Learn to love the authentic

Our city sags beneath a unique burden: hundreds of thousands of fame-seekers who project their rejections onto the city itself. Instead of blaming or shaming it, those who migrate here should make the effort to get to know Los Angeles.

Go take deep breaths of our much-maligned air and stand in line for a hot dog at Pink’s, or wait for a seat at the Apple Pan. Put the BlackBerry on silent and see an old movie at the New Beverly. Get to Yamashiro or Olivera Street or the Farmer’s Market before each is drained of its charisma. Drive from a mountain to the beach in 35 minutes and appreciate that you’re on the last thick line on the map before Hawaii.

If you’re from here, don’t forget to spend some time falling in love again with the humble gems that haven’t succumbed to cultural cannibalism. We need them to fill the eyes, ears, mouths and minds of those new arrivals who may not know how to thrive like an Angeleno yet.