Los Angeles: Eastside versus Westside

To outsiders, perhaps from New York or San Francisco, Los Angeles is a massive, formless expanse of concrete, dotted with palm trees and occupied by a dizzying variety of often strange people. To Angelenos it's a collection of distinctive neighborhoods, each with its own, special characteristics — for better or worse. Sometimes they inspire rivalries, like the one that's grown up between the Eastside and the Westside, wherever they might be. In fact, the boundary line is just one thing people disagree about. The disagreements are often passionate; sometimes, they're disdainful. We hear from people — including some of our listeners — who disagree about the arts, the restaurants, the traffic, the lifestyle — even the atmosphere -- on the Eastside and the Westside of what we call "Los Angeles."