I’ve lived in Los Angeles since 1994. I spent most of 1977-1993 in Northern California (chiefly the Napa Valley and 40 minutes north of Sacramento in Auburn).
Stimulated by this Hector Tobar essay, here are the big differences I see between Los Angeles and other places I’ve lived.
* Angelenos don’t fawn over celebrities.
* Angelenos feel the least need to boast about their city of any people I’ve known. Angelenos, in my experience, have no burn against any other city or country. They don’t have an NFL football team and few people care. They tend not to recite the history of their sports teams. Angelenos come to Dodger games late and leave early.
* Angelenos feel little need to hide or disguise their wealth.
* Angelenos have less interest in local politics than any other people I know. They rarely gossip about local politicians.
* Angelenos don’t think of their city as the cultural or the intellectual equivalent of New York.
* Angelenos tend not to wear their ambition or their learning or their religiosity or their cultural attainments on their sleeve. Angelenos boast less. They don’t try hard to impress.
* Angelenos don’t feel much of a bond to their fellow Angelenos or to their city. Their bonds are racial or religious or intellectual or political or sporting. Angelenos tend to not have much of a historical sense of their region.
* My favorite website to stay up with LA is LAObserved.com. It is consistently more interesting than the LATimes.com. Kevin Roderick’s website is a treasure. It features beautiful photographs and knowing commentary. Kevin has his finger on the pulse of LA and the history of our city.
* I’d love to get your insights in the comments.
