East Coaster Attending College on the West Coast!
By: Kristen Adams ‘25
Hopped off the plane at LAX with a dream and my cardigan! As a New Jerseyan, USC is quite a ways from home, so I am a frequent guest of LAX, stepping into “the land of fame excess,” in the words of Miley Cyrus. After living on the East Coast for 19 years of my life, here’s what I’ve learned from attending college in Los Angeles, almost 3,000 miles away from home.
Weather
Growing up on the East Coast, I always thought of California as a place that was warm 24/7, all year round. But when I got here, I soon realized that my suitcase filled solely with T-shirts and shorts was not going to fly. Contrary to what my hometown friends and I thought, LA does, in fact, get chilly at night. While LA doesn’t get snow or hail, you will absolutely need to pack a warm jacket for once the sun goes down, especially during the fall and winter months.
Another misconception was that it never rains in Southern California. While it is rare and infrequent, definitely pack your umbrella. Whether it’s a light drizzle or a downpour, clouds in LA are indeed capable of precipitation.
NYC vs. LA
Before arriving in LA for the first time, I had an image of LA in my mind that was glorified by television, movies, and media. I imagined palm trees everywhere, wide streets, beachy aesthetics. I essentially pictured LA as a sunny version of New York City, the city I was most familiar with. But not all of LA is like that. While Downtown LA has a wide selection of cute restaurants, leisure venues, and museums, the similarities with NYC end there. For one, DTLA does not feel as large and endless as the streets of NYC. In Manhattan, for example, you can walk everywhere you need to go, from lunch to ice-skating to a museum to a friend’s apartment; however, in LA, the only places that I find walkable are Santa Monica, Pasadena, and parts of DTLA. In other words, NYC is a very walkable city, while LA is much more spread out. I highly recommend finding a friend who owns a car for more affordable and accessible weekend outings.
Chain Restaurants
As a foodie, I always notice the restaurant chains. In New Jersey, Panera Bread, Wendy’s, Burger King, McDonalds, Qdoba, Five Guys, and Dunkin can be found on almost any block. In LA, however, the staple chains include Carl’s Jr., Jack in the Box, and Starbucks. This means that every time I go back to New Jersey during a holiday break, I sprint to the nearest Panera because there isn’t a single one near USC’s campus, which I find very tragic. On the other hand, my neighborhood in New Jersey doesn’t have the greatest selection of Mexican and Asian cuisine, so when I’m in Southern California, I eat all the seafood and enchiladas that I can get my hands on. Whether I’m cruising through Koreatown for a new hotpot or KBBQ place to try with friends or trying hidden-gem taco spots in DTLA, LA is a hub for great food.
Speaking of food, the differences between East and West Coast don’t just stop at restaurant chains. For example, as a New Jerseyan, you will never catch me touching a bagel in LA. Similarly, after experiencing authentic Italian food in NYC, I tend to keep my distance from the pasta restaurants in LA (I’m looking at you, Il Guardino). While both cities have their hits and misses when it comes to cuisine, they each have a solid food scene.
While I am just one New Jerseyan living in LA for college, there are thousands of other East Coasters who made the voyage to the West Coast, as well as West Coasters traveling to the East Coast for new experiences. We all just want to try something new, go somewhere we haven’t gone before. And as a disclaimer, while I love living and studying in LA as a college student, I will always be an NJ girl at heart. I am beyond blessed and grateful to be able to spend four years of my life studying at USC and exploring the city of Los Angeles!
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