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Life in California - any thoughts?


Gorilla
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Who else has dreamed of moving to California?

 

I live in the UK. I am privileged to live here - but I really dislike the climate.

 

I have always wanted to go to California - if not to live there then at least to spend holidays there.

 

The positives definitely seem to outweigh the negatives - in fact, I can't find any real negatives.

 

This is from the article "Three more reasons to move to California" by Jill Koenigsdorf (posting.php?mode=newtopic&f=19):

 

""I found that the most compelling argument for my moving to California was the climate.

Actually, there was no opposing side in that debate. What would such a voice have said: 'No! I enjoy living in a place where the outside temperature is so extreme that it requires breathing the embalmed air of either central heating or air conditioning 11 1/2 months of the year! Who needs to ever open the windows? I like dressing like the Michelin Man in winter and having my thighs stick to every surface I sit upon in summer because of the 99 percent humidity!' ...

 

In contrast this is from "Why You Shouldn't Move to California"

part of Philip Greenspun's California guidebook (http://photo.net/ca/moving-to-california):

 

"Whenever I'm suffering through a miserable New England winter, I ask myself why I don't just move to California. I finally figured it out one day in downtown Santa Cruz. They've posted signs throughout the city center listing the things that you can't do:

 

no skateboarding

no skate devices

no alcohol

no bikes on sidewalks

no dogs

 

No dogs? That's right. You can't walk a dog down the street in downtown Santa Cruz. Downtown Santa Cruz isn't especially crowded either.

 

Why do Californians need so many rules? Because they all moved there to enjoy the land, the climate, to take a job. They did not move there in order to become part of a community. In fact, they might very well hate all the people around them but still choose to live in California. This does not happen in northern Michigan or central Massachusetts. If you don't like the community, you move. There is no other reason to be there.

 

If Californians did not have myriads of carefully set forth rules, they would simply kill each other.

 

My friends in California mostly have contempt for their fellow citizens. I ask them "today you're going to run into a person on the street that you've never met before. I'm not going to tell you anything about this person. The person could be of any age, sex, or economic class. Do you think you will enjoy meeting this person?" The response is always "I think the person will have the wrong political beliefs" or "the person will probably be a smoker" or "I bet the person won't be a vegetarian, so I can't talk to him" or "I doubt that this person will be educated or intelligent.""

 

This does not convince me "not to go to California" ...

 

Anyway, I guess there are pros and cons wherever you live.

 

Does anyone have any thoughts?

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Interesting topic.

 

My wife and I have had the moving pangs before, and Cali was on the list.

 

We ended up taking a somewhat systematic approach to the question of moving, and that helped. We listed all the things we wanted in a location, and prioritized what was most important. Then we looked at different places and ranked them - and soon realized that where we live now meets more of our priorities than we expected. So we decided that instead of moving to a community that was more in line with what we wanted, we would try to change our community. I think we're slowly getting there.

 

If the climate is your top priority, then perhaps you would come to a different conclusion, as that's not something you can easily change .

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If you're after the climate I would say that the Mediterrainian area are better than California. San Diego seems to be a nice city but so are Rome and Barcelona, for example. And Spanish fruit is about the best in the world...

For us Europeans there is something exotic about California though, I don't know why exactly but I'm thinking good marketing.

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I can't agree more about the traffic. Up here in Oregon I'll be driving with someone and they'll start complaining about the "bad traffic" we're "stuck" in. I usually laugh and tell them that what they consider traffic is no where close to what happens on the freeways of southern california. It's tough if you have a long work commute.

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I can't find any real negatives.

 

1. very expensive housing

2. bad traffic problem in the cities

 

 

 

Don't forget the extraordinary lumming pollution that centralizes over

any major city San Francisco and below.

 

I have lived in California three times in my life.

(Santa Rosa, San Fran. & Arcata, CA. -- all northern areas)

I've visited southern cali. a number of times though; and dislike

the mental haze. Sort of a suburban feel in parts.

 

But I must admit, California IS my favorite state.. it has everything

you could ever want in a state. It's gorgeous and ugly all in the same

breath, and struggling to hold on to its beauty...

I also believe it has more distinction than any other state in the US.

 

And everytime I leave, I always want to move back...

 

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I can think of a LONG list of negatives about Cali! I've only recently been able to allow myself to consider living in California as I have a deep-rooted prejudice against the state... That said, I'd definitely rather live in Cali. than the UK!

 

But it really depends on where in California yr talking about & what exactly you are looking for.

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I can't find any real negatives.

 

1. very expensive housing

2. bad traffic problem in the cities

 

i'm not really sure about traffic in england..

but housing in england is also very expensive, perhaps even more than Cali..

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I found rome to be kind of a pit when I was there.

 

So much trash and crud.

 

Although my experience started off pretty negatively with the airline losing all my luggage and never finding it so my view may be colored :P

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i pretty much grew up in Cali and still make visits as often as i can. Pro's are its beautiful, pretty culturally diverse and laid back in most places, great weather, easy to find healthy food.

 

Cons, super expensive cost of living, and pollution. Southern california has some serious Smog isues. Somedays, you can't see very far at all. Just this nasty chemical fog. Oh, and people from california are pretty awful drivers. The moment three drops of rain hit the pavement there are multiple accidents.

 

But still I love it and would prolly move back if i could.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I know this post is a bit old but I still feel like i need to add to it.

 

i've spent my entire, relatively short, life here. Grew up in the Sierra Nevada's, lived in San Diego a few years, moved to SF for a while and now i'm in Berkeley.

 

I love it here, but it's like anywhere else. No matter where you are, you'll always dream of magical far off lands that'd you'd love to live someday. You're experience is based on who and what you surround yourself with. But it's a big state and varies a lot.

 

Depending on where you are, crazy laws dont really effect you. Like the dog thing. I take my dog on all the public transportation in the Bay Area. He runs free in every park in SF. People just dont care much what you are doing as long as it isnt effecting them negatively.

 

The cost of living is rediculous. But make almost nothing, live alone, and am doing ok. So affordable stuff is around, you just have to look harder.

 

That being said, I might be moving to Washington in 6 months.

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Move to Virginia, its cheap to live there and you get what you pay for. Florida is nice but your money goes far so it makes you feel like you're living a life beyond you. Live somewhere cheap and crappy.

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Move to Virginia, its cheap to live there and you get what you pay for. Florida is nice but your money goes far so it makes you feel like you're living a life beyond you. Live somewhere cheap and crappy.

 

''money goes far so it makes you feel....... beyond you''? what does that mean?

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I went to ventura, ca for earth crisis show. it was my first time experiencing california. I loved it. nice climate, friendly ppl, wonderful nature, and lots of organic fruit! it seemed like the most wonderful place that I been to and totally realistic place to survive without lots of man-made crap (jackets, airconditioning/heat,etc).

a very nice lady taught me tai chi class for free in a park. it was awesome, and there was this huge australian tree. i loved it there.

 

I want to move out to SoCal sometime within next couple of years if I can.

But housing is very expensive. and there's lots of traffic, pollution, and big egos.

 

 

but there are other countries im interested in living in at some point in my life. but i definitely want to try cali before i leave

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ppsshh Im moving to SE Asia.

 

thats where id like to end up. or in brazil.

tropical, with fresh fruit, and some form of MA

 

brazil has only one problem: brazilians. lol

 

heyyy thats harsh.

i know many awesome brazilians. I practice capoeira...thats my main interest for brazil.

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