update:Outdoor dining great for criminals: Food trucks robbed in LA

Thx for the warning. I will no longer go outdoor.

 

I lived in Los Angeles years ago when I felt I had made it. I was making a lot of money, and thought Los Angeles was the most wonderful place in the world. I never felt that it wasn't safe. The people I was friends with drove cars that were hundreds of thousands of dollars and spent huge amounts of money and none of them ever felt unsafe, it was just an unwritten rule that nothing happened. I always felt an unease.... I just believe that the world is changing, and class divide is reemerging as a concern. I see it in the USA, I see it in Europe and in Asian countries.

 

For a decade now, you don't wear a gucci, chanel, whatever expensive looking purse in SW Houston or in some Asian countries. Heighten risk of being rob with a deadly weapon.

 

FWIW I never would have in Houston, and I grew up in Houston.... I agree on Asian countries.

For some reason, Los Angeles has always been different. There are places in Chicago and NY where it is different as well, but not like Los Angeles.

I saw people in LA park on the street 200K convertibles near skid row without a thought or concern.... and seldom did anything happen.

The USA and Western Europe are extremely arrogant and think that they are different than the rest of the world, that the poor will stand down..... in America, the world media loves the portrayal of the poor, but the poor in the USA largely don't do ANYTHING to those that have nicer things...... In Europe they act as if they are more enlightened than the USA and that they don't have poor.... while there are people sleeping on the streets and panhandling (especially children) on the streets or London, Paris etc.

 

Man this video is real reflection of LA and where we at in 2021and probably a preview of where we are going as a country.

You 1st have the douche, humble bragging about how he "saved" his girlfriend, then you have the girlfriend acting like she was hiding from paparazzi on her dam phone.

WTF was that part about wine and food being left on the table who the **** cares about that when people are shooting?

Then the Coup De Grace, not only are they big upping the watch but then they are showing it so now other criminals know if they see one they can get a couple of hundred thousand dollars.

And who wears a 200 thousand dollar watch to a freaking lunch, that's just obscene.

And all of this in a pandemic.

I know this **** happens all the time but for some reason this is seems like an inflection point, it's like a SNL skit.

Even now I am looking side eye at California.

I don't even know why I have such a reaction to this but it just seems ****ed up in so many ways.

 

This is how I feel every time I drive into San Francisco. To me it just feels like a dystopia.

 

Some of the best homeless real estate is all along Santa Monica

 

The homeless in Los Angeles and San Francisco are a real problem.

Still, a lot it is that those areas have better resources for the homeless and do not force the homeless to leave by setting their tents on fire, etc.... as a result homeless from all across the country go to those areas.

 

The visible homeless are only part of the issue. It's also just the constant awareness as you drive around the bay area that even the most modest homes are valued in the millions and the pressure this puts on the working class and middle class throughout the region.

 

Do you drive around many other cities, even say Austin?

Not going to defend SF, but when I traveled a lot pre-pandemic, I saw a lot of homeless people just about everywhere I went. NYC appears to still be more draconian than others.

 

I'm not allowed to buy anymore watches.

 

You are 56 years old.

 

I haven't been back to Austin in many years so I can't really speak to it, though it seems from afar to be going in the same direction. Living just outside of Sacramento, I've driven through a fair share of northern, central, and southern California and there is no other area where I get the "dystopia fueled by extreme wealth inequality" feel more than San Francisco. I'm not even saying it's fully rational, it's just the sense I have in the bay area. It may have something to do with the geography/city layout and how claustrophobic the whole region feels to me.

 

The peasant that can't afford an elite Patek Philippe.

 

Talk about a catch 22

 

Downtown was the big problem area after the brilliant decision to put the main shelter in the heart of the entertainment district -- now there are big camps in random places esp east Austin. They tend to pop up near a freeway with a large intersection for panhandling, lots of convenience stores, and a wooded area for the main camp. There is a huge camp at 183 and Cameron that was like a hidden village when they found it putting out a fire.

https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/fi...austin-reveals-elaborate-hidden-homeless-camp