Ashland? I love it here!Hello Ex Angelino! I have been in LA for more than twenty years (would prefer almost any serene countryside at this point to this sprawl if it weren't for the diverse cultural and artistic melting pot here). Thank you for the background on CW, and the recommend with TT on the west side. I will make the trip! How do you like Ashland?
I was born in LA and spent ever 70 years there, 43 of it working in the Entertainment industry as a matte painter, concept artist, and VFX art director, then moved into Animation doing background painting, color, and art direction. I'm still active though retirement will be happening next year.
You're correct about the level of creativity in LA. That's part of what a big city can foster just through so many influences in collision. LA is a great place to be young, smart, curious and on the move. You just have to afford the increasingly insane cost of living there, as well as the swelling homelessness, filthy air, and a growing kind of "off" energy that come from packing too many monkeys in a tight maze, and increasing deterioration of the city's infrastructure. And OMG!! the TRAFFIC!
My love for LA and its quirks faded over the last decade so when the right opportunity came to jump ship l was happy to get out. Growing up in LA when I did was a time when LA still really worked, had magic, and people got the benefit of its amenities and climate, though smog was really bad in the '50's and '60's. I got to grow up in LA when it was very much worth living in.
Ashland is definitely a much different space. It's largely rural with gorgeous nature all around. It has seasons. It also had a large artist community, many of whom have quite happily fled big cities. There are a lot of California expats here, a lot of Bay area transplants, a lot of money, an amazing arts organization, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and it has clean air that doesn't stink like the air in LA now does. I can smell it when I come down to visit.
Ashland also lacks a level of diversity. There are great eateries, but not exotic ones. There are probably more restaurants on three blocks of Riverside Drive in Toluca lake than Ashland, Talent and Phoenix combined. Much better Asian food in the San Gabriel Valley than in the Rogue Valley. Better Bar-B-Que here, amazing Indian food, and all the vegan holistic navel gazing you could ask for. The pace of life here is healthier, not insane.
And, I like that I own my home. No mortgage, no debt. No sales tax. I also like that Oregon is a little weird and its population embraces that weirdness. Too many Californians in the Southern Rogue to allow the same level of weirdness, but it's still around.