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?

love it and will never leave....

Consider it the lesser of two evils. All of your points are valid, but the snow and cold I could never live with. On the other hand, there are so many people here it makes it miserable to go anywhere almost any time of the day. It has its ups and downs. I suggest you come visit, and then when you leave, take a few poeple with you.

Take a lot of people with you. Lest make it a 914 only state. You can only live here if you own a 914. Then all the 914 would live rust free forever!!!!!!!!!!

QUOTE (riverman @ Mar 3 2006, 07:05 PM)

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.

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.

The CRACK is much better here in Kali...

Twystd1

I was born in San Diego, spent years 0-9 here.
Lived in Germany years 10-16
Came back to San Diego and been here since.

I guess if you stay in a place long enough, your lifestyle and things the locale allows sort of fall into resonance.

In Germany I loved skiing winter and riding my bicycle in the summer.

Now I ride my motorcycle year-round. I'm the weird kind of biker that rides weekdays and drives a pickup truck on weekends. California also 'allows' lanesplitting, so this save me 10 minutes each way.

Occasionally I miss having for-real weather, just for the ability have some sort of time-lock. Years and seasons run together -- "When did I last work on such-and-such? Let's see. It was pretty hot, I was wearing short pants. Oh yeah! That was February of '02!"

Plus, the smog isn't so bad ever since we started parting out and cutting up rust-free teeners.

My wife was born and raised in Toronto... As she tells it, she was always jealous of all the americans that get to choose weather they want to live in cold or hot or tropical Hawaii for that matter.... I met here in Hawaii and she snagged me and now gets to live in the warmth year round down her in So Cal.

She gets pangs for Canada now and again... but that is fixed by visiting the cold...

My father in law arrived 2-days ago for his mid winter 6-week stay with us... If we let him... he would live with us year round!

Your milage may very.

- Dave

EXTREME
Cold sucks, snow sucks, rain sucks, heat sucks.....we have it all, just not in extremes...then add the beach, BIG BOOBS and blondes.....

Doug, I looked up your city. Really looks nice, but after NY, Baltimore, and Minneapolis, I just don't miss the winters.

Discounting the L.A, Bay area, and San Diego, most of the state has low population density and crime rates. Good weather, schools, lifestyle, but the girls only look like Baywatch on Baywatch.

I live in an area similar to yours in population, about 200,000. The biggest difference you would notice is real estate pricing and weather. Found a nice looking 1900 sq ft home in Cambridge for $305k, I assume CN, but don't know if web site was converting.

Similar home here $650k USD. So anything geared to real estate prices (hotel rooms, etc.) is higher here, and with no socialized medicine, care and insurance will cost you more. most other costs comparable.

Per capita income higher here, so there is some offset, but it still ain't cheap. But I'm 20 minutes from the beach all year long, and 2 hours to the slopes now if I really want to freeze my cookies for old times sake.

Bottom line? We like it, but if our kids and granddaughter moved wto Kitchener, we would too.

Just take a look at this site for a while. You'll get a good sense of the incredible places in the state.

http://www.virtualparks.org/states/california.html

i would move there in a flash!!!! i am so tired of the rain here in BC....

I was born and raised here, I did live in Roseburg oregon for a year. California is a nice place to visit, but I'd be out of here in a flash if I could.

I feel that I have the best of both worlds, a home in Lake Oswego.Oregon, rainy, and cold but nice summers,and a home in Palm Desert, Calif. I go there when I can't stand Oregon any longer. Then when I can't stand Calif. any longer I go back to Oregon, and then........
CCLINLALALA

Born and raised here lived in Colorado for 5 years, and then moved back here. I'm moving back after living here for 20 years. I will miss the weather, but not the cost of living the smog, the crowds, or the traffic.
I will however miss the guy's in So cal that I have been fortunate to meet over the last few months, I only wish I would have had to opportunity to meet them sooner in life.. Great guy's everyone of them!!

It always comes down to how much paradise one can afford. The big and only difference for SoCal is that every aspiring actress will come here and that makes the grass a tad greener and our odds a little better.

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.

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)!

I was stationed at what used to beNAS Miramar. I know it is a Marine base now but I was there for 4 years. I loved it! This was 85-90 and I haven't been back since but thought about it alot. I loved Mission Beach, Lajolla, Pacific Beach and Black Beach. They did alot of nude sunbathing there!!I had binoculars!!Saw all women, thank God!! Went to Tijuana alot and up to LA. Great times fo sho!!

Stay away from Corona. Or Riverside. Or San Bernardino. Or...just stay away. This is a crappy place to live. Tell all your friends. Come visit, spend some money, then go home.

Don't live east of the 405. Move to the coastal areas and help jack up the property prices. Or actually, don't move here- make the housing bubble burst, then you can move here once that's done. Just don't plan on commuting. House prices are unreal. And it's the fault of everyone who wants to move here. Better yet, just hang tight and wait for global warming to make your town 'sunny and warm'.

There is no place that I know of except here that I can stand on one spot and see 20 miles of coast line and as I turn see 11,ooo ft mtns and all the snow that they hold. every thing is here if you want to drive several hours to get there. I love Temecula

Bernie

PS I was born here many years ago and have seen it change a great deal.

I spent 4 years there, and am trying to get back out there. LA is a different place than most in the US (and the world most likely). For me, it makes sense, because there is more work for me there than any place else. I'm a video editor and graphic designer. I lived at the beach, and loved it. I think it might be tough to live too far inland. The Inland Empire would never work for me, even the valley could be tough. It get's damn hot in the valley in the summer - but it's a dry heat Traffic is a bitch! If I left home at 6:30am I could be at work by 7:00am, if I left at 6:45 or 7:00 then it would be 7:45 to 8:15 before I got to work. The smog can get on you, and so can the June Gloom if you live at the beach. But, the most beautiful days you'll ever find are the days right after it rains. Those will usually be incredibly sunny and clear like you've never seen it before in SoCal. The weather is awesome, I used to love sitting on the deck of the boat in January in shorts cooking out on the grill. There are a TON of people, always, everywhere you go. Don't plan on being alone unless you're in your house. Banks have security entrances & tellers are behind 2" of plexiglass. In-N-Out Willow Springs, Button Willow, Fontana are all close. Driving events happen all year long. Gas is higher, cars are cheaper, land is crazy $$.

Well, those are some of my rambling thoughts.

QUOTE (Howard @ Mar 3 2006, 07:59 PM)

but the girls only look like Baywatch on Baywatch.

True, but back to 2006, the girls in Laguna Beach are the girls from Laguna Beach

You want plastic boobs, you can find those anywhere. GOOD looking wimmen.....now that's what here....

I was born, raised and lived along the coastal areas of L.A. up until 1985 and loved it. Since then I have lived on the central coast (Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo), Turkey and now in Bakersfield. I still love going down to L.A. and seeing old friends and stomping around in the old neighborhood but I doubt I will ever move back there unless I win the lottery. Basically, unless you are very well off, or alraedy have property, anything from Santa Babara county south is pretty much out of reach. This is also tru for the S.F. area. Bakersfield is not my preferred place to be but I can still be in L.A. or at the beach in under 2 hours and in the mountains in 30 minutes but it gets hot in the summer and we have some pretty crappy air.

I live in LA, and have for 10 years. Its fun and there is lots to do here. Real estate is insane! Schools suck and I have my kids in private school.

Weather is awesome and you see lots of neat cars on a regular basis.

I want to get out of here, but mostly because I don't want my kids growing up here. But if you are single or without kids, its a blast.

QUOTE (Elliot Cannon @ Mar 4 2006, 01:47 AM)

Stay away from Corona. Or Riverside. Or San Bernardino. Or...just stay away. This is a crappy place to live. Tell all your friends. Come visit, spend some money, then go home.

Oh yea...it's terrible.....When you come to visit to see for yourself, take at least 100 people with you when you leave.

Oh, and pass that on to your friends that want to see for themselves too!

Born and raised in California. Grew up in San Diego, went to college there and then moved to Santa Barbara for some more college, and now here to Redondo Beach (in LA). My wife is from Buenos Aires, Argentina and while it took her a couple years to get used to the place, she loves it here now.

We rent an apartment because even on an engineer's salary, we can't even hope to afford a house in the area we live. We'd have to move 60 miles or so, or live in a really bad area to eb able to buy anything. The housing bubble is showing signs of coming down, so things may improve. We really aren't that unhappy to rent however. I wish I had a bigger garage, my wife wishes the kitchen was bigger, but the lifestyle afforded by living here is worth it. We have a number of really ncie beaches near us, which are well set up for cycling, rollerblading, jogging, volleyball (there are a couple huge tournaments each year), etc. There are plenty of places to go for nightlife, lots of good resturaunts, etc. Not to mention Pelican Parts is close enough that I can go pick up parts at lunch

Speaking of which, LA is the landof the automobile, so if you like working on cars, theres basically infinite resources here. Just a few miles from me I can find streets that are lined with automotive related businesses, from muffler shops, to dyno shops, upholstery supplies, metal supplies, plastics, and on and on and on.

The downside really is the congestion on the freeways. My wife is taking classes at UCLA and what is theoretically a 25-30 minute drive has in the past taken her 2 hours on occasion. On the other hand we picked a place to live initially based on where I work, so I have about a 10 minute commute.

There is such a variety of places to live in California. Santa Barbara stands out as one of my favorite just because of the sheer beauty of the place. Growing up I went camping a lot, and in Southern California at least, you can camp at the beach, the mountains, the desert, and not have to drive more than 2 hours to any of these.

If you come out to visit, if you can attend one of the famous Joe's 914 BBQ's I think you'll never want to leave.

-Tony