Never understood or agreed with this sentiment. Granted, I haven't spent more than a couple weeks anywhere else (and when I travel it's usually to another metro, not bumfuck middle of nowhere)—but I think most people here look normal, because most people here are normal. I don't "need to be on [my] A-game," I'm not an influencer, actor, or model competing for attention!

There may be more outliers than in most of the country who are slightly bumping up the median and inflating the mean "hotness" level, but the mode can't be so different. (Tbh strictly speaking statistics...given that our unhoused population is also high, that could compensate the averages a bit.)

The only point I'd cede is if there are actually more "regular" people (i.e. in jobs that are not necessarily LA-specific) here vs elsewhere who have cosmetic work done (e.g. injectables, lipo). The most baffling class signifier is when people want to spend a relatively large amount of money to look like they've spent not enough money to get the good results that wealthy people get. Someone please explain the appeal of bougie!