On the bright side, the cost of purchasing a home in Los Angeles seems to be dropping according to The California Association of Realtors [via LA Times LaLaLand]:

“The median sales price of an existing, single-family detached home in California during February 2008 was $409,240, a 26.2 percent decrease from the revised $554,280 median for February 2007.”

That’s right, a four hundred and nine thousand dollars. Chump change, especially when compared to the type of “clarity,” “cleansing” and “knowledge” that just $500,000 could bring you and a signifigant other of you spent that on classes in the Church of Scientology.

Approximately a quarter million will allegedly bring each individual to the level of “OT VIII” (Operating Thetan level eight) where you’ll learn not only how to astrally project, resist all forms of disease, and rid yourself of homosexual urges, but also be told of “knowledge so dangerous… any Scientologist learning this material before he is ready could die.” ["Inside Scientology," Rolling Stone, Feb. 23, 2006] And yes, it involves Xenu, and explains that the story of Christ and other world religions are mere propaganda meant to keep mere mortals down.

UPDATE 10:57am, 4/24/08:

POOL CLOSED due to “enterbulations” coming from “SPs” lookin for “lulz.”

Results up until 12:01am today: Cost of Buying a House (103 votes) – Scientology (80 votes)
Results from registered voters only: Cost of Buying a House (19 votes) – Scientology (16 votes)

Based on the preceding, Cost of Buying a House is declared the “winner.” Scientology is “cleared” from progressing further as the “Worst Thing About L.A.” – although, according to previous polls, it’s in the top 16.

…poll closes Friday evening…

It’s ironic that Parking Tards are even on Metblog’s list of the 64 Worst Things About L.A., considering how much we love to find, photo, and write about them. If you’re like me, spotting a parking tard is sort of seeing a washed up celebrity in LA – not all that rare, but you still need to tell everyone you know. Besides, posting these photos makes up for the fact that we often forget to have parking a-hole infraction notices printed and ready from youparklikeana$$h@le.com.

And then there’s the ever sprouting weeds known as chain stores that seem to make every LA neighborhood look like the other, and LA look like every other city in the US. Heck, check out this map of downtown LA – there are eight Starbucks in an eight block radius! Granted, gentrification is a nationwide epidemic, and many franchises launch on the West Coast before spreading like the plague, but at the current rate we’ll need to begin designated historic status on strip malls if we want to retain a unique sense of identity.

[poll=58]
…poll closes Friday evening…

Three things you probably didn’t know about L.A.’s history:

• During the 1940s, the site Travel Town now occupies “was used as a Photo Experimentation Laboratory, a military film location, a Camouflage Experimental Laboratory and Yard, (and) a Prisoner of War Enclosure.” [from Beneath L.A.]
• Wyatt Earp died in Los Angeles on January 13, 1929 after living in the city since at least 1920. His residences included 4021 Pasadena Ave., and 4004 W 17th Street, where he expired at the age of 80. [Wikipedia]
• Terminal Island was known as Rattlesnake Island prior to the Los Angeles Terminal Railway’s extension there in 1911. [from Beneath L.A.]

All you really need to know about Curb Sneakers:

They are “scum of the earth” who speed into the right turn lane at red lights, then pull back into traffic when the light turns green cutting off the rest of us suckers.

Which is worse about L.A.:

[poll=57]
…poll closes Thursday evening…

From the LAPD’s website:

During the last five years, there were over 23,000 verified violent gang crimes in the City of Los Angeles. These include 784 homicides, nearly 12,000 felony assaults, approximately 10,000 robberies and just under 500 rapes.

Statistics are less available for the damaging effects of “people who talk on their cell phones while driving,” with or without a handsfree device. But based on personal experience (including my own driving habits), drivers drive carelessly, drift into other lanes, forget to use blinkers, are slow to act upon changing traffic signals, and ignore common courtesy for other drivers when they’re talking on a phone… or, sometimes worse, they just drive slower to compensate for safety. I’m of the opinion that without the invention of the cell phone, we’d see a dramatic decrease in traffic jams, accidents, and other gridlock.

Of course, gang violence is a horrible problem. But bad driving due to cell phone yapping is something that effects many of us directly on a daily basis.

So, which is worse about Los Angeles?

[poll=56]
…poll closes Thursday evening… 

Whether you blame it on the Dodger owners or the City of Los Angeles, the incredibly poor effort at providing reasonable mass transportation options up the the stadium is a black eye on the city. Last year the stadium boasted a new “transportation hub” using local radio to direct drivers on how to best arrive at 16,000+ available parking spots, which, according to assorted eyewitness accounts, did little to help accomodate baseball fans who still find themselves in “that peculiar L.A. tradition of arriving in the third inning and leaving in the seventh inning to avoid the jam.” But how about express lanes for buses and shuttles, and other incentives to make public transportation a viable option to get to the stadium? If people are in the bleachers earlier, and stay longer, they’ll buy more hot dogs and beer. If you build it, they will come.

The waste of money on beaureaucratic red tape makes even the most left of liberals consider a school voucher program a more viable option, and our disgustingly high drop out rate makes one wonder why homeschooling isn’t mandatory instead of merely controversial. The Los Angeles Unified School District is such a mangled mess that it’s a constant surprise the public hasn’t cried for its immediate dissolution and a new school system started from scratch. Teachers, aka the heroes that are the heart and blood of schools, are not only underpaid, but due to LAUSD’s poor management of payroll systems, often go unpaid due to “computer errors.” I wonder how many of the LAUSD’s highest paid execs have accidently gone without a paycheck?

Which is worse about L.A.: 

[poll=55]
…poll closes Wednesday night…

Before we begin voting on which of the 16 worst things about L.A. will make it the quarterfinals, let’s take a peek at some of what has been eliminated from being the very worst thing about Los Angeles: the paparazzi, the cost of rent, the L.A. Times, our lack of an NFL team, the LAPD, neighborhood film shoots, Britney and Paris, Mayor V, illegal immigration, the homeless, segregation, the 405 Freeway, and transplants.

To see a complete list of what’s made it so far, check out our 64 Worst archives, or download this handy .pdf of our brackets thus far.

Now, onto the matchups – we’ll have two per day through Thursday.

Which is Worse About Los Angeles:

[poll=54]

…poll closes Wednesday night… for a recap of what the hate is all about, check out the original entry on hipsters here, or the one about people not picking up their dog’s poop here…

Final day of Round 2! Click the banner above for additional polls, as if the following four won’t quench your appetite… you now need to be registered and logged in to vote (or so I’m told by the polling commission), but rest assured your votes will help settle the age old debate of what actual is the very worst of L.A.

Which is worse about Los Angeles:

• LA Times or the LAUSD?
• No Metro Service to Dodger Stadium or Dr. Phil?
• People Who Don’t Pick Up Their Dog’s Poop or Asshole Bus Drivers?
• Uptalkers or Hipsters?

Vote in each of the four polls after the jump…

Day 3 of Round 2… click the banner above for additional polls, as if the following four won’t quench your appetite…
IMPORTANT: You now need to be registered and logged in to vote on Metblog polls!

Which is worse about Los Angeles:

• Tagging or the Lack of Left Turn Signals?
• Use of The Word “Illegal” or Slow 911 Response Time?
• Self Important Jackholes or Cellphone Yappers?
• Smog or the 405 Freeway?

Vote in each of the four polls after the jump…

Day 2 of Round 2… click the banner above for additional polls, as if the following four won’t quench your appetite…

Which is worse about Los Angeles:

• People Who Can’t Drive In the Rain or People Who Talk On Their Cell Phones While Driving?
• Gang Violence or Segregation?
• No Respect for Local History or Urban Sprawl?
• Curb Sneakers or Transplants?

Vote in each of the four polls after the jump…

Yes, the series that never ends is now onto round 2. This week we’ll unleash four polls per day, slashing our list again in half, this time from 32 items to 16.

Which is worse about Los Angeles:

• Scientology or the Paparazzi?
• Cost of buying a home or the Cost of rent?
• Gas powered leaf blowers or Parking Tards?
• Nowhere good to eat after 10pm or the Starbuckification of LA?

Vote in each of the four polls after the jump…