We can all gripe to some degree about the places where we live. Maybe the local government is ineffective. Perhaps there is too much suburban development, mediocre schools, or lack of professional opportunity. Dan Aykroyd, the former star of SNL and The Blues Brothers, made his feelings clear about California, where he once lived. The beloved funnyman from Canada probably won't be moving back there anytime soon.
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Speaking on The Adam Carolla Show on a resurfaced episode from 2023, Aykroyd said some nice things about Santa Monica. He also lauded the "lovely wide boulevards" of the Los Angeles region. But he was not done with his critique just yet. There is, for example, a significant homeless population. Aykroyd commented, "So the underside and the overside will always, always be there. We're living in frankly medieval times."
"We Have To Be So Guarded Now"
He noted that he and his family live cautiously. "Bring my family close, whereas really I would like to take my family and let them run in the park at one in the morning. But no. We have to be so guarded now."
Then there is the yawning gulf between the haves and the have nots, That divide is very conspicuous when you compare the super wealthy enclaves of L.A. where many entertainers live with the areas frequented by the homeless. Adam Carolla mentioned that Beyonce and Jay-Z reportedly have a $200 million pad in upscale Malibu. However, to get to it, "you have to drive through a homeless encampment." Remarked Carolla, "That's where we're at, which is ultra-rich and then people just expiring on the streets in squalor."
Aykroyd Likes Living in His Native Canada
Per the New York Post, Dan Aykroyd mentioned on Adam Carolla's show being visited by a pal in Canada. He reportedly now has property in Ontario. "Here I am driving through the bucolic countryside ... and we're in Canada. We're driving to the drug store to get an ice cream, and he tells me, 'What it is like to live in a country without war?' I thought to myself, 'Boy, do I take things for granted, you know, around this place.'"
