The Good, Bad & Ugly!

esteem

Hi LA Nesties,

I have visited San Diego and Sacaramento. Which led to a love affair with Cali. I love California especially because of the weather. I have learned to hate the snow of the midwest and have seriously considered moving. What can you tell me about life in California: the good, bad a& ugly!

jagore08

Traffic can be miserable but you can't beat the weather.  A lot of people ask about the earthquakes but it is what it is.  I've been here for 8 years and not one has effected me.  I'm sure there will eventually be a big one but that's part of the deal.  The east has hurricanes, midwest has tornados.  Oh, and the cost of living is a bit pricey.

Wishin986

Good: Temperate weather all year round and consequently you can enjoy many outdoor activities all year round, little rain, lots of sunshine which can be a natural antidepressant, we still get all of the seasons (you can find leaves that change in the fall, mountains are snow capped in the winter, and flowers bloom in the spring and it gets really dry in the summer), driving distance to lots of great weekend and day trips (santa barbara, san diego, temecula, las vegas, lake tahoe, even SF is only 5ish hours away and napa is 6), lots of areas to explore with great personalities - somewhere for everyone, not many other places in the U.S. allow you to hike in the morning and come down cross the street and have a picnic on the beach in the afternoon.  

 Bad: Earthquakes (but it's a trade off - you'll always have something), traffic, it's really spread out, not many areas are that walkable, you need to make sure you live near where you work for commuting purposes, really high cost of living unless you are willing to have a really long commute or sacrifice safety

Ugly:  It gets really dry in the summer so vegetation is often dead, there aren't a whole lot of areas with lots of mature trees - though there are streets here and there and neighborhoods here and there - it will look a lot different to you than the midwest.  The smog/haze in May & June is terrible and its stayed with us much of July unfortunately. 

insominac

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starsailorr26

I guess it all depends what part of California you're looking at. In LA, the traffic and smog are horrible. Cost of living is really high, so even if you have a job that pays decent, you may not be able to live in a nice area. But we have awesome weather almost year round, there's always tons to do and great restaurants, the beach, mountains and desert are a short but traffic filled ride away.

MrsMichiBolooki

insominac:

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This!  

MegMcGraw

I was just lurking when I came across this and given how long ago the post was, I hope you see this but won't be surprised if you don't.

I lived in the midwest (KS) all my life until moving out here to Northern California (an hour north of SF) last summer.  I'll tell you how I feel about being out here - the good is not good enough to put up with the bad and the ugly.  The cost of living here is OUTRAGEOUS compared to the midwest, the traffic is a complete nightmare and the people here (no offense to anyone on this board) just aren't what they are in the midwest.  Not saying that's bad but it's definitely different.  If you move out here, you will understand what I mean.

Hubby and I moved here because we wanted to explore the world a bit and to escape the nasty winters.  After being here for almost a year and a half have decided to move back to the midwest at the end of the year.  It's just too hard to adjust to the fast and expensive lifestyle out here.  I have a feeling it wouldn't be hard at all if we had grown up out here but we grew up in a city where it's cheaper to own a home than rent!  I can't wait to get back, despite the snow.

Some people leave their home region and realize they were always meant to be somewhere else.  You might move out here and love it - the only way to know for sure is to move out here for a while and try it out.  Good luck!