Everyone Gangs Up on Los Angeles

Our constantly misunderstood and stereotyped city has been suffering even more knocks -- mostly unfair -- as of late.

A few recent slights:

-- According to the L.A. Times blog L.A. Land, Los Angeles is ranked far behind other major cities in terms of sustainability -- even behind Cleveland, Omaha and Dallas:

According to the 2008 SustainLane U.S. City Rankings, which rate the nation’s 50 largest cities in terms of urban sustainability, Los Angeles is behind those cities … and 21 others as well.

The city fell three spots from last year. Why? Well, one clue come from the fact that rankings are based on factors including air quality, roadway congestion, sprawl and housing affordability.

The study blames L.A. suburbia for auto-dependence, heavy freeway congestion, and the second-worst worst air quality (behind Fresno) in the nation.

-- Over at the L.A. Times blog L.A. Now, reporter Patrick McGreevy notes that the Northern California state congressional race pitting Thousand Oaks' Tom McClintock against Charlie Brown (good grief!) is getting nasty -- and L.A. is being used as a slur:

Democratic candidate Charlie Brown is running radio ads in the 4th District near Sacramento, attacking Republican contender Tom McClintock as "this guy from L.A."

Though part of Brown’s point is that McClintock, who represents a district in SoCal, is carpetbagging, there's a definite anti-L.A. tone in the commercials.

Chides the ad: "L.A. Tom could vote for himself if he would just move here."

Just one problem -- McClintock's from Thousand Oaks, a quiet little city far from the mean streets of Los Angeles.

-- Then there's Forbes' list of the nation's most stressful metro areas. L.A. placed fourth, behind Chicago, New York and Detroit.

I suppose we're in good company -- but as L.A. Land notes, Forbes' reasoning is a tad suspect:

Unemployment, home prices and gas prices were among the reasons given for L.A.'s placement, as well as having what Forbes called "the worst air quality in the country." In fact, they went on to explain, "Angelenos often need to stay indoors when the smog gets really bad." Say what? A show of hands please.

Apparently the Forbes reporter climbed through a time warp to 1965 to deliver that report.