Bridge And Tunnel vs. Off Ramp

In New York there is a term for those who invade and over saturate the city on weekends coming from places like Long Island, New Jersey, Westchester and further Upstate.  The term is "Bridge and Tunnel".  It is reserved for those people that must travel over a bridge or through a tunnel to get to the city at all.  Their presence is usually seen as intrusive and annoying for locals.  Neighborhood hang out spots get taken over by these unruly outsiders, replacing a laid back local vibe with the worst of belligerent frat behavior.  Lines that wrap around the block are formed in front of places that never have lines.  Guest lists materialize out of thin air at places that normally don't give a hoot.  All in all its a pretty aggravating situation for locals.  

The term here in LA for this group of weekend invaders is "Off Ramp".  These people must drive long distances on the freeway to get to Hollywood or Downtown from places like Orange County, the Valley and Valencia.  They are off the local "ramp" if you will.  Having lived in both cities I can tell you that the phenomenon of "bridge and tunnel" and "off ramp" are extremely similar.  Both here and in New York it has been made very clear to me that going out during the week is the way to go.  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights are usually pretty amazing with some of LA's oldest, classiest and most consistent parties and venues running at full steam.  Fridays and Saturdays you can forget it unless you know of a safe place that is outside the outsiders radar.  

I went to 7 and Grand this Saturday with some friends.  It was completely Off Ramp.  We had to wait in the lobby packed with  people as the bouncer randomly let people in at the pace of a slow drip.  I'm not generally a complainer or a whiner, in fact I didn't do either the entire night and had a great old time, but I am saying that during the week the good times are had without getting the cold shoulder from bouncers or standing on a sidewalk for an hour.  What's worse is that I was trying to go to the much famed Downtown art deco hang out The Edison and couldn't because of a major case of Off Ramp.  The bouncer at the door told me that the wait would be between 15 minutes to an hour and a half.  That's like waiting for my cable to be installed sometime between 8am and 4pm.  No way.  Not gonna do it.  I'll just come back on Monday night when the place is still jumping but there are no bouncers, no lines, no waiting and no bullshit.