JUST THE FACTS, MA'AM: L.A. BASICS

With thanks to the L.A. Convention and Visitors Bureau, and I added notes that HardwareStoreJedi and Miana Kenobi have pointed out....

Since it appears that many of you have never been to Los Angeles and/or California, perhaps the following information will help to orient you to the Golden State and its many rules and regulations .

CLIMATE

Los Angeles enjoys what is called a ?Mediterranean climate;? moderate temperatures with low humidity year-round. IT WILL NOT RAIN. Midday readings average 70 degrees in May; expect middle to high 70?s, I?d say. However, be aware that heat waves are not uncommon on Memorial Day - as in 90-100+ degrees, Fahrenheit. Take precautions in costuming appropriately. Luckily, evenings are generallly cool, even in the summer.

DRIVING AND PARKING

The minimum driving age in California is 16. Drivers must posses a valid U.S. or international driver?s license.

If there are no posted signs (or ones that you can?t see because you are driving by too fast), maximum speed is 25 miles per hour on city streets and 65 miles per hour on the freeway. Yes, we Californians fudge on this. But that doesn?t mean you should. Be safe, not sorry.

California law requires that seat belts be used at all times. This means YOU, people! See safe, not sorry comment, above.

You can turn right on red lights (unless otherwise posted, which isn?t very often) in California.

Los Angeles is full of one way streets. You may turn left into a left-moving one-way street if there is no sign to prohibit the turn. Yield to pedestrians, bicyclists or other vehicles moving on their green light.

Drunk driving is taken very seriously out here. Honestly, did I have to point that out?

Lots of tickets are given for parking violations. There is not a whole lot of long-term parking around the convention center. OK, there really isn?t any. So, before you park that rental on a side street, get out and find those parking signs. And ?it was hidden behind a tree? is no excuse when the tow truck shows up.

SALES AND HOTEL TAX

If you are buying stuff in Los Angeles County (which is pretty likely, so you're bringing a lot of money, right?), you will be charged a sales tax of 8.25%. All you Oregonians, stop groaning!

The Hotel Transient Occupancy Tax (or TOT, for those in the hotel biz) in the City of Los Angeles is 14%. Sales Tax is not charged on top of this ? the politicians are not quite that greedy. In other cities, the TOT ranges from 10% to 14%.

SMOKING AND DRINKING

You cannot smoke indoors in any public building in California; bars, restaurants, libraries, it doesn?t matter. If a restaurant has an outdoor dining area, smoking is generally permitted; but be prepared to get dirty looks. It?s just the way it is.

The legal age for drinking and purchasing alcohol in California is 21. And yes, if you look remotely under 30, you will get carded. If you?re not 21, just order that Mountain Dew and be happy with it. Bartenders and the restaurants they work at can get in really big trouble if they serve underage drinkers, so keep ?em happy, OK?

FOR INTERNATIONAL TRAVELERS

Electrical current in the States is 110 volts AC. Bring a converter with you.

And DVDs sold out here are generally for Region 1, so think about that before you load up with 50 bootleg copies of the Holiday Special.

And thanks to Happy Ninja, I've added this:

"DVD's in the United States are Region 1, whereas Europe is Region 2, and Australia is Region 4 - the majority of DVD players these days are multiregion either via hacking your player via your remote control, or by having it chipped like mine (I seriously do not recommend that you play them on your PC's DVD player as with a lot of drives, once the region has been changed, you cannot change them back); however, you need to make sure that your television can produce an NTSC signal, as that is the screening format in the USA, whereas Europe/Australia run on a PAL system."

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I?ll be follow

 

Just like Texas.

 

I would also like to add this:

Los Angeles is full of one way streets. UNLESS POSTED OTHERWISE, it is okay to turn left on a red light if you are on a one way street cross (if the one way street permits it, that is.)

Unless LA has different rules than us. Helen?

 

We are just a little too impatient here to wait for all the pedestrians to cross the street.

 

No, it's not allowed, but certain drivers do it because they're idiots and don't know how to drive.

 

Also:

DMV rules
Green light = go.
Yellow light = slow down, red's coming up.
Red light = STOP.


CA Drivers
Green light = go.
Yellow light = Speed up
Red light = either stop or keep going.

 

Fixed.

CA DMV

 

You're kidding! I'd heard once upon a time that California drivers were pretty good about not blowing through yellow lights (at least compared to drivers in the east). Oh well. I guess it's time for me to be disabused of my fallacious notions.

How is transportation for those of us who might not have access to a car while we're there?

 

Depends on where you want to go. Easy public transportation, by which I mean Metrolink trains and subways, to the San Fernando Valley (including Hollywood and Universal Studios) is good. Downtown LA -- very good, with the train and DASH buses. Parts of the San Gabriel Valley, which is 20 miles east of L.A., can be hard to get to. Getting to and from LAX -- very easy now, with the new Flyaway bus service.

We do have a bus system, which like most bus services can take a while. You can actually get to Disneyland by train and bus, if you're interested in something like that; it'll be slower than driving, but you can get there.

We are a automobile-oriented society out here; although that is slowly changing, what's in place now is what you'll have in May of 2007.

 

Just wondering...how much money does a meal cost over there. I've heard like even McDonald's is expensive so give me an idea please!

 

I'm just about to leave the house... I'll drive by a McDonald's and let you know. I do think that the combos and whatnot tend to be at least a dollar more around here. However, all the fast food places are now coming out with those cheap "snack meals." Taco Bell is still the cheapest place around, though .

 

Taco Bell is great, I love that place.

I just hope that I can find a IHOP that's near where I'm staying by the LAX airport. I don't know how long I could go without an IHOP.

 

Ahem... after exhaustive research , here are some sample prices for you, as found in the greater L.A. basin:

Big Mac Combo: $4.79. Big Mac sandwich: $2.69.
Quarter Pounder Combo: $3.19.
Chicken Club Combo: $5.49.
New Snack Wraps: $1.69.

They do specials all the time, too. Right now, Double Cheeseburgers are $1.00 and 42 ounce drinks are 59 cents.

As far as IHOP goes, hmmmm (bit of BSP here: my company redesigned their corporate offices), there's one at 8600 South Sepulveda, just north of LAX. I think there are others around there, just have to find 'em.

 

*waves hand* You all WILL go to In & Out.

 

Um, for those of us that maybe vegatarian, or can't stomach any kind of fast food, is there a grocery store, or deli place we could eat at? Someplace we could possible buy portable munchies, like energy bars or dried fruit or something?

 

That's awesome for the IHOP. I love that place. I only say this as I'm staying at a hotel right across from LAX. Unless the fanclub block gives me something better.

 

There is a Ralphs market that is going in about three blocks away. It is supposed to be in the finishing stages. I haven't been down there for a couple of months, so need to check and see how that is going.

 

As a Brit who has lived in the States before, that's pretty sound advice.

Travel adapters are quite cheap, so I would certainly recommend on buying one, especially if you are taking a digital camera/camcorder, electric razor, et. al. with you.

DVD's in the United States are Region 1, whereas Europe is Region 2, and Australia is Region 4 - the majority of DVD players these days are multiregion either via hacking your player via your remote control, or by having it chipped like mine (I seriously do not recommend that you play them on your PC's DVD player as with a lot of drives, once the region has been changed, you cannot change them back); however, you need to make sure that your television can produce an NTSC signal, as that is the screening format in the USA, whereas Europe/Australia run on a PAL system.

(Just incase you don't know)

PS - I love the thread title - Die Hard 2 reference (although, Die Hard 2 is set in Washington, I think, and not in LA, where the first film was set...OMG, am I that lame I'm picking up on that! Ugh!)

 

Actually it's a Dragnet (the Jack Webb version) reference. But you would be too young to know that .

Thanks for the PAL info also, I will add that to the JTF thread.

 

Well, I was close.

 

Before I travel to Cali, I would like to learn more about the culture. Actually I'm more interested in the little things, like:

What do people normally wear over there?

How about language? Are there certain words or phrases that are used there? An example:

My sis-in-law is from Texas and I'm from the Chicago suburbs. Instead of saying "I'm going to," she says "I'm fixing." When I went to Baltimore a few years back I asked for a "Pop," and the people I stayed with did not know what I meant (Soda).

How about accents? Does the California Surfer speech really exist?

I lived in the Philippines for 12 years before my family moved to Illinois, so adapting is in my blood.

 

I'm from Baltimore. You're lucky you weren't punched in the nose when you asked for a pop! HAHA!

 

Californians are very casual. Since it can be warm in late May, you're looking at t-shirts and shorts for daytime. And a lot of people continue on with that attire into the evening (bring a jacket for nighttime, the temperature change as the sun goes down can be quite dramatic). Dress-up is reserved for fancy restaurants and church, and sometimes not even there.

Nobody says soda or pop. We go by brand names. "I'm going to bring home some Cokes" can mean anything from Diet Coke to Mountain Dew . There really aren't a lot of collequialisms that are expressed out here. We do, however, still call everybody "dude." LOL That kind of segues into the concept of surfer speech. Yes, if you hang out at the beach a lot, you'll pick that up. But "surfer and Valley Girl" talk has died out in the 'burbs, pretty much. Nowadays we might use it to crack each other up, but that's about it.

A thing which can be pretty funny -- we know all about Spanish pronunciation, obviously. Especially that double LL thingy. So, if someone walks up to you and says the word villa instead of vi-ya, or says La Jol-la instead of La Hoy-a, you can pretty much bet he's not from California . And oh yeah, the big street you might travel on coming from the airport, the longest one in Los Angeles: it's not Sep-ul-ve-da, it's Sa-pul-vada.

 

Oh, yeah, and the freeway thing.

People who visit us from other states/countries (or even northern cal) are surprised that we stick the word "the" in front of every freeway number. For example (and I used to work for long periods in Nor Cal):

NorCal speak: "Take 880 to 80 to 101..."

SoCal speak: "Take the 5 to the 134 to the 210..."

This may not be as pronounced as it used to be, but it used to crack us up when people would look at us funny...

MCP

 

That's exactly the way it is. Now someone of us natives can still say "take the Golden State to the Ventura to the Foothill," but 99% of people won't know what you're talking about, either .