in LA you plan on living. Much like NYC, we are composed of several hundred micro-communities. The vibe on the west side is completely different from the vibe in the San Gabriel Valley, or the beach communities.
I live near Pasadena in the foothills. I am a few blocks from hiking the mountain (saw a bobcat two days ago!), yet Im a metrorail ride of 30 minutes
to downtown. Lots of younger single artists, writers etc in my little town and
VERY laid back. But your college community, Im sure, will have a cuture all its own.</p>
<p>I lived in Pasadena for three years after grad school in New York and most of my previous young adult time on the East Coast. I guess it was laid back, but I can’t point to too many specific examples. People stop for you in cross walks and my architecture office there worked from nine to five never later and we had a little happy hour in the office every Friday. (By contrast when I went to a famous NYC architecture firm for an interview at 6pm on a Friday it was full of people still working.)</p>
<p>Oh year and cars stop for you if you put your toe anywhere near a crosswalk. </p>
<p>I loved, loved, loved living in the LA area to my great surprise. It was less than an hour’s drive to the beach, to the mountains or to the desert. I got somewhat involved with the preservationist community. Was tangentially involved with the bluegrass playing community.</p>
<p>I’m about an hour from LA with traffic…much more in the suburbs than the city, though Long Beach (where I spend all my time in school and most of my time out of school) is a pretty nice sized city. My experience with LA has been good. People are generally pretty nice…if you stop someone and ask them where something is, they’ll tell you where it is unless they genuinely don’t know or they are in a hurry or something.</p>
<p>Generally, the people who say LA is pretentious and shallow are getting their opinions solely from shows like The OC and The Hills. Which, by the way, are NOT the same as LA. Of course there are some shallow and pretentious people in LA, but there are some of those in Podunk USA as well.</p>
<p>I find LA to be equally pretentious to NYC, but in different ways. From what I see, LA is all about physical beauty-everyone has sprayed on tans, minimal clothing and plans to be a movie star. Waiters and waitresses in edgy restaurants are all stunning!</p>
<p>Again, where in LA have you been? From what I’ve seen in the 17 years I’ve lived in LA county, what you describe is MUCH more Orange County/Huntington Beach than LA.</p>
<p>I’ve lived in L.A. all my life (except when I went to Berkeley). I’ve visited NYC several times for vacation.</p>
<p>NYC/Manhattan has a vibe LA does not have. NYC/Manhattan is waaay more “happening” and seems more intellectual to me…having watched the local news in NYC compared to LA gives me this sense for some reason…;)</p>
<p>LA is a constellation of suburb communities. Each has its own feel like I’m sure the suburbs/buroughs of NYC do. The weather is nearly perfect most of the time. The vast diversity in geography is LA/California’s strong suit IMO…beach, mountains, San Diego, San Francisco, Las Vegas are all nice short getaways. LA people can be pretentious, but it is very ethnically diverse (like NYC) and has people of all types and walks of life.</p>
<p>LA is/feels newer/cleaner compared to NYC. But, drive around a lot and the impression that LA is clean quickly dissapates.</p>
<p>Almost everyone in LA is from somewhere else.(except for myself-I am the only person my age who was ACTUALLY born in So Cal)
Its always struck me that we are more open to “reinventing” ourselves more than anyother place on the planet. My point of reference being that I havent lived in NYC, but I have lived in the midwest and Europe.</p>
<p>LA and NYC are alike in that everyone is from somewhere else (post school adults). The difference is what attracts people to these places. As another poster said, it’s generally money. Only in NY they are there to slave at ibanks or corporate jobs and in LA they are there to be movie stars/producers/ film writers. Unfortunately, in both places many of these people end up asking if you want fries.</p>
<p>newyorka, I think you and I run in very different crowds As others have said, it really depends WHERE you are in LA. I certainly feel more pretense-type vibes when I am on the westside than when I’m in most other areas of LA. </p>
<p>That said, it really is an industry town. You can’t but help be more aware of the movie and tv business; your picks for the Oscar poll are more nuanced, just like NYers in many industries are very attuned to Wall Street bonus culture. Neighbors may be film editors or gaffers or do stedicam work. I’m not attuned to the glitz, but I love how film is to LA as musicals are to NYC. </p>
<p>No one’s mentioned it, but for some of us in CA, there’s the joy of having really good, fresh produce as the rule, not the exception. If it’s shallow to expect quality tomatoes and strawberries, well, there are a lot of us who will go for shallowness. On the other hand, NYC bagels are better than those in LA.</p>
<p>I grew up mostly in NYC but spent lots of time with my dad in LA. Granted he lives in a very upscale neighborhood but his neighbors are actors, directors, producers, etc. When we go out to eat I am treated to being served by some of the hottest men in America. It’s unbelievable how good looking and buff they are!</p>
<p>In NYC, not so much!</p>
<p>Status in LA in my eyes is success in the film industry and in NY, success in the banking industry.</p>
<p>Since we’re on CC I’ll note that where you went to school is everything in NY and seems to be irrelevant in LA.</p>
<p>Hollywood is only one small slice of LA. Hollywood and the surrounding areas are where the vain and shallow movie/TV people and wannabes are concentrated. The rest of LA is filled up millions of regular Americans. Many of them, as has been noted, are originally from somewhere else. If you are looking for down-to-earth midwesterners, SoCal has about a million of them.</p>
<p>SoCal “laid back” does not mean lazy. It means casual, open, and friendly.</p>
<pre><code>I agree. I was just thinking that in NY, people will ask what do you do, where did you go to college …in L.A., people want to know who you know and whether you can get them an introduction. Who cares where you went to college? It’s all about who you’re connected to now. L.A. and immediate environs is saturated with the entertainment industry’s culture: looks, energy, style, connections, and salesmanship. The further out you go, the more the So Cal culture mellows into don’t worry-be happy beach vibe not necessarily attuned to show business.
</code></pre>
Like others, I think you’re looking at just a very small segment of ‘LA’. The LA area is huge and comprised of many communities and many different industries including aviation manufacturers, many electronic and computer firms, automotive design studios (to get that 'southern Cal vibe they say), and many many others. Well over 99% of LA area residents ‘don’t’ have an actor or producer living next door, sprayed-on tans, or plans to be a movie star. Of course, if one’s exposure to ‘LA’ is limited to Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Rodeo Drive, etc., I can see how one could end up with a warped view of the area.</p>
<p>OP - What area of LA are you moving to or are interested in knowing what it’s like?</p>
<p>In reality NYC probably is under 1% investment bankers. </p>
<p>Any towns as big as the two we’re talking about will be mostly made up of ordinary folks, I don’t mean to say otherwise.</p>
<p>My approach here has been of the tongue in cheek, generalizing nature. When I was newly off the plane in LA the things I wrote about are what hit me. What initially made the place look so much different from other places.</p>
<p>I’m sure Californians feel the stereotypes on their first trip to NY!</p>
<p>L.A. people eat frozen yogurt and salads, drive cars on freeways and work out at the gym (pilates, yoga, jog at the beach). NY people eat deli sandwiches, ride in taxi cabs, visit museums and wear wool. Just my observations. :)</p>
<p>Are you comparing upper East Side rich white New York with Hollywood, or are you thinking of the South Bronx compared with Encino, or how about Staten Island and the Korean areas in LA? Both of these are large urban areas with more than 10 million people. Any generalization you make will be largely meaningless.</p>
</p>