What exactly does "L.A. culture" entail?

Parent Cafe
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<p>Agree with those saying that generalizations are difficult.</p>

<p>Also agree with coureur’s clarification re: “laid back.” On the whole, Californians are a casual, accepting bunch. You can wear sweatpants + flip-flops without attracting negative attention in more CA locations than elsewhere, in my experience :p</p>

<p>I do think that Californians are more conscious of appearance than people elsewhere. That doesn’t mean that everyone is attractive, or even that everyone puts much effort into trying to be…it just seems to be something that Californians in general are quicker to notice…it’s hard to articulate, but perhaps you’ll see what I mean when you arrive. I say that as a pretty low-maintenance person, so don’t let it scare you. </p>

<p>In general, we take great produce, great Mexican food, geographic + cultural diversity for granted.</p>

<p>My sister and I both went to school near LA. I lived in the Inland Empire, just at the edge of LA County; she lives in LA proper, a block or so from Beverly Hills. When I think about LA, I think stripmalls and sketchy neighborhoods (though I went to school in a very nice community, it was in the midst of a not-so-good area); my sister thinks Fred Segal and famous people. Her daily routine really is very star studded…she’s sent me text messages from so many celebrity parties and private concerts that it’s just unbelievable. From her gym buddy to her boyfriend, everyone she knows seems to have a valid claim to fame. My cousin moved from the midwest to LA and had a similar experience…he was an actor-turned-photographer who found himself being flown to the Caribbean to cover his supermodel/actress friend’s wedding. But their stories bring me closer to that lifestyle than four years of living in LA County ever brought me, or brought most of my friends (including those who called SoCal/LA home). My sister’s been driving me insane lately, because since moving, everything is “Well, in LA…” and I’ve yet to convince her that her experience is anything but representative.</p>

<p>So…it depends on who you are, where you go, and what you do there. Same is true of many big cities, NYC included. I’m glad to be out of SoCal, but very glad to still be within CA…it’s hard to pinpoint the ‘culture’, but it is unique, and I do enjoy it. There’s a certain level of pretension among Californians in general, and it’s strongest in those from the Bay Area and LA, but I think it’s probably very different than what you dislike in NYC. It’s more location-related than it is personal. </p>

<p>Enjoy yourself in CA :)</p>

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<p>Bay you forgot to say everyone in New York wears black!</p>

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<p>The work of artist Ed Ruscha (roo-SHAY) - photography, paintings, etc. - provides one window on L.A. “culture”:</p>

<p>[The</a> Art Institute of Chicago: Visit: Ed Ruscha and Photography: A Symposium](<a href=“http://www.artic.edu/aic/visitor_info/podcasts/exhibition_insights/ruscha.html]The”>http://www.artic.edu/aic/visitor_info/podcasts/exhibition_insights/ruscha.html)</p>

<p>(I recently saw this exhibit: terrific.)</p>

<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Ed Ruscha: Photographer: Margit Rowell, Ed Ruscha: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Ed-Ruscha-Photographer-Margit-Rowell/dp/3865212069/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213281762&sr=1-3]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Ed-Ruscha-Photographer-Margit-Rowell/dp/3865212069/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213281762&sr=1-3)</p>

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<p>Last year one of my daughter’s roommates, who grew up in Boston and had never really been out of the northeast, came to SoCal for the first time for spring break in her junior year of college. I asked her what was the most striking difference that she observed. She said “Palm trees. Even the gas stations have palm trees.” True enough. There really are palm trees in southern California. It’s not a myth.</p>

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<p>XD indeed…we even have palm trees at my school. :)</p>

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<p>So what do you sing at Christmastime? </p>

<p>“O, Teitelbaum, O, Teitelbaum…”? </p>

<p>(Oh date palm tree, oh date palm tree, how lovely are your branches)</p>

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<p>XD we sing “White Christmas.”</p>

<p>Yes, we’re all about irony over here. ^_^</p>

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<p>The palm trees are kind of mythologic, because they’re not native–they were planted here by land developers.</p>

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<p>Mathmom—everyone you knew “was an architect or a scientist”, because you lived in Pasadena! A friend of mine on the westside calls it an “upscale nerd ghetto”</p>

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<p>^How very derogatory and disrespectful.</p>

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<p>Well, it takes more than being non-native to make a plant mythologic. Very few of the species growing in most southern California yards, parks, and gardens are native. But usually only the palm trees are considered emblematic of the whole region. Right now the non-native Jacaranda trees are blooming with their messy purple blossoms, and they are gorgeous.</p>

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<p>Los Angeles is a car centered. New York is a walking town. Where you live in Los Angeles makes a huge difference. West Los Angeles is very diverse, the valley less so. There is the private school/public school difference and the show business factor. In Los Angeles, except for parts of downtown you can look up to the sky. (We always find it disconcerting that in NY midtown we look for slivers of sunshine.)</p>

<p>And my neighbors here in LA find it amusing that we have a library filled with…books. Lots of books…dust collectors all.</p>

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Oh not at all, Techers don’t mind being called nerds. It wasn’t nearly as upscale back when I lived there, but it sure is now. Huge change in 20 years, we architects were just trying to gentrify it back then. The guys I worked with were among the first to restore downtown buildings.</p>

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<p>Agree with mathmom–not derogatory nor disrespectful to us SoCal adults. Pasadena is FAR from a ghetto in price and houses. And Pasadena is where Caltech and JPL are located, so there are a lot of rocket scientists (REAL rocket scientists) that live there. I would call the remark satirical or ironic, perhaps…or can someone help me with the word that describes this phrase–it’s definitely not a palindrome. (Must review 11th grade English lit terms)</p>

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<p>Another major cultural difference is that anyone can be a Los Angeleno. People don’t care how long you have lived there - if you come and want to be a Californian/Los Angeleno - you are in!</p>

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<p>“how very derogatory…” Hisgracefillsme, ----I guess things arent as laid back in Long Beach as they are here in Pasadena. NO ONE here would be insulted by that. Lighten up.
upscale=property IS expensive here
nerd= have you ever BEEN to Caltech or JPL?
ghetto= a concentration of people with a commonality thrown together into one community</p>

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<p>X90–Where will you be attending college? The college (including but not limited to its location) will have a major impact on your experience of LA. I am a second generation native and have lived all my life (except college years) in West LA. While everythings said above is true, to me it is just “home,” although I have to say things were nicer in the 60s and 70s–pre-high rises on Wilshire, etc.</p>

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<p>petrasanta-it’s not about me “lightening up”.</p>

<p>Maybe I’ve just been doing too much reading, but a ghetto for a lot of people holds meaning from the Holocaust.</p>

<p>At the high school I go to, most of the teachers hold “ghetto” on a level with the “n” word because it is indeed considered disrespectful.</p>

<p>Plus, in Long Beach, when you think “ghetto”, you think Compton. Not exactly a respectful thing to compare a town to.</p>

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<p>Broaden your horizons, HGFM. “Ghetto” means what it means, and it doesn’t mean “holocaust” any more than “Jewish” does. From the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, one of the common meanings of ghetto is, “any mode of living, working, etc., that results from stereotyping or biased treatment: job ghettos for women; ghettos for the elderly.” I’ve heard the term used both seriously, as in the examples given above, and in an ironic sense, as in “the science fiction ghetto.” It’s a perfectly good word and its perlocution for a minority shouldn’t restrict its use.</p>

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<p>I think for most people, ghetto brings up the image of inner city African American living areas…what would know be called “the 'hood.” The Jewish experience is most likely not the one that comes to mind on the first look.</p>