L.A.'s Population Tops 4 Million for the First Time

[YSL]

Originally Posted by caligrad

Why is it that every time something interesting happens in LA, Everyone from Houston jumps on it to rain on its parade? Like they are always competing with LA even though they haven't even passed Chicago in relevance? like... why attack number 2 when you're still number 4 and still miles behind number 3? .

The US census bureau is known for being inaccurate and flawed. So relying on the robo calls and door to door knocks is laughable on its own. On its website, it even states "these numbers are estimates".

I can assure you that Millennials are the ones in the drivers seat in LA right now. Saying "LA is only growing because of its birthrate" is ridiculous.

While Houston is only growing because of its purging from the rest of the country because of its low tax rate and zero zoning and environmental laws making it "business friendly" and dirt cheap housing, LA is growing by both attracting people from around the country but also from around the world, making LAs population more dynamic in the ranks of NYC, Chicago, Seattle, SF and etc.

LA universities/colleges, Movie industry, Silicone beach, aerospace industry, fashion industry, heavy investment from Chinese and Canadian investors, small tech start ups, densifying core, rapidly expanding core and etc. are making it a millennials wet dream and fantasy.

Thanks for trying to make its recent achievements seem void but........ NO.

And whether its population is from its birthrate or from outsiders is irrelevant. You're arguing 2 different arguments. And the census actually does break it down between city and county.... since not every city has its own county

Nearly everything you said is false and wishful thinking, but since pointing out facts = attacking LA, i'll stop.

[LA21st]

LA is keeping all of its production companies and everything that goes among with that.
It's not losing anything except some filming where it's cheaper.
And that changes all the time.

[LA21st]

Originally Posted by LA21st

LA is keeping all of its production companies and everything that goes among with that.
It's not losing anything except some filming where it's cheaper.
And that changes all the time.

New Orleans film industry is dead.
So is north Carolina. Those places don't last.
Even NYC production us due to tax credits.

Hollywood isn't leaving la.

[caligrad]

Originally Posted by YSL

Nearly everything you said is false and wishful thinking, but since pointing out facts = attacking LA, i'll stop.

Nothing I said is false lol. NOTHING. And you're quick one liner proves that nothing I said was false since you have nothing else to say. Don't disregard what someone is saying unless you have concrete counter evidence which YOU DONT. which is the reason you hit back with that one liner.

Last I checked, Texas and Houston were struggling hard since the energy sector collapse that begin in late 2014. Massive layoffs, foreclosures rising and etc. Its been making the news so don't EVEN try to say that's not true. One major thing that California and LA has that Texas doesn't is that its economy is WAY more diverse and dynamic.

Texas economy is built around oil, cheap land and cheap housing. Take those things away ( which is currently happening) and Texas doesn't seem nearly as attractive. No matter how "business friendly" it may be. Now that Rick Perry is gone, Texas wont be sitting pretty for too much longer with his hefty tax handouts to his corporate buddies. Florida governor has already been making rounds and trying to purge businesses from Texas and California with tax breaks and etc. He's the new Rick Perry LOL.

P.S., LA is continuously referred to as the most culturally diverse city in THE WORLD,with people from literally every corner of the world living here, so don't even dare say that's false. Do your research before you try to discredit people. Oh let me guess "no no no, I have a power point presentation that states that Houston is more diverse" HAHA

[caligrad]

Long story short, The census is saying LA just barely passed 4 million, I think LA passed that a few years ago but whatever.

Heres hoping we finally get our act together and get people out of their cars and into our expanding metro rail....espeacially tourists.

[dktshb]

Originally Posted by caligrad

Long story short, The census is saying LA just barely passed 4 million, I think LA passed that a few years ago but whatever.

Heres hoping we finally get our act together and get people out of their cars and into our expanding metro rail....espeacially tourists.

Expo line from Downtown to Santa Monica opening May 20th will be a game changer for shuffling tourists between Downtown and the Beach.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by dktshb

Expo line from Downtown to Santa Monica opening May 20th will be a game changer for shuffling tourists between Downtown and the Beach.

Definitely. I think the Expo Line will totally be used by tourists. Once you're in Santa Monica, Venice is a reasonable walk or bus ride away. My partner and I have walked from that Main Street area of Santa Monica to Venice and back, dozens of times.

[urbanadvocate]

Why do people always compare Houston and LA like they are similar? Besides being sunbelt "boom" towns (currently or previously) what do they have in common? Climate, topography, demographics, economy, size, culture, growth patterns, history--all those seem vastly different. Houston is Houston--it is not the new LA. They both have national relevance but for very different reasons. Globally? Very different relevance for now.

[ChargerCarl]

Originally Posted by caligrad

Texas economy is built around oil, cheap land and cheap housing. Take those things away ( which is currently happening) and Texas doesn't seem nearly as attractive.

I'm bothered that you mention this like it's a bad thing. While we can't do anything about cheap land, LA could have cheap housing too if we liberalized our land use regulations to the extent that Houston has.

This is something we should admire Texas cities for.

[tech12]

Originally Posted by ChargerCarl

I'm bothered that you mention this like it's a bad thing. While we can't do anything about cheap land, LA could have cheap housing too if we liberalized our land use regulations to the extent that Houston has.

This is something we should admire Texas cities for.

As long as we don't admire the part where they allow residential neighborhoods to spring up next to a fertilizer plant, that explodes due to poor regulation, and demolishes half of said neighborhood.

[caligrad]

Originally Posted by urbanadvocate

Why do people always compare Houston and LA like they are similar? Besides being sunbelt "boom" towns (currently or previously) what do they have in common? Climate, topography, demographics, economy, size, culture, growth patterns, history--all those seem vastly different. Houston is Houston--it is not the new LA. They both have national relevance but for very different reasons. Globally? Very different relevance for now.

Thank You

[ChargerCarl]

Originally Posted by tech12

As long as we don't admire the part where they allow residential neighborhoods to spring up next to a fertilizer plant, that explodes due to poor regulation, and demolishes half of said neighborhood.

Vastly overrated problem.

[tech12]

Originally Posted by ChargerCarl

Vastly overrated problem.

I dunno, I think proper industrial regulation is pretty important.

[ChargerCarl]

Originally Posted by tech12

I dunno, I think proper industrial regulation is pretty important.

I don't think euclidean zoning is the answer. It creates more problems than it solves.

[caligrad]

Originally Posted by ChargerCarl

I'm bothered that you mention this like it's a bad thing. While we can't do anything about cheap land, LA could have cheap housing too if we liberalized our land use regulations to the extent that Houston has.

This is something we should admire Texas cities for.

If you took what I said that way, then you took it out of context. I never said those were necessarily bad things. I was merely pointing out why Texas and Houston is (was) booming. But since the oil industry and other commodities have collapsed since 2014 with zero sign of recovering anytime soon, its been reported over and over that Texas and its cities are struggling at the moment because their main driver IS oil and everything related to oil.

People tend to forget, LA WAS the Houston of the 90s. LA didn't sprawl, but its surrounding counties ( Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside and etc. ) did and allowed for cheap housing and cheap land to build those suburban cookie cutter housing projects and suburban office parks. Back in the 90s, you could easily buy a house in LA and surrounding areas for less than $200k.

LA is currently going through a drastic makeover. Our job base is switching from (industrial/manufacturing/consumer based) to (Tech/Medical/ back to aero space/engineering and a resurgence in the movie industry) which is a good thing. In an article you posted on the "people want to leave SF" thread, it even states this.

LA is a rare city that is divided, as stated in the article that you posted. its part Rust belt and part sun belt and its currently dumping all of its rust belt type jobs which ironically are heading to Texas with their lax laws and taxes.

Originally Posted by ChargerCarl

Vastly overrated problem.

As a current property owner of two properties in Houston, about to be three properties later this year, I'm sorry but this is all kinds of wrong. It is far from overrated, its actually not criticized enough.

Houston is the only large city in the nation with no zoning laws, which has proven to be ridiculous in some instances. You will in fact find a 40 story building surrounded by single family homes on all sides. (No zoning laws). There is an instance where a developer bought all of this land around one single family home (because the owner wouldn't sell) to build a theme park and intentionally built a rollercoaster all around the home to make the owner sell. (no zoning laws). There is an instance where there is a strip club right next door to a school. (no zoning laws). You will find liquor stores right next door to schools. (no zoning laws).

Ive actually found myself becoming a Texas nimby because my tenants are always keeping me informed. Ive so far had to fight above ground oil tanks, sewage plant, chemical plant, fireworks factory, chemical rail depot and my personal favorite, the property right next door to one of mine was to have a 6 story parking garage/structure that was going to be for 3 story housing project. that 6 story parking garage was going to go right up next to my property, a one story house.

ALL OF THIS IN THE MIDDLE OF A SUBURBAN AREA. so no, those problems are far from being overrated, there actually should be a bigger public outcry. Its one thing to be business friendly, but its another thing to let businesses/developers do whatever they want.

The only thing to admire about Texas is its tax laws and business friendly environment and drive to get things done. But since those low tax laws and etc. relied heavily on high oil prices, there's already been talks that those taxes may be going up and etc. but having zero zoning laws is not something LA should want. If anything we need to totally redo the outdated laws we already have.

[dktshb]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

Definitely. I think the Expo Line will totally be used by tourists. Once you're in Santa Monica, Venice is a reasonable walk or bus ride away. My partner and I have walked from that Main Street area of Santa Monica to Venice and back, dozens of times.

Likewise. We generally walk from one pier to the next. Any tourist who wants to go to Venice I would still recommend taking the expo line and walking along the beach from Santa Monica to Venice. Not many better places on the planet to walk. Weather always perfect and there is a lot to see.

Guess I got off topic though.

We should probably steer away from the Houston thing going on here too...

[JoninATX]

Wow, was all this talk about dissing Houston necessary?

[chris08876]

If you guys have GIS, either legit or pirated, there are some neat data sets here for population: http://egis3.lacounty.gov/dataportal...rty-estimates/

Along with the main page: http://egis3.lacounty.gov/dataportal/data-catalog/

For everything related to LA.

I haven't seen a GIS for 2015 for these estimates. Only up to 2014. IDK if its there or not, but I haven't spotted it.

Still, I'd like to see a set with 2015 estimates, and data such as density. Curious to compare the changes in various neighborhoods, and which ones witnessed the biggest population gains.

Maybe ESRI has some, but they are a bunch of thieves charging for data sets. Overpriced in some cases.

[ChargerCarl]

Originally Posted by caligrad

Houston is the only large city in the nation with no zoning laws, which has proven to be ridiculous in some instances. You will in fact find a 40 story building surrounded by single family homes on all sides. (No zoning laws).

So? What exactly is the problem?

There is an instance where a developer bought all of this land around one single family home (because the owner wouldn't sell) to build a theme park and intentionally built a rollercoaster all around the home to make the owner sell. (no zoning laws). There is an instance where there is a strip club right next door to a school. (no zoning laws). You will find liquor stores right next door to schools. (no zoning laws).

So?

Ive actually found myself becoming a Texas nimby because my tenants are always keeping me informed. Ive so far had to fight above ground oil tanks, sewage plant, chemical plant, fireworks factory, chemical rail depot and my personal favorite, the property right next door to one of mine was to have a 6 story parking garage/structure that was going to be for 3 story housing project. that 6 story parking garage was going to go right up next to my property, a one story house.

So?

ALL OF THIS IN THE MIDDLE OF A SUBURBAN AREA.

SO!?

so no, those problems are far from being overrated, there actually should be a bigger public outcry. Its one thing to be business friendly, but its another thing to let businesses/developers do whatever they want.

No offense, but your complaints sound like a lot of NIMBY bloviating to me. Japanese cities have all of the "problems" you listed above yet they're just fine, in fact I prefer them to any Western city I've ever been to. Even their third rate cities like Nagoya shit all over LA. The market will tend to segregate these types of land use away from each other anyways without the need for euclidean zoning.

[mhays]

If Houston had any cohesive urbanity that would be a more compelling argument.