According to a mismatch of sources cited on Wikipedia, the city of Los Angeles is one of the wealthiest and most influential cities in the world. Despite this fact, its more cosmopolitan Mid-Atlantic counterpart (AKA New York City) laughs at its name, some people call it LALA land, and some people don’t even consider it a city. If you've absolutely nothing better to do, which I suppose is the case if you are reading this blog, search the phrase "Los Angeles is not a real city" on Google. You get actual and relevant results, and if you can find it on Google, then it must be authentic.
But in its defense, there are completely rational facts which prove that Los Angeles is undeniably a real city:
People live there.
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Wikipedia calls it a city.
These first two reasons should be convincing enough, but if you are still skeptical, then read on.
It has all the conveniences of a city, including a post office, a department of motor vehicles, and a real international airport, although these conveniences are never conveniently located.
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It has a city council and a mayor who meet inside a building called "city hall" and are sometimes involved in the work of governance.
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It has a bus, light rail, subway, and train system – a network of vehicles that closely resembles a version of metropolitan mass transit.
The evidence for LA's cityhood is overwhelming. Yet even as the most populous city in the great state of California and the second most in the nation, besides having nearly perfect weather, Los Angeles is remarkably unremarkable. Los Angeles is not dreadfully significant, historically. It's not quite new, not quite safe, not quite clean. It’s not a financial and international powerhouse or a political capital. Much of its most dreary architecture still wreaks of the 1960s. None of the city’s lush flora are indigenous to the area. Traffic is horrendous. Air pollution is among the worst in the country. It has no football team. And, its urban sprawl reflects what some might consider a product of the worst urban planning of a major first-world metropolis in modern history.
How is it possible then, that Los Angeles, with all it lacks, still nestles itself among the most renowned and sought after cities in the world, if not for youth, culture, history? Well, there are plenty more reasons which make Los Angeles not only a real city, but also a great one, and here are ten:
It is home to UCLA – my alma mater and, without a doubt, the best university in the nation and the world.
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It is home to six of Yelp’s 10 most popular restaurants of 2010.
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It is where Giada De Laurentiis, from the Food Network, calls home.
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It is driving distance from Disneyland – the happiest place on earth.
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It is the featured city in two of my favorite movies from 2009 and 2010, (500) Days of Summer and Inception.
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It is home to six of Yelp’s 10 most popular restaurants of 2010.
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It is home to six of Yelp’s 10 most popular restaurants of 2010.
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It is home to six of Yelp’s 10 most popular restaurants of 2010.
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It is home to six of Yelp’s 10 most popular restaurants of 2010.
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It is home to six of Yelp’s 10 most popular restaurants of 2010.
Convinced? Maybe not. Luckily for Los Angeles, there exist enough people in this world who don’t care – who are so intoxicated with these things called "dreams" that they move here anyway. Dreams to become the next big name in Hollywood, dreams to raise a family in a quiet house near the beach, dreams to come to America and live in a city whose wandering clouds rarely shed a tear of rain – dreams of all shapes and sizes attract people from all over the world to come set their feet in this land of no humidity and perpetual sunshine. Youth grows old, history fades, and culture changes with the seasons, but dreams, you see – dreams outlast them all, resisting poverty and failure, distance and disappointment, reason and common sense. So who cares if Los Angeles isn’t the best in anything and can’t boast the accomplishments of a “real,” conventional city? People like me are foolish enough to find it, with all its potential, an adequately lovable and fine place to be.
Or maybe we just like the weather.
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