Monday, July 05, 2010

Things I won't miss about Los Angeles

One week left and then I... am... outta here. I'm ready. Our house is sold (for $180,000 less than we paid for it 4 years ago), our clutter has been purged in yard sales and onto charity trucks, the moving company has been called and the date is set (July 12th). Hopefully, God and banks willing, our new house in Seattle will be ready to move into by then. Nothing left to do but hurry up and wait. Driving around, I can't help but think of all the things I'm not gonna miss about Los Angeles. Here is the list I've compiled:

The blaring sun.

The lack of decent clouds.

The SUN SUN SUN SUN SUN symbols on t.v. weather reports.

The dusty mountains. I want them to be green.

The smog that often obscures those dusty mountains.

Helicopters. The sound, plus the wondering, Why are helicopters circling my neighborhood? With a spotlight? That can't be good.

The traffic. And the daily mini-heart attacks I have while driving in it.

The cost of living here. Gas, food, housing, utilities, taxes.

Not being able to speak Spanish (fluently) or Armenian (at all) , and therefore not being able to communicate with the parents at my kids' schools, or my neighbors, or the people that I meet when I'm walking down the street (the people that I meet each day).

The lack of sidewalks in our neighborhood.

Taggers and crappy graffiti, or worse - taggers who tag on murals and good graffiti.

Our money pit "rambler" and its maze-like layout.

One story houses.

The perky busted, botoxed, lipoed look of certain ladies carrying large coffees and wearing oversized sunglasses and tiny yoga pants.

Obnoxious *bling* - swarovski crystals and expensive labels, tinted windowed Hummers and Land Rovers and their sparkly hubcaps - they don't impress me much.

The juxtaposition of *bling* against poverty.

Litter.

Sherman Way, and its miles of endless smog shops, discount furniture stores, marijuana dispensaries, water stores

(huh?), strip clubs, and adult book stores. I'm not against these places per se, but when these signs are all my kids see on their way to school, it's just sad.

Van Nuys.

The major studio executives and management that pad their salaries by eliminating artist and writer jobs, just to outsource them overseas for inferior quality. The fact that many of these artists and writers are our friends. (Read Erik's take here.)

Jay Leno. I'm with Coco.

Cutbacks, layoffs, double-digit unemployment. I suppose this is true of a lot of places right now, but seems acutely evident here when coupled with the cost of living.

Broken dreams in general. Projects abandoned before they could flourish. The fact that these are dime a dozen. The resignation that comes over time. Damn, I'm getting depressed now. I'll stop. Tomorrow I'll talk about all the things I'll miss. The upside to the blaring SUN SUN SUN SUN is that the outlook always seems bright despite the circumstances.

3 comments:

Heidi said...

Hey! I have to give a shout out to Van Nuys.

I live in Van Nuys in an absolutely darling, 1950's neighborhood with lawns and sidewalks. My neighbors are young couples with families, older couples that are retired, gay couples, immigrant families and a wide, diverse group of people.

In 5 can walk to the park, to public transportation, to a great farmer's market every Sunday, to a wonderful Hispanic owned neighborhood restaurant and to a bustling middle Eastern market.

I'm not saying that all of Van Nuys is like where I live, but I think you are making a big generalization!

Cities, towns, big and small, all have their good and bad points. Sometimes green rolling hills and wide open space comes at the cost of tolerance and culture.

I know LA just hasn't been for you. And that's ok! I'm excited for a new chapter for you and your family and I hope that Seattle will feel like home instantly for you.

KB said...

I know Heidi, there are some nice parts of Van Nuys. I especially love Balboa Park. I've just had some crappy experiences there, so in my mind Van Nuys = Ugh. No offense. The fact that you live there ups the cool quotient immensely.

molly said...

Those botoxed ladies with the Starbucks and little dogs in their purses are what ultimately did me in. I saw one get out of a huge SUV in Beverly Hills one day and immediately called my husband said I couldn't take it anymore. We started making plans to move the next day.

BUT! There are a lot of things I miss a lot. Mostly food-related.

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