Do you guys prefer DMV or LA
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Anonymous
| Orange County, hands down. |
Anonymous
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LA is a pretty ugly city. The downtown is bland and sterile and the whole county is a massive sprawl of cookie cutter postwar houses and strip malls. Nothing is really walkable outside of a couple small pockets, and even then you generally have to drive to that pocket to walk around. The streets are wide and cars speed by so fast that it's a most inhospitable terrain for walking. There are a few charming areas with gorgeous houses built in the 20s and 30s but they are now astronomically expensive. On the whole, most of LA feels very run down and hardly very glamorous. Don't expect a lot of intellectual DC-style conversations; this is the home of the Kardashian Klan, after all. Traffic is ATROCIOUS!
On the plus side, the restaurant scene is far superior to DC and most people are much friendlier and outgoing than DC folks. The beaches are nice and the sunsets are gorgeous. I lived there for years and I wouldn't go back. For one thing, I'm priced out now; whereas DC still has some close-in areas that are affordable, in LA, "barely affordable" means a 60 mile commute. |
Anonymous
| I like both, but prefer Los Angeles. For all the reasons others have mentioned, greater natural beauty, proximity to beaches, weather, friendlier people, . . . |
Anonymous
| L.A. DMV doesn't compare, at all. |
Anonymous
What do you love about LA, esp as compared to DMV? I want to learn more! |
Anonymous
I'm this PP; sorry I didn't see the other PPs questions re my post until now... First, I'm on DCUM because I was moving to DMV and needed info, then stayed on it...there is no Los Angeles equivalent to DCUM. Second, re school systems. Ok I don't want to inflame local (Los Angeles) parents, so please know this is one person's opinion. Here goes: The publics in Arlington were AMAZING. Public school is not like that in Los Angeles. In Arlington, no elementary/middle school parents were ever freaking out about what private high school to get into etc. I never heard ONE parent go on about high school (except for the one parent strategizing to get into TJ). The Catholics are great; the publics are great... At least in my part of LA, the publics really cannot compare to Arlington's publics. It's pretty rough out here; facilities are old, classes crowded, some amazing teachers and horrible ones.... (coincidentally, the teachers may strike on Monday). There are some exceptions...La Canada (with ~ over the "n") and San Marino are supposed to be great publics. |
Anonymous
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Interesting thread. Caught my eye because I was wondering why there was an LA section in DCUM. So here's my take born and raised in the LA area and having spent my professional life in DC--and married to the same. I think that DC is better for middle class professionals with children. My husband and I are both UC grads and were born in SoCal. Between the two of us, we have two masters, a PhD and JD -- earned in large cities in the Northeast. Moved to DC after grad schools where then we bought a home and kid came later. We know a lot of Californians here -- and we all MISS it terribly. The problems with raising a family in LA, as I see it, are you are hooked to a car and lots of traffic (various studies show traffic in DC is actually worse, FYI). But the difference is we have better public transportation and suburbs that are bikable. In 20 years, we have never commuted to work by car. If we were loaded with cash and could afford private school for our kid, then we'd move back to SoCal for sure. Not sure what Amazon will do to close-in Virginia -- it may have the Silicon Valley problem very soon and make home ownership more unattainable. Hope is to move back to SoCal when DD goes to college and drastically downsize.
As for earthquakes, fires, etc., it totally depends on where you were raised, I think. I grew up with earthquakes and fires, but the freezing rain/ice and rare hurricanes freak me out in DC. |
Anonymous
While in the meantime in the DC area we are building 'authentic" colonial homes .. or better yet, we bring them from good old Europe where they are disassembled brick by brick and put together here. We use no siding, not drywall, we use all authentic and original technology of the era of yore , and make sure that it is all authentic down to the glass in the windows that we never replace with anything but original. Damn that fake Californian Mediterranean Revival architecture. In with the fake Colonial, Shakers and Craftsman! This way please!... |
Anonymous
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California! Wins any and every time. It sucks to be stuck here.
I miss the climate, the beauty of the landscape, the gorgeous architecture for the most part, the sunsets, the gorgeous blue sky, not needing to worry about the rain or carry an umbrella for half of the year. Never needing a jacket or parka, not needing two sets of clothing or three.. if you add mild weather.. so many jackets, so many shoes would be obsolete, you need just one set of clothing for the whole year! Never being cold to the bone, no snow shoveling!, not worrying about snow days at school, no slip and slide and break on the icy sidewalks. No mosquitos!. Riding in convertible all year round. Dinning alfresco all year round! You don't need to go on vacation, you are on vacation all year round! If you want to see ocean, it is right there, if you want to ski, you don't need to fly or drive at length and spend half of your weekend driving back and forth.. right there! Food.. don't get me started.. California is the source of veggies, strawberries and other fruits.. and citrus groves, you drive pass by the strawberry field or orange grove and the air is filled with magical fragrance.. Seriously what was the question? Do I like the traffic in the DMV.. the failing school systems and expensive home but then there is that.. that.. mmm.. that.. what is that exactly that it is so great about this area that is that that? |
Anonymous
oh and.. Home electricity is pretty much just cooling and occasionally AC.. no heating like ever! Never getting in a car that has the wipers frozen to the windshields.. |
Anonymous
Lived in Los Angeles for 8 years. Neighborhoods are very segregated and the schools follow. When I say segregated I mean every ethnicity and race has their own neighborhood and the school composition follows suit. LaCanada for example is very white and San Marino is very Asian. Very little mixing of people there, super segregated. Came back to DMV because I didnt want to raise my kids like that. Plus LA lacks the intellectual rigor of DMV. People are friendly but not that smart. People are definitely nicer to look at... |
Anonymous
| ^^ Its interesting what you say about smart people. We lived in LA for 5 years and at first we thought the same - what a place full of air heads. But then a friend in LA pointed out that its a cultural choice and there are a lot of super smart people pretending not to be so. And you realize its true. The DMV is such a striving area, politics, medicine, lawyers everyone wanting their kids in Ivies etc. Super competitive, not very friendly. In LA its like an antidote to that and people ARE relaxed, relaxed enough not to be constantly proving themselves in a boring, suburban way. I miss it a lot. |
Anonymous
| I am considering this choice now. Do the opinions in this thread still hold or have things changed in the last 5 years or so? |
Anonymous
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We have lived in Bethesda, Santa Monica, Century city, The Palisades and Burbank.
A lot of my focus has been on educating my two kids. They were in Bethesda public schools 3rd-10th grades and while their teachers were good and the range of courses on offer were expansive, their homework wasn't ever really graded and there were no finals. In California, the grading is really hard, it's partly based on classroom participation, the homework is graded, there's finals twice a year (Dec & May). I feel that despite far fewer resources here, they have been educated far more thoroughly. Also the admin in Los Angeles public schools, where the budgets are practically zero, are more efficient, kinder, helpful and personable than ANY in the Bethesda area where there is so much rudeness and disinterest in helping anyone. In terms of housing, Bethesda was better, cheaper, more space / land etc and fewer natural disasters (!!) |
Anonymous
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MoCo native to Irvine (six years).
No laid back vibe in this part of SoCal. You know how when the Metro lets off at Shady Grove and everybody is shoving each other trying to get on the escalator first? It’s just like that. The schools in MoCo were better but the parents here all have their kids in “Young Doctors” and IMO camp or whatever. That said, the weather is great and the food is great. It’s so nice to be able to go outside all year. I miss greenery and rain sometimes I miss fall colors. And public transit. But I wouldn’t move back and most other transplants I know wouldn’t either. |