From what I can remember I am here because my Mother. See re-married to run away from a life of dead ends and sink holes. Maybe you have heard it or seen it yourself a place of promise, hopes, and sunshine. You may not be from here but have always wanted to visit or vacation on the sandy beaches or visit one of our amusement parks. You came here with a dream of glitz and glamor but upon your arrival the cold reality is that your home is not a luxurious mansion on top of a mountain with the backdrop of a setting sun but of smog covered loud busy streets riddled with addicts and gang bangers.
You probably have noticed that you are not unique in Los Angeles. There are people following the current trends for miles to come just as there are as many of them defying those same trends. Dining here has cost you a small mortgage payment for an upscale experience that was over far to quickly and lacking in imagination and worth. Then you have probably returned to your home to feast for the rest of the month on microwaved noodles and cans of soup.
To really understand and appreciate it here you have to move past the idea of the Los Angeles lifestyle. You may have noticed all the small hole in the wall restaurants that make living here truly unique. Life here is a melting pot with gorgeous whether. You remember every stroll down the beach or time spent on the boardwalk.
I really learned to appreciate my L.A. life when I was in junior high school. I spent the weekends with friends hoping on the bus and traveling the city to the millionth mall that day. I went through my neighborhood and would pick up my friends one by one to end up at one of there houses where we would get a ride to Six Flags and sneak in. When we got there we were always nervous hoping not to get caught but one look at the monstrous rides that went at blinding speeds made it all worth it. We would arrive home after a day of adrenaline rushes and go check in with our parents. After that we would gather up again flashlights in hand and we would play flashlight tag for a couple hours. I remember anytime after 8 o’clock was a no-no as the neighborhood took a change for the worse.
Television tries to paint Los Angeles as a city where you show up and your famous. I can not tell you the amount of actors, rappers, models and singers I have met over the years. If you know L.A. like I do it is a place of excitement and misconceptions. The city breathes on the failures of its residents and makes everyone pay. The rent for a 1 bedroom apartment in one of the worst neighborhoods in Los Angeles runs you more then a 4 bedroom home in most other states.
Aside from the concept of Los Angeles that people hope to find the other side breeds some of the most violent and dangerous neighborhoods you can imagine. For anyone walking down Crenshaw Blvd. even near USC will soon find out what the statement “Where you from homie?” truly means or “What set you claim?”. I could not walk to the local grocery without hearing these and other terms. Times change but the people do not. If you can deal with not becoming the next Kardashian and can make it through the day without wearing an assortment of the wrong “colors” then Los Angeles is a great place to live. You can not beat the weather and there is always something to do.
Dreams are dreams whether you live in the sunshine state or next to a haystack, no one can take them from you except yourself. I love Los Angeles and anyone from there will tell you the same….. after complaining about the prices.
thaosin 