[wutbrodo]

I moved to the bay from LA when I was 17, having lived in both relatively sense Beverly Hills and a relatively sparse part of the Valley. I instantly couldn't believe how much better quality of life could be when you're not surrounded by a fetish for car travel, no matter the cost. The creepiest part is the Stockholm's Syndrome exhibited by all my friends who couldn't make it out of LA[1]. The logical contortions they had to go through to convince themselves that the downsides of a car-centric city don't exist were laughable (while everyone I know who lived elsewhere would happily admit that upsides to a car-centric city exist, but argue that they weren't worth the tradeoff).

(I should note that this comparison is no longer as dramatic, since LA has started making at least certain areas denser and more accessible)

[1] I graduated college during a time when the LA economy was sputtering, while SF, NY, London, Seattle, etc were booming, so the only people who stayed in LA were the ones who didn't have much going on.