Needless to say, Los Angeles has its fair share of detractors – many of whom are, curiously enough, longtime residents who apparently aren’t “detracted” enough to move elsewhere. For loyal Angelenos and visitors alike, however, perhaps the most defining ingredient in our ever-fascinating city’s recipe for success (climate aside) is its diversity.
If you’re looking for predictability in a city, look elsewhere, for whatever else it is, Los Angeles is a city whose very identity is based on its lack of any one identity. Instead, we live in a city where virtually every square mile is distinct from the last; where vastly differing cultures dot the landscape; where people of all backgrounds and interests try – sometimes successfully, sometimes not – to co-exist and – on our better days – even have fun together.
Needless to say, this diversity manifests itself in the dizzying array of entertainment opportunities which greet us every waking day and every sleepless night. If anything, life in L.A. means grappling with a veritable excess of entertainment choices. Go to a movie and you’re guilty for missing out on another beautiful sunny day; select a fancy “place to be seen at” restaurant on Saturday night and you’re forsaking the fun of enjoying a far more casual repast along the beach; take in a stage show and you’re missing the night’s big rock concert; walk along the Promenade in Santa Monica and you’re wondering what you may be missing over at CityWalk; spend the day at Disneyland and you’re thinking about the new Jurassic Park ride at Universal Studios Hollywood; sit at home and relax and you’re questioning why you aren’t fumbling with a pair of chopsticks in Chinatown; surf the net and you think you could be surfing for real.
Living in Los Angeles invariably means leading a stressful daily life – most of us are working harder than ever and trying to deal with more on our plates than we would have at a cheap Las Vegas buffet. Every day at work, we have an endless series of decisions to make; some easy, some complex, some trivial, some vital.
And then, when we finally get home and when the long work week is at long last over, what do have face: MORE DECISIONS! Where to eat, where to go, whom to see, what to do.
The choices are confounding for most of us, and yet who would have it any other way? Whether living in Los Angeles represents life at its best is a subject for debate among many, but who can deny the appeal of a city which is all but begging us to be entertained day and night, north and south, east and west. Consider the choices:
Beaches
Mountains
Major League Sports
Biking
Swimming
Surfing
Tennis
Golf
Movie theatres
Live Stage and music productions
Universal, Magic Mountain, Disneyland, Raging Waters, etc.
Griffith Park
Santa Monica Pier
Shopping centers (indoor and outdoor)
Fine Cuisine
Fun Cuisine
Pink’s Hot Dogs
Museums
Chinatown
Little Tokyo
Freeways (okay, I went too far)
L.A. might as well stand for Lots of Activities, because while our city evokes such reactions as anger, hostility, stress and confusion every day, boredom is basically not an option. Say what you will about this oft-puzzling blending of so many varying peoples and cultures – it is never uninteresting. With more entertainment options beckoning us each and every day, the rightful image of Los Angeles as the “entertainment capitol” of the world will surely only continue to flourish over the years ahead.
Where else, after all, can you experience a real earthquake and then go to a theme park to experience a fake one? Where else can you drive down the Miracle Mile and see a movie (“Volcano”) in which the Miracle Mile is destroyed by lava? Where else makes it geographically feasbile to ski during the first half of the day and surf the second? Where else makes you feel that no matter how many fun activities you squeeze into a given weekend, you’ll still have a plethora of choices to make the next weekend?
L.A. : Just try NOT to be entertained!