People love — or detest — Los Angeles because it is the opposite of New York. Then there’s all the wonderful hardcore nature of mountains, deserts and ocean within a few hours’ drive. Add in the endless sunshine and you have the ingredients for a laid-back, outdoor life. But this idyllic intermingling of the urban and nature is also inherently blighted — and reached nightmarish intensity last week. As LA rock prophets the Doors put it: “Strange days have tracked us down.

Source: The Times January 11, 2025 12:41 UTC