Anm.: Englisch-Hausaufgabe, Thema: „Wie könnte deine Stadt verbessert werden/Wo würdest du hinziehen?“, Klasse 9 Gymnasium Sachsen, Zensur: 2+ (einige Fehler korrigiert)
Los Angeles – the city of my dreams?
To nip a discussion about the wry question in the bud, – no I do NOT contemplate seriously about moving to LA; at least not right now. For one thing my English skills are not good enough and for another thing I will have time to think about it after my final exam.
So why did I chose L.A, if I’d never been there before? Why do I not write about [german city]?
I would have thought that was patently obvious. Many young teens think about moving to LA
and have the dream of becoming a celeb and stuff. I want to sketch out what it is really like there, the „dark side“ and what I think one could change.
When my mother came back from CA, the first thing she told everyone – maybe a bit dissapointed – it’s not like anything on TV. In the shows they never have to pay bills and never stuck in traffic. But keep in mind: LA is one of the ten biggest citys around the world! So you can see – the shows are fake. In actual fact you neither see celebs just walking down the street nor you go surfing during lunch. Of course, LA has some really nice aspects too. To name but a few good things: The sunny weather the whole year round, the many restaurants and bars, the variety of theatres and clubs and not to mention the mostly nice people! –
Maybe the former is the most important thing on a city, because a city subsists on the people living there; for better or for worse.
As in many big towns there are gangs and they are cause of many rumors. But mostly they just kill each other. There aren’t so many other social problems, but the high unemployment could become one of the major problems in future. What is to be done? I couldn’t say. In my opinion it’s the thin end of the wedge founding clubs for teens and to give out grants to young students so that there can be a bit more equality of opportunity.
Another important point is the traffic problem in and around LA. The 405 is the worst. Do you know why they call it 405? Because you go 4 ‚o 5 miles per hour and it takes you 4 o’5 hours to get where you‘ re going. I guess you know the term „rush hour“. Freeway Traffic is bad from 6-10 am and bad from 3-7 PM. It’s more than an hour and I can’t imagine that there is anybody rushing?!
But back to topic. The real problem is that you NEED a car to live in Southern California. There is no alternative because there is no effective public transportation like in NY or maybe [german city]. One reason is that LA is larger in area than either of those and without a central hub. Is it a problem that cannot be solved? No, if you ask me a good-working bus network can’t be impossible!
It would help many people and maybe the whole town because smog is usual there right now. Also, the gas is about 20-30 cents about the national average. Whereby we proceed to another subject: the expensive lifestyle.
Actually there is not the climate for someone just beginning their career. One of the most expensive states to live in and the second highest unemployment rate – it speaks for itself. I think LA has not the problem that no young and talented people want to go there, but it has to stimulate the economy.
To summarize, LA is a HUGE metropolis with many people coming from all over the world, black and white, Catholic and Hindu etc. And this town shows that it can work, even if there are many things one could do better, but it is never easy to change the whole infrastructure of such a big town. So yes to answer my own question – if I’d consider to move; LA is in the Top Ten. The more than 340 days of sunshine would make up for a lot of traffic! 🙂