Its not what it used to be.

Life in LA is harsh.  The warring clans, travel, wildlife and crumbling buildings are only part of the problem.  Injury and disease are the two most dangerous aspects of living here.  If you have an accident and are severely injured or sick, there is no way possible for you to receive professional medical care.  There are clan doctors and shamans, but for the most part they are ripperdocs on the run.  Sterilized facilities are all but non existent, and medicine is a hard thing to come by indeed.  Anesthetics usually mean a bottle of the moon shine popular with the inhabitants.  A vile concoction that tastes more like turpentine than alcohol.  Drugs themselves are a valuable commodity, especially penicillin and antibiotics.  Tetanus is another large hazard of living in LA, and medicine to prevent it is very valuable here.

Viral infection spreads rampant here if not contained immediately.  A simple flu here is deadly to the entire population, pneumonia is almost a death sentence.  Most of the denizens of LA are sick in one way or another, and diarrhea is a common symptom, but the citizens have learned to identify which illnesses can be life threatening and contagious. Other illnesses such as STD's and any contagious sickness can become out of control very easily.  To protect against this, those who display signs of these illnesses are usually dealt with carefully, either by being locked away (quarantined), banished, or in some cases even killed.  Don't cough in LA.

The one thing LA doesn't have to worry about is space, there is no shortage of shelter here.  Some of the buildings are even comfortable and nice, with only the first and possibly second floors flooded.  These areas are usually taken by clan leaders or the lucky few who are able to keep them either protected or hidden, but sometimes you get lucky and stumble on something.  Windmills are abundantly seen on rooftops, and waterwheels in the streets, these are fairly easily erected and provide a modicum of electricity.  In some cases only enough to power a radio, in others enough to provide enough energy to equal that of a modern home.  But usually the generators are used for light, and lights have been strung all over clan areas and dwellings.  Any thing from normal light bulbs, christmas lights, and torches are used for illumination.  Of course less traveled routes are usually completely unlit.

Fishing is the major source of food here, and fresh water is slowly achieved by makeshift distillers and the gathering of rain water.  Clothing, and most other essentials are in abundance, as well as weapons, both real and constructed.

Going to LA is sort of a surreal experience, it looks like a city in ruins, and it is, but is also alive.  The inhabitants live like animals desperately trying to be civilized.  While floating down the streets you are in awe of the destruction, but in some buildings things look so normal, even elegant, that you forget that outside everything is in ruins.  In some places the toilets even work.  Of course in most areas buildings are missing most if not all walls, the floors are crumbling, and life generally sucks.

Moisture is another very big problem in Lost Angeles.  You are constantly surrounded by the sea, and the moisture and salt air have adverse affects on everything from guns, to cybernetics.  While the firearms are easily found, and fairly easy to maintain, cybernetics are not.  Salt water on unshielded limbs can wreck havoc, especially if the limb is partially damaged.  Replacement parts are very hard to come by and installation of cybernetics here is almost sure to be dangerous..... i.e.: botched jobs, infection and other problems.  It is for these reasons cybernetics are a rarity here.

The water itself also presents a problem.  Pollution and wildlife can easily be your downfall. The weather although usually calm in California can and does get rough....... very dangerous here indeed.

All in all life in Lost Angeles is cruel and inhospitable, but also survivable, and sometimes, for a person on the run, that's all they need.