Los Angeles City Performance, Brand Strength and Reputation

21 November 20199 December 2019 The Editorial Team city, city rankings, North America, USA

Los Angeles is famous for its entertainment industry and Mediterranean climate, but it is much more than just that. As one of the largest North American cities, it is home a leading port, among the busiest in the United States. But how attractive is Los Angeles for investors, talent, visitors and digital nomads? How strong is its brand strength and reputation?

Los Angeles city profile:

LA: how attractive for business and investors?
How sustainable, environmentally friendly?
LA a good destination for digital nomads?
Livability: how good is life in LA?

LA’s economic performance and financial strength

Hollywood is symbolic of Los Angeles’ position in international entertainment and is an important contributor to the city’s economy.

In addition, Los Angeles is home to one of the busiest American ports, ranked 17^th worldwide by the Lloyd’s Top 100 Ports Report (2019) – 1^st in North America.

Its human capital (people) is one of the greatest assets of Los Angeles (the Global Financial Centres Index 24). This is also testified by ATKearney’s 2018 Global Cities Report. The report assessed the city’s performance internationally, and finds it leading in the area of human capital. Among other indicators, it looks at the availability of top universities and the foreign-born population. LA’s 6^th position overall is strong – and one it has kept for a couple of years now.

LA’s global power and reputation

Similarly, Los Angeles is ranked 4^th in the research and development section in the Global Power Cities Index. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the city is especially ranked highly by researchers (that is, researchers find it particularly attractive as place to work).

However, the city is only ranked 38^th by Reputation Insitute’s 2018 City RepTrak study, a slight decline compared to 2017.

Los Angeles and sustainability

The Green Cities Index ranks Los Angeles the 6^th “greenest” American city, praising especially its waste management (62 %). In contrast, Los Angeles is only ranked 60^th in the planet section of the Sustainable Cities Index. This study finds the lack of green space one of the main shortcomings, in terms of LA’s urban sustainability.

Unfortunately, Los Angeles faces massive traffic congestion every day – among the worst worldwide. That said, it performs above average in the area of infrastructural safety (Safe Cities Index).

All in all, there is still plenty of work to be done for Los Angeles to become more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

How attractive is Los Angeles for digital nomads?

When deciding to move to Los Angeles, a digital nomad should take into account several factors. The Mediterranean climate appeals to many, as testified by LA’s 3^rd position in the Digital Nomad Index.

If you enjoy a good run or like to relax in parks, then this might not be your city though, judging by the unimpressive 49^th position (out of 56 ranked cities) in the respective category of the same index.

As always, money matters and LA is very expensive in comparison to other cities. For example, the Digital Nomad Index finds LA at 44^th position for the cost of a beer and a 52^nd position when it comes to finding a one-bedroom apartment – which is also stressed by the Nomad List. This list emphasizes the LA’s expensiveness several times, however also emphasizing the ease of doing cashless payments.

These are only a few important factors to take into account when deciding to move to Los Angeles.

Prepared by TPBO research associate Sam Jongeneelen in November 2019.

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