What Five Years in L.A. Have Taught Me

Los Angeles is not meant for everyone. Some people see a smog-choked crowd of hipster flakes pretending they’re wealthier and more successful than they are, orbiting the Kardashians like Jupiter’s moons. Others see only poverty, red-lining, and a gaping chasm between the haves and the have-nots.

But, for those who see it as I do: complicated but full of truly determined people who aren’t afraid to try anything, explore every option, and don’t fear change, then perhaps Los Angeles is worth your perusal.

Los Angeles is not easy. Unless you have a six-figure income and a nest egg, this city will wring you as bone-dry as its autumnal Santa Ana winds and run you at a deficit of resources you didn’t even know you had until everything is in the red.

But if this city appealed to you the way it did to me, one day, everything just falls into place and you understand what all the work was for. There’s a day where you shift from “transplant” to “Angeleno” and the city will look wholly new again. Maybe it’s after the mass exodus that begins mid-November when all the tourists and rich people leave for twelve weeks and you can actually get a taste of the best fresh air we get all year during the rains.

But if that day comes to you in January, maybe it’s just the terrazzo sparkling after its yearly powerwash, so keep your wits about you.

December 18 marks my “Cali-versary.” On one biting cold, subzero morning in 2014, I left Minnesota and officially became a Californian. The past five years have challenged me in ways I never imagined, and taught me things I would have never learned if I didn’t make the jump.

Even if you arrive here with a partner or family, you are going to be on your own a lot. It’s a known phenomenon that newcomers have a hard time making friends and finding their people. Traffic sucks, workdays are long, and it’s not that easy to just swing around the corner to your favorite neighborhood watering hole at 5:06 pm.

Because of this, there are no advocates to help you, whether it’s to tell off the creep whispering about your skirt on the bus or office comrades helping you build your case for a raise.

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