There is no point in living in Los Angeles if you don't have a car.
The city of Los Angeles is one that does not lend itself well to the walkers, bikers and taxi hailers of the world. Some people fool themselves into believing that some parts of town can be livable without owning a car but after sitting on three different buses just to get to a chin-dig it hits them that maybe they should have picked up one of those 99cent used car magazines to read on their ride.
Being that Angelenos have a strong sense of ownership when it comes to their time, it is hard
to convince them to ditch their ride for any alternative.
Even carpooling with someone to get from a relatively close "point A" to the same destination of "point B" means being a slave to someone else's watch.
I remember when gas prices were looking like it would cost us five bucks to get a gallon Mayor Villaraigosa gave a speech about how Angelenos have to change their ideology about public transit.
Although some sucked it up, left their cars in their driveway and purchased a bus pass I would think that many are back to their old habits of driving solo all across town.
With gas prices now half of what they used to be, the roads are more packed than they were just a year ago. The 405, now more than ever, is a parking lot during the rush hour ---which spans over three hours during the weekdays. This means 4-7p.m. and God-forbid the Lakers or Dodgers having a game on a weekday--which can add yell-at-your-windsheild moments all along the 5 and 110 freeways.
Angelenos will white-knuckle their steering wheel through nightmare traffic but sigh heavily in delight when they hit the miles of the free freeway.
Bottom line is that in order to enjoy the fruits of the 88 cities which belong to the L.A. County you have to drive to them. This includes but is not limited to the beaches parallel to PCH, the restaurants from those in East Los Angeles to Little Ethiopia and Pink's Hot Dogs, and the beautiful Getty museums.
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