OT - To All You SoCal Guys (and Girls), Do you like it there? Options

[riverman]

My mind gets active when I have nothing to do, so while the site was down I started thinking about travel. I've always wanted to see California and one day I will, but I began to wonder 'Is it all it's cracked up to be?'

I think one of the reasons California looks so appealing is that it's always hyped in the movies and on TV - good weather, beautiful people, easy lifestyle, rust-free teeners. But the flipside of that is overcrowding, high cost of living, gang violence and smog.

I know that every place has it's qualities (southwestern Ontario - clean cities, safe neighbourhoods, high standard of living, gorgeous summers) and we all live where we live for a reason. But every winter all I want to do is get away. I hate the snow and the cold.

So tell me, is California all it's cracked up to be? For those of you born there, would you rather live somewhere else? For those of you who moved there, was it worth it?

[carreraguy]

QUOTE (Porcharu @ Mar 3 2006, 07:17 PM)

[/QUOTE] Only a tiny part of California is like what you see on TV - most of the place is empty. Once you get out of the coastal cities it's actually pretty uncrowded, it's really a different state outside of the cities. Here in the real "central coast" (bay area) it's packed and outside of the weather leaves alot to be desired. The weather is nice.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/agree.gif)

I've lived in LA, San Diego and San Jose most of my adult life. There's WAY more to California than what you see in the media; i.e the wine country north of SF, the Sierra Nevada gold country between SF and Sacramento, the national parks such as Yosemite and Death Valley, Lake Tahoe for your snow fix, numerous public beaches for camping, and miles and miles of 914 fun driving roads such as the notorious Highway 1 that are free of snow year round. If you come, definitely visit SF, LA, Hollywood, and San Diego to get your fix of the places you've heard of and wanted to visit, but like traveling anywhere you've never been before, get out of the cities to really experience the totality of what the state has to offer (aside from its great year round climate)!