I've never been, but to me, LA = an ocean of traffic, sprawl, and fake-i-ness. Now that's not fair, I know, I've never been there, I don't know any better, etc, but those are the images it conjures up.

those images can be re-inforced, but I dont think you can really think of LA as one city. It is so big - its really more like about 20 cities with different personalities. There are parts of LA where it is ultra fake and showy...very hard for someone from Portland to deal with (home of lumberjacks and so forth). But there are other parts that are laid back and cool.

Sounds like atlanta times 4 or 5. ATL is not really one city either, by any stretch. Inside the perimeter are 4 or 5 big clumps, and then suburibia goes out for 75 miles in 360 degrees.

The parts that I enjoyed the most were certain areas in Westwood I believe. It was off Santa Monica Boulevard. And most of the beach communities were awesome, like Manhattan Beach etc.

Areas that really freaked me out were Compton and Crenshaw. Pasadena has a creepy feel about it too.

you drive 75 miles from portland you are either at the beach or in the middle of the cascade mountains. rules.

yeah in la, the traffic sucks. only at 10pm on a friday night, you'll be stuck in hollywood trying to go from point a to point b. the fakeness- you learn to ignore it. most of it comes from people who AREN'T originally from la and move here to "be someone" but it totally shows. i don't waste my time on fuckheads like them. and rodney, i totally see what you're saying about coming from a small town then to a big town. i feel out of my element if i go to a small city.

compton. when i was a kid and was down in la we stopped at some burger king in some hood and i was totally amazed that they had bullet proof glass around the cashiers - slide your money into a tray and then they take it and slide you your food.

Before Katrina I would have been arguing my ass off that y'all were all stupid and that New Orleans was the greatest city in America by a country mile. But the point is moot now.

I'll take Chicago over NYC anyday. So far this thread, I'll throw my support behind Chicago.

i like going to big cities - in some ways LA doesn't feel like a "big city" new york does, rome does, etc. LA feels like a medium size city surrouned by an enourmous suburb.

OKAY WELL THAT'S COMPTON! lol. you cannot base your judgement of la on compton or south central or watts. hahahaha.

San Diego bored the crap out of me.

NYC sucks if you can't afford it. To live well in NYC, you have to be able to go out every night and drop a hundred bucks on food and drinks. If you ever stop and think, "This is getting expensive", you should consider living somewhere else. This doesn't mean to say that you'll spend a hunnert every night, you just have to be able to. There's plenty of other stuff that'll hoover up the gelt.

and places where it stinks b/c people are either cooking meth or growing dope. who will shoot you. or be meaner than the rednecks down here that you hate so vehemently.

Oregon is fine and all, and I might consider it as a permanent destination myself, but your fascination with it borders on insanity.

i lived in sf for two years - same thing - man it would be easy to go broke there. you just roll through the money.

I disagree. I live on a very tight budget and I still manage to go out at least 5 nights a week and have a very good time, whether it'd be dinner or drinks with friends, a movie, etc.

But then again I'm always broke...

size does matter! the most populated cities in america:
1. New York
2. Los Angeles
3. Chicago
4. Washington-Baltimore
5. San Francisco
6. Philadelphia
7. Boston
8. Detroit
9. Dallas-Fort Worth
10. Houston

7 of your 10 favorite cities are america's largest cities! congratulations!

i'm not saying that means anything, it just means my email died just now at work.

I thought Houston was higher than 10. In fact I thought it was 4.

I pray that this image persists so that the throngs of people moving here with slow down.

dude - you drive 75 miles up into the mountains there aren't any people there. its national forest land with no towns at all. oregon is a very large state with only 3 million people. once you leave the valley, there just are not many people at all, let alone meth-cookers.

ill find another source....

i think houston is 4 in metro area - maybe the above is just city rankings...

I think its actually Houston #4 and DFW #5 but I'll have to get back to you. This shit is always skewed.

And (being a member of the media yourself), you should know that media markets are the way that we judge the size of cities, yo.

it really is hard to believe that that fucking storm katrina knocked our beloved city off the list. god damn it.

I may intern out thattaway this summer, but more likely is santa clara. But I don't see me accepting a job in la, ever, for any reason, dispite any factors such as pay or perks. Not for me.

i go down to SC all the time for work - we should hook up and get our drunk on.

According to my sources...

01. New York (NY) 8,008,278
02. Los Angeles (CA) 3,694,820
03. Chicago (IL) 2,896,016
04. Houston (TX) 1,953,631
05. Philadelphia (PA) 1,517,550
06. Phoenix (AZ) 1,321,045
07. San Diego (CA) 1,223,400
08. Dallas (TX) 1,188,580
09. San Antonio (TX) 1,144,646
10. Detroit (MI) 951,270