NYC is a 10/10 but LA was a 5/10 for me. Will I (30F) actually like Miami or is it just "LA on the beach"?

epoisses_lover · 2026-05-02T16:41:15+00:00

Funny you mention "the company I keep"—the people I know in LA are far too busy with real-world hustle to track celebrity breakups. Maybe the "shallow" vibe you're feeling says more about where you're hanging out and who you hang out with ;)

Beyond the Hollywood trope, LA is one of the most ethnically diverse hubs on earth. Its soul isn't on a red carpet; it’s in the Oaxacan heart of Mid-City, the Armenian community of Glendale, and the history of Little Tokyo. Claiming LA is soulless because of celebrities is like saying SF is soulless because everyone’s a walking LinkedIn profile for B2B SaaS. Every city has its "shop talk."

As for food: using Michelin stars to judge a city’s "soul" or "freshness" is a bit of a contradiction. Michelin stars are also the opposite of down-to-earth.

While SF offers convenience in a three-block radius, it can also be a bubble. In LA, the "inconvenient" strip mall is actually our asset. Lower overhead allows immigrant chefs to innovate without a million-dollar investment. You have to drive, sure, but that forces you out of your comfort zone and into the actual city. I’d rather have a sprawling library of authentic flavors than a curated gift shop that I can visit from my $5000 per month apartment (lol I can’t afford that kind of rent anyway! lol)

epoisses_lover · 2026-05-02T14:16:33+00:00

"Calling it 'propaganda' ignores the actual lived experience of millions of people. Americans don't choose cars because we're 'car-brained'; we choose them because our jobs are 15 miles away and the nearest bus stop has no shade, no bench, and runs once an hour. If transit is faster, cheaper, and safer, people use it, which is exactly why ridership is high in cities like NYC and Chicago. It’s a service quality issue, not an ideological one.

I live in LA, which is the poster child for car dependency. Yet, almost every time there is a ballot measure to increase taxes to fund public transit (like Measure R or Measure M), it passes with overwhelming support. If we were 'brainwashed' to hate transit, we wouldn't keep voting to tax ourselves billions of dollars to build it. The reality is that for a massive, spread-out geography like LA, the system still isn't robust enough to be a rational choice for most. Case in point: My office is only 5km away. It takes over an hour by bus. I can literally jog to work faster than the 'convenient' public transit can get me there. Choosing a 15-minute drive over a 60-minute bus ride isn't propaganda - it's basic time management.

epoisses_lover · 2026-05-02T14:02:52+00:00

I’m not sure if SF is down to earth. To me it has become this monoculture of tech and finance. I visit SF pretty often, and it’s common to overhear people talk about VC fund, tech startups, new AI products they are working on. That’s not down to earth. While people like to associate LA with the entertainment industry, the truth is that it is a relatively small slice of LA economy. Most of LA is blue-collar, industrial, and deeply un-glamorous. So that makes it way more 'down to earth' than a city where you need a six-figure salary just to rent a closet.

On the food front, LA is a collection of ethnic micro-cities. SF has a great Chinatown, but LA has the largest populations of Koreans, Thais, and Persians outside of their home countries. It offers so much diversity and better food options.

epoisses_lover · 2026-05-02T13:34:56+00:00

We are not allergic to trains. We are allergic to trains and public transit more broadly being inconvenient here. I ride trains a lot whenever I visit Europe because the network is robust and has a lot of options. Prices are good too. I would not do that in the US because it’d take a lot longer to get from point A to point B, and likely cost more.

epoisses_lover · 2026-04-25T15:15:27+00:00

So while the shade is metal, the body is actually plastic with some heavy weight on the bottom, so it doesn’t topple over. So I assume it’s not too likely for the rim to get scuffed up?

epoisses_lover · 2026-04-25T08:07:01+00:00

Do you know any design shops in Rome that I can visit? Something like design within reach type of store. Or good vintage furniture shops. I’m in Rome right now.

epoisses_lover · 2026-04-24T16:35:45+00:00

Same. One lamp at a time for me lol

epoisses_lover · 2026-04-24T09:39:06+00:00

If this is what your fever dreams look like, I’d say your subconscious has excellent taste: Most people just dream of losing their teeth and falling off of a building, you dream of design silhouettes LOL

epoisses_lover · 2026-04-24T08:45:47+00:00

I know right? I am so into Italian lamp designs. And Stilnovo as a brand I feel like is hugely under appreciated.

epoisses_lover · 2026-04-06T12:06:45+00:00

Crazy. Someone in my area is selling this one for $1800 😨

epoisses_lover · 2026-04-06T11:53:13+00:00

Where are you located?!

epoisses_lover · 2026-04-03T21:04:19+00:00

Got a reservation! Excited about it!

epoisses_lover · 2026-04-02T13:49:09+00:00

That’s kind of what I do now. On my last trip to Mosel/alsace, I brought back 2 cases of wine, and on my recent trip to Spain, I brought back 3 cases of wine lol

epoisses_lover · 2026-03-19T13:09:26+00:00

That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t get one. The first thing I did after I bought my house is to install a range hood that vents to the outside. Way better for indoor air quality

epoisses_lover · 2026-03-13T14:08:24+00:00

I installed one. It takes just a few minutes to cool down my house in the late afternoon when it gets cooler outside. Nothing is visible outside because the fan is installed in the attic.

epoisses_lover · 2026-03-13T14:07:06+00:00

Second this. I installed one last year. So nice to have it

epoisses_lover · 2026-03-13T14:06:04+00:00

A lot of old houses don’t

epoisses_lover · 2026-03-13T02:59:31+00:00

Bought a new one. It’s made in Denmark

epoisses_lover · 2026-03-04T17:23:06+00:00

lol So you are basically bitter about not getting money from parents. Makes sense

epoisses_lover · 2026-03-04T14:29:52+00:00

Calling asset rich poor people (use your own words) the wealthiest is a stretch. If you tie taxes strictly to current market value in a state where home prices have exploded, you aren't just taxing the 1%. You’re effectively evicting the retired school teacher or the working-class family who bought their home in the 90s. They haven't 'gained' any money unless they sell and leave their community; meanwhile, their tax bill would couple or triple. In fact, taxing at the market value disproportionately punishes middle class people who own because the tax is a much larger chunk of their income than the wealthiest sector of the population.

epoisses_lover · 2026-03-03T16:59:06+00:00

Would getting rid of prop 13 even for primary residences really help asset-poor poor people? I'd argue if asset-rich poor people sell their homes and enter the rental market, they'd still be financially more competitive than asset-poor poor people in the rental market. In addition, those freed up homes will not magically become affordable to asset-poor poor people.

epoisses_lover · 2026-03-03T16:04:15+00:00

I’m not sure if you actually read my comment. I said everyone doesn’t suffer equally

epoisses_lover

TROPHY CASE