Siara's Thoughts On, moving from a small town to a big city
- Siara Carpenter
- Sep 30, 2023
- 3 min read
I hate LA. Coming from a humble childhood in Chicago moving to Los Angeles is actually the worst. LA has no public transit, the food is poor in comparison, everything costs so much here, and the people simply live in their own world.
I will explain what living in Chicago was like for me, then explain what living in LA is like, and I hope to show why Chicago is far superior.
Now I will be the first to say, I did not grow up in Chicago. I grew up in the small suburb of Flossmoor, which last I checked had about 8,000 people. We were adjoined with the town of Homewood, which had about 10,000 people. My high school, Homewood-Flossmoor High School had about 3,000 kids. Meaning I grew up in a high school town, where everyone went to the same school and repped it. Going to high school was a huge transition for us, as it was one of the largest and best funded public schools in the state. And while we could keep to ourselves in our little town which had ample things to do, short lines, and low cost mom and pop shops, we would all venture into the city. The Chicago I know is glorified, but it is beautiful. My favorite thing about my Chicago upbringing is the train. No matter what your financial status is, everyone takes the train. I lived in a fairly wealthy suburb, but every morning there would be plenty of people walking to the train that would take them into the city. Riding the train is not a sign of poverty, but a sign of convenience. I am reliant on train conductors for directions, and simply having a good morning. The train was cheap and densely populated. When I would get to the city there would always be people there, so there was safety in numbers. Walking around at night as a girl I was never afraid, my mom even let me go downtown without supervision with my friends when I was 14; would you trust a group of five 14 year olds in downtown LA? Chicago, to me, is a city that is meant for living. It is filled with nice people who will speak to you on the street and watch your back. It is walkable, and it is safe due to the amount of people on the street.
LA is not. Downtown LA at night is a ghost town. Despite living closer to downtown LA than I do to downtown Chicago, I found myself downtown more back home. I understand its familiarity, but LA is not meant for walking. Having been downtown around 10PM there is not a soul walking around. I Uber downtown instead of using public transit, it's more private, but ultimately very isolating. Everyone here is stuck in their bubbles. Talking to people on the street is unheard of, and everyone has a watchful eye about each other, not for each other. The food is not great (it is good in specific pockets of the city but not downtown) but it will hurt your pockets. Public transit is undeveloped and generally unreliable. While I love USC, I love so many people that I've met here, I hate LA. LA is not meant for people of all backgrounds, the wealth gap is apparent and the culture is so flashy without substance.
Going from a small town to a noisy little college bubble has been a lot. My small town is peaceful...but I still hate it for my own reasons. LA has given me lots of reasons to hate it, but I can get over those. I have a lot of love for what LA has taught me, but it is so vastly different than what I'm used to. I appreciate that I can see new things, but this place is so lonely.
As someone who lived in a bigger diverse city, moved to a small town suburb, then back to a big city, I really resonated with this piece. Looking back, while I hated it at the time, I think this shift in dynamics and habitat really opened my eyes to more perspectives for greater or for worse. Do you think these types of experiences are important for personal growth or does it highlight a societal push towards more urbanization? Your takes on the differences between dynamics in small-towns and big cities made for a really interesting read.
I found your perspective on moving from Chicago to Los Angeles incredibly interesting. In my life, I never experienced an environment where I felt safe walking alone at night, especially as a girl. The idea of doing so seems like an absolute dream. Your article beautifully highlights the contrast between your life in a small, peaceful town and the bustling, isolated environment of LA. It's fascinating to see how you've navigated and adapted to these changes and the impact they've had on you. Also, I completely relate to your perception of Los Angeles. Like many, I fell in love with the romanticized version of LA portrayed in Hollywood movies. But upon arriving here, I quickly realized that the city's charm…
As someone who grew up here and proudly calls LA home, I will admit this is slightly heartbreaking. I would love to be your guide! I agree that the lack of walkability in LA makes it difficult to connect with the city, and our poor public transportation certainly does not help. Though it's your senior year, I hope you are able to take advantage of the different pockets of the city and look back on your time in LA fondly.
It is so incredibly easy to get trapped within the college bubble, and easily overlook the actual place we are in. I agree that downtown LA can reinforce the appeal of the college bubble, since the lack of public transit makes exploring so much more inaccessible and can isolate many populations. I've tried my best to branch out and explore outside of campus, and hope that you'll continue finding things in southern California to explore as well!
I definitely agree with the premise of this. It's hard for the culture to penetrate a space that does its best to keep everything out of the bubble, and SC definitely reinforces that. I found myself having to reach out to the greater LA space and every time I do I find myself liking LA that much more. I definitely feel you though and hope to see LA grow on you!