I love LA. But...
I grew up in a small town in Illinois, so I definitely understand the painful difference in real estate here. My parents' 7,000sq.ft. house (on one full acre with a huge pool) in Illinois just appraised for under $600,000. Just for fun they had one of their friends appraise it as though it were in Sherman Oaks, CA (The Valley) but otherwise the same. New value?
$6 millon.
FI and I have resigned ourselves to the fact that, unless one of us hits it big (we're both in the entertainment industry), we will be renters at least until our 30's--and even if/when we
can buy a house (or, more realistically, a condo), it will likely be a dinky one in the valley.
I think that in order to love this area you have to love what it has to offer. I may be a little biased because for my profession, there is absolutely no other place I could live, so I
have to love it--but that's not why I do. There's just so much here!! You have hundreds, if not thousands, of choices for whatever you want to do... dance/fitness classes, restaurants, parks, shopping, you name it! Don't like your hairdresser? Go to one of the other 34698672560236 in town. I like having choices
Also, if you choose the right area, the people are great. In my hometown people were very gossipy, small and closed-minded (we lived at the tip of the bible belt). In my building there are multiple gay couples, but we figured that out on our own after months of living here--in IL it would have been the first thing neighbor X wanted to complain/gossip to us about. I like the open-mindedness here.
Then again, I've only lived in LA for four years, and most of that was during college, so I don't have as much of an "adult work force" outlook on the city. I love it for what it has to offer me, not for the crime rate or school quality or real estate accessibility!