Notice any metros "dropping off the radar"?

[badrunner]

Originally Posted by park123

The main problem with West Coast beaches is the water temperature. It's just too cold even in the summer. There are smaller problems too - the water color isn't like in Miami or the Mediterranean (to which SoCal gets compared to), the sand isn't that great, even the ambient air temperature isn't reliably beach weather even outside of the winter months.

I will honestly prefer NJ and Long Island beaches to SoCal beaches in July and August. Forget about the real tropics.

But you're right, the topography in California is great.

I go to the beach quite a bit and to be honest, I can't remember the last time I actually went swimming in it. That's what swimming pools are for . Seriously though, the icy cold water feels great on a hot summer day, even if you're just dipping your feet in it. The sand here is fantastic in summer. It's such great sand that Manhattan beach exported a bunch of it to build Waikiki beach

[Crawford]

California sand and water temps are pretty bad, IMO. Much worse than the East Coast.

But the Pacific coast scenery is roughly 5 billion times more attractive than the Atlantic coast.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by park123

The main problem with West Coast beaches is the water temperature. It's just too cold even in the summer. There are smaller problems too - the water color isn't like in Miami or the Mediterranean (to which SoCal gets compared to), the sand isn't that great, even the ambient air temperature isn't reliably beach weather even outside of the winter months.

I will honestly prefer NJ and Long Island beaches to SoCal beaches in July and August. Forget about the real tropics.

I lived in CA for ~6 months while at school and went to beaches plenty of times. Including several in Orange County and also San Diego a few times. My only complaint is the water temperature. Sand's perfectly fine. No weather complaints either.

To the guy who says it doesn't matter and it's "what swimming pools are for", then CA beaches aren't really any better than a random sand pit in a landlocked state. Water is useless if it's not usable.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by badrunner

I also prefer the small town laid back atmosphere of California beaches. A line of skyscrapers looming over the beach is incredibly tacky. Like something you see in Brazil. Don't be so desperate to hug the coast, relax and let the beach come to you

Not all Florida beaches are South Beach, just like not all California beaches are Venice Beach.

[LA21st]

In

Originally Posted by JAYNYC

Atlanta hasn't taken away one single iota of Miami's relevancy, popularity or "pop culture thunder" in recent years.

If anything, Atlanta peaked between 1995-2008-ish from a pop culture perspective. The prominence of Freaknik and the HBCUs was at an all-time high from the mid-to late-90's in terms of media exposure, the Olympics created massive buzz, and the ATL hip hop and R&B scene took off between 2000 and 2008. For what its worth, the city's three major skylines essentially developed as we know them today back then.

When LeBron took his talents to South Beach in 2010, the party came with him and even though he only stayed for four years, Miami continues to shine with the rise of the Design District, South Beach, Wynwood, Brickell, etc. and being the undeniable capital of the Southeast's culinary and nightlife scene.

Almost anyone knows Atlanta has become the center for hip hop in the last ten - fifteen years.
What does Brickell or the Design district have to do with popculture? Most people would have no idea what that is or where anyway. True for Wynood, although I think thats more known..

You don't hesr about athletes wanting to play in Miami as much either like you used to.

[badrunner]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Not all Florida beaches are South Beach, just like not all California beaches are Venice Beach.

South Beach doesn't have a wall of skyscrapers though like the other beaches in Miami. I think it's telling that Miami's most popular beach is the one that's relatively low-rise and small town-ish.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by badrunner

South Beach doesn't have a wall of skyscrapers though like the other beaches in Miami. I think it's telling that Miami's most popular beach is the one that's relatively low-rise and small town-ish.

I actually prefer the North Miami Beach beaches because they are more relaxed, even though they have towers built around them. A beach day at South Beach is almost as chaotic as a day at Coney Island Beach.

[JManc]

Agreed about water temperatures between CA and FL. Last year I was in southern Florida and the water was bath water warm, week later i was in LA and SD and

[badrunner]

Originally Posted by lio45

I lived in CA for ~6 months while at school and went to beaches plenty of times. Including several in Orange County and also San Diego a few times. My only complaint is the water temperature. Sand's perfectly fine. No weather complaints either.

To the guy who says it doesn't matter and it's "what swimming pools are for", then CA beaches aren't really any better than a random sand pit in a landlocked state. Water is useless if it's not usable.

It's usable for more than swimming though. If that's all a beach is to you, you're missing out. That's the thing with Florida beaches. It's featurelessness means you can't enjoy some of these other activities that require diverse marine environments like tide pools, kelp forests, sea caves etc. I don't imagine there's much coastal foraging or poke poling or cliff jumping going on in Miami beaches...

[JAYNYC]

Originally Posted by LA21st

In


Almost anyone knows Atlanta has become the center for hip hop in the last ten - fifteen years.

Atlanta has in no way, shape or form "become" the center of hip hop "in the last 10-15 years". Atlanta "became", and has BEEN the center of hip hop since at least 2000.

The Atlanta hip hop and R&B scene took off in the mid-90's thanks to Outkast, Jermaine Dupri, Kriss Kross, Xscape, etc. From roughly 2000-2008, most of the biggest Hip Hop and R&B acts in Atlanta history (Ludacris, Jeezy, T.I., Outkast, Gucci Mane, Jagged Edge, Usher, etc.) peaked. So yeah, it's been the epicenter of hip hop and R&B culture for a while, not just the last 10-15 years. Aside from the Migos, Future and Young Thug, the ATL hip hop scene pales over the last decade when compared to the decade prior.

That said, ATL doesn't overshadow Miami by any stretch of the imagination (although you'll undoubtedly look for a way to reach and argue that it does.)

[JAYNYC]

Originally Posted by LA21st

You don't hesr about athletes wanting to play in Miami as much either like you used to.

Oh really? Jimmy Butler (NBA All Star) says "hi".

[lio45]

Originally Posted by badrunner

It's usable for more than swimming though. If that's all a beach is to you, you're missing out. That's the thing with Florida beaches. It's featurelessness means you can't enjoy some of these other activities that require diverse marine environments like tide pools, kelp forests, sea caves etc. I don't imagine there's much coastal foraging or poke poling or cliff jumping going on in Miami beaches...

Cliff jumping is nicer when you know you won't risk drowning due to thermal shock though.

For the record, I'm a big fan of it - there are several lakes around my home neck of the woods that have such cliffs, the highest being a ~65 ft jump (I'm so used to it now, I could probably try higher drops). But you need to swim quite a bit after jumping, in order to reach the closest spot that allows you to get out of the water

My gf's uncle lived in Santa Barbara, we spent a weekend at his place and went surfing - with wetsuits though. I know the optimal spots for waves are better on the West Coast (continental shelf doesn't extend as much as on the East Coast) but it just sucks that the water is so cold.

And honestly, "featurelessness" isn't a big downside for a beach. "Featureless, flat, nice sand, hot water, warm temperatures" is a combination that's pretty damn close to the top of what most people would want.

[The North One]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

I actually prefer the North Miami Beach beaches because they are more relaxed, even though they have towers built around them. A beach day at South Beach is almost as chaotic as a day at Coney Island Beach.

Don't know when you went but I would not consider South Beach to be chaotic. In January it's very relaxed and pleasant actually, although some parts are busier than others. Collins Avenue and Ocean Drive at night are obviously very vibrant but even then I think calling it chaotic is a stretch.

[Handro]

Originally Posted by JAYNYC

Oh really? Jimmy Butler (NBA All Star) says "hi".

He was traded from the bulls, wolves and sixers because he’s a loud mouth idiot. He landed on Miami, didn’t seek them out. He’s also said he’s like to play for th bulls again (an embarrassment of a franchise) so you know that he’s happy to be paid by whatever team will have him.

To be fair though, athletes not wanting to play there has probably nothing to do with the city and everything to do with the state of the teams. When the heat were a top tier franchise they had plenty of free agents eager to play for them.

[LA21st]

Originally Posted by JAYNYC

Oh really? Jimmy Butler (NBA All Star) says "hi".

Lol
You're talking about one all star in 7-8 years.
And you think that's impressive.
Lmao

[LA21st]

Originally Posted by Handro

He was traded from the bulls, wolves and sixers because he’s a loud mouth idiot. He landed on Miami, didn’t seek them out. He’s also said he’s like to play for th bulls again (an embarrassment of a franchise) so you know that he’s happy to be paid by whatever team will have him.

To be fair though, athletes not wanting to play there has probably nothing to do with the city and everything to do with the state of the teams. When the heat were a top tier franchise they had plenty of free agents eager to play for them.

He also wanted the Lakers or clippers first.
He was hanging out in la every summer.

[LA21st]

Originally Posted by JAYNYC

Atlanta has in no way, shape or form "become" the center of hip hop "in the last 10-15 years". Atlanta "became", and has BEEN the center of hip hop since at least 2000.

The Atlanta hip hop and R&B scene took off in the mid-90's thanks to Outkast, Jermaine Dupri, Kriss Kross, Xscape, etc. From roughly 2000-2008, most of the biggest Hip Hop and R&B acts in Atlanta history (Ludacris, Jeezy, T.I., Outkast, Gucci Mane, Jagged Edge, Usher, etc.) peaked. So yeah, it's been the epicenter of hip hop and R&B culture for a while, not just the last 10-15 years. Aside from the Migos, Future and Young Thug, the ATL hip hop scene pales over the last decade when compared to the decade prior.

That said, ATL doesn't overshadow Miami by any stretch of the imagination (although you'll undoubtedly look for a way to reach and argue that it does.)

Keep convincing yourself that.
Also, try to convince people about the design district being huge in pop culture too.
Makes alot of sense.

And , 15-20 years, eh. Not much difference.
And you could say NYC was still number 1 until 2003 or so. But, it's not a big deal.

[xzmattzx]

Originally Posted by isaidso

One could say that for all of of Western NY and larges swaths of the US Midwest. That region of the US had far more clout/relevance a few decades ago.

True, but Rochester especially. Rochester was a white-collar town, with a couple prominent headquarters there. It was no Erie or Youngstown.

Plus, some Midwest cities are coming back a little. Detroit started turning around a few years ago, and Buffalo has started.

[dc_denizen]

Chicago and the Midwest are not any less relevant to Americans but their role in movies and Hollywood has declined due to the globalization of western culture that I mentioned earlier

And cities in the USA generally are much more relevant than they were in the 1980s . My parents would not have even considered a vacation to Chicago (scary!) or New York back in the day.

Economically the increase in corporate jobs / hqs to central Cities (especially Chicago) has been a huge change as well

But yeah Ferris bueller if it were made today would probably not be set in Chicago but in nyc or La since moviegoers in Lagos or Singapore only recognize those cities

[JoeMusashi]

Originally Posted by Jasoncw

Anime just does a lot of things right which American TV either did badly or didn't do at all.

Anime tends to be serial, while American TV tends to be episodic. Serials, where a series is one big story which is progressed through piece by piece per episode, is better for developing characters and themes and having more complex plots. In an episodic show like Star Trek, the setting and the characters are the same in every episode. You really can't do much character or plot development because the episodes need to be able to be watched in any order. But people who actually enjoy watching TV series tend to enjoy the types of things that being a serial allows for. And not only are animes mostly serials, but the projects are usually self contained and only intended to run for a pre-determined length, so the overall series are more structured and concise, while American shows just go on and on until they suck and get cancelled.

Anime covers way more genres than American TV. I don't even know what's airing right now but it seems like it's all crime dramas, medical dramas, and sitcoms, with some supernatural sci-fi dramas mixed in. I'm not an expert on this, but it seems like American TV bets everything on a handful of lowest common denominator money making genres, while Japanese TV tries to reach everyone by covering more niche genres and demographics. As an extension of genre, anime covers way more different demographics. The US has only recently discovered the young adult genre, which is probably the single biggest genre in anime (young characters in a fictional setting with some interesting world building overcoming adversity and coming of age, created for teen viewers but accessible/enjoyable to adults too).

Anime is better written (or at least written differently). In terms of character development, themes, character interactions, anime just does it better. Part of this is just because they're serials but part of it is the way that they seem to just prioritize these things more.

Anime is more creator-driven and has more personality and variety. Often times with anime you know what studio made it and what director directed it and you might also know things like who the character designers and music composers are. American TV is written by market research panels.


Now if you look at those elements, and then look at American TV trends from the last 15 years, and especially the kinds of things that Netflix is doing, American TV is adopting many of those elements from anime. Netflix is making a bunch of different stuff in a bunch of different genres. They're short seasons which are self contained story arcs, even if they're left open for sequel seasons. The writing tends to be better. They're more creator-driven.

And then aside from all this, anime is so normalized that if there's a TV show that looks good to you, and it happens to be anime, there's no reason not to watch it.
(I would also add that with anime every season there are a ton of shows, and there's also a 40ish year backlog, so there's some selection bias since only the better stuff is brought over)

I'm way past the age where anime is geared towards but I did grow up watching some of it. I understood the appeal then but I don't understand it now. Movies and series seemed more mature to me, written for all-ages. The stuff I see on store shelves now (both anime and manga) look very childish and almost geared towards teenage girls.

I guess I don't see any more Akira, Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell, Gundam Wing, Macross, Outlaw Star, or Ninja Scroll type products. Those hold up to a 30-50 year old viewer.