Another urban legend (well there are some places it really really bad),
But there are a lot of wide side streets and secret by-passes that can really save you time.
It’s not as bad as the legend portrays.
I think around the CV area and down the I5 from north county in the morning it’s just as bad if not worse (but I have only driven there a few times during traffic I will admit).
That’s why I never go to San Diego airport from North county in the morning, it’s really bad every time I tried it.
around LAX, if you know when to get on PCH or Sepulveda bl, that will really save you from the 405 traffic at times, but really it’s not as bad as people make it out.