Post: #1

I was inspired to make this thread after the Where is GManifesto? was shut down following an exchange between me and MikeCF about living in Socal without a car.

It's funny to me because it seems MikeCF thinks Socal means Santa Monica, which is absurd and misses the mark. Anyone can live in a neighborhood and enjoy the conveniences that it offers. But this guy commits a logical fallacy by bringing up a bogus example of a supposed friend who makes $200K a year and rides a bicycle while living and working in his neighborhood. That misses the point. We're talking about living in SOCAL without a car.

As I said before, I don't know a single player who lives in LA without a car. It's such a tried and true fact about LA that arguing about it is pointless. It's like debating whether 1+1 = 2.

I'm not surprised as MikeCF has shown a strange pattern of immediately defending any criticism or skepticism regarding GManifesto. Not sure what that's about but it is a little strange. That being said, and getting back to the point, how does one live in SOCAL without a car? By that, I mean like how everyday, normal people (and players) live in NYC without a car. It can't be done. Period.

Also, have a civil discussion. We're grown men (or should be). I'm not having a competition with anyone from behind a keyboard. That's lame. Also, don't BS people with ridiculous examples. A single individual making 200K a year is automatically in the top 1% of income earners. That's not what we're getting at. Resorting to extreme unverifiable examples that don't apply to most people is automatically useless. Further, petulantly telling someone "lost" after making such an inconsequential example calls into question your underlying motivation.

Prove me wrong.

Post: #2

Fun Fact: L.A actually has it's own subway system: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Subway
I bet that'll surprise a lot of people. I'm guessing it's really shit?

Post: #3

Lol. Dude, anyone who reads that thread sees you lost the argument.

It's okay...It's just a message board.

Consider it an e-game of your sport of choice. Or a video game.

Nothing to get worked up over.

Post: #4

Are you talking about using a car or owning a car in SoCal?

I tend to agree with MikeCF on this one. You're saying that "It can't be done. Period."

Those are strong-ass words... especially coming from this forum where I thought guys here didn't follow the norm...
well, let me tell you that it can be done.. because I did it.

And a little about me.. I'm a born and bred Angeleno and about 6 years ago I found myself without a car.
I swear I thought it was going to be the end of the world and had to force myself to think differently.

But after figuring out the public transportation system, I never owned a car since.

I know you want specifics, but I'll give you the basics of it. I used to live in Los Feliz and if you look at the map above, I was walking distance from the Sunset/Vermont station and worked out of the 7th and Metro station.

I had a lot of things that were walking distance from me.. grocery, bars, etc. How about when I went out to the clubs in Hollywood? Ether Taxi, hitch a ride with people or take the subway going there. Yea, I'm using a taxi and/or hitching a ride with others in a car but that's not really the point. The point is that I don't own one or *need* one.

Since most people had cars, you usually had a way of getting some sort of ride.

I had family in the San Gabriel Valley, so how did I visit them? Took a bus, had somebody pick me up or don't visit them at all.

And the funny thing is that I know a lot of people who don't own cars now. And by the way, when I was in my early 20's I used to roll around the Hollywood clubs with an old beat-ass Toyota corolla and had NO problems with the ladies. Yes, the car culture is strong in Southern California but owning one and/or owning a *cool* one is way overrated.

Post: #5

(04-03-2012 05:42 AM)MikeCF Wrote:  Lol. Dude, anyone who reads that thread sees you lost the argument.

It's okay...It's just a message board.

Consider it an e-game of your sport of choice. Or a video game.

Nothing to get worked up over.

You have yet to prove how to live in "Socal" without a car and then you introduce this silly notion of somehow having found victory. The depths of your psychosis has been displayed for everyone to see. Congrats, my friend.

Post: #6

(04-03-2012 05:50 AM)3am Wrote:  Are you talking about using a car or owning a car in SoCal?
car since.

I'm talking about wheels bro. Could care less who's name is on the title.

Post: #7

Come on guys.. WTF

Hencredible- yes, everyone who has spent any time in So Cal.. let's say in Los Angeles, knows it's very very hard for an ordinary person to get by with out a car. It's well known that the city is car centric and sprawling. Yes, there are people there that do it because they have no choice but it is not pleasant.

And Mike CF showed that it can be done and some people might even prefer it, but you'll need $ to pull it off in the beach cities.

You both made your points. Not sure what you're gaining by "calling out" Mike CF on this and again bringing up GManifesto after that thread was closed??

It's water under the bridge. Move on...

Post: #8

(04-03-2012 05:07 AM)P Dog Wrote:  Fun Fact: L.A actually has it's own subway system: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Subway
I bet that'll surprise a lot of people. I'm guessing it's really shit?

Yeah it's complete shit. I lived in San Diego one summer (Socal). That's also the thing. Socal is more than LA. We're also talking about Orange County and San Diego. Also, Riverside and San Bernardino. Anyone care to prove me wrong?

Post: #9

(04-03-2012 05:57 AM)The_CEO Wrote:  Come on guys.. WTF

Hencredible- yes, everyone who has spent any time in So Cal.. let's say in Los Angeles, knows it's very very hard for an ordinary person to get by with out a car. It's well known that the city is car centric and sprawling. Yes, there are people there that do it because they have no choice but it is not pleasant.

And Mike CF showed that it can be done and some people might even prefer it, but you'll need $ to pull it off in the beach cities.

You both made your points. Not sure what you're gaining by "calling out" Mike CF on this and again bringing up GManifesto after that thread was closed??

It's water under the bridge. Move on...

MikeCF's example is completely useless. What's his solution to living in "Santa Monica" without a car? Make $200K a year. Hmm....I'm convinced

Post: #10

In NYC, job or no job, you do not need a car. Same goes with many other world cities (Paris, London, Berlin, etc).

Post: #11

(04-03-2012 05:59 AM)Hencredible Casanova Wrote:  MikeCF's example is completely useless. What's his solution to living in "Santa Monica" without a car? Make $200K a year. Hmm....I'm convinced

You are almost like two different people on this forum. Some of your posts are fantastic and then you get a bug up your ass about something so stupid like this.

You said it wasn't possible. Mike showed how it was possible. Now you say it is useless because of more criteria. That isn't debating, that is changing the goal posts.

This and how you keep bringing up G and talking about how he needs to meet people to make him legit is pretty strange. Who the fuck cares if the guy is legit, either you agree with what he writes or you don't.

Post: #12

(04-03-2012 06:02 AM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:  

(04-03-2012 05:59 AM)Hencredible Casanova Wrote:  MikeCF's example is completely useless. What's his solution to living in "Santa Monica" without a car? Make $200K a year. Hmm....I'm convinced

You are almost like two different people on this forum. Some of your posts are fantastic and then you get a bug up your ass about something so stupid like this.

You said it wasn't possible. Mike showed how it was possible. Now you say it is useless because of more criteria. That isn't debating, that is changing the goal posts.

This and how you keep bringing up G and talking about how he needs to meet people to make him legit is pretty strange. Who the fuck cares if the guy is legit, either you agree with what he writes or you don't.

Calm down. I'm just asking an honest question. I think people on this forum would find that answer helpful. Plus, I'm simply responding to a claim that another member made.

It appears some people are unfamiliar with what Southern California refers to. Read this article and then get back to me. I want real answers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_California

Post: #13

(04-03-2012 06:13 AM)Hencredible Casanova Wrote:  Calm down. I'm just asking an honest question. I think people on this forum would find that answer helpful. Plus, I'm simply responding to a claim that another member made.

It appears some people are unfamiliar with what Southern California refers to. Read this article and then get back to me. I want real answers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_California

Funny HC, I almost told you to calm down.

You got a real answer, you just didn't want to accept it and changed your criteria.

How about you put out the criteria so other people don't waste their time.

Income level?
Area?
Taxis or buses are counted as "cars"?
Must not live where you work?
Must be an employee?
Must be poor?

Oh, and it must be verifiable. If anyone knows how they must provide dental records, tax records, employment verification and HC may want to log into their facebook account.

Post: #14

Hencredible.. are you delusional??

I did prove you wrong.. you're saying that Southern California is a big place more than Los Angeles.

I'm LIVING in Southern California without a car. I'm living in Los Angeles so why do I need to get to Riverside, Orange County, Pomona or Woodland Hills?

Post: #15

It's such a tried and true fact about San Diego (SoCal) that arguing about it is pointless. Almost everybody here got a car! City is totally car centric. Goes for LA, Orange County too.!

Post: #16

Bottom Line: You can live in Los Angeles without a car. But it's not "easy" as MikeCF claimed somewhere. It definitely hinders your game, though it doesn't need to preclude you from getting laid. In other words, it's possible, but it's definitely playing life on the difficult setting.

The subway in LA is up-and-coming, but not where it's going to be in, say, 10 or 15 years. If you live near a current line or station, it definitely enhances your mobility--getting you Downtown, for instance, which is a new hot spot. LA has a robust bus system as well, that pretty much goes everywhere. But the strength of LA transportation continues to be its world-class freeways. Buses are slow and the subway doesn't go to key places.

Don't underestimate the car culture of LA. "Regular" people have cars. There's an ugly undercurrent of class/race association with public transportation there. Your average bar skank and bitch is going to judge you for having a bus pass. The exception is the occasional Silverlake hipster, since they're starting to think using the bus is cool, but that's still an overwhelming minority--even within their little enclave.

I know LA better than I know my own dick. This is as good as gospel.

Post: #17

(04-03-2012 09:30 AM)Tuthmosis Wrote:  Bottom Line: You can live in Los Angeles without a car. But it's not "easy" as MikeCF claimed somewhere. It definitely hinders your game, though it doesn't need to preclude you from getting laid. In other words, it's possible, but it's definitely playing life on the difficult setting.

The subway in LA is up-and-coming, but not where it's going to be in, say, 10 or 15 years. If you live near a current line or station, it definitely enhances your mobility--getting you Downtown, for instance, which is a new hot spot. LA has a robust bus system as well, that pretty much goes everywhere. But the strength of LA transportation continues to be its world-class freeways. Buses are slow and the subway doesn't go to key places.

Don't underestimate the car culture of LA. "Regular" people have cars. There's an ugly undercurrent of class/race association with public transportation there. Your average bar skank and bitch is going to judge you for having a bus pass. The exception is the occasional Silverlake hipster, since they're starting to think using the bus is cool, but that's still an overwhelming minority--even within their little enclave.

I know LA better than I know my own dick. This is as good as gospel.

My only disagreement with you is that if you look at the proposed timeline of adding new metro lines, I think it'll be a hell of a lot longer than 10 or 15 years before we have anything close to a world-class rail system. I'll likely be long gone from L.A. before they finish extending the purple line to Santa Monica.

Post: #18

Outside of a few *very* committed hipsters, every white person in Los Angeles thinks only crazy people, ghetto black people, and broke Mexicans take the bus.

That said, you could live in Santa Monica, if you worked nearby and do alright. Maybe Hollywood/West Hollywood, Westwood and Beverly Hills would work too, if you worked there. But many of the girls you'd meet going out would not live locally, and they might balk at driving to your place every single time. They'd be like, "What, you don't have a car?" and in their heads they're thinking "I'm going to have drive *every* *single* *time?*" Plus there are some college students who don't have a car, and won't put up with someone else similarly situated. And you would be extremely hampered if you wanted to start hitting up other scenes besides your local neighborhood. And not everyone works in Santa Monica obviously.

Sure, if you're Brad Pitt, they'll get over it. But we aren't all Brad Pitt.

I get flack from girls for living a little outside of LA, although in a nice spot. Tuth, you'll like this - the girls who protest the most about driving to my place for the first date are... Jewish.

I'd love to not have a car, to spend the $300-500 a month I spend on a car (gas, depreciation, maintenance, insurance) on a nicer place. But it's just not plausible.

Post: #19

My boy lives in East LA with no car. He's always making Facebook updates asking for a ride or who wants to go eat somewhere and scoop his ass up. From hwat he told me, it's like Houston (he used to live here). You're pretty much fucked without a car and things will be very difficult. I've always heard LA and all the Texas cities are the only places where a car is a necessity.

Post: #20

This thread is one of the amusing examples of male weirdness.

HC writes legit posts. I'm pretty sure I +1'ed him under the old system.

But this thread...

Sometimes a guy goes off in a direction that doesn't make any sense at all.

Post: #21

(04-03-2012 09:30 AM)Tuthmosis Wrote:  Bottom Line: You can live in Los Angeles without a car. But it's not "easy" as MikeCF claimed somewhere. It definitely hinders your game, though it doesn't need to preclude you from getting laid. In other words, it's possible, but it's definitely playing life on the difficult setting.

If you can't get laid after taking a cab to the dozen or so hook-up bars on Main, Q's, Busby's, Cabo, Wilshire, Gaslite...then your game is way off.

Post: #22

I had two friends that lost their driver license due to DUI's. Both of them managed ok.

One guy moved to a place next to his job, biked to work, bummed people for rides to go out.

The other guy took the bus, or bummed people for rides. Came with chicks on a bus, still got laid.

This is was no santa monica or hollywood area.

Post: #23

I'm sure you can live there without a car and here as well but why the hell would you want to is the question. Last night again I went out after my text bomb and caught a girl with perfect logistics at her place. Drinks, nobody home etc. I drove right up as she was going in the door with a bag of ice for drinks. Smash. You have to be at the right place at the right time and a car makes that happen. I left work around 6. If I had to walk then grab a cab or some dumb shit that wouldn't of happened. Then I would have been stuck up there if I wanted to leave. Fuck that.

Post: #24

Anyplace that has cabs one can get by without a ride.

If one would want to is a different story.

Post: #25

(04-03-2012 01:01 PM)Hotwheels Wrote:  Anyplace that has cabs one can get by without a ride.

If one would want to is a different story.

Those dudes are a pain in the ass! And they lie about how long until they show. I'm an impatient mofo and can only deal with that when I have time to burn. 2am is busy for them. If you have a plan that relies on good timing to get laid your fucked. This is not like Europe where cabs are lined up waiting for people everywhere.