Tough transition

Re Shawn Hubler’s “New Yorkers: How to Get a Life Out Here” [May 1]: I moved out here from New York three months ago. I grew up on Long Island and lived in Manhattan for 10 years so I know the city and the suburbs. Let’s face it, L.A. is a civic engineering failure.

The freeways? Yes, they are free, but you pay a price. No numbered exits?! Are you kidding me? There is no simpler, more effective system. Wherever you are, you know how to get where you’re going. Take the numbers up or down! Next, there are not entrances in both directions at each exit! Well, you can go east here, but no telling whatsoever how to get to an entrance going west! What? Throughout the roadways, never have I seen more misplaced signs, ambiguous arrows or lack of directions.

Why aren’t there more left-hand turn signals? Two cars per green or we’ll photo enforce you. It’s much better to make a right and make a U-turn when you want to make a left. This seems to be a theme for the roadways: If you want to go that way, you actually have to go the other way, then backtrack. Why? That’s just how it is, dude. It’s California.

Lame excuse. The best thing about L.A. is its natural assets. But as we all know, those are full of the biggest faults.

Peter Tahoe

Shadow Hills