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PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   2066 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for October 25, 2024

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Anyone know anything about LA? My family and I are passing through around NYE, going to a Laker's game Dec 28th, but I haven't been through there in probably 20 years. Looking for an area that is relatively calm, safeish within reason, and at least not terribly far from LAX and the cryptoarena as we'll need to get from one to the hotel to the other within a few hours. Will have a rental car.

Be prepared to deal with a lot of traffic. If you need to get somewhere, expect the trip to take at least 90 minutes.

LA suffers the same plight as other urban Western cities.

Natural beauty is amazing, the diversity of biomes and the weather are underrated if anything.

Nothing near crypto arena is calm or safe*. Unless you stay in La live (like at the JW), you will be forced to deal with DTLA. DTLA never recovered from the Floyd riots - incredible number of boarded up and abandoned storefronts are still present.

*by 1st world standards. It’s still incredibly unlikely you will be victimized unless you are walking alone late at night with zero awareness. Every street is littered with homeless people on drugs, passed out with pipe and torch in hand. Expect mild harassment if you walk around.

I’d recommend spending as little time in downtown or Hollywood as possible.

As far as actual places to stay, I think it largely depends on what your family wants to do or see. Beverly Hills is still nice and fairly centrally located, but boring. Generally speaking, the closer to the coast the nicer the area. Without knowing more about your itinerary, you will probably want to stay somewhere within 30 min of the 10 freeway.

Everywhere in LA is accessible “within a few hours.” Traffic is bad, but less bad than its reputation.

Although a lot has changed in twenty years, I don’t much will surprise you. It’s basically just general urban decay; everything is just a bit more dirty and rundown.

One idea may be to stay in Santa Monica and plan on taking the new metro line to crypto arena. It’s definitely not the nicest public transit system but it works.

This is pretty similar to my sentiments as well. The version of LA you may think of from the movies no longer exists and the city has been coasting on its reputation for a while. That being said, LA is an agglomeration of cities of varying sizes, some doing better than others, and many of them are still fantastic places to visit.

If you're looking for a place to stay with family, I'd suggest the area around Marina Del Rey - Playa Vista - Culver City. It's just a short drive from all the interesting bits of Westside LA but also relatively quiet. There are also a lot of small boutique hotels up West Hollywood/Beverly Hills/Sunset Strip which are quite nice and walking distance to a lot of restaurants and nightlife if that's on the agenda. I wouldn't stay in DTLA unless it's a high-end hotel. Pasadena is also just a short drive from DTLA, and may be a destination on its own. It has very "classic California" vibes. There isn't a lot for tourists immediately South or East of DTLA.

LA during the holiday season is very pleasant, you will find that many people in the city have "gone home" for the holidays. Traffic will be a lot lighter than usual around the time you're visiting. Hopefully you don't encounter gloomy weather during your travels here.

All very helpful, thanks.

Since this post came out a little more negative than I intended, here are some positives:

  • Food and drink scene is great. Especially for the price (compared to most major US cities. It probably will feel expensive to you)
  • Lots of great hiking opportunities. If your family has any interest in that direction, I’d strongly urge you to do a few
  • Weather
  • For whatever reason, people in LA don’t go to the beach. There are nice beaches that are almost never crowded
  • Good museums and art
  • Lots of iconic places that your family will probably will recognize from movies. A walk around Rodeo is recommended
  • Those Star Tour buses are surprisingly fun and a decent way to see some gorgeous residential areas you otherwise probably wouldn’t

Again, thanks. Just watched the first WS game, that was amazing. I bet LA nightspots will have a good night.

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