One day, bitches: the future of the Los Angeles Metro

dean, you wouldn't know anything abt racism would you? i hope your burrito gives you good culture

haha what?

And why on earth would I ever be on the 405? I never go east of the PCH.

The one that's a treat.

He does!

Mike Davis to thread.

V, it's true that this is a well-established meme. I think the issue is that it doesn't line up with many Westsiders' lived experience (e.g., of paying mortgage-level rents to live in nondescript-to-grotty 1beds with shitty carpets in neighborhoods where cool, strong women still feel safer driving two blocks than walking after dark).

LA's recent Jiffy-Pop style real estate bubble exaggerates the effects (incl. gentrification), but the notion of Fortress Westside does seem to lose a bit of currency when we step outside the sociology and urban planning departments onto the mean streets south of Sunset.

There are probably more "gated communities" up the 101 than there are between Sunset and Ventura. I guess what I'm saying is, those gates have always made more sense metaphorically (incl. to Thousand Oaks homebuyers) than in real life. Hence the Concept of Security, but hardly the thing itself.

NIMBYism mostly has to do with noise and inconvenience, and while it's true that wealthier communities have always had the resources to (perhaps frivolously) fight development tooth and nail, once the Beverly Hills' of the world discover a particularly effective legal blocking tactic, the Bellflowers and Gardenas are just as quick to take it up. Which is why we ain't gonna be gettin' any more freeway any time soon...

My favorite LA restaurant is Urasawa.

I am playing Pro Yakyu Spirits 2004 Climax right now, it's unbelievable.

Or, Roger completely OTM.

very true. also my first impression.

Rollin till the wheels fall off
A nigga rollin till the wheels fall off
Westside rollin till the wheels fall off
A nigga rollin till the wheels fall off

and for the record, youd have to pay me to get me to go to the 'west side'. its hard enough to get me to go to hollywood, let alone onto or past the strip. ive been to the beach one time since ive lived here (2 years). i totally prefer the lifestyle, the restaurants, the venues, the weird hole-in-the-walls, the people, the culture, and the safety of echo park/silverlake. yes, thats right...saftey.

im sure that some of you will argue, but from personal experience, i feel safer on the east side. sure, theres...well, lets call them 'riff-raff' (for lack of a better or non-PC word) on the east side, but there are far more crazies in the hollywood area (i dont know about santa monica or venice, cause i never go there). anyway, anyone ive ever encountered late at night on the east side has been relatively easy to steer clear of, get rid of, or ignore. in general they have beef with their people and wont bother ya if you dont start shit with them, ya know?

anyway, thats my nickel for the day.
oh, and hi. im new. and thats the last time ill admit that. ;)

I'd be tickled to meet y'all at a FAP anywhere from the beach to downtown, but sadly I'm booked Friday. Now Saturday...

As long as it's not in the South Bay. Don't even get me started on the South Bay... ;-)

i think the eastside-centric attitude seems a very recent development starting with the the hipster influx into east hollywood in the 90's and probably affected by hyper-inflated real estate values. i mean those same people who won't go east of western now lived (or would have lived) in miracle mile in the early 90's.

here's a useful map i found of LA city... http://www.losangelesalmanac.com/LA/lamap2.htm
note there are so many unofficial names and names post offices use or don't use. ie. if you live in northridge. you would say you live in northridge and write that as your address (even though it's LA city). if you live in silverlake you'd say you live in silverlake, but not address letters there. and places like miracle mile or larchmont are just traditionally known names not really recognized anywhere.

please no

I'D LIKE TO SEE SOMEONE DISPUTE THIS WITH FACTUAL INFORMATION WITHOUT TRYING TO TWIST MY WORDS, ACCUSE ME OF MAKING "GENERALIZTIONS," OR FUCKING CHANGE THE TOPIC AGAIN OKAY THX BYE

and im only going to fap if its on my damn balcony 4 now

"Los Angeles's walled communities provide professionals from the real estate, entertainment and technology industries with an escape from the problems of the disenfranchised that lie beyond their well protected enclaves -- with tall gates, private security forces and 24-hour a day electronic surveillance."

How many can you balcony hold?

x-post I didn't read the big article you posted upthread but I'll look at it now to see if that answers my question.

roger i posted that just to demonstrate the history of racial segragation here

whats just making me want to tear my hair out is how adamant everyone on this thread is being in completely DENYING what has already passed into history, and what is common knowledge.

its like...okay:

the encyclopedia is wrong, spencer / ile is right
the local times and alt weeklies are wrong, spencer chow / ile is right
all the pro-metro activist groups - which can be contacted online, try yahoo (im a member of that yahoo group) are wrong, spencer chow / ile is right

this is total madness and i dont know why im bother putting up with this thread. its only making my blood boil

Ah, ya punk, missing out on Friday. But fear not, Arthur the Very Good is DJing on Saturday, and I'm frankly tempted to stay in LA for that after the Friday FAP and all. We'll see!

true, the metro line is a big mess and it sucks and it's unfortunate we don't have a transportation system and traffic is becoming catastrophic. but you can't just casually say 'i hate the fucking WESTSIDE so much' (and then say 'Spencer I don't hate the Westside' to what? try to back out of irresponsible stereotyping?) and not expect some shit. i mean i like some of your ideas on other threads, but Spencer's right in saying you're all over the place on this one.

(Also I saw a guy coming out of the video store and I thought it was you, so I waved. Clearly it wasn't because he yelled something back at me in Armenian.)

Yes, I know it looks like I contradicted myself on this thread, but I've clarified that: I don't "hate" the westside per say, and I've expressed that when I said that I meant I disapprove of their anti-metro voting patterns, which I do believe deserve to be hated.

All I'm asking for is someone to refute the WELL-DOCUMENTED AND VERIFIED claim that the westside's aversion to the metro is based on racial and socio-economic NIMBY prejudices of keeping the "wrong" people away from their residences and businesses.

Can anyone do that, supplying hard facts and proof, without turning this into a 'I must defend my homeland" emotional argument?

If you're taking offense to some sort of fucked-up misunderstanding of me "attacking" your native soul WHEN I'M NOT IN THEFIRST PLACE, then that's your own fucking problem.

I don't have to "prove" that I lose Los Angeles as much as you just because I haven't lived here as long, or don't have dead ancestors buried here...there is no other city in the WORLD I'd rather live, since this is my favoite. I thought my love would be evident with the enthusiam with which I started this thread. This is a city of immigrants and it's as much mine as yours; deal with it.

I'm especially irked since 12 hours ago I told Spencer Chow that I'm open to being corrected but since then instead of showing me any evidence, all he's done is cast aspersions on my discriminatory faculties by saying I'm making "hackneyed" and "sweeping" "generalizations," without giving any counter-examples.

I've tried to be understanding and am still open to being corrected, but all you're doing is either taking my comments out of context, distorting them and arguing issues I did not directly bring up, or attributing to me viewpoints I don't possess in the first place. And I don't understand why.