This is a dated and unrealistic view of "Ell Ay". Any part of America that has the population of Michigan in an area the size of Massachusetts that has done no planning for such a fate is in deep trouble. Randy Newman's "I Love L A" sets the stage for a remake of his video that in 1983 showed that Southern California doesn't quite fit the Hollywood dream:
Quite frankly, Greater LA was a far nicer place back when a car such as the 1955 Buick in which Randy Newman drives around was new. You know... Orange County had orange groves, Disneyland was affordable, and Caltrans had yet to fully implement the freeway system that ended up facilitating longer commutes, heavier traffic, and more air pollution. Hollywood was that big shiny object to entice people from such drab places as Passaic, Paterson, Peoria and Pittsburgh. The weather was nice, at the least. California was attracting good K-12 teachers; it's now getting stuck with people who can't teach elsewhere and have difficulty teaching such students as are there, especially in Greater LA. Teaching is a hardship career in California.
More recent and more realistic. San Francisco and San Jose are fine if you like being little more than a conduit of money from your employer to your landlord. I can't say anything about San Diego, as I haven't been there since the 1970's. Except for Sacramento, the Central Valley is basically western Texas with far higher taxes. (Western Texas is awful, and it's losing population). Oakland is a dump.
Don't get me wrong; I love the Mediterranean climate. But if I wanted to move to a place with a Mediterranean climate and a great shoreline it would now be Portugal. I used to live in California. I wouldn't do so now. It's not what it used to be. (I can read Portuguese, which will help).
Now take a look at the super-expensive cars. Some of those could pay the tuition and rent for a four-year degree at the fine state universities of California. Money spent on some of those cars might instead be invested in a mom-and-pop business that allows one to make a living. Somehow I have usually noted that ostentatious spending often signals great poverty as a dark side. I know, I know, I know... I could never truly appreciate a sports car because I see vehicular speed as a commodity for schmucks. I also have a sordid definition for luxury, which means ostentatious waste.
Quite frankly, Greater LA was a far nicer place back when a car such as the 1955 Buick in which Randy Newman drives around was new. You know... Orange County had orange groves, Disneyland was affordable, and Caltrans had yet to fully implement the freeway system that ended up facilitating longer commutes, heavier traffic, and more air pollution. Hollywood was that big shiny object to entice people from such drab places as Passaic, Paterson, Peoria and Pittsburgh. The weather was nice, at the least. California was attracting good K-12 teachers; it's now getting stuck with people who can't teach elsewhere and have difficulty teaching such students as are there, especially in Greater LA. Teaching is a hardship career in California.
More recent and more realistic. San Francisco and San Jose are fine if you like being little more than a conduit of money from your employer to your landlord. I can't say anything about San Diego, as I haven't been there since the 1970's. Except for Sacramento, the Central Valley is basically western Texas with far higher taxes. (Western Texas is awful, and it's losing population). Oakland is a dump.
Don't get me wrong; I love the Mediterranean climate. But if I wanted to move to a place with a Mediterranean climate and a great shoreline it would now be Portugal. I used to live in California. I wouldn't do so now. It's not what it used to be. (I can read Portuguese, which will help).
Now take a look at the super-expensive cars. Some of those could pay the tuition and rent for a four-year degree at the fine state universities of California. Money spent on some of those cars might instead be invested in a mom-and-pop business that allows one to make a living. Somehow I have usually noted that ostentatious spending often signals great poverty as a dark side. I know, I know, I know... I could never truly appreciate a sports car because I see vehicular speed as a commodity for schmucks. I also have a sordid definition for luxury, which means ostentatious waste.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.