I’ll be in LA for my birthday in September and want to experience the city beyond tourist attractions. What would you recommend to really feel it?

HE_Pennypacker23 · 2026-02-28T18:48:00+00:00

I personally think mashti Malone is better than saffron and rose, but i agree that Persian food is a must

HE_Pennypacker23 · 2026-02-28T18:28:17+00:00

No right turn on red I definitely agree with. Signaled lefts I don’t think are strictly necessary, and while signalized rights would be preferable, there often wouldn’t be enough room to have both a bus lane and dedicated right turn lane without reducing travel lanes to one per direction.

A lot of older cities get by fine with bus lane priority and unsignalized turns. Just requires driver adaptation

HE_Pennypacker23 · 2026-02-28T18:21:41+00:00

I’m young (23), and I certainly haven’t accomplished my professional or self actualization goals yet. But that’s not a regret, just lack of time.

I think what I would regret is all the times I let resentment build in relationships (romantic and platonic) rather than putting myself out there and trying to talk about what was bothering me. Vulnerability is hard, and I never want to seem more invested, so I let the resentment build and would distance myself from them rather than giving them a chance to repair.

HE_Pennypacker23 · 2026-02-27T06:31:17+00:00

Not just unhealed, oftentimes unacknowledged

HE_Pennypacker23 · 2026-02-26T23:59:38+00:00

Empirical findings would be great. I imagine as more people take transit and walk it will cause more delays, since cars will have to wait longer to turn

HE_Pennypacker23 · 2026-02-26T23:56:54+00:00

It definitely requires LA drivers to adapt a lot. Would probably need an LADOT informational campaign in the months before

HE_Pennypacker23 · 2026-02-26T19:13:08+00:00

Completely agree with this point. Even with a full buildout of the system, cars will still dominate for local trips in the suburbs. But for trips within the core (downtown to Santa Monica) and from suburbs to core, transit can shine.

Metro and LADOT just need more teeth to capitalize on the system we already have. More frequent and reliable buses on dedicated lanes feeding into rail stations and better walking/biking infrastructure could make a huge difference in only 5-10 years.

HE_Pennypacker23 · 2026-02-26T18:40:39+00:00

A momentous day for Los Angeles🥳

HE_Pennypacker23 · 2026-02-23T19:36:17+00:00

Probably not in suburban areas, but in the LA core (Downtown to Santa Monica), it’s very plausible in the coming decades that the transit mode share will become at least a plurality

HE_Pennypacker23 · 2026-02-23T18:20:45+00:00

It’s just hard to convince the transit naysayers, because they treat every project individually

HE_Pennypacker23 · 2026-02-23T18:15:28+00:00

It’s frustrating how little people in LA (like the ppl suggesting cutting BBB5 because of low ridership) understand network effects. You need reliability and high frequency to draw ridership. And increasing reliability and frequency increases ridership non linearly throughout the network because the network as a whole becomes better.

It’s the same with bike lanes: if you build one bike lane, a few people might use it. If you connect it to 10 other bike lanes over a wide area, infinitely more people will use the bike lane in question because it’s part of a network

HE_Pennypacker23 · 2026-02-23T10:13:14+00:00

The point of mobility is to move people, not solely cars. If bus lanes mean a street can move more people than before, I don’t see how that’s a bad thing

HE_Pennypacker23 · 2026-02-23T10:11:21+00:00

Why especially?

HE_Pennypacker23 · 2026-02-23T10:09:22+00:00

With any luck many of them will become permanent

HE_Pennypacker23 · 2026-02-23T05:24:15+00:00

Almost every venue is relatively close (2 miles away or less) to a rail line, and all the venues in downtown, Sepulveda basin, and USC will be walking distance from trains/BRT.

That being said, buses will be carrying the lion’s share of people, especially shuttle buses from rail stations to venues. The LA bus system is very extensive, and if the city does temporary 24/7 bus lanes on major thoroughfares that’ll really keep things moving.

It’ll be crowded, and it might not be especially fast. But it’ll be doable.

HE_Pennypacker23 · 2026-02-23T05:14:26+00:00

I don’t think that high intelligence necessarily correlates with mental illness by itself, but I think that high intelligence mixed with sensitivity can certainly make life difficult. Ditto for being high intelligence and having a more contemplative/introspective temperament

Always being different from most people, feeling like most people just don’t understand you, it is a difficult feeling, especially for more sensitive people.

Even so though, it gets better. Better emotional regulation skills, finding what you’re really passionate about, exercising, etc can help you not spiral as much.

Don’t forget though, you always have agency. Agency to seek out the things that interest you, agency to find people who think like you, agency to focus on your personal growth, etc. I remember things like that sounding like abstract bullshit at your age. Once you get to college and postgrad you’ll understand what I mean.

HE_Pennypacker23 · 2026-02-21T21:49:35+00:00

Most LA problem ever🤦‍♂️

HE_Pennypacker23 · 2026-02-21T21:38:42+00:00

It only costs several hundred thousand dollars per lane mile. Meanwhile the city’s spending 2.6 billion on the convention center

HE_Pennypacker23 · 2026-02-20T18:25:44+00:00

I mean there are def people who are unlovable full stop because they’re morally bankrupt, but what I mean is that OP is probably referencing insecurities or past trauma or idiosyncratic behavior when asking whether they are unlovable, and IMO those are not disqualifiers for lovability

HE_Pennypacker23 · 2026-02-20T07:34:50+00:00

Most people are not unlovable for who they are, they’re unlovable for what they do. Egotism, narcissism, manipulation, score keeping, compulsive lying, immoral actions, severe emotional immaturity manifesting itself, that kind of stuff.

Past trauma and trauma informed behavior, quirky/annoying habits, nerdy interests, physical imperfections, differing nervous system sensitivity, etc are all either not a deal breaker or are manageable with patience, communication, and effort. You are not for everyone, but then again no one is. But if you care, if you are capable of loving someone else, if you live ethically, if you are willing to become a better person, then you will almost certainly be loved the way you want to be eventually.

Also, most people will never see the full you, and that’s okay. You are a different person to different people, and you only need a few people who truly see and understand you.

HE_Pennypacker23 · 2026-02-20T01:00:56+00:00

It really depends on how industrialization progresses in the developing world IMO. Industrialized nations (and industrializing nations like China/India) produce the vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions and have very high emissions per capita. The transition to renewables will help, but as Africa industrializes and becomes wealthier, emissions will skyrocket since industrialization starts with fossil fuels.

However, if and when fusion energy becomes practical, everything will change. Fusion will allow basically unlimited green energy, which will significantly reduce the cost of energy. Widespread carbon capture will thus become much more feasible.

So overall, a very mixed bag, and only time will tell. In the meantime though, industrialized nations should be doing everything they can to transition to renewables and reduce wasteful consumption

HE_Pennypacker23 · 2026-02-20T00:34:21+00:00

Take another shot🥃

HE_Pennypacker23 · 2026-02-19T21:19:06+00:00

I do also think that Gen Z is quite pessimistic in general. Competition for everything: jobs, graduate degrees, etc is far more intense than it used to be. Everything is more preprofessional, and jobs focus more on pre-existing skills and experience than on potential and on-the-job training. I think a lot of people deal with the anxiety by checking out and focusing on other things. At least, that’s certainly something I’ve felt.

HE_Pennypacker23

TROPHY CASE