This summer I went to L.A. and Santa Barbara. Before I get to that I have to say downtown L.A. fucking blows. It's totally not what I expected. About 8-10 blocks from Staples Center was one of the uglier neighborhoods I've seen near a big city downtown. Getting anywhere is a nightmare! It took nearly two hours to get to Universal City. It's a place you are best served visiting rather than living. It takes only a few hours to fly to L.A. from Portland. The drive from Riverside to Universal City took as long, if not longer. Anyway, when I was in Santa Barbara we came across Solvang, California. Quite possibly the creepiest little town I've ever been to. All the structures follow a Danish theme that feels very Disneyland-esque and fake. It's clean but weird. On a side note, one of my favorite movies was filmed, in parts, here - Sideways. Santa Barbara is awesome, btw.
LA fucking blows. It's seriously 83 giant suburbs in search of a downtown. I much prefer cities like Portland, Seattle, Chicago, etc., that have an obvious downtown core surrounded by suburbs.
No kidding. The neighborhood sits on a hill and you can see Staples quite clearly. The first thing that popped in my mind was - 'Man, Salem, Oregon looks better than this." Also, it was the first time I've seen graffiti on a freeway center barrier (405) Next summer I plan to go North to Vancouver, BC.
Vancouver, BC is sweet. Great downtown. Sea to sky highway is breathtaking. Great nightlife. Beautiful females. You won't be disappointed.
Yeah, I walked in chinatown on East Hastings....its a shithole! females in vancouver were not that hot. lots of really pale, homely looking women.
1. Downtown is going through a revitalization. Its actually a lot nicer. The area you are referring to is probably skid row, which is horrible. Little Tokyo is quite nice though as is Chinatown. There are other things like the Disney Hall and the new Cathedral of the Angels which are really nice to visit if you are downtown. 2. Riverside and the whole inland empire sucks ass. All those freeways are totally fucked.
My summer was pretty low-key this year. Did go to Vegas a few times (less than usual), San Deigo and Palm Springs.
