Through the Smog, They See Lure of Greener Pastures

At dusk, the Santa Anas carry the faint scent of jasmine, the lights of the city are beginning to twinkle in the distance and the downtown skyline is silhouetted against the pastel sunset.

The people gathered at the Hollywood Hills hotel, with the rooftop garden pool glittering just beyond the dais, have one of the most spectacular views in the city. But these 97 Los Angeles residents are not at the penthouse meeting room because they enjoy the city’s vistas.

They are here because they hate Los Angeles. That is why they have paid $29 to attend a course titled: “Escape from L.A.”

Tom Evons gives these disaffected Los Angeles residents tips on relocating to a small town, finding a new job, exploring small-town business opportunities and avoiding unscrupulous real estate agents. He emphasizes to class members that after they move, they should become involved in small-town political and planning issues.

That way they can ensure that developers do not take over and that their town does not grow too quickly and turn into another, well, Los Angeles.

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In Bend, Ore., where Evons lives, people were so frustrated by all the Los Angeles residents moving north and by the new housing tracts despoiling the landscape that they scrawled on the bridge leading to town: “Welcome to Little L.A.”

Evons warns the class that pastoral surroundings and blue skies will not solve all their problems. In many small towns throughout the Northwest, marriage and family counselors are doing booming business. Sometimes the stress associated with a major move can exacerbate longstanding tensions in marriages, he said, especially if the couple has financial problems in the new city.

One couple Evons knows sold their house in Southern California and moved to a small town in central Oregon. They appreciated the change of seasons in Oregon and even enjoyed their first few winters, Evons told the class. But those winters were mild because of the drought; last winter was a real Oregon winter, with near-record snowfall and unending days of gray skies and subfreezing temperatures.

The winding rural road leading to their house, which had always seemed so charming, now imprisoned them. They were afraid to leave the house at night and risk driving on narrow, icy roads. They could no longer drive to Portland on weekends for shopping, movies and the theater because the mountain roads often were impassable. Month after month they grew increasingly depressed as the winter dragged on and they were stuck at home. This was a facet of life in the Northwest, they complained, that no one had told them about.

They finally ended up selling their house and moving back to California.

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Those who sat through the three-hour class, sponsored by the Learning Annex, listed a now-familiar litany of reasons for wanting to leave Los Angeles. The crime, the congestion, the smog, the economy, the high cost of housing. . . .

Mary Herrington, an advertising saleswoman from Van Nuys: “When do I want to leave Los Angeles? Yesterday. Right before this class I was making a telephone call on the corner. I was afraid of every person walking down the street. I was holding onto my purse for dear life. I was choking on exhaust fumes. Why should I have to live like this?”

Steve Crook, an electrician from Hawthorne: “I went to Hawthorne High School . . . that’s where the Beach Boys went. I’ve always liked the beach and I’m sure that’ll be one of the things I’ll miss about L.A. But, you know, the beach isn’t what it used to be. The water is so polluted that you can’t even go in anymore.”

Lilyan Lin, a therapist from Sherman Oaks: “You know where me and my friend spent a Saturday afternoon? At a gun show in Pomona. Two nice Jewish girls spending the day looking at guns. We should have been on Rodeo Drive shopping for clothes. Instead we were checking out .38s and semiautomatics with these yahoos in Pomona. We’re both so afraid of getting attacked in L.A., this is what it’s come to.”

Irv Harris, a salesman from Hollywood: “My wife and I both lost our jobs and we hope we’ll have better luck somewhere else. My son just got married. They want to leave the city and we want to be near them.”

Shawna Harris, Irv’s daughter-in-law: “We don’t want to raise a family in L.A. Why? Because it dangerous and horrible here.”

Evons, who once lived in San Diego and then made the move to a small town, empathizes with those who have great antipathy toward Los Angeles.

During a visit to downtown L.A. in March, his car was broken into after being parked by the Convention Center for only 10 minutes. And that is why, when he drove down again from Oregon for his “Escape from L.A.” class, he drove down alone. After the last trip to Los Angeles, his wife said she would never return.