A real estate agent has sensationally compared Los Angeles in California to a ‘third world country.’
Selling The OC star Alex Hall made the claim during a frank conversation about the city’s collapse with her colleague and Selling Sunset star Jason Oppenheim.
Speaking on the Pretty Dirty Podcast, released earlier this month, Oppenheim said that crime appeared to be ‘through the roof’ before going on to lay out ways in which improvements could be made.
In a clip that was shared widely online, Hall, 35, didn’t hold back her opinion as she said: ‘I mean honestly, I think that LA is like a third world country.’
Oppenheim, 48, appeared to agree and said that the city had been going downhill ‘significantly’ since the Covid pandemic.
He said: ‘California in general lost about a million people within a two-year period. California lost population for the first time in over 50 years.
‘We were a growing state for 50-60 years until Covid and then people left for multiple reasons. [Gavin] Newsom had some very restrictive Covid policies, the most restrictive policies in the country.’
Selling The OC star Alex Hall (pictured) said LA was like a ‘third would country’
She made the comments while talking to Jason Oppenheim on her Pretty Dirty Podcast
Oppenheim went onto add that homelessness has ‘run rampant’ in the city and that crime has gone ‘through the roof.’
He also pointed out the tax increases, including the arrival of the LA mansion tax in 2023, has caused issues.
Hall then asked Oppenehim what he was planning to do with his properties in the city.
He replied: ‘I can’t sell because of the mansion tax and because I’ve got good loans, so I just can’t sell. Otherwise, I would.’
Oppenheim’s criticism of the city wasn’t without solutions, and he said significant improvements could be made by the criminal justice system getting tougher on repeat offenders and having more cops on the street.
The duo’s conversation appeared to resonate with viewers on social media.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, one said: ‘It’s a shame what has happened to Los Angeles. I will not visit until that place changes.’
‘It’s pretty bad when real estate agents are talking about how bad LA is!’ noted another.
Tents that shelter homeless people line the sidewalk in Los Angeles
Selling Sunset’s Oppenheim said that homelessness has ‘run rampant’ in the city and that crime has gone ‘through the roof’
A third claimed it was ‘worse than third world.’
In July, it was reported that homelessness dropped by four percent across LA County, according to official count. This drop, however, followed years of increases.
The US Interagency Council on Homelessness reports that between 40 and 60 percent of homeless Americans have jobs but cannot afford homes.
The council also attributes high rates of outdoor living to restrictions and discriminatory policies at some shelters, such as limiting admittance to people who are sober or without criminal records.
The state of California has lost over 500,000 residents since 2020.
Many residents opted for cities like Las Vegas and Seattle – but a lot of Californians ditched the city lifestyle completely and bought acres of land in states like Texas, Wyoming and Colorado.
Amongst those opting for more remote mansions is Hilary Swank, who put her $10.5 million Pacific Palisades home on the market in 2021 and moved to Colorado with her family.
She was one of a large group of people who took off during the pandemic, in search of more space and privacy.