# What is the "urban culture" of Los Angeles? Does it even have one? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 27, 2005, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-urban-culture-of-los-angeles-does-it-even-have-one/323619 "2005-09-27T03:30:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-urban-culture-of-los-angeles-does-it-even-have-one/323619/1 "2005-09-27T03:30:26Z")
I was reading this thread [Moving On…Need Advice form LA Dopers](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=336967) and the nature of LA urban “culture” seems somewhat amorphous. What is the intellectual urban culture of Los Angeles all about? Does it even have one? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-urban-culture-of-los-angeles-does-it-even-have-one/323619/2 "2005-09-27T14:09:07Z")
Hmm… oddly enough… I think the question is being answered in a roundabout fashion. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-urban-culture-of-los-angeles-does-it-even-have-one/323619/3 "2005-09-27T15:46:55Z")
Hey, give us a break. You posted that at night in our time zone! I think Los Angeles is simply too big to have a uniform “culture”. There are pockets of trendy folks, large pockets of hispanic communities, ritzy neighborhoods and poor ones. What exactly are you looking for here? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-urban-culture-of-los-angeles-does-it-even-have-one/323619/4 "2005-09-27T15:57:01Z")
> [@scout1222](#): > > Hey, give us a break. You posted that at night in our time zone! > > I think Los Angeles is simply too big to have a uniform “culture”. There are pockets of trendy folks, large pockets of hispanic communities, ritzy neighborhoods and poor ones. > > What exactly are you looking for here? Some sense of the intellectual/cultural “flavor” of the City. New York and Boston, Seattle and Dallas etc., each have distinct regional and intellectual styles and urban cultures. LA seems well… kind of diffuse, like a big suburb. Let me ask the question in a different way. Who lives (residentially) in the metro core of LA? What are the “happening”, cutting edge intellectual and cultural movements in LA? What new political, cultural or artistic ideas coming out of LA are people excited about? ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-urban-culture-of-los-angeles-does-it-even-have-one/323619/5 "2005-09-27T17:13:39Z")
LA pretty much is a big suburb. Well, it’s pretty sprawling, anyway. I would guess that the big cultural hub of L.A. is probably the Westside - at least that’s my humble opinion from growing up in LA. Downtown LA doesn’t really seem to be the true “heart” of the city. Since I don’t currently live on the Westside, I’ll leave that for our more local and hipper Dopers. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-urban-culture-of-los-angeles-does-it-even-have-one/323619/6 "2005-09-27T17:41:44Z")
The [L.A. Weekly](http://www.laweekly.com/) alternative paper would probably be a good start. You can read it online. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-urban-culture-of-los-angeles-does-it-even-have-one/323619/7 "2005-09-27T17:54:03Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Some sense of the intellectual/cultural “flavor” of the City. New York and Boston, Seattle and Dallas etc., each have distinct regional and intellectual styles and urban cultures. LA seems well… kind of diffuse, like a big suburb. It is somewhat suburban, except that the word “suburban” implies houses, not apartments, and most people here can’t afford houses anymore. You can avoid suburban isolation if you move to the right area. In what way to the other cities you mention express an “intellectual style” as distinct from other cities? We all have access to the same books, the same music, the same films, and, to a certain extent, even the same visual arts. The indy films listed in my weekly _New Yorker_ are the same ones playing, almost concurrently, at the two “indy” cinemas a few blocks from my door. Probably my favorite L.A. writer was John Fante, who placed his mostly autobiographical stories in the now vanished Victorian neighborhood of Bunker Hill. It fills me with a profound sense of loss, one from which the Downtown area has never really recovered. That may change, however. The principal reason for Downtown’s desolation was that so few people lived there, but now quite a number of loft and condo developments offer a glimmer of hope. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-urban-culture-of-los-angeles-does-it-even-have-one/323619/8 "2005-09-27T18:31:35Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > In what way to the other cities you mention express an “intellectual style” as distinct from other cities? We all have access to the same books, the same music, the same films, and, to a certain extent, even the same visual arts. The indy films listed in my weekly _New Yorker_ are the same ones playing, almost concurrently, at the two “indy” cinemas a few blocks from my door. Each city has it’s own unique flavor. New York, Seattle, Boston, Philly, DC, all have subtle differences based on size, demographics, dominant industries, history and location. I think he means what is the style and culture of the city like for educated people. IOW he’s not interested in buying a low-rider and cruising down Crenshaw Blvd with a “gat”. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-urban-culture-of-los-angeles-does-it-even-have-one/323619/9 "2005-09-27T19:53:26Z")
> [@astro](#): > > What are the “happening”, cutting edge intellectual and cultural movements in LA? > > What new political, cultural or artistic ideas coming out of LA are people excited about? Being smarter than the rest of the nation works for me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-urban-culture-of-los-angeles-does-it-even-have-one/323619/10 "2005-09-27T21:29:58Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Each city has it’s own unique flavor. New York, Seattle, Boston, Philly, DC, all have subtle differences based on size, demographics, dominant industries, history and location. I think he means what is the style and culture of the city like for educated people. > > IOW he’s not interested in buying a low-rider and cruising down Crenshaw Blvd with a “gat”. I follow you all the way up to the last sentence; I’m not sure what you’re trying to say there, or how it relates to my post. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-urban-culture-of-los-angeles-does-it-even-have-one/323619/11 "2005-09-27T21:40:45Z")
To quote somebody famous: “The problem with Los Angeles is that there is no ‘there’ there.” LA is just too spread out. ---
**Author:** ![Poonther](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Poonther](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poonther)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-urban-culture-of-los-angeles-does-it-even-have-one/323619/12 "2005-09-27T23:55:25Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Some sense of the intellectual/cultural “flavor” of the City. New York and Boston, Seattle and Dallas etc., each have distinct regional and intellectual styles and urban cultures. LA seems well… kind of diffuse, like a big suburb. intellectual/cultural "flavor = Dallas? ---
**Author:** ![einhander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@einhander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/einhander)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2005, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-urban-culture-of-los-angeles-does-it-even-have-one/323619/13 "2005-09-28T00:47:10Z")
In LA, every single person and every single person they know is a producer or the next big thing. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2005, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-urban-culture-of-los-angeles-does-it-even-have-one/323619/14 "2005-09-28T00:50:00Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > The [L.A. Weekly](http://www.laweekly.com/) alternative paper would probably be a good start. You can read it online. Forgot to mention: The OP could also try listening to [KCRW](http://www.kcrw.com) if you have broadband. They play mostly current affairs except for weekday mornings are weekends, which are mostly devoted to music. Some of the CA content is local in nature, so it does give you an idea of what’s going on here. Try “Which Way L.A.” Monday through Thursday at 7:00 PT. There are also some other programs that are picked up by NPR but made here. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2005, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-urban-culture-of-los-angeles-does-it-even-have-one/323619/15 "2005-09-28T00:51:15Z")
> [@scout1222](#): > > Since I don’t currently live on the Westside, I’ll leave that for our more local and hipper Dopers. 🙂 I live on the westside, but not in one of the hip parts. The schools aren’t so good in the hip parts. Here’s my take on the “culture” of LA. LA is the world’s largest mass-market culture factory. Art here isn’t something romantic and mystical. It’s something you crank out on a daily basis, on deadline, for money. Do automotive engineers get all excited about each season’s new cars? I doubt it. So there’s this sort of free-floating insiders’ jadedness that settles over anything cultural in LA. It’s all just product. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2005, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-urban-culture-of-los-angeles-does-it-even-have-one/323619/16 "2005-09-28T02:54:57Z")
L.A. Big place. Can’t even say where it is, exactly. Downtown, West side, the Valley, Valencia, Newhall, Hollywood, Pasadena, West Covina, Santa Monica, Whittier, Hawaiian Gardens, Long Beach, San Pedro, Wilmington, South Central - which of these isn’t L.A.? (Yeah, I missed a LOT of them.) What does L.A. have in common with Orange County? Both metropolitan areas are full of people who are really annoyed that the Angels are now called the L.A. Angels of Anaheim. So… where do you draw the line? David Lee Roth wrote one of the best fan songs about Los Angeles. I think that says a lot, all by itself. No, I don’t have a real point here, why do you ask?