if you have to fly, fly into and out of Burbank. It’s worth whatever extra $ even with fewer flights, simply to NOT go through LAX
don’t plan a to criss-cross LA too much. It’s just so vast. Every time I go I do part of my trip on the west side, and the other part on the east. That way it makes it easy to get to places I want to go
Monterey Park has a huge density of many types of Chinese food! Tacos in East LA!
@skinnylatte I would have similar flying advice for Boston unless you plan to only use public transportation while you're there.
It's been years since I've been back there, but I always preferred to fly into Manchester, NH or Providence, RI. Leaving the airport is less stressful, they'll have the rental car you want, and the rates will be cheaper.
Whenever I flew into Boston I'd get stuck with a "free upgrade" to a gas guzzler.
@skinnylatte what surprised me most when visiting Los Angeles, was how difficult it was to get around on foot or with a bike.
I really like that aspect about Berlin and Stockholm — you can go anywhere without calling a cab, and it feels safe, because the infrastructure is very pedestrian and bike friendly.
@randahl it’s doable in some areas but not really across areas but it’s also largely because it’s so damned big (I just looked it up and it’s 1.82x bigger than the entire country of Singapore)
I do wish it was more walkable (again, walkable in parts)
I’m surprised at how much I like it in spite of this factor
@skinnylatte good point. And admittedly, I mainly visited Long Beach, Hollywood, and a few other areas, so I do not know how the rest of the city is for pedestrians.
It is wild to think that the LA metropolitan area is home to 12.5 million.
My metropolitan area is home to 113,720 — that is like a mall in LA. 🙂
@randahl San Francisco is far more like that on all of those measures, but for many other reasons I do prefer LA :) (though I live in San Francisco and have the walkability and bikability and nature)
Watch City of Gold, a documentary about famed food writer Jonathan Gold to see how he used food stories to tell stories about LA people and culture
The best food is in strip malls
Food courts are fine in this city actually. Each stall in a food court is probably better than a restaurant in your city (see: top of California Market with Bonjuk porridge shop, many others)
@skinnylatte Growing up in Santa Monica, and with family still on the west side, it's been disheartening to realize that, while beautiful, it may be the least interesting area of Los Angeles.
It's funny how strip malls no longer have the negative associations they once did, because they're such a significant portion of LA architecture. Of course the best food is in strip malls—L.A. is, like, one-third strip malls.
It's funny how much Ocean Park has changed since the 70s/80s. It was a funky Bohemian rundown beach community. Again, beautiful, but just so... sterile.
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