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Originally Posted by DJM19
Thats interesting because from my experiece, there actually arent that many big box stores. Far outnumbered by other stores anyway. Maybe you visited the parts of LA County that arent really LA
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Thinking back, you're right. But pretty much all cookie cutter chain stores. The same fast food places, pharmacies and clothing sores with the same floor plans and lifeless exteriors.
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Originally Posted by Westsidelife
Good for you! Though I don't know why you've been here 5 times if you hate it so much.
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Unfortunately every time I go to California with friends they want to go see LA. I've tried to see new parts every time I go hoping to find something I like, with little success.
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Originally Posted by dktshb
Fortunately you're just flat wrong about "unimaginative buildings" and there are few "big box stores" in LA proper except for a few malls in the valley and I guess the beverly center.
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As I said above, thinking back I needed to change that comment a bit. Although I was by the Beverly Center last time.
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As far as sprawl I could only find the Sierra Club's 1998 top 10 rankings for the most spawled major cities in the usa which in order are:
Atlanta; St. Louis; and Washington, D.C.;Cincinnati;Kansas City, Mo.; Denver; Seattle' Minneapolis-St. Paul; Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; and Chicago.
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From the US Bureau of Census Data 2000 census:
"By 1990, Los Angeles was the most densely populated Urbanized Area in America. No other urban area provided so little land per resident."
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I know when the word sprawl is used on here it is usually meant to describe very low density settlement. Los Angeles as a whole though is still a huge sprawling piece of human development, by far dominated by medium to low density. Look at downtown Chicago compared to downtown LA. I know LA has its reasons for a relatively small downtown, but what I'm talking about is how LA is a sea of low rise buildings where as Chicago is 20 stories plus for as far as you can see down the streets. When your in LA you don't really have a sense of where you are because as far as you can see, its all quite similar. In Chicago you just have to look in the distance for the immense skyline.
I'm not form Chicago, and I'm not trying to be a Chicago fan-boy, its just the last major city I visited and I was quite impressed and it makes for an interesting comparison for me being in LA just a couple months before.
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Yep Los Angeles has crappy air pollution but that's more to do with weather patterns such as inversions that occur mainly western cities such as LA (the worst) Salt Lake City, Denver, Phoenix, Las Vegas and the central valley cities of CA. Fortunately LA has some of the highest pollution standards in the country, but yes it still is the most polluted.
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For sure I understand its a function of weather. Lots of cities have the pollution blow right off. I'm from a city that experiences bad inversions as well (Calgary) and I actually chose my location in the city based on avoiding the reek of pollution on those inverted winter days. If it gets much worse I may find myself leaving here one day.
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I will say, before people think I have a complete blind hate of LA, I do absolute love the neighborhoods on the hills. The steeper the better. There are some amazing places up some amazing roads winding up the hills. And one thing I really hated about Chicago was how flat it was. I've always been more attracted to hilly cities (San Francisco and Lisbon are two of my favorites).