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Hey, the Bay Area is just as nasty as LA and San Diego, in terms of too much traffic, too many people, too much crime, corrupt politics, too expensive, on and on. And don't even mention all those depressing pestholes along Highway 99!
I find it mildly interesting that Rick's attitude to Los Angeles somewhat mirrors my attitude to the USA as whole.
Apart from all its other deficiencies, the people in LA are unusually repellant. There are far too many people who are violent, unstable, nasty, and all too ready to do someone a bad turn rather than be helpful and friendly. A hell of a lot of Schadenfreude, envy, and all-round ignorance and nastiness -- far too much brainwashed roadkill and cultureless trash.
But that is so true of the USA as a whole, though more prevalent in LA -- and in California everywhere, for that matter, despite Rick's praise for northern California. Now Eureka, there is a town that is trashy in every way! I keep hoping for a tsunami to wipe it out.
As soon as you cross the northern California border, there is a real change! You start meeting people who you could imagine are real human beings! Just over the border in Oregon is the pleasant town of Ashland, known for its culture and art. Further north, there is the university town of of Eugene, and, except for its spaghetti of freeways, the quite livable city of Portland.
It is true that one must pass through Washington and the horrid Black Hole of Seattle before one can escape to the refuge of Canada and actual traces of civilized living, but once over the blesséd border one's experiences in the Hysterical States of America dwindle to a repulsive, but fading dream.
