I am leaving Southern California to return to Vermont. I met a third-generation Angelina who told me the first step in getting to know and like Los Angeles is to stop hating it. I didn't get that far.
The thrill of rising above the smog and sprawl and teeming humanity is a natural antidote to the stupor of urban drudgery. Luckily for Angelenos, stairs lead up and highways wind into the hills.