Why I Love L.A.

I once got into an argument with a New York guy who started dissing L.A. as soon as he found out it's my home town. You know, typical clueless, snotty bluster: L.A. is a smoggy sewer with no culture and no history, blah blah blah.

It was so silly I actually snorted and was like dude, seriously. I don't want to diss Gotham, but you're in no position to hold your nose when it comes to smog and sewers. As for culture and history, isn't it all relative? NYC has none to speak of compared to the older cities in Europe and Asia, so let's not even go there.

I was reminded of this episode when I read about the Los Angeles magazine inviting its readers to vote on the greatest things in this town. Starting off with 64 candidates, the list will be pruned by half via a monthly face off until only one winner is decided in August. It's almost impossible to reduce L.A. to just one great thing when diversity is what makes it one heck of a city to begin with, but I voted anyway just to see what makes the list.

Now some of the face offs don't make sense (Central Library vs. Vin Scully ? Capitol Records vs. Dim Sum in the S.G. Valley ?), others are no brainers (the Beach vs. Doughnuts, 99 Cent Only Stores vs. Topanga Canyon) while others had me stumped because it was tough to decide (Norton Simon Museum vs. MOCA, Farmers Market vs. Schindler House). Yet one thing is for sure: everything on this list reminded me why I love this town and why that poor New York guy who disparaged the City of Angels just didn't have a clue.

If you're interested, you can still vote here until February 25th. First round results will be announced next month.

Label(s): Metro
Technorati Tags: los angeles, new york city, los angeles magazine

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