<p>I kinda want to know about each “region” or area of California (Bay Area, LA, NorCal, SoCal, however people break up the state into regions) in these categories (tag a big city to that region so I have an idea of the location)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>After College Job Prospects (and Name a few common jobs in that area that requires a degree (ex. Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering at Mountain View California)</p></li>
<li><p>Beach Prospects (water too cold, crappy sand, etc)</p></li>
<li><p>Air Quality</p></li>
<li><p>Security (As if you wanted to start a family (no I don’t have nor do I plan on starting a family lol))</p></li>
<li><p>You overall appreciation of your area on a scale of 1-10</p></li>
</ol>
Job prospects: Good I guess. It is LA so there are a variety of jobs available and a lot of companies available who will hire you. Almost every job is here.
Beach: Many beaches. Some are dirty though so depends on which one you go to. But there are nice ones as well like Manhattan Beach.
Air Quality: haha, don’t even go there, seriously. It is LA, lots of smog and pollution.
Security: Depends which neighborhood you live in. There are areas that are very scary just like Oakland but there are areas where the rich people live as well. Some of the nicer suburbs include Bel Air, Beverly Hills, San Marino, Arcadia are considered safe and good areas to start a family.
Appreciation: Hmmm, I grew up in the asian part of LA, the San Gabriel Valley. I guess it isn’t bad or anything. I am very use to my life here and will definitely miss it very much once I move up to the Bay Area. I definitely like my life in SoCal but going to college up North will be a good change to have.</p>
<p>OP, you should tell us about your area as well since you started this thread :D</p>
<p>I’m from the Valley (SoCal, near Orange County)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>After College Job Prospects : I mean there’s definitely some jobs out here, nothing I’m interested in. CalTech is out here though as far as schools go.</p></li>
<li><p>Beach Prospects - Pretty much every good beach is accessible from here in about an hour drive. Same goes for the mountains. Smack dab in the middle - everything is 30 mins to an hour away</p></li>
<li><p>Air Quality - Horrible compared to other states, good compared to LA</p></li>
<li><p>Security - I feel incredibly safe here. (Chino Hills is the city to be specific)</p></li>
<li><p>You overall appreciation - 10. A perfect city to grow up in as a kid. As an adult? Not so much. Perfect time to be moving away :)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I’m from the Bay Area in the Silicon Valley</p>
<ol>
<li><p>After College Job Prospects : Great summer internships, my junior bro from ucberkeley majoring in EECS is getting like 30 bucks an hour plus 250 stipends at the end of the week so probably 7k a month.
Silicon valley is home of apple, hp, cisco, sun microsystems, oracle so engineering computer science majors like my bro have good job prospects here.</p></li>
<li><p>Beach Prospects - 30-45 from SanFran but beaches are cold with crappy sand and more rock</p></li>
<li><p>Air Quality - great</p></li>
<li><p>Security - Cupertino/West San Jose is supposedly richest city by Forbes due to high education which leads to fewer criminals. but yeah, very little crime in bay area besides East( or West?) Oakland</p></li>
<li><p>You overall appreciation - 10 as a child for education. my high school is ranked 70th in US. adults are usually engineers and most parents seem like boring ppl and workaholics. cant wait to go to college. SF isnt as great as u think it is.</p></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li><p>Biotech, Programming, Electrical Engineering, Law, Medicine…pretty much everything, honestly.</p></li>
<li><p>I hate the beach and haven’t ever really been to one I’d consider “good,” so…iono, crowded.</p></li>
<li><p>Wonderful unless you live right next to one of the major freeways. Which nobody does.</p></li>
<li><p>Pretty good in suburban. I’ve never heard of anyone being mugged, robbed, etc… near me or any of my friends.</p></li>
<li><p>I can’t really rate it, because my lack of appreciation for it stems largely from not having any friends near me, which in turn stems from going to high school 30 miles away from my house. I don’t like how hot it is or the total lack of rain, and I have a suspicion that if I went back for an internship, I’d find my coworkers shallow and uninteresting, as I did during both of my internships in high school. Etc.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>It’s just not my place, but it clearly is the place for a very large number of other people, most of whom are very, very happy.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>After College Job Prospects: Since San Jose is in the Silicon Valley, there are a TON of companies here ranging from Google to Adobe to Sun Microsystems. People (tons of engineers) often move here looking for jobs, which tends to raise the price of homes.</p></li>
<li><p>Beach Prospects: You usually have to drive at least an hour to get to the nearest beach. The water here isn’t as warm or calm as in SoCal. The sand depends on the beach.</p></li>
<li><p>Air Quality: I’d say it’s okay for a big city. Definitely better than LA’s pollution.</p></li>
<li><p>Security: San Jose is often referred to as the “safest big city”.</p></li>
<li><p>You overall appreciation of your area on a scale of 1-10: I’d give it an 8 since I really like it here. It’s really diverse and offers a lot of opportunities. The reason I didn’t give it a 10 is because you usually have to drive to nearby cities for entertainment.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Orange County (think Anaheim, about a 45 minute drive south of LA)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>After College Job Prospects: Pretty good, my dad commutes to LA, really any job you can imagine up there (I’d imagine only a few places in the world could compete with LA in terms of variety and number of jobs)</p></li>
<li><p>Beach Prospects: Amazing beaches. Huntington beach just held the US Open of Surfing last week, incredible stuff. Just a 15-20 minute drive away from me. Good sand, good water. No shark attacks. Other beaches relatively close: Newport beach, Long beach. Mountains/snow are about an hour away.</p></li>
<li><p>Air Quality: Better than LA’s pollution, so that’s good enough for me. Be careful about the fires that we get sometimes though, that can screw things up (applies to many many parts of California)</p></li>
<li><p>Security: Suburbs of OC, safest you can get. There’s like churches everywhere (way more than anyone needs). Lots of rich people live here.</p></li>
<li><p>You overall appreciation of your area on a scale of 1-10: I’d give it a 27 because we had a TV show named after us. Plus, some of the best sports teams like the Anaheim Angels and the Anaheim Ducks. Great weather all year round, way better than NorCal. Oh, and Disneyland and Knott’s are very close.
Plus, rich Orange County parents like to go on weekend vacations often, leaving their children and house alone, the best time for parties.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks for all the responses guy, they were a fun and informational read!</p>
<p>@Stevenboi27
Well I’m from Boise, Idaho (contains about 1/3 of Idaho’s entire population)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Jon Prospects: Up until the later half of last year, Boise, ID was ranked among the top cities to start a business in this country, but recent articles talk about he job prospects being dismal. If you’re a MechE or EE major, your main company would be the Hewlett Packard her that specializes in ink jet printers, but if you’re a Computer Science major, Microsoft would be the big one, but there are tons of smaller companies (about 300): [Idaho</a> Software Employers Alliance | Member Companies](<a href=“http://www.idahosea.com/Member_Companies/]Idaho”>http://www.idahosea.com/Member_Companies/) . Beyond engineering there is a demand of heathcare jobs in all fields and the rest of the job market here is pretty slim.</p></li>
<li><p>Beaches: Lol do I really need to answer this question. We do have a couple of nice lakes though that are good for boating and fishing but some of the artificially made sand is really rocky and painful.</p></li>
<li><p>Air Quality: Wonderful, but Boise I think actually has the worst air quality out of the entire state (probably because we’re also the most urbanized city/township in the state).</p></li>
<li><p>Security: I think a long time ago it was rated as having the lowest crime and other similar stats out of all the capital cities but I don’t know about recent stats, but from personal preference it’s extremely safe relative to other cities I’ve lived in. One of the few downtowns I’ve been to where you can walk around at night feeling very secure. Although I have heard crime is increasing due to increasing Californians (which is a horrid nativist unproven statistic that IMO doesn’t prove causation) and also due to the drug cartels in Mexico somehow making their way up here but I have not personally seen any such change.</p></li>
<li><p>Appreciation: I guess if I was starting a family I’d give it a 10, but as a single college-bound teenage bachelor I’d give it a 6-7 since I personally would like to live in a place with a little more diversity, as my 11th grade English teacher says “A place that’s much less ‘mayonnaise’ just to get a more diverse perspective of the world”. One thing I did like about Boise was that many of my friends here were of the Mormon faith and I learned how untrue many of the streotypes on the Mormon faith created by other religious faiths were and I learned to make sure I don’t judge any religious belief until I’ve heard the point of view from members of that faith. People here are really kind and polite in general, but I CAN’T WAIT TO GO BERKELEY GO BEARS and hopefully one day become a Californian resident!</p></li>
</ol>
<p>PS: I’ve never been to a potato farm. I’ve never even seen one lol.</p>
<p>I specifically didn’t call it “The OC”, that bugs me too.
But A LOT of people here say just “OC” and it’s pretty appropriate.
I should know, I’ve lived here pretty much all my life lol</p>
<p>for those from out of state, there is a similar sensitivity up here to the name Frisco - which is NEVER used for San Francisco. That is either San Francisco, SF or ‘the city’. I imagine that “the OC” is equally annoying to people in Orange County.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Job Prospects: There really are not many opportunities for those who possess higher degrees above those who merely possess a high school diploma; I mean, of course there are the positions that all areas maintain (i.e. medical, legal, administrative, etc…), but there really is nothing special to set the area apart.</p></li>
<li><p>Beach Prospects: Nil, unless one would count the various reservoirs that the residents of my area utilize for recreation. I personally find the water disgusting, so I would not recommend it for anybody.</p></li>
<li><p>Air Quality: As a result of agricultural pollution and the geography that traps any air pollution, the area is known for it’s abnormally terrible air quality for such a primarily rural area. It is not exactly the best for any who are sensitive to the quality of air that they breathe.</p></li>
<li><p>Security: In fact, many people move from around California to the area because of the laid back atmosphere and low levels of congestion as they believe that it would make raising a family easier. However, I would never choose the area as a location in which to raise a family – the crime is high, there is little opportunity, the sweltering heat is simply dreadful, the inhabitants are fixed in a provincial mindset, and the health standards are amongst the worst in the nation.</p></li>
<li><p>Appreciation: I would most definitely have to rate my appreciation with the area as being a 2. There is absolutely nothing to keep one entertained (well, almost, but that’s why my hometown’s nickname is “Sexeter”). The climate is lousy and the air quality is enough to drive even the most healthy athlete to the status of a wheezing asthmatic. I am definitely happy to be leaving this behind to begin my life in Berkeley.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Alright MantisTobaggan NEEDS to respond because he called me out in front of everyone.
I understand being bothered by “The OC” but what’s wrong with just “OC”??
It’s like saying “SD” or “LA” or “SF” or “NY”
I hear people from Orange County ALL the time say OC, as in: “Hey dude, when are you going to back to OC?” or “I’m an OC kid”</p>
<p>Haha, looks like someone already briefly mentioned Huntington I’m from Huntington Beach.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>After College Job Prospects: Really, I have no clue. My mom deals with real estate in the Orange County area. Most of my friends’ parents are either doctors, lawyers, or engineers. A LOT of them work for Boeing (one friend’s dad was VP of Boeing or something, and another’s dad has an exclusive contract with Boeing for alarms in the plane). NOTE: We (friends and parents) LIVE in HB. Basically everyone commutes to LA or other cities in Orange County to work. The closest freeway from where I live is like a 15-20 minute drive (excluding Pacific Coast Highway), but then again my house is like a mile from the beach.</p></li>
<li><p>Beach Prospects (water too cold, crappy sand, etc)
Water is super cold, even in the summer. I personally think the sand is pretty crappy and the waves suck for surfing. Then again, no one that lives in HB actually goes to the beach unless they’re a hardcore surfer. I guess the idea is, if you have a pool in your yard/community, why go to the beach where it’s dirty and visitors are rude? Just driving downtown causes me much angst. (US Open of Surfing just happened, and oh my gosh are tourists rude. I HATE HB during the summer!)</p></li>
<li><p>Air Quality
Pretty good, actually. From what I learned in my APES class, all of our pollution gets blown inland by the ocean breeze. Temperature never goes above 75 and never below 65where I am. My family never turns on the AC during the summer. Winter is cold, but maybe it’s because I’m a weakling. Coldest I’ve ever seen it is about 50 degrees in the winter (usually at night, but can be that cold during the day if it’s raining).</p></li>
<li><p>Security (As if you wanted to start a family (no I don’t have nor do I plan on starting a family lol))
I think one of my friends said HB is one of the top 10 safest cities in the US? I’m not at all worried about walking from my house to Ralph’s (supermarket) at 3 am. I leave the door unlocked 24/7 much to the chagrin of my parents and we’ve never had anything stolen. Heck, I’ve left the door unlocked on HALLOWEEN when no one was home and nothing was stolen. Speaking of Halloween, tons of great candy here. I still trick-or-treat :3</p></li>
<li><p>You overall appreciation of your area on a scale of 1-10
9.5/10. Maybe if my house had a sidewalk it’d be 10/10 (yeah, there’s NO sidewalks in front of houses in my area). I’m pretty sure houses in other neighborhoods have sidewalks though…</p></li>
</ol>
<p>South Los Angeles (aka the ghetto) scale: 1 lowest, 10 highest</p>
<ol>
<li><p>After College Job Prospects: 2/10 construction, there aren’t very good jobs around here</p></li>
<li><p>Beach Prospects: (varies) depends how far you go, at long beach, the water is murky</p></li>
<li><p>Air Quality: 3/10, red sunset is a dead giveaway </p></li>
<li><p>Security: 1/10, avoid this place like the plague if you want to start a family, this area has an ingrained gang culture… acts of vandalism, theft, violence, and murder are glorified</p></li>
<li><p>You overall appreciation: 5/10, although this ranking is higher then the criteria average, it reflects how many families are legitimately struggling to survive amidst the terror(and there are kids like me who want to make something of themselves regardless of abysmal schooling conditions). This struggle allows me to somewhat admire the some of the people who live in this area.</p></li>
</ol>
Hah because you’re from Huntington Beach, a place that people actually know. Try living in a small city in Orange County. When people ask me where I’m from it’s so much easier just to say OC.</p>
I’m from Huntington Beach.</p>
Temperature never goes above 75 and never below 65where I am. My family never turns on the AC during the summer. Winter is cold, but maybe it’s because I’m a weakling. Coldest I’ve ever seen it is about 50 degrees in the winter (usually at night, but can be that cold during the day if it’s raining).</p></li>