[SamAdams76]

I first went to Los Angeles in 1981 and lived in that area for 3 years during the early 1980s. It was likely the tail end of the great years of LA. When I went back 20 years later, I hardly recognized the place.

But those early 1980s years had a lot of good memories. I remember taking two weeks of leave from the Marines in 1983 and spending the entire time on and around Venice Beach and Santa Monica. Used to take walks down Wilshire and Santa Monica Boulevard, through Beverly Hills and into Hollywood. Some parts were getting seedy but it was still very much the Southern California of legend with a lot of surfers plying the waves and rock and roll music blaring out of the cars driving by.

[Windflier]

I first went to Los Angeles in 1981 and lived in that area for 3 years during the early 1980s. It was likely the tail end of the great years of LA.

The early to mid 80s were definitely the tail end of L.A.'s golden years. I think all us native Angelenos would agree with that.

If you'd visited California in the sixties, you would have been truly impressed. It was magical then.