In Los Angeles, the sprawling 502-square-mile, second-most-populated city in the country, there’s one thing that makes the difference between surviving and truly thriving (once you’ve gotten the whole paycheck thing figured out, anyway): our stash of life hacks.
These are all the myriad micro-enhancers to navigating daily life; the hassle-minimizing, efficiency-maximizing tips, tricks and strategies that shave minutes off our commutes, land us the best seats in the restaurant, help us stock our pantries for pennies on the dollar and make life all-around more manageable.
Life-hacking L.A. is part art form, part social currency and all a “Hunger Games”-style battle for survival, where the winners are the ones who have mastered the vagaries of city parking, learned how to score a last-minute campsite and studied up on how to make the most of Disneyland.
While the tendency might be to guard this life-enriching advice jealously, passing it along only in hushed tones to a small circle of trusted besties, I think that’s exactly the wrong approach. The best life hacks are the ones that don’t just help you make the most of the city around you but also help those around you do the same.
That’s why I’m asking you to share your most-prized L.A. life hacks, the one or two pieces of advice that every Angeleno should know when it comes to maximizing the happy in the City of Angels.
I’ll compile the best of the bunch and publish them in a future ultimate guide to life-hacking Los Angeles. So if you have advice on where to find things like super-clean public restrooms, tree-shaded summer walking routes or the perfect parking spot downtown, share your L.A. life hack by filling out the form below. Be sure to include your first and last name so you can get all the glory your selfless act deserves.