This is a vividly detailed, funny and moving piece. I relate completely, as a New Yorker whose son is a freshman in college in LA too. He told me recently how intensely he loves it, the accessibility to the beach and the desert (tho he complains it’s hard to get there without a car!!), the always nice weather. Recently I asked him, do you ever think we were foolish to raise you in NYC where none of all that natural splendor exists? Without hesitation he said, no, NYC is the best place in the world to grow up, I had an entire city at my fingertips while kids here mostly go home from school and play video games. I’m from NY (third generation New Yorker) and I see the push-pull of living here. It exhausts you, but as you say, it also pulls you in, it forces you to be a part of the city, to engage whether or not you want to. This piece made me smile and also made me think - well done!