You have great takes. Palm Springs could be a beautiful walkable desert city, but instead it's a sprawling un-walkable nightmare. Instead of making distances short to lessen sun exposure, they did the opposite and assumed everyone would just take their luxury SUV. It's just a wasteful wealthy enclave that exploits the golf course loophole in California tax code. Their "historical" sites that they claim would be ruined with development are literally a car wash, a drive through, and a casino. Things that any reasonable city would replace in a heartbeat if a better use was proposed. Malibu is a beautiful location squandered by an uncrossable and noisy highway. Oceanside is a parking lot crater. One I would add is Irvine. It's super overhyped. People talk about it as if it's a walkable community but their downtown is a storage unit structure and those weird restaurants in the middle of a mall parking lot. It's a joke of a city.
I agree about Huntington Beach and Oceanside. You are almost spot on with BH as your top pic. Boooorrring! I would have put Malibu as number one though. I rather like Palm Springs, however. I mean, I agree with your assessment of the stroad and whatnot but I enjoy the mountains and Indian Canyons and occasionally getting my mid-century modern fix. Solvang is another overrated that I nevertheless enjoy going to on occasion. But you have to be in the area....it's not worth driving there from LA just for itself. Ditto Ojia. But I have relatives in Oxnard so a jaunt to Ojai is not a big deal sometimes. But, yeah....Ojai has very little to do. I live rather close to Glendale and just take it for what it is....but yes, you're right about the aggression on the roads and everyone there seems so BASIC! Get up in the neighborhoods near the Verdugos and it's nice, though. Good video.
Definitely need to see that video of the most underrated! I have been to some of these but not all - literally just got back to Carlsbad after spending the day in Oceanside haha. Agree it's a bit meh. Pretty dirty and rundown in parts, beach isn't that nice, and there are just so many annoying cars and people playing loud music and stuff. Has potential, but not there yet. I quite enjoyed Solvang! It's cute and charming, but very touristy. I am starting to realise how much I hate tourist traps lol, just so many people and so much traffic everywhere.
Agreed that town of Sonoma lacks but go to western Sonoma County for biking, tubing the Russian River and great beer. Also, Monterey has a cool bike trail up and down the coast.
Grew up playing in HB and it is a total joke. Only go there now, if I must. Agree with the rest of the list except for Palm Springs. Yes, PS has its faults but winters in PS are magically. Hiking is great and Mount San Jacinto is a treasure. Gay pride in PS is a fun with something for everyone (gay or straight) and they usually great musical acts.
I like that this list is a little more thought out rather than simply picking all the most popular and well known places and just calling those ‘overrated’, and I agree with most of the places on this list, especially Beverly Hills and Palm Springs. I bring up this point because I sometimes hear people say Santa Monica is overrated, yet I think it is properly rated and is one of the few good beach cities in the US. It is very walkable, has a lot of mixed use development, has good transit access, a great amount of green spaces for LA county standards (I don’t see many places that have something like the Palisades Park) and has some of the best bike infrastructure in LA county. There are definitely overrated things in SM (the Pier!), and while downtown Santa Monica can be a bit touristy, there are other parts that offer different experiences, like Main Street (my preferred area of SM) and Montana ave. On a similar note, I also think Venice beach is properly rated, since it has its own unique vibe and energy that you simply don’t see in other beach towns/cities. They’re definitely not underrated, I just think their popularity is well deserved. I think the takeaway from what I’m saying is that a lot of beach towns/cities are overrated because they’re very generic, but I think SM and Venice offer so much more than places like HB, Oceanside and other touristy beach towns in the US. Just my take as an LA resident.
Your take on Oceanside is personally targeted because I was one of those edgy teenagers who thought visiting there was the coolest thing ever 😂 RIP Santino's Pizza
Disagree with you regarding many of these, especially Glendale. When I was going through a tough time in my life, I would get up early in the a.m. and drive my car to Brand Park library and hike the 7 sisters trail and hang out in my car at Fremont Park. I would drive up and down Glen Oaks Blvd and when night came, drive to the Church of the Incarnation on Brand Blvd and just park outside it for a while then take Brand Blvd back to L.A. I agree with you on Malibu and Huntington Park
I have to agree with your take on Oceanside and Sonoma. As a San Diegan, Oceanside is a marine corp town, being right next to Camp Pendleton Marine Corp Base. Yes, there's the beach and the pear, but that's it and I agree that's very run down. I have been to Sonoma several times when I had relatives there, it's got a small-town feel, but It never grew on me. If you are a wine snob and want to be a short walk away from wine tasting, then that's fine, but I found it underwhelming. I also have to agree with your take on HB, a few of my friends think the world of HB, but it never grew on me.
One of the draws that makes palm springs noteworthy is its classic mid century modern architectural style of its homes- not as much in the commercial strip. as well as the queer community- they have a big pride celebration every year
I find most towns and cities pretty boring, but that can be a good thing for residents. Unless you are chasing a specific activity - surfing, skiing, hang-gliding etc - even the areas that feature these high adrenaline sports are usually pretty dead in the off season. Bigger cities can be a mixed bag - I didn't appreciate Melbourne until I discovered it's cafes but that's all part of the journey. Weather wise, it still sucks ;) th-cam.com/video/_CAE82h10sI/w-d-xo.html
Don’t swim in Malibu Creek State Park I have to take 4 different antibiotics right now. Also two fun facts about Malibu when Nobu has Major events the McDonald’s across from it gets super busy and Malibu has no sewage system so Cher has to have a sceptic tank emptied every few months
You have great takes. Palm Springs could be a beautiful walkable desert city, but instead it's a sprawling un-walkable nightmare. Instead of making distances short to lessen sun exposure, they did the opposite and assumed everyone would just take their luxury SUV. It's just a wasteful wealthy enclave that exploits the golf course loophole in California tax code. Their "historical" sites that they claim would be ruined with development are literally a car wash, a drive through, and a casino. Things that any reasonable city would replace in a heartbeat if a better use was proposed.
Malibu is a beautiful location squandered by an uncrossable and noisy highway.
Oceanside is a parking lot crater.
One I would add is Irvine. It's super overhyped. People talk about it as if it's a walkable community but their downtown is a storage unit structure and those weird restaurants in the middle of a mall parking lot. It's a joke of a city.
Great video-I love your take on these cities!
I agree about Huntington Beach and Oceanside. You are almost spot on with BH as your top pic. Boooorrring! I would have put Malibu as number one though. I rather like Palm Springs, however. I mean, I agree with your assessment of the stroad and whatnot but I enjoy the mountains and Indian Canyons and occasionally getting my mid-century modern fix. Solvang is another overrated that I nevertheless enjoy going to on occasion. But you have to be in the area....it's not worth driving there from LA just for itself. Ditto Ojia. But I have relatives in Oxnard so a jaunt to Ojai is not a big deal sometimes. But, yeah....Ojai has very little to do. I live rather close to Glendale and just take it for what it is....but yes, you're right about the aggression on the roads and everyone there seems so BASIC! Get up in the neighborhoods near the Verdugos and it's nice, though. Good video.
I was born in Glendale but grew up in Downtown Long Beach after briefly living in Sherman Oaks and a hellish foster care system in Riverside.
Definitely need to see that video of the most underrated! I have been to some of these but not all - literally just got back to Carlsbad after spending the day in Oceanside haha. Agree it's a bit meh. Pretty dirty and rundown in parts, beach isn't that nice, and there are just so many annoying cars and people playing loud music and stuff. Has potential, but not there yet. I quite enjoyed Solvang! It's cute and charming, but very touristy. I am starting to realise how much I hate tourist traps lol, just so many people and so much traffic everywhere.
After the 70;s these places all went to shit as America as a whole.. So glad I left so so many years ago.
70s and into the 80s was the last great decade in the US.
Agreed that town of Sonoma lacks but go to western Sonoma County for biking, tubing the Russian River and great beer.
Also, Monterey has a cool bike trail up and down the coast.
Grew up playing in HB and it is a total joke. Only go there now, if I must. Agree with the rest of the list except for Palm Springs. Yes, PS has its faults but winters in PS are magically. Hiking is great and Mount San Jacinto is a treasure. Gay pride in PS is a fun with something for everyone (gay or straight) and they usually great musical acts.
I like that this list is a little more thought out rather than simply picking all the most popular and well known places and just calling those ‘overrated’, and I agree with most of the places on this list, especially Beverly Hills and Palm Springs. I bring up this point because I sometimes hear people say Santa Monica is overrated, yet I think it is properly rated and is one of the few good beach cities in the US. It is very walkable, has a lot of mixed use development, has good transit access, a great amount of green spaces for LA county standards (I don’t see many places that have something like the Palisades Park) and has some of the best bike infrastructure in LA county. There are definitely overrated things in SM (the Pier!), and while downtown Santa Monica can be a bit touristy, there are other parts that offer different experiences, like Main Street (my preferred area of SM) and Montana ave. On a similar note, I also think Venice beach is properly rated, since it has its own unique vibe and energy that you simply don’t see in other beach towns/cities. They’re definitely not underrated, I just think their popularity is well deserved. I think the takeaway from what I’m saying is that a lot of beach towns/cities are overrated because they’re very generic, but I think SM and Venice offer so much more than places like HB, Oceanside and other touristy beach towns in the US. Just my take as an LA resident.
Your take on Oceanside is personally targeted because I was one of those edgy teenagers who thought visiting there was the coolest thing ever 😂 RIP Santino's Pizza
Disagree with you regarding many of these, especially Glendale. When I was going through a tough time in my life, I would get up early in the a.m. and drive my car to Brand Park library and hike the 7 sisters trail and hang out in my car at Fremont Park. I would drive up and down Glen Oaks Blvd and when night came, drive to the Church of the Incarnation on Brand Blvd and just park outside it for a while then take Brand Blvd back to L.A. I agree with you on Malibu and Huntington Park
I have to agree with your take on Oceanside and Sonoma. As a San Diegan, Oceanside is a marine corp town, being right next to Camp Pendleton Marine Corp Base. Yes, there's the beach and the pear, but that's it and I agree that's very run down. I have been to Sonoma several times when I had relatives there, it's got a small-town feel, but It never grew on me. If you are a wine snob and want to be a short walk away from wine tasting, then that's fine, but I found it underwhelming. I also have to agree with your take on HB, a few of my friends think the world of HB, but it never grew on me.
One of the draws that makes palm springs noteworthy is its classic mid century modern architectural style of its homes- not as much in the commercial strip. as well as the queer community- they have a big pride celebration every year
I find most towns and cities pretty boring, but that can be a good thing for residents. Unless you are chasing a specific activity - surfing, skiing, hang-gliding etc - even the areas that feature these high adrenaline sports are usually pretty dead in the off season. Bigger cities can be a mixed bag - I didn't appreciate Melbourne until I discovered it's cafes but that's all part of the journey. Weather wise, it still sucks ;)
th-cam.com/video/_CAE82h10sI/w-d-xo.html
Don’t swim in Malibu Creek State Park I have to take 4 different antibiotics right now. Also two fun facts about Malibu when Nobu has Major events the McDonald’s across from it gets super busy and Malibu has no sewage system so Cher has to have a sceptic tank emptied every few months
I disagree with quite literally every city you mentioned here, including Palm Springs.
you are allowed to :)
The political climate in California needs to drastically change for the better before California becomes palatable.
The whole of California is now officially overrated