I spent two weeks in August travelling out to Los Angeles, California and Alaska. I had never been to either one before and I spent about a week in each place.
Reflections on Los Angeles:
1) The city is very spread out and decentralized. I spent the first two months of summer living in New York. Los Angeles is eseentially a flattened out New York. So you have the same amenities and offerings, just spread out over a larger area. Just takes getting used to the fact that everything is spread out.
2) There is lots of distressed real estate and it will come back. California had a huge real estate bubble crash. Being on the ground in LA gave me the opportunity to see first hand the condition of the real estate market. There is going to be lots of opportunity in California real estate in the next few years. Having spent time in Dubai (which also had a huge real estate crash), I saw that LA has real fundamental demand for goods and services. Dubai was just built on nothing. Check out this graphic from RealtyTrac which does a good job of showing a snapshot of real estate in California.
California Foreclosures
3) California has water problems. I went to a sushi restaurant and I noticed the following sign posted around the restaurant:
Water Problems
I’ve never seen a sign like that, but it makes sense given the water conservation efforts underway in California.
4) The city is littered with seekers of fame. If I were to generalize about cities I’ve spent time in, I would say New York: Money, Washington DC: Power, and now Los Angeles: Fame. That’s not necessarily bad or good, that’s just how I see it. The culture of Los Angeles seems very predicated on status and fame.
5) The food is out of this world. It should be no surprise given the ethnic diversity found in California, that the food is amazing. I don’t need to say much more.
6) Public transportation is not part of the equation. This summer I took the metro or a bus all over New York. It was so easy and convenient. In LA, that doesn’t appear to be the case.
Reflections on Alaska:
Alaska was absolutely gorgeous. I spent about a week out in the middle of no where (which was a nice break from the buzzing of the BlackBerry) and I got to truly enjoy the outdoors. I’ve enjoyed fishing ever since I can remember, and Alaskan fishing was a true pleasure.
One of the biggest things I learned on this trip was about an environmental issue called the Pebble Mine Project. In a nutshell, the proposed project is to build a open pit copper mine in Bristol Bay which experts estimate has about $500 billion in copper deposits. Bristol Bay is home to some of the largest salmon runs in the world and provides about $300 million in revenue for the local fisherman. This proposed mine, which would be among the largest ever built, poses a significant threat to the entire ecosystem in the area because there is virtually no way to safegaurd the water, air, and land against a mine of this size. I can’t say I’m the biggest environmentalist in the world, but there’s something indescribable and beautiful about the nature of Alaska. It would be a shame to see it destroyed. My friend Kiley has a more in depth post on the issue of the ongoing Pebble Mine Project.
I would love to spend more time in Alaska. Here’s a few pictures from my trip:
Fly Fishing
The Scenery
Alaskan Sockeye Salmon
