Flying in the LA basin has been a weekly routine for me for decades, and I've gotten used to the traffic and airspace restrictions. It's a function of being in it all the time and knowing what to expect and where. But you're right, there are too many birds in the air, and too many people you've got to talk to to have it be real fun. Combine that with flying a complex fast bird (T6, L39 or other fun old warbirds) and you have to balance a lot of demands. But in general I think the kinda person attracted to aviation, aerobatics, or IFR ops, thrives in this kind of environment.

But as the years have added up, I've spent more time in low and slow birds like the super cub. You can get in and out of a small dirt strip in the middle of nowhere, fish where others don't, ( http://youtube.com/watch?v=FRCyoZdXneE )and enjoy plain old stick and rudder flying, with the window open if you like. There is nothing quite like flying without a time table, dropping down to wave at passengers in a train that you are following, making circles around a friendly worker on a piece of farm equipment who waves back, to relive a taste of what aviation used to be all about. If I really have to be somewhere... I'll fly commercial rather than dicy IFR or night work. Winter brings it's own challenges as well.

Vans RV has more kits in the air than any other plane. Fast and fully aerobatic, it's a fine little machine. http://www.vansaircraft.com/

But all in all flying is something you love or not. Being upside down and on the edge of control in some complex maneuver is either an adrenaline rush or terrifying depending on the person. And I fall into the first group. Even if it's in a Decathlon or something with some horsepower like an Extra, there's no place I'd rather be. Having said that, even the best pilots can have things go wrong. (hours of sheer boredom sprinkled by moments of sheer panic) Hence my showing up on these boards. Chance favors the prepared mind and all that. And I don't have the I'm invincible and going to live forever mentality of my youth.