I Love Los Angeles

People who've never lived in LA love to diss it. I've had very good friends and relatives look at me like I was nuts when I said I loved living here. They talk about the traffic and the smog and the earthquakes and the supposed lack of culture. They look down their noses at folks who live here. I hope it makes them feel good.

Because they're wrong.

I grew up in paradise - Honolulu, Hawaii, that is. I know a great place to live when I see one. Hawaii is a great place to live.

So is Los Angeles.

Yes, LA has some traffic issues. Hell, I was here for the gigantor Northridge Quake in '94. I know it's not perfect here. Nowhere is perfect. I'm not going to go into how San Francisco also has traffic and quakes, or how Hawaii has vog (volcano smog) and higher expenses, or how NYC is way too pricey or Chicago has winters that can freeze your lungs with one breath. Every place has good things and bad things. I'll cop to traffic and earthquakes, with occasional side dishes of wildfires.

But those who love to try new things or just want to find like-minded people to hang with, LA is a wonderland. I was just talking about this at lunch today with fellow denizen Amy, and she pointed out that she ran across a group in Long Beach that gets together to sing sea shanties.

You can do anything in LA.

Want world class art? Try the Getty or LACMA or MOCA. Want to play hockey, eat Ukrainian food, then hit a jazz club? Come to LA. Hit the ski slopes (in winter) in the morning, then have dinner by the beach. Watch an old movie on the big screen at the Egyptian Theater, then have dinner down the street where Thai Elvis sings. Watch people from every walk of life take the metro or get their photo taken with Spiderman on Hollywood Boulevard. Or take yoga from a world class teacher on Montana Ave, then ride the ferris wheel on Santa Monica pier. Take a lesson in trapeze while you're at it.

You can be anything, watch anything, eat anything, try anything. It's a rich life in Los Angeles, even if you don't make a lot of money. And the weather? Let's just say it's August, and on the westside it's about 75 degrees at Noon.

And it's beautiful here. Yield to the loveliness of LA. Watch the video below.

LA Light from Colin Rich on Vimeo.