But one of the most interesting things I have learned in college is how other people see L.A. This is especially interesting being in an urban planning concentration, so I am surrounded by people who take note of the world around us.
I live near downtown LA, right next to USC, but I am highly partial to the West Side- mainly Santa Monica, Culver City, and Mar Vista. I attribute this mainly to the fact that my ride and bff lives on the West Side and that's where she hangs out, so that's where I hang out.
It was interesting talking about the West Side with a friend who lives in West Adams, which is north of campus and about a 30 minute walk from me (I am west of campus). She doesn't have a car and as West Siders get prickly when the subject of mass trans infringing on their private paradise it's hard to get over there from where we are without the assistance of a car, or multiple bus transfers. Therefore, when I mentioned my favorite hair salon, which straddles the line between Culver City and Mar Vista she looked at me without comprehension.
I also enjoy Glendale, which, when I mention it, I often receive blank stares from my classmates as their errands don't take them up there often. And I admit, it is rather suburban. But in spite of, and at at the same time, because of that fact, I love it! There is a Whole Foods, a Trader Joe's, a Target, and a mall (the Target is actually inside the mall) all within easy driving distance. This is, unfortunately, why people love suburbia so.
My friend who is a born and raised Oakland guy lives in downtown/ the Arts District in a very chic converted loft, etc., He loves it there even though he has to bike to campus, which takes about 5 miles as he has no car. Being from the San Francisco Bay Area he is no stranger to weird happenings. However, when he went to West Hollywood for the first time, or WeHo, he described his first impression as Disneyland on heroin and Xanax. Apparently, there are all different kinds of "strange."
Personally, WeHo isn't my favorite place, but it'll do. LA INK is filmed there and that is also where all the "cool clubs" are. It's the new "cool" place to be in LA. But I'm not one for paying to get into a club and dressing up like disco Barbie, as I prefer a dark bar or a great restaurant.
For more on great eats in LA based on personal recommendations, check out http://gastrojan.blogspot.com My latest blog, written with other USC grad students on our favorite food finds LA!
Another friend lives in a condo that I am horribly jealous of, as it is clean and sophisticated, unlike my bedlam asylum of a house. She lives in Little Tokyo, or LT, which is really close to where my Oakland transplant friend lives and also Skid Row. She has an internship and a husband both of which require a lot of time. (My Oakland friend and I are both currently single, my West Adams friend has a boyfriend, but he is currently in Chicago). So, she has no frame of reference when I mention my favorite West Side spots, even though she does have a car. But she loves LT and knows her way around very well, including a great spot where one can get peach basil white sangria served by Zachary Quinto, the new Spock,'s doppelganger.
In the end, having or not having a car, tends to make a huge difference how one sees the world, especially, our microcosm that is LA. But it is always interesting learning about other people's perceptions and frames of reference.
