[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by edale

Paris as a city is in a completely different league than LA is, I would say. They have the grand boulevards, ornate architecture, world renowned museums, world famous landmarks, and a history that goes back many hundreds of years. LA is a young city, and simply cannot compete with Paris on that front.

But in terms of resonance globally, I think LA is much closer to Paris. The entertainment industry has presented America and specifically LA to billions of people around the world. People in Paris know about LA through movies and music, and the celebrity culture of LA is revered around the world. Even reality stars like the Kardashians are known world wide in a way that dwarfs the most high profile French/Parisian stars.

And to the point about Paris being a really big deal in the French speaking world, I think a similar point could be made with LA's importance in Latin America and increasingly Korea. Coupled with the huge population of Southern California and the success of selling the whole California image of surfing, palm trees, skateboarding, etc. to the world, I think LA is pretty damn culturally important in modern times.

Finally, a little anecdote to this point. I met a couple 20 something German guys from Berlin while waiting for a bus here in LA a couple months ago. I asked what made them decide to visit LA, and they quickly replied that gangsta rap was their favorite type of music, and that because of it, LA had been a dream destination for years. Now I'm guessing they didn't go exploring the streets of Compton and Watts, but nonetheless I found it interesting that music would prompt someone to travel across the globe. They also said they enjoyed LA because it was so different than most of the cities they had traveled to in Europe. In that sense, they thought New York was more or less similar to the European cities, and thus they found it less interesting than LA.

LA is important, but it isn't Paris. Paris is arguably more important than London now. It is a world capital, financial center, manufacturing center, and media center. Arguably, it is the most important population center in the EU, which is the biggest single economic zone in the world.