All that glitters is not gold
For some, LA is a place of shattered dreams, broken promises and extreme poverty, Alison Godfrey writes.
THE FIRST thing I see from the safety of my cab on the way to Los Angeles’ famous Farmers’ Markets is a woman wearing a grubby G-string with tattered bandages wrapped around her calves trying to striptease passengers at a bus stop.
The woman is clearly affected by drugs. Commuters recoil as she stumbles while dancing to a tune only in her head. Welcome to Los Angeles. It’s known as the City of Angels but there are also plenty of devils to be found.
LA may be La La Land for those who can afford to indulge in its riches and to sip champagne at the pool bar on top of the Roosevelt Hotel. For others it’s a place of shattered dreams, broken promises and extreme poverty.
This is not a city that you can walk around. It’s not a city to explore and delve into without a plan. It’s not a city to go ‘‘off the beaten track’’. It’s too big, too dirty and in parts, too dangerous, to deviate from the tourist route.
The big red hop-on-hop-off bus is a great way to explore the city. For $45 the bus takes you around LA with a commentary focused on movie stars and celebrity.
But while it’s safe to hop off at each tourist stop, walking between them is really not an option. What may look like five blocks on the map could take an hour to walk.
LA has a distinct lack of public transport and there are no cabs to hail should you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, next to a halfnaked woman doing a striptease.
This is a city where the desperate go to make themselves.
From the cab driver who tried to sell me his life story for thousands of dollars, to the men and women dressed up as film characters on the streets of Hollywood asking for cash for a photo, everyone is chasing a dollar. For the few who achieve the American dream there are thousands who fail.
Homeless men and women push shopping trolleys past Ferraris on Rodeo Drive and no-one bats an eyelid. Beneath towering California palms and billboards of movie stars, buildings crumble and decay.
LA promises decadence and luxury. But the city offers up those jewels to only the lucky few.