DeAna DiMeo asked ten Angelenos what the city means to them.  The responses were both predictable - too much traffic, bad pollution, fake people, and inspiring - the land where dreams come true, progressive and a melting pot of beautiful cultures. 

Lily Iglesias, 45, moved to Los Angeles 30 years ago from Colombia, South America:

"When my father told me we where coming to Los Angeles he said it is the city of the angels. To me, I don't think there is any other city on earth like this. It's so big and it spreads out so much that just when you think you've done it all or seen it all, well, you have not. There are deserts, lakes, mountains, canyons, beaches and so much more. 
To me I love the diversity and culture that I find in this city. You can drive just a few miles and see signs in Spanish, Korean, Armenian and so forth. Our family was always so afraid of the earthquakes and fires, but with this came what my dad would say: 'It's where dreams come true.' Yeah, there is traffic and smog but with the negative comes the great weather.  Where in this country can you swim in the winter? And if you ask my husband what Los Angeles is to him he will sum it up in two words: Dodgers and Lakers.
I don't think I would want to live anywhere else but here and why would I?  It's where I have my family and my friends who have become my family."

Lindsay Soderberg, 25, moved to Los Angeles from San Diego six months ago:

"I moved here from San Diego and now I work at what seems like the United Nations with 12 different languages, and as a white girl I am by far the minority here. When I lived here three years ago, I was a very different young college kid partying four nights a week on Sunset and babysitting just to pay for drinks and living off my parents. Los Angeles has something for everyone. "

Courtney Kabot, 26, moved to Los Angeles two years ago from Syracuse, New York:

"Coming from the East Coast, this is completely different.  First of all, the East Coast unknowingly classifies California by Los Angeles.  I'm not sure why, but it just seems like they do that. On the East Coast people have this idea of what LA is like based on the shows and movies they see.  Stupid shows like The Hills, Dr. 90210, 90210 and Sunset Tan (not to mention Real Housewives of OC and The OC and Laguna Beach) make LA seem like the most vapid, superficial place in the world.  The stereotypes are often negative, but the reality isn't.  I spent 24 years of my life on the East Coast (NY/DC) and I've never felt more like myself than in the past two years since I've been living here.  LA has actually turned me into a better person. I've become healthier, I've fallen in love, and I've made some amazing friends.  I love the weather, I love the Silver Lake/Los Feliz hipster area, I love being able to go to the beach if I want to (even though I never do or have time for it), and I love the weather.  I'm happier here than I thought I would be.  Also, what's really cool about LA is that you can leave and go some place so different and new in an hour or two: Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, San Diego. There's so much to do. And I love that there are avocados everywhere! I miss that even when I go home for a week. 
"I deal with the whole 'That is so L.A.' thing a lot when I go home.  I get called 'granola' just because I don't eat processed foods or McDonalds.  Everyone always says, 'that's so LA' when I mention health or anything that seems kind of new or progressive.  
How would I sum up my experience in Los Angeles?   When I moved out here, maybe it was the novelty of doing something new and different and moving cross-country, and I guess I never imagined that this would be some place where I would actually settle down.  And now, it's two years later and I'm happy and in love and there are so many opportunities.  I can honestly see myself staying here."            

Rahquail Morris, 30, moved to Los Angeles from Michigan 3 years ago:

"Los Angeles is a nice melting pot with many cultures, many native Californians, and more transplants from other places! It's the land of the young, single and beautiful people, or the old pretending to be young and willing to pay for cosmetic beauty. It's the place where you find beautiful weather, lots of celebrities, as well as the Hollywood wannabes, whose favorite past times include stargazing and daydreaming.  Beaches, shopping, cafes, Rodeo Drive, paparazzi, supermodels, metrosexual men, Bentleys, and Rolls Royces are all part of the face of L.A. Los Angeles is socially elusive, vastly spread out and tough to connect with people on a real grounded level, largely because most of them are acting! Facades are common.

"Still, with all that said, you just have to love LA, where the opportunities can mean the difference between a waitress surviving on tips and being the next star on your favorite reality TV show. That is, if you consider reality TV stardom."

James Richards, 22, born and raised in Los Angeles:

"Los Angeles is a symbol and metaphor for our world as a whole. L.A. encompasses the best and the worst, the successes and the failures, the strong and the weak, the superior and the inferior, the Hollywood and capitalist elite as well as the Compton projects and extreme poverty. L.A. is 'Beauty and the Beast'. It is the American dream and everyone's worst nightmare." 

Karen, 25, born and raised in L os Angeles:
 
"There is so much I love here - weather, friends, boyfriend, apartment, Los Feliz, restaurants, food, health, farmers' markets. I love the farmers' markets every weekend! I love going roller blading in Santa Monica, or hiking at Runyon Canyon, and just being outdoors all the time. What I don't like is the Hollywood clubs.  Sorry.  They're just so annoying, and so are the people.  This whole 'trying too hard' thing isn't really my scene."

James Lotta, 60, moved to Los Angeles 40 years ago:

"Los Angeles is a melting pot of world cultures, sprinkled with abundant sunshine and riddled with traffic snarls that test even the most patient."
 

Sandra Landeros, 65, born and raised in Los Angeles:

"I live in Alhambra. My daughters are now 19 years old and 21 years old.  They were born and raised in Alhambra, which has a very high Asian population.

"Now, East LA is just down the way about two miles.  We go shopping there often because there are many clothing shops especially on Whittier Boulevard.  When my daughters were little we went shopping and they had just come to that age where they noticed the differences in the way people look. We parked the car, and as we were walking around my youngest daughter looked at me and asked, 'Mommy, are we in Mexico?' I laughed because we were just two miles away from home."

Jeff Skobin, 29, born and raised in Los Angeles:

"Los Angeles to me is anything I want it to be. It can be trendy Hollywood or beach bum, snowboarding in the mountains or fishing at a lake. I can take the pooch on a walk or go to the horse track. I can have Mexican food at a hole in the wall or fine dine in Beverly Hills. I think what makes LA unique is it offers something for everyone and is incredibly diverse."

Jennifer Marello, 33, born and raised in Los Angeles, moved to NYC 5 years ago:

"I really didn't get a feel for LA until I left for NYC. A lot of people outside LA don't like it, as I learned, and If I didn't grow up in LA, I probably wouldn't like it as much as I do. 

"LA can't really be compared to other major US cities because it is so different.
There is no city center, there's no reliable public transportation system, which makes you reliant on your car which is where you spend your life because of the traffic. There's perfect weather all year long, and there's a melting pot of people and personalities. It truly takes one of every kind to make the world go around, and along with NYC, LA is truly diverse.

"There is definitely a "scene" in LA that people move there for.  An allure, a desire to be famous, and some people find it and some people don't.  True Angelinos seem to be the only ones who can live in the scene whether they're part of it or not.  I like that those people can just go about their day, glance at a movie star and move on.  Only true Angelinos can do this because outsiders live in their fantasy and dream world until they're jolted out of it when LA doesn't accept them.  It's assumed by outsiders that you must be famous or try to be famous to live there.  Yet, it's a city just like any other but that quest for fame gets in the way. 

"LA is not an easy city to navigate.  It's spread out from downtown to the beach and the valley to LAX but it's exactly this huge expanse that makes LA what it is. You can be at the beach, in the city and in the mountains all in the same day.  And though areas like Santa Monica and Pasadena are not really considered LA according to Angelinos, how can LA exist without them?  That's one of my favorite things - LA truly is the sum of all its parts."