Hacker News Reader

Comment by jasonwilk | Hacker News Reader

Traffic in Los Angeles is in a sad state. I have moved my house and office to within 2.5 miles of eachother so that I never need to see a freeway. I am fortunate to be able to do so. There is heavy traffic all the time, even when you least suspect it. It's no way to live.

View on HN

For me it's a deal breaker -- I could never live in LA because of the traffic. I have relatives there, and I am reminded anew every time I visit how horrendous the traffic situation is.

Still, millions of people manage to make it work somehow, so I guess you eventually get used to it and plan accordingly.

I think visitors see the worst of it. LA is big, can you can set up your work/life to avoid the worst of it (like the parent poster did). Like you said, you plan accordingly (many jobs are flexible about scheduling, too). When visiting, usually you're on a constrained timetable and your only choice is to brute force your way through the worst traffic.

Holidays are usually the worst of the worst. For a few years I drove from the east part of LA to Vegas for Thanksgiving (not having to drive through LA). That 4 hour drive (admittedly a bit longer on a Friday) took 13 hours; 1pm - 2am.

What's unfortunate is in LA it is not just that there's rush hour on the weekends, it's all over and at odd times. 9-5 workers have accommodated the situation so long that leisure time is regularly constrained.

> What's unfortunate is in LA it is not just that there's rush hour on the weekends, it's all over and at odd times.

Yeah...people here in the Bay Area say traffic is bad, but it's mostly concentrated at rush hour. In LA, I recall traffic jams at 11:00 PM. You don't see that much in other places.

It's really sad. There are so many good places, food, events, activities in LA, but the sprawl and traffic ensure that meeting up with friends or exploring the city is a difficult headache. It feels like punishment from a fable or something.

I have not yet lived in a metro area in the United States where traffic is not bad, particularly at rush hours. Try getting from Boston to Cambridge any time outside the early morning hours. Or Seattle to Tukwila.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com