The city of stars. The city of flowers. The city of, well, angels. These are a few nicknames of our metropolitan city, Los Angeles (LA). With such attractive and ever-so pretty nicknames, who wouldn’t be enticed to discover its streets and monuments and sights? In fact, according to the U.S. 2020 Census, this small town saw a 2.8% increase since 2010, leaving us with a grand total population of 3.9 million. Yet, as our homes become skyscrapers and our streets become much more flooded with people, more and more Angelenos wonder if the city is even worth it.

For the sake of the argument, whenever I refer to LA, I am including the entire municipality—which includes Arcadia and the rest of the LA suburban wonderland. 

Prevu, a real estate agency, published a story “7 Reasons to Move to Los Angeles,” on Jan. 1. Although it is meant to sell the city to prospective movers, I will utilize it as the basis to analyze whether or not LA is truly worth the move. 

Since 2015, LA has been ranked 3rd in tech entrepreneurship. This has no debate, for the calling for entertainment innovation has recently increased dramatically.  LA has seen an uprise in small and large businesses alike, unlike Silicon Valley, which is specifically connected to computer-related technology. However, no entrepreneur nor Prevu will tell you about the numerous companies, like Nestle, that have fled both the city and the Golden State. 

Forbes magazine claims that some of this pull to other regions of America is facilitated by the significantly lower taxes and the better legal environments which the author, Adam A. Millsap, described as “costly lawsuits created by overzealous lawyers.”

But, obviously, most of us don’t own or run a multi-billion dollar tech company. So perhaps, an Angeleno audience, willing to pay outrageous prices for goods, is perfect for a growing business over Silicon Valley and the rest of California. For example, multiple small to medium-size businesses have commented that the proximity to distribution centers has made it much easier to deliver and ship, making LA a very financially-secure place to start their businesses. 

In addition, the city’s emphasis on technology has boosted the demand for field-experience workers, popping up numerous vocational schools around the metropolitan area. But this demand has also led to the increase in enrollment for technology-focused high schools, like Don Bosco Technical Institute (DBTI).

“DBTI is, essentially, a workshop,” said Alex Sandoval, a senior at DBTI,” It improves our skills as engineers and tries to incorporate as much technology as possible.”

Since the birth of television, LA’s Hollywood has been a hotspot for the entertainment industry. Thousands of actors, singers, and artists move to the city every year to ‘give it a shot.’ What they end up with, however, is a mortgage, debt, and hopelessness. The chances of making it are so slim that most of these dreamers either end up returning home or switching professions, mostly because of the financial burdens that come along with depending on Hollywood for a career.

“BLS states that the average wage for actors is $17.49 an hour. If only! This seems more like the average wage for actors working as baristas at Starbucks (inclusive of tips)” said Patrick Gleeson, in their article for the Chron.

Apart from this, as silly as it may sound, the camera emulation itself was problematic in terms of racial equity. At the time that recreational photography started booming, in the mid-20th century, printing labs would use a ‘Shirley’ card, a card of a white woman with brown hair, to ensure that the colors were well-balanced. This was one of the contributing reasons as to why many BIPOC were not in early films and professional photographs. Yet, as activists pushed for racial justice and the ‘Shirley’ card became more diverse (now picturing White, Asian, African-American, and Latina women), society began to demand BIPOC on TV. And, for the most part, the film industry has accepted, except with one particular race. The low number of Asian Americans in TV and film is shocking, with a report stating that they make up for only 6% of all actors on camera.

“It’s quite saddening how many good actors are rejected because of their complexion,” said Emily Fang, senior Arcadia Stage President, “But I hope that Hollywood and the whole entertainment industry [including Broadway] becomes more diverse as time goes on.”

Obviously, the world is not rainbows and unicorns. People don’t hold hands and get along with every single person on the planet earth. So when Prevu added it as a point to move to LA, it took me back. LA is clearly home to dozens of cultures, some of the most prominent ones being the Latine community in East Los Angeles and the Asian community in our very own city of Arcadia. And yes, we are exposed to hundreds of cultural restaurants. Yet, the number of such said restaurants and businesses are plummeting as more and more people depend on big business. On the topic of tolerance, the Los Angeles Times would tell you that we are more than lacking, presenting us with statistics proving that hate crimes have risen more than 20% since the pandemic began. So not exactly ‘welcoming.’

Arguably, LA has some of the best weather in the country. The hot to cool temperatures allow the residents of LA to do everything and anything outside. However, the city’s temperature keeps getting hotter every year, the reason being climate change. Just recently, Angelenos have seen severe storms and extreme droughts in a time span of a few weeks. UCLA hypothesizes that there will be a lot more days with a temperature higher than 95° in the upcoming years. The number of heatwaves keeps increasing, partly due to energy consumption by the masses. And more and more wildfires have started popping up since 2000. But don’t forget that LA is a coastal city, and the threat of the rising sea levels—currently rising at 1.3 inches every decade—is something we have to face. To me, moving here could be quite risky.

It could also be argued that in LA art is life. This point circles around the rising number of galleries and art places in LA. And, for the most part, it is true. Exhibits like the Hayao Miyazaki showcase keep appearing, bringing both art and life to the city. In addition, a rising number of teenagers are pursuing artistic forms, leading to the creation of more and more art schools. These art schools, binding to a ‘charter’ form of high school education, integrate academia with the arts, producing a number of plays, performances, and shows. 

“The vast majority of my friends come from other cities outside of Duarte,” said Jade Valdes, a senior at the California School of the Arts-San Gabriel Valley (CSArts). “And while I got used [to] it already, it still amazes me to see how many students travel long distances to participate in an arts-oriented education!”

So perhaps, art really is life!

Yes, we have fancy buildings and aesthetically-pleasing places. But the architecture in the city, as well as many of its surrounding suburbs, are increasingly anti-homeless. ‘But New York City (NYC) also has similar anti-homeless designs!’ Indeed they do, but the rising number of them in LA is bringing a tainted image to the public. Other metropolises, like NYC, have been implementing these for years, and its architecture is not really being called a factor to move to the city. If NYC doesn’t get the ‘architecture point’ because of its renowned anti-homeless architecture, why should LA?

At the end of the day, the only reason why you should move to LA is that you want to. The city is definitely not for everyone and has its good sides and its bad sides. As thousands of people flee California for cheaper expenses, change of scenery, and bigger living spaces, those moving into California and its LA metropolis have to be wary of the push factors of the California exodus. Yet, none of these reasons or counter-arguments made above are sufficient enough to declare the metropolis overrated, for it is merely one’s opinion that can make it so. So, all of this being said, I have to declare this case ‘inconclusive.’

Photo Courtesy of PIXABAY.COM