I'm glad to know I'm living in a cultural desert. Looking at both the bands and the visual artists out here, we must have different usages of the word "desert" :)

Well it's the musician who called it a creative desert.

He'll learn soon enough that it's the desert where 90% of America's culture comes from. It's hard to understand without living there.

Maybe he means it's a desert with culture. At least from my experience going to school down there, "desert" is pretty accurate for the climate/environment in LA.

You're correct when it comes to some parts of the greater Los Angeles area; beyond the foothills that surround it and The Valley, but that's just because the city by that definition goes on forever.

Los Angeles proper; downtown and the surrounding areas, have a great climate because of the onshore breeze that comes in through Santa Monica. The indigenous foliage (what's left of it) there and up into the foothills is quite varied, and with everything the inhabitants have planted over the years, can be quite dense in some areas (largely supported by water from elsewhere in the state).

The extended areas as well, Angeles National Forest and the San Gabriel Mountains, can be comparable in density and recreation to forests across the nation.

I don't get how LA has this reputation for being a cultural desert. I live in the Bay Area and go down to LA several times a year to work on films, and I find it has a very vibrant cultural scene. If it wasn't for family ties I'd have moved down there years ago.

> I don't get how LA has this reputation for being a cultural desert

los angeles obviously isn't a cultural desert. it's the 2nd largest city in the US, the largest city in the most populous state, and the metro area is absolutely massive. if it's art, food, language, or entertainment that exists in the world, there's a high probability you can find it in LA. people just think they know the city from driving through it on a freeway 2 or 3 times, or going to one part of the city once.

there's also a lot of immature hatred in a lot of bay area people for LA because LA is bigger than SF and takes up a lot of global popular mindshare that they feel should be directed toward the bay.

also, by putting something down, people feel more sophisticated/superior to something they feel maybe doesn't deserve the attention it's getting. basic human psychology.