I'm from Pennsylvania, and I couldn't imagine living in California. It looks incredible - beaches, red wood forests, mountain views and impressive cities.
But, its just so big. The traffic looks like a nightmare. How do you grocery shop after getting out of work? Where do you go for a quiet hike? What is life like in California? Asking for a friend. lol, jk, I just want to hear :)
Speaking for SoCal from a rural Iowa kid’s perspective. Moved here right out of college.
1. Traffic is a nightmare but you learn how to manage or accept it. If you’re smart you will live within 30-40 mins of work.
2. Plenty of places to grocery shop after work. Lotta grocery delivery services available too. Best place to leave work and shop close to home to maximize travel time.
3. Plenty of places for a nice weekend hike within 15-45 mins of LA.
4. Cities tend to have the extremes of society. If you focus on the positives of Cali - you’ll love it.
Grew up in the Bay Area and live here now, and also lived in LA for almost 12 years. Agree with every word on SoCal by above poster. L.A. is the only major metropolis in the country that directly abuts wilderness (Angeles National Forest, Santa Monica Mountains), as opposed to being separated from it by vast suburbs; consequently trail hikes/runs through spectacular chaparral habitat are a short drive (depending on traffic) away.
The Bay is famous for trails being just a stone's throw away. In the East Bay, the Wildcat Canyon/Tilden/Sibley/Redwood/Chabot contiguous regional park system is one of the most underrated urban park systems in the world, and SF is just a bridge away from the breathtaking Marin Headlands. And in addition to those, hundreds of miles of bayshore trails through both city and wetland environments circumnavigating the entire Bay.
Traffic sucks in both areas; that's just a fact of life, like winters in Chicago. You just have to get used to it.
Expensive yes, liberal POS governments - state and local. But we have everything.
When I’m cruising a 15 miler in a singlet in the middle of January or February and think about those either slipping on ice, or can’t run outside, or stuck on a treadmill in 2/3 of the country, it’s all worth it.
Leighton Woodhouse wrote:
L.A. is the only major metropolis in the country that directly abuts wilderness
Ever heard of Central Park?
I can see trees from my house wrote:
Leighton Woodhouse wrote:
L.A. is the only major metropolis in the country that directly abuts wilderness
Ever heard of Central Park?
Can you get attached by a mountain lion in Central Park? How many bears do they have?
California is far more than LA and the Bay Area, though I will agree with what has already been written about those places. The north coast is absolutely beautiful, the Sierras are magnificent. Some of the most remote wilderness to be found anywhere in the lower 48 is in the northern part of the state.
Some areas are total bung holes to live in as well, with absurdly hot temps, choking air pollution, crime, poverty, etc....
Some areas are just pretty average also. Where I live, in the central valley, cost of living is relatively low, wages are fairly low, and education levels are kind of low. However, the sense of community in our small farming town is tremendous and I've had my fair share of students move on to become doctors, dentists, lawyers, engineers, etc.... We are two hours from many of the "main attractions" of Northern CA (Monterrey, SF, Yosemite, King's Canyon, Skiing, Surfing, etc.....) Unfortunately, as the joke goes, we're 2 hours from everything, but we're also 2 hours away from anything.
As far as "liberal hell hole" or whatever some other poster put.....we've got a huge budget surplus due to Governor Moonbeam's sound fiscal management.
Wilderness?? LOL
Do taxis and horse drawn carriages count?
I can see trees from my house wrote:
Leighton Woodhouse wrote:
L.A. is the only major metropolis in the country that directly abuts wilderness
Ever heard of Central Park?
That's a city park, not wilderness. Wilderness does not have lamps. I'd love to be a fly on the wall when either of you got to experience some legit wilderness. Would be cool to see.
Wilding at night in the park wrote:
Wilderness?? LOL
Do taxis and horse drawn carriages count?
Don't forget the raccoons.
It’s not that overwhelming (and I live near LA), but you do learn how to make it seem less busy...I actually prefer to go to the grocery store after work vs the weekend because everywhere is busier on the weekend. So I purposely do most of my errands on the weekday I have off or after work. Traffic is hard to avoid, but again, you learn what times are the most busy and avoid those times. There are tons of places to hike and some are more popular than others, so I go to the less populated ones. Obviously life is busier here than if I lived in say the Midwest, but really it isn’t that bad and it’s warm and sunny all the time!
I'm from San Jose, and I can run on a different trail every day of the week with only a 10 minute drive. It's amazing. The Baylands go for miles with flat dirt trails along the water. That's where I do my long runs. When I want to get away for a run, I drive the 35 minutes to Santa Cruz and then hang out along the beach/wharf the rest of the day. Sometimes I slide up to San Francisco and run through Golden Gate Park.
It's overwhelming, I agree. I've lived here for 3 years and I feel like there is so much to see north, south, east, and west of me. I've been planning a trip this month and I literally can't decide where I want to go.
Important side note. San Jose has perhaps the best Turkey Trot in the nation. Gobble gobble MOTHER FOCKERS!!!
Traffic really sucks and totally dictates your schedule if you need to go more than a couple miles. Forget trying to drive down to the beach right after work, you'll just be bumper to bumper for 45 minutes before you turn around and give up.
In general, People are mildly douchey and self-centered and first conversatons are mostly people trying to judge if you have connections that may be useful to them someday. Anti-intellectual city for the most part, despite all the famous artists and writers living there.
Weather is nice but gets boring after a couple years. Some good restaurants and spots for drinks it's so spread out it's hard to take full advantage. Who wants to spend 45 minutes trying to plan logistics before going out for drinks?
Architecture is mostly blah and city layout is a mess. LA is 20 million people who decided not to build a city.
Been gone 5 years now and haven't missed one single thing about it.
Live in California. No traffic. 15 minutes to the beach. More than 50 miles of trails out the front door. Lots more trails if I drive 15 min - 1 hr. Big mountains available on a weekend.
But the real estate $$ here is ridiculous.
@Nee how mah Not sure if I was included as "either of you" but I've been backpacking in the High Sierras since I was a teenager. The mountains around L.A. are not city parks, they're legit wild areas.
As for Central Park, I agree 100%. Central Park is literally the opposite of wilderness.
So much of California is just butt ugly strip malls and parking lots
Ha ha - did you just call Central Park wilderness? Love Central Park but it is nothing compared to national parks like headlands, Muir Woods, or even topango canyon in so cal
I can see trees from my house wrote:
Leighton Woodhouse wrote:
L.A. is the only major metropolis in the country that directly abuts wilderness
Ever heard of Central Park?
Honestly, same can be said about much of the rest of the country.
Hardloper wrote:
So much of California is just butt ugly strip malls and parking lots
California is big enough that you can find a city that compares to almost any other in the US. It all depends what you are looking for.
Live in Southern California, transplant from the Midwest.
Echo other sentiments above.
Life is significantly better here if your household income is 300K plus, especially if you have kids.
Housing is ridiculously expensive anywhere the school district is decent, especially compared to Michigan
where I moved from. I have resigned myself to spending more of my income on a mortgage than I would in the Midwest.
Have a 3-bedroom 2000 sq foot house, in Michigan could easily have bought a 4000sq ft house with cash.
Lots of nearby parks, hiking. However I think that's a bit oversold and cities in the Rocky Mountains are better for that
stuff. Still better than most of the country though.
Weather is great but getting hotter in the summer. I'm not a beach person but some people here live for that stuff.
Eventually plan to move back to Michigan (accounting for global warming it will probably be quite nice there in 30 years).