Ahh, Los Angeles. The City of Angels. According to movies and television, this is where the party's at! LA is home to Hollywood, the city of stars, after all. Born and raised in LA, I can tell you that there are more than a few common misconceptions about the city and what it's like to live here. Read on to see what lies the film industry and internet culture has been spreading!
1. Palm trees are native to Beverly Hills.
I know, I know. The opening scene in "Slums of Beverly Hills" lied to you. Palm trees didn't become an iconic LA plant until some 18th century missionaries decided that they would look super cool lining the streets, and urged everyone to plant them. It wasn't until the 1930's that the palm tree planting craze really took off, even though they are completely impractical. They don't provide shade or any sort of marketable fruit, but they look nice, so they were here to stay. For whatever reason, they stuck.
2. New York City has worse traffic than LA.
When you think of really bad traffic, you think of the crazy, crowded streets of Manhattan, right? Wrong! Science says that Los Angeles actually has the worst traffic in the entire country! Amazingly, this doesn't stop native Los Angelinos such as myself by getting on the 405 freeway at 4pm on a Friday and complaining and wondering what I could have possibly done to make myself think that was a good decision. It's not really my fault, though, because there was no hope for us to have a solid public transportation system, anyways.
3. Seattle is the Starbucks capital of the country.
4. CELEBRITIES EVERYWHERE.
Technically, yes, a lot of A-list stars live in Los Angeles. Many, in fact, live in the next city over from where I grew up. My boyfriend in high school lived in the same cul-de-sac as Ray Parker Jr. My best friend's brothers used to party with the Jenner kids; they've apparently outgrown them -- I'm so proud. My dad once 'had brunch' with Mandy Patinkin. Aside from these few and far between celebrity run-ins, you hardly remember that they're all here when you're doing your business around the city. They don't typically draw attention to themselves, and it's not like there are huge hoards of paparazzi following them around like packs of wolves, so you really don't even notice them when you're out and about. Every once in a while, you may recognize Dianna Agron in a coffee shop (it happened to my dad once in Hollywood, and I still haven't forgiven him for not trying to sneak a picture), but it's much more rare than you would think.
5. The weather is beautiful all year round!
I'm so grateful that I grew up in such a culturally relevant and open-minded city, but there are so many lies about this glorious place that I had to set the record straight. This is my hometown, and I'm forever thankful that it is the way it is; even if the traffic is awful and I'll never get to comfortably wear a beanie and scarf in winter. I still probably wouldn't change a thing.
