LAX SUX
Los Angeles International Airport - LAX - is the worst-looking airport in the United States of America. Why is this?
Los Angeles is the second largest city in America. However, you wouldn’t know it by the airport. The airport looks like it was last fixed up in the 1970’s. The stores mostly sell t-shirts and the restaurants mostly sell overpriced fast food. Compare LAX to amazing airports like Pittsburg or Philadelphia. Those airports look like shopping malls, with wonderful clothing and vendors. In Philadelphia, you can buy caviar on ice to take home with you or check out a massage chair. In Pittsburgh, there are 100 stores to shop at, including men and women’s shoes and Swarovski crystal.
If you have to be trapped for a couple of hours on a layover, how much better to be in an airport where you can shop for something other than $25 t-shirts and books. But there are other problems with LAX. You wouldn’t know you’re in Los Angeles or what LA has to offer. Yes, they might have a small art display in one terminal, but it can’t compare to art displays in other cities where it seems the airport art has curators who really think about how to show off their city. See for example http://www.artcalendar.com/article.asp?ID=39 which discusses airports where local artists can display their works and have it sold. Art is a good way to get a sense of a place and what it has to offer. Here’s a good article on Canadian airport art and why it “can’t” exist in American airports: http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/234889.
Don’t get me wrong: on-time performance is important, too, and in those terms, Philadelphia is a terrible airport and LA is one of the best: http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/americas-best-and-worst-airports-2009/1. I’m talking here only about how pleasant an airport is as a place to be in, and when it comes to providing a pleasant experience, LAX SUX!
That’s the Thought for the Day from The Dubmeister.
