Could the same be said of all large metropolitan areas of the Southwest (Phoenix comes to mind right away)? None, obviously, is as big as LA, they all seem to be a giant "fuck you" to the principles of livability. If LA is the poster child for postwar industrialism, then Phoenix is the poster child for I-am-the-master-of-the-universe-and-nature-is-but-a-tiny-obstacle-to-me Reaganism. I enjoy visiting friends in LA, but I could live happily without ever setting foot in Phoenix. Incidentally, I think that the lack of sustainability in the SW might be the savior of the Great Lakes region. When AZ and TX run out of water it might not seem so bad to endure the winters in Detroit (not that we don't have a major urban sprawl problem, as well) to have access to the one resource that we absolutely cannot under any circumstances survive without.