Halie

I hate CA. I feel like everyone is so obsessed with being "laid back" that those with serious motives in life are laughed at.

And my parents won't let me leave for college, either.

ellemenope

>>I always thought people in California were much friendlier than up here in Seattle.<<

I've noticed an interesting thing about many people in Oregon/Washington...they rabidly hate people from California. Otherwise, they seem to be normal people.

The horrendous traffic and high real estate prices suck the life out of California residents. If you could live in a place that had neither, you'd be in good shape.

ucsd_ucla_dad

EK - I'm glad you had a good time.

I love California and feel fortunate to live here. Of course, I had a hand in the decision to end up here. California has some of the most varied terrain, climates, living styles (from huge cities to small farming towns to small/medium towns), diverse backgrounds of people, of any state. As soon as someone draws a particular stereotype about 'California' all they have to do is look around and go to a different part of the state and the stereotype is no longer valid. But ultimately, I agree with 'coureur'.

coureur

>>The horrendous traffic and high real estate prices suck the life out of California residents<<

One thing I've discovered on various business trips over the years is that pretty much every urban area has terrible traffic. Washington DC, Miami, Boston, New York - all bad. Even Minneapolis can get pretty ugly during rush hour. California may be worse than some, but it's not *way* worse. They all show various versions of the same big traffic jam.

coureur

>>I've noticed an interesting thing about many people in Oregon/Washington...they rabidly hate people from California.<<

This is certainly true, and I speak as a Washington native who went high school in Oregon and now lives in SoCal.

A few years ago I drove back home to Oregon to visit my mother. When we stopped for a meal in a shopping center some people spotted my CA plates in the parking lot and came over and told us to get back in the car and clear out, that Californians were *not* welcome. I had never been treated so rudely by strangers in all my life.

I told them that I was living in Oregon before they were even born, that I had every right to come back and visit my mother and the grave of my father, and that their extremely bad manners made me ashamed to say I was also from Oregon.

It was after that ugly incident that I knew I had outgrown the Pacific Northwest. SoCal for me. The people really are friendlier here.

mootmom

Boy, you must not live anywhere near Silicon Valley where I live, LOL!

Lukester

I too grew up in So Cal, left after H.S. and have lived all over since, now on the East Coast. I've gone back for reunions and family visits, etc. I miss some parts and not others. I do not miss the smog, traffic and high cost of living. People measure distance there by "commuting time" and not mileage. I do miss terribly the beautiful mountains after the Santa Anna winds clear out the smog, esp after a snow fall. I miss living 1hr from the beach, mountains and desert all at the same time. I like going back to visit, but as they say, you never can go back home.

edvest1

The northern part of Calif is several magnitudes grander than south.

There's nothing like Carmel-BigSur-Monterey Pennisula anywhere. Unmatched grandeur of Yosemite. Every parts of Lake Tahoe has distinct character. Skiing is superb (have I mentioned Sqaw Valley yet ? ). If you travel furthter up mystic fogg-shrouded Mendocino Coast you will find the majestic giant redwood forests. Then of course I left my heart in you mean where. Northern California I wish I never left you golden gate.

edvest1

By comparison, much of Los Angeles feels like a third world city. Beside beautiful beaches, much of Socal is endless urban sprawl, the the inland areas are hot and smoggy.

CCC88'

Ahhh yes. Endless sprawl, strip malls, mundane housing developments, traffic, ridiculous housing/apartment prices.

I can't wait to leave.(from the far Northern Bay Area/Wine Country, here)

coureur

>>I feel like everyone is so obsessed with being "laid back" that those with serious motives in life are laughed at.<<

I think you are confusing a couple of different definitions of "laid back." California laid back does not mean unmotivated or lazy; it means casual, open, and friendly, as opposed to uptight and formal.

If it were a separate country California would have either the 6th or 7th largest economy in the world, depending on what sort of a year France had. It didn't get that way by being filled with a bunch of people devoid of serious motives.

latetoschool

Emeraldkity, I have to say that I love California as well. It is difficult for me to justify reasons to go there, since I have little business there, but, I love it. Especially San Francisco. I have not been there for many years but I loved it and I did not want to leave. If I could justify some reason to live there I would. I am going to make it a priority to spend some vacation time there as soon as it is practical.

ucsd_ucla_dad

edvest1:

Head due east from San Diego and you don't have to go far at all before being in the Cuyamaca mountains with pine trees and shortly after that dropping into a pristine desert landscape - in the largest state park in the country - Anza Borrego desert state park. It has some beautiful and wild landscapes and you can easily be places where you're the only one for miles around.

The Mojave desert, Death Valley, San Bernardino mountains, southern Sierra range, southern coastline, etc. are all also beautiful locations. All of California from the southern end to the northern end and the central portion are all very nice and quite varied.

I agree with you about how nice the Monterey area is - I used to scuba dive there a lot when I lived in the Bay area. I also used to ski the Tahoe area as well as go camping there. Now I just go to Mammoth or June mountain or sometimes southwest Utah and even to the San Bernardino mountains for skiing.

I'm no fan of big city areas so I'm not crazy about the LA basin or the Bay area but it's also nice to have places to work and some commerce I suppose. Even though San Diego is a large metropolitan area and has its share of traffic problems and freeways I somehow get a different feeling here than in the other two big metro areas of California. It could be because there's still open and wild land closeby here and the mountains and large hills break up the metro area.

mom60

Not all of Ca has traffic!
Emeraldkity- I hope you also had the pleasure of flying in and out of our wonderful little airport.

poetsheart

Northern California sounds heavenly, especially places like Carmel and Monterey. Does anyone live in or near these areas? Sadly, I've never been west of Dallas , so I have to rely on The Travel Chanel to get a glimpse of them.

But no one yet has mentioned the earthquakes. You natives----how many quakes have you experienced? Were you around when the Northridge one hit?