r/geography • u/villehhulkkonen • 1d ago

La is a wasted opportunity Discussion

Imagine if Los Angeles was built like Barcelona. Dense 15 million people metropolis with great public transportation and walkability.

They wasted this perfect climate and perfect place for city by building a endless suburban sprawl.

38.2k Upvotes

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u/youaretheuniverse 1d ago

It’s actually pleasant to walk around parts of LA compared to a lot of car centric rural towns. There are all sorts of cool cuddy pathways with little gardens everywhere despite what people think.

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u/DrNinnuxx 1d ago

But you need to drive to them first.

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u/MochiMochiMochi 1d ago

I lived in LA and it's remarkable how people tend to stick to certain zones and routines that enable them to minimize driving.

I was in the Culver City area and thinking of going to a place like Pasadena (only 18 miles away) felt like planning a major trip. It had to be very much worth the effort.

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u/bigmt99 1d ago

LA is actually like 25 cities in a trenchcoat

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u/jtr99 1d ago

Twenty-five alcohols, please!

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u/KilliamTell 18h ago

Vincent LAdultman strikes again.

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u/Hashtagbarkeep 1d ago

This is perfect

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u/SvenDia 1d ago

Commenting on La is a wasted opportunity...Yeah, I always thought all the neighborhoods in the “Valley” were suburbs. And once I was in Glendale, which is a suburb, and drove south into a non-descript residential neighborhood and saw a sign that said LA city limits. Than neighborhood looked more like an unincorporated area between suburbs more than part of a major US city.

But in a way I kind of like that aspect of LA. It’s an agglomeration of small cities and towns and many have their own unique look and feel, like all of the little ethnic enclaves.

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u/funkekat61 23h ago

In the sidebar of the LA subreddit, LA is described as eight Portland sized cities jammed together, and it's not wrong.

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u/okhan3 1d ago

lol I lived in Venice and the first time I went to Pasadena I treated it as a vacation, got a hotel and everything

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u/Same-Cricket6277 1d ago

I live in Pasadena and we just went to Venice for dinner the other week (Scopa, sofa king good), also got hotel lol. Driving back across LA after dinner and drinks just less than ideal. Easier just stay out there and drink more

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u/okhan3 1d ago

Absolutely, dread for the drive home makes the whole night stressful. I live in SF now and this is also my relationship to San Jose.

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u/00zxcvbnmnbvcxz 1d ago

I lived in Venice for 16 years, and when a friend would move to Pasadena you’d just kind of stop being friends with them haha.

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u/okhan3 1d ago

lol, been there. We legit did phone/zoom calls for a bit before losing touch. Meeting up was never discussed

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u/00zxcvbnmnbvcxz 1d ago

😂😂🥲

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u/Kumlekar 1d ago

I briefly lived near culver city. Walked everywhere. Same when I lived in Upland. The places that were more car centric were the OC and the hills north of pasadena. It really just depends on where you are.

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u/deskcord 1d ago

People say this like people in NY do anything but stay in their bubble, too. This is just how people live.

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u/DrNinnuxx 1d ago

It's the same way with Houston, where I lived for a bit.

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u/TickyTeo 1d ago

You didn’t think to just take the train?

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u/MochiMochiMochi 1d ago

I was an avid Metro user, and yes I did take the E Line to Pasadena. But other trips were by car per my wife's preference.

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u/ItchyDoggg 1d ago

3 hour round trip?

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u/userhwon 1d ago

10 minutes longer than driving.

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u/CapGlass3857 1d ago

It’s more because of the horrendous traffic

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u/UnluckyPassenger5075 18h ago

This! I’ve lived in a few of the beach cities and even there, where you don’t need to get on the freeways as often, people tend to stay in their “bubbles”. When living in MDR, rarely left the cities of SaMo, Venice, and south to MB or Hermosa. Basically stayed west of PCH whenever possible due to the awful traffic going east/west.

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u/SoarinWalt 1d ago

I'm sure you know, it can be a shocking amount of time to drive that 18 miles.

I was in LA a few months ago and drove from Anaheim to Universal Studios, the time it took to drive was mind blowing. Its 40 miles, and almost all highway and took 2 hours. I was honestly shocked as shit.

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u/MyBoldestStroke 1d ago

At the risk of being that person… Anaheim is a completely different county tho?

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u/SoarinWalt 1d ago

40 miles is 40 miles, and a lot of the traffic was in LA.

For that matter we were in LA heading to Santa Monica Pier and it took us an hour plus due to traffic. It was my second time in LA, the first being in 2022 and I totally understood all the complaining about LA traffic that you always here.

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u/ALeftistNotLiberal 1d ago

Or have millions to buy a home there

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u/zemol42 1d ago

If you live there already, you don’t have to worry about it. I lived in Redondo and you can easily walk all over town, upto Hermosa or MB or bike over to Playa, Marina, Santa Monica. I basically used my car for grocery runs, see friends who lived in the valley but mostly for long trips to Mammoth and the National Parks.

My last two trips back, I stayed in Culver City and Westwood and easily averaged over 14k steps a day.

I do wish the Metro was more convenient to get beyond these local hamlets but maybe once Measure M is fully completed, it’ll be a game changer (that’s the hype at least).

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u/bringbackswg 1d ago

And pay for parking. Every time.

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u/New-Scientist5133 1d ago

Not if you already live in them. I live in Highland Park and walk to the grocery store, the dispensary, and tons of bars and restaurants. Climbing gym is a 7-minute drive and if I want to hit Trader Joe’s, the drive is 6 minutes. Whatever people say about LA can be said about America as a whole.

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u/SlicedSides 1d ago

How much is your rent if you don’t mind me asking?

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u/New-Scientist5133 1d ago

2.7k, but I need to have a stand-alone house with a recording studio. You can find an apartment for 2k or less if you have roommates.

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u/SlicedSides 1d ago

that’s not so bad, all things considered. thanks for the perspective

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u/New-Scientist5133 1d ago

LA is like a pineapple. The individual segments used to be separate fruits like grapes, but over time and a lot of breeding, they’ve all fused together to make one big massive fruit. All of the little clusters of LA are unique to themselves and it’s about finding the one you vibe with the most. That being said. I clocked 60 miles today picking up something from the west side and giving a friend in San Pedro a ride to the airport. Fuck, this city is big.

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u/atDevin 1d ago

LA is so big though - you have to drive anyway. LA is 21x more area than NYC

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u/Bigchiefngas420 1d ago

Or just live there?

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u/NotSoQuickTurn300 1d ago

I mean you gotta drive most places you don't live, but you could always take a bus into LA.

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u/snorkolito 1d ago

Not really, I visited LA this fall and we took the bus and metro everywhere. Also it was super cheap!

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u/Same-Cricket6277 1d ago

Or just walk near where you live.