[speakeasy]

@CaP7

I wouldn't go so far as to say you never live east of the 405. Come on man. Sure, SM has amongst the best logistic in a town where logistics are tough, but the yuppie scene is everyone's liking. Downtown has a lot of good happening right now. Probably the most interesting place to be right now, though you'll have to do without the beach. Los Feliz is cool. I don't hang much in K-town but there's some pretty nice spots around there if you look around. I like the vibe of the east side better. You're more likely to make it past a minute without someone asking "what do you do?"

Also, have you been to the rooftop bar of the Shangri-la hotel? I've been to a few birthday parties up there. I didn't get the impression it's a great spot to pick up, but with views of the whole coast from Malibu to Palos Verdes, can't go wrong as a date spot. Anyone else done any recon there?

[Qwest]

(01-30-2013 03:04 AM)speakeasy Wrote:  

Also, have you been to the rooftop bar of the Shangri-la hotel? I've been to a few birthday parties up there. I didn't get the impression it's a great spot to pick up, but with views of the whole coast from Malibu to Palos Verdes, can't go wrong as a date spot. Anyone else done any recon there?

Yup, I have been there for a couple parties also and its not very good for pickup like you said but fantastic to bring a date too. Good drinks (pricey at $15 martinis), great view, good setup where you can naturally sit close to her on the couches inside or just hang over the railing outside and enjoy the view and get close.

Have taken chicks there on two occasions and it worked out well both times. you can easily venue hope from there also if you need to do so to Bungalow, Penthouse, Makai, etc.

Not to stray but while Shangri La was mentioned...Pulled a nice 22 yo Swedish chick at the pool this summer. Pretty much anyone can go to the pool cuz they have a bar and serve food. Used to be wild apparently with a DJ and people sniffing coke in the open like it was Miami in the 80's so they pulled the DJ and now still have music but its pretty chill. Hit or miss on whether you will have chicks, but either way you can have a chill day at a nice pool with potential for action.

[CaP7]

(01-30-2013 03:04 AM)speakeasy Wrote:  

@CaP7

I wouldn't go so far as to say you never live east of the 405. Come on man. Sure, SM has amongst the best logistic in a town where logistics are tough, but the yuppie scene is everyone's liking. Downtown has a lot of good happening right now. Probably the most interesting place to be right now, though you'll have to do without the beach. Los Feliz is cool. I don't hang much in K-town but there's some pretty nice spots around there if you look around. I like the vibe of the east side better. You're more likely to make it past a minute without someone asking "what do you do?"

Also, have you been to the rooftop bar of the Shangri-la hotel? I've been to a few birthday parties up there. I didn't get the impression it's a great spot to pick up, but with views of the whole coast from Malibu to Palos Verdes, can't go wrong as a date spot. Anyone else done any recon there?

I was only responding to DVY's question about where he should live. Obviously there are tons of awesome spots to be in L.A. He works in Rancho Park and is a high level professional (dentist), asking about Santa Monica. They way I see it, he would be much better off matching his perceived lifestyle in Santa Monica as opposed to Overland, Culver City, West Hollywood, etc.

North of Wilshire is Yuppie. South would be tough to consistently label that.

Whenever someone asks what I do, I just tell them that I run an orphanage in Valencia. Then I make up random stories about how I have 40 text messages on my phone from the text message kiosk that I bought for the kids. That, or I look at them with a pitiful face and say, "Really?, can't we talk about something fun?" Both work well.

I've been to Shangri-La. The hotel clamped down on too much fun up there. I noticed a lot of foreign people. Also, a friend that stayed there said that you needed to show a room key to get in the pool area.

[Basil Ransom]

CaP7, you have overstated Santa Monica's case. Among the wingmen I know and respect, we have all found the Westside to be more difficult than it's worth, as compared to WeHo, Hollywood, East LA and Downtown.

I'm most familiar with Main St in Santa Monica. The main issue is that the talent is insular. There's a good chance she has a big mixed group of friends there, and meeting strangers really doesn't figure in her plans. It seems like a lot of people here went to high school or college together. People on the Westside tend to have more roots, with stronger social networks. They're hot, and they have cool guys they've known for years, they don't need to fuck around with your random ass.

I see a lot of the private school/rich kid mentality, with which I'm intimately familiar - these are the people who very rarely make new friends, and when they do, it's very socially circumscribed, eg through the Greek system. These people are socially stunted, but often rich and attractive. Preppies and JAPs typically exhibit these behaviors. If you're a bouncer or bartender, or these girls are getting older (late-20s) you may have a chance, but otherwise it's mostly futile. The people I'm talking about could technically be of any race, but the ones who fit this description in SM are almost all white or middle eastern.

There's also the selection aspect - people who choose to go to Hollywood are just more dedicated partiers than Westsiders. All that said, Santa Monica can be good on special days, like Halloween and Pub Crawls.

[CaP7]

Maybe I rambled on a little too long because I'm excited about living in Santa Monica and I've had good experiences here. From a "pickup only" standpoint, I would agree with you. It's easier elsewhere. A lot of factors have to fall into place for you in order to get consistent, hot ass in Santa Monica. My viewpoint is that its a great place to live because of other quality of life factors. Again, there's a lot of other neighborhoods out there in L.A.

Personally, I have yet to meet a hot, young girl that didn't already have strong social ties with lots of cool guys that she already knows. If we're pointing out negatives about the women in Santa Monica, I would think that a higher negative would be that the entire town is littered with 29-35 year old alpha-widow, career-minded, professional women. They are everywhere around here. This might be a goldmine for the 45-55 year old male crowd. I'm constantly getting layups from this sect, instead of staying disciplined, and moving on when needed.

[Technics]

Have to agree with basilransom, except I do find West LA to be a bit more receptive than Santa Monica. I always chalked it up to being closer to UCLA, and therefore more college student heavy.

In the end, I love all areas mentioned. It's really the beauty of LA--sometimes you'd even feel like you're in entirely different city when you are in different areas of LA.