From the moment I began to compare Santa Cruz to my hometown, the differences became eminent. Growing up in Los Angeles, I was exposed to one of the most populated cities in all of the United States. While Santa Cruz has a population of only 49,040 people, Los Angeles has an astounding 3,485,398. And every one knows that: the higher the population, the higher the pollution factor. The environments of both L.A. and Santa Cruz differ in many ways as well. One of those differences is the amount of air pollution. More cars travel from A to B everyday in L.A. than in Santa Cruz, and the results are drastic.
             For the average working man living in Santa Cruz, the daily commute to work is probably less than half as drastic as it would be for the same type of person living in Los Angeles. One thing that is certain is that the amount of traffic in L.A. on a daily basis would be more intense than anything Santa Cruz has ever seen. Since L.A. is more populated and larger in size, there is a larger amount of demand for businesses and resources. L.A. also serves as a large tourist attraction, which only adds to the amount of congestion on the streets.
             In Santa Cruz there is traffic as well, but not as drastic as in L.A. The air up here is much cleaner and the streets much less crowded. The success of Santa Cruz's environmental status comes from: 1) the lower population and 2) a higher awareness of effects of pollution on the environment. Of course, Los Angeles has this awareness as well, but it is much harder for a central message of environmental care to spread amongst 3 million people than a mere 40,000. Plus, the surroundings in L.A. aren't as inspiring as those in Santa Cruz. Many people from L.A. either figure that it is already too late to even attempt to "save" the environment, or have "something better to do". It's a sad truth that even though awareness might be high, the percentage of people who act...