If only the flipflops spoke their message of “nowhere to go” a little quieter than hip boots say “nowhere to be”.
What is DC vs. Potomac vs college Park but the difference between Compton and Long Beach and Huntington Park vs. LA.?
And the small tall triple shot stay up all night to see if the magic time rubs off on you or do you just rub off. Should there be a Starbucks in every room?
Run those 11 miles to work to see the city bathed in sweat. Is it harder to learn to walk and run than it is to sit and drive?
When every corner looks the same you are always home… just like on TV!

Everywhere is unique from everywhere else. LA isn’t so special; and I was born and raised within the city limits. People from LA move to other cities and say the same damn thing that you are accusing Travis of, so quit being so self-righteous about LA. It’s not endearing.

Hey, relax. I think you’ve misunderstood me a bit here.

I’m not at all claiming that LA is unique in this: virtually all the world’s great megalopolises are one-of-a-kind. Paris is not like anywhere else; neither is London, or Singapore, or Tokyo, or New York City.

And even smaller cities, which often bear great resemblance to similar neighboring cities, still have their own unique characteristics. Phoenix and Tucson, say; or Boston and Philadelphia; or Dayton and Akron: each of these resembles the other in many ways – but still, each has its own unique identity.

I just think it’s a waste of time and energy for people who come from other places to complain about the fact that where they are presently isn’t like where they came from; and that it’s a mistake to treat those differences as defects needing to be remedied.

I don’t even own a pair of flip-flops myself, since I personally find them uncomfortable. And even if I didn’t, I would still wholeheartedly agree that flip-flops are inappropriately casual for certain more formal occasions.

But one of the defining characteristics of LA, to me, is that it’s pretty common for locals to wear clothing that strikes me, personally, as inappropriately casual for the occasion; and for them to not really care what any uptight self-professed fashion fascists from elsewhere might happen to think about them as a result.

Much as I love LA – and I really do – I’m still quite willing to acknowledge that it has some very real, very serious problems.

I just don’t think flip-flops at gallery openings are one of them.

I’m bemused by the idea that "people in LA often wear inappropriately casual clothing on formal occasions" could even be in the running for one of the "64 Worst Things About LA."

That strikes me as more of an endearing quirk than a real problem.

I mean, if that’s one of %i(worst) things about LA, then it really must be the paradise its boosters have long claimed. :-)

LA’s not like where I came from, either; but I don’t think that’s a defect needing to be remedied, or even an annoyance worthy of complaint. But maybe I just have a high annoyance threshold. :-)

Lots of food chains have roots in SoCal. McDonalds, IHOP, Taco Bell, Del Taco, Jack In the Box, Denny’s, In-n-Out, Winchell’s. Even the divey places like Jims, Tomys, Tommy’s, Tom’s, Tam’s are chains. King Taco, El Atacor, Molcasalsa, Roscoe’s, 7 Mares. So, if there was to be fancy coffee in LA, it would have gone "chain". BUT, LA isn’t a big coffee city (unless you count Folgers and MJB). Until Starbucks started invading in the mid 90s, there were only a handful of cafes in all of LA County. The demand for European style coffee just wasn’t that great in a city of immigrants and hicks.

When cool people wanted coffee, they went to House of Pancakes, Denny’s or Carrow’s or a non-chain American restaurant like Canter’s or Harry’s or Ben Frank’s. At night. You got coffee in a mug or pitcher, not a paper cup.

Is it still "cool" to go to a family restaurant at night?

Chains and bad coffee – so very "LA."

Ok, on to coffee. If you’re drinking a Starbucks Anything, and think its coffee and tastes good, you can stop reading here. If on the other hand you love coffee, do a little simple math. You’re drinking a $3 cup of swill once a day at Starbucks. 350 cups a year at $3.00. If you’re going to spend $1000 on coffee this year, why not buy yourself a really good espresso machine like the Pasquini Livietta T2? The coffee you make at home will be better than anything you get at SB’s, and the second year you only have to pay for the beans. You’ll save gas cause you won’t have to drive to the coffee shop, and save time cause you’ll be making espresso at home, in your PJ’s and flip-flops, where they belong.

And I hate flip flops. I don’t want to see your feet. I don’t give a damn if you’ve had a pedicure; it’s still disgusting. You can’t keep your feet clean walking around outside with them exposed, so what good is a pedicure? The few occasions I’ve walked out in public in flip flops my feet have gotten filthy! Comfort does not trump tastefulness.

And, unfortunately, my travels to other cities has revealed to me that Starbuckification is the same everywhere, so my vote is with the flip flops.