We're paying more--in some cases a helluva lot more--for just about everything we use these days, according to the OC Register. The Consumer Price Index for the Orange County-Los Angeles-Riverside shows a bump in the cost of food, gasoline, transportation, utilities, education, and even apparel.
Almost Everything in Life Has Gotten More Expensive Lately
'Bloated,' 'Lofty,' and Out of Work: LA's Newest Claim to Fame
The folks over at Forbes are taking their cues these days from the late rap icon Tupac Shakur as they explain why they selected Los Angeles as their top pick of America's Most Overpriced Cities. But it's not the cost of pimping your gas-guzzling ride, decking yourself out in bling for a red carpet event, or bathing in champagne that makes life here so expensive. It's actually, well, just plain ol' life here that's overpriced, with our "bloated housing prices, lofty living costs and unemployment rates among the highest in the nation."
Times Are Tough But Rents Aren't Rising...As Much
According to the OC Register, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics latest consumer price index reveals that rents in Southern California have gone up at a rate less than 5% from March until November of this year, and that "if the numbers hold up in December, it will be the first time since 2000 that area rents have gone up less than 5% year-over-year," which was when they rose only 4.3%. In addition, "November SoCal housing costs overall, which include utilities and furnishings, were up 2.6% compared to a 4% jump this time last year." Consumer prices overall rose 1% last month in Southern California, which happens to be "a 10-year low."
LA Drops from #3 to #16 on Forbes' List of 'Best Cities for Singles'
As a city known for its beautiful weather and beautiful people, you'd think it would be difficult to name a more ideal city for singles than Los Angeles. However, Forbes.com, actually found 15 other cities that they think are a better fit for bachelors and bachelorettes in their "8th Annual Best Cities for Singles" list.
Where's the Bees? The Buzz on More Food Price Hikes
For Angelenos, bees are more often than not encountered as sugar-drunk spastics outside of a neighborhood recycling center, sippers of sweet nectar from your garden's flowers, or a stinging source of outdoor anguish. But there's actually a nationwide "bee crisis" that pertains specifically to honey bees and their unexpected decline, and now what's been a problem for farmers is getting passed on to the consumers in the form of higher food prices.

