The other suffering in a high crime ruin, driving past devastation every day.
I can't help but feel this is exaggeration. Maybe I'm inoculated to it. Detroit has immense landmass compared to most other cities (though, from what I hear, LA is pretty flat, so that and other Southwestern cities may be an exception). This includes, yes, bombed-out high crime areas, but also a variety of other locales. There are, of course, the homeless, but I daresay you probably won't avoid those in Los Angeles. The downtown area is fun enough if you enjoy the lifestyle of a soulless yuppie, and Midtown is in general pretty nice. I dislike going into Detroit owing to the types of factors that you're not likely going to avoid in Los Angeles--costs of transportation and parking, and my aversion to staying out too late, etc.--but even if I'd rather not spend time in most of the residential areas it's a fine city with a variety of entertainment and cultural attractions that, if one is enterprising enough, one ought to be willing to explore.
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