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Lived in Ventura County for five years before moving recently to Ashland, Oregon due to husband's retirement. Loved Ventura County, miss it and would go back again. Oregon is very nice but it isn't SoCal.
Even though you may have read the different Threads telling about all the "bad" of Southern Cal........why would you want to move there or stay living there? For a lot of people, Southern Cal is the best place on earth to live. What do you think?
"Best" is, of course, a purely subjective term, depending on both tastes as well as priorities.
That said, what brought me to Southern California - from southern Minnesota - is the outdoors. I love the outdoors, mostly walking in it, hiking and backpacking. And Southern California offers, to my tastes, the best hiking/backpacking opportunities in the United States. For one, there is the sheer abundance of available land. There are the numerous units of the National Park Service - Joshua Tree National Park, Mojave National Preserve, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Channel Islands National Park and, just north of Southern California, Death Valley National Park and the jointly-administered Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks. There are the four National Forests - Cleveland, San Bernardino, Angeles and Los Padres, not to mention another couple just to the north, Sequoia and Inyo. There is the spectacular State Park system, with gems like Cuyamaca Rancho SP, Palomar Mountain SP and Chino Hills SP, not to mention Anza-Borrego Desert SP, larger itself than many National Parks. Then there are the almost endless desert mountains ranges on BLM land, wild and little-touched, many of them protected with federal Wilderness designation.
Along with the sheer amount of outdoors land set aside for the explorer is its exceptional diversity. High desert, low desert. The alpine peaks of the Sierra Nevada. Desert mountain ranges, some of them high enough to have temperate zones amidst arid sand and rock below. The chaparral-cloaked coastal mountains.
Finally, the weather. It is always nice somewhere nearby. In the summer, the coast and the mountains are welcoming. In the winter, the desert beckons. In the spring and summer, almost everywhere is nice.
I also love the multi-cultural nature of the area.
It was a challenge meeting all of my needs coming here. I searched for a nice community that was reasonably affordable, didn't have a high crime rate, had decent schools, offered employment without a brutal commute. That rules out the vast majority of places in Southern California. But guess what? Even if that eliminates 95% of places, 5% of Southern California still offers a person a lot of choice.
[quote=Corvus;235936It was a challenge meeting all of my needs coming here. I searched for a nice community that was reasonably affordable, didn't have a high crime rate, had decent schools, offered employment without a brutal commute. That rules out the vast majority of places in Southern California. But guess what? Even if that eliminates 95% of places, 5% of Southern California still offers a person a lot of choice.[/QUOTE]
I would agree with you, if you made that opinion based on viewing every part of Southern California, or based on understandstable claims. I only say this because the statement is a very strong exaggeration, that must be backed by persuasive evidence. Southern California has over 16 million people and its land mass is large by state standards.
I have lived here in SoCal all my life (42 yrs), and have watched some things get worse, and other things get better, but for me personally, I want out.
For me the weather is not that great (I live in the IE). It is way to hot, for to long in the summer. The traffic is a nightmare....the only time you won't get raffic on the 91 is between midnight and 4 AM, but then Caltrans has it closed to do work
I ride a motorcycle to and from work (Norco to Santa Ana), and I get cut off at least 3 times a day (people on cell phones not paying attention), but if it wasn't for riding the bike, it would take me an hour on a good day to get home, and that is leaving the OC at 3 PM.
I plan to buy a property in MT, or WY next year, and continue to work here till my youngest is 18 (he'll be 12 in Feb), then I'm outta here. My wife and I both have good paying jobs (combined about 120K), but that's not going to keep me here.
I'm not even going to get into the illegal issue, as it has been talked about enough.
On the plus side though, I feel the smog issue has actually decreased over the years. I can remember as a child growing up in Lakewood, on a smoggy day, my lungs would burn, and you could never see the mountains, but now, you can usually see them pretty well, and my lungs don't burn anymore.
You can drive to the beach or the mountains within a few hours, depending on traffic, and there is unlimited entertainment oppotunities, however I find the traffic to get there, not worth the trouble
I would agree with you, if you made that opinion based on viewing every part of Southern California, or based on understandstable claims. I only say this because the statement is a very strong exaggeration, that must be backed by persuasive evidence. Southern California has over 16 million people and its land mass is large by state standards.
What opinion? You quote an entire paragraph but fail to note that with which you disagree.
You might take notice of the two words that begin my last sentence. The amount of Southern California that actually contains all the things I listed - fairly relative and subjective things - will vary based on precise expectations, which is why I wrote "even if". Whatever the actual percentage - which, again, depends on the specific notions of "reasonable" and "decent" and such that a particular person holds - they exist. Why don't you specify what you disagree with and your specific expectations?
As for Southern California, it has a lot of people but its land mass isn't overly large - smaller than all western states save Hawai'i and on a nationwide basis pretty much in the median. Regardless, size and population hardly diminishes ones options.
I was born here in Los Angeles. And there was a time when Los Angeles was the ultimate place to live. Yes, there has always been gangs in certain areas of Los Angeles, which, like you said in urban life it is to be expected. The beaches were always 30 minutes away, traffic was minimum at times. I love California, however, in the last 10 years Los Angeles has made it to the fast lane of ugh! For a 2 bedroom, 800 sq.feet home, you must pay almost a half a million dollars. The Los Angeles school district is now shameful, being one of the worse school districts ever. The gang violence is so tremendous, the Los Angeles mayor had to go to Washington for funds to try and get it under control. The traffic, makes me almost cry every day. I only live 20 minutes from my job, however, it takes me an hour to make it there in time. My cousin was driving through a very gang infested area and was shot leaving him paralyzed for the rest of his life. The illegal problem here has reached its peek, causing so much havoc in every issue arising. The individual who stated you must have lots of money to live here and have a good quality life, is correct. Yes, Los Angeles gives the city life, however, it was never this bad. The San Fernando Valley, was once a glorious affordable place to live, but not anymore. The quality of life in Los Angeles has disappeared. And no matter how upset you are with how people speak of Los Angeles today, if you were here as long as I have been you would feel really sad as I do. My goal now is to finally leave this once beautiful place, and find a place that will offer better education for my children, and a safer place to walk on the streets, oh and lets not forget about affordable housing without feeling like you are going to be blown away when you step outside.
Quote:
Originally Posted by speedoflight
Fastfilm:
To begin with, I did not say LA does not have issues or bad crime. Let's get that straight right off the bat. It has major crime, bad gangs and the list goes on. Let's all agree on that. Someone would really have drank the kool aid to not see LA's issues. All I am saying is LA is not all about crime. There are good places to live in LA, just like any large city. Difference is whether you can afford it or not. You want better neighborhoods, then you have to pay for it. Nothing comes free. But you don't necessarily have to live in a gated community to be in a nice neighborhood. Like any city, LA has 2 sides to it and it's important for people to understand that.There are some who wouldn't touch LA with a mile-long pole and there are those who absolutely love LA for what it has to offer them.
What I also said was LA's problems are not unique to itself as a large metropolitan area. Organized/unorganized crime, gangs and all types of urban social problems are not LA's alone even if it may seem that it is manifesting in a much larger scope in LA. There are some points in where LA has that have a different slant - such as, LA might have more in abundance than say a larger metro area like NYC is an illegal immigrant population and unfortunately the crime that they may bring. The NYC area may not have so many illegal Mexicans because of its geographic location (further away from Mexico) but it has very serious organized crime and gangs as well.
There are NO large metropolitan area in the US or in the world that does not have bad crime, traffic, crowds, etc.. So if you want to live in a metro area, you have to learn to accept these realities of life. You cannot expect to raise your children or live your life in LA as you would if you went off to some small town in XYZ state. It would not be fair to LA or to yourself to expect such things. If you raise your kids in a large metro like LA, your kids will learn different values than if you raised your kid in a smaller city or a more rural area. What these values are and how you feel about them is strictly personal.
I live in Ventura County now and want to move. Born here but have watched the downfall of a once great area for long enough. Unless you are constantly outside the price of a house does not trade for good weather.
I don't live in a gated community and I feel as safe as any other city I have lived in, even more so.
I personally felt exceedingly UNSAFE (in Seattle) and had been accosted three times (once in my car during bumper to bumper rush hour traffic in a middle to upper class area by a homeless person very high on drugs!!! In Seattle!)) and chased once full speed (running for my life!! In Seattle!) by some young man waiting for a bus as I walked home from a friends at night into my secure apartment. Thank God I had my key ready in my hand, I barely slipped in and shut the door as he crashed into it behind me.
In Portland I stared directly into the eyes of evil (literally felt the goose pimples!) of a homeless man that less then two minutes later killed the next citizen (following behind me) with a knife as the unsuspecting man walked to a shopping/restaurant area downtown on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
The thing in LA for me is I feel the police take their job seriously. They don't mess around. They know there is lots of potential for crime and they don't him and ha about it. Not that the police in other areas are not serious and committed they are and they do not slack themselves, but many times their hands are tied out of denial and PC BS--there is that too here in LA, but when it all comes down to it, people know the shi- goes down here no matter what neighborhood. These other cities try to sweep it under the rug and favor denial as a solution--strapping the cops. LA atleast sees its problems. That puts them ahead of a lot of cities.
The meth problems in the NW is out of control in smaller and medium sized cities and communities, this causes a lot of additional crimes and on unsuspecting people. You won't get many unsuspecting residents here. It is harder to steel from a man that is waiting for you to steel from him and keeping an eye on you. It is also harder to steel from a community doing the same.
About the money. Yep. It is expensive to live here. If someone is overly concerned about budget and has dependents (especially of young school age) I would suggest looking elsewhere especially if they are a single parent without family around to contribute to child care etc. But to many the amenities listed above and the access to not only surfing, beach stuff, but also hiking in mountains with gorgeous views is worth it. There is also a creative pulse and an acceptance of pushing forward for the ambitious without all the judgment people put on others in some of the biggest seemingly creative, hippy 'accepting' HA! cities in the country.
and San Diego is stunning. I love the people I meet from the OC and the Palm Springs area is to drink in like orange blossoms, no matter what the season. Is there a price to pay? Sure there is. There is everywhere, but man there is no other place like sunny southern California--love it or hate it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Need_affordable_home
I would move to San Diego if they had affordable housing(would need to be a third the price it is now) and I need a high paying job offer there. Its a great vacation place but unaffordable for all but the wealthy to actually live there. Renting away for the rest of your life isnt my idea of fun, I actually want a big detached house! As for LA, if you arent a millionare dont even bother. Its full of gangs, muggers, criminals, illegals, outlaws and poor people. Too dangerous for me unless your rich and can live in a gated guarded neighboorhood.
Last edited by fairweathergolfer; 04-26-2007 at 03:35 AM..
Reason: Clarification
Thanks for your post. I wanted to add to this that even as a conservative, I enjoy the sociopolitical climate. The conservative people out here too have an intelligent, passionate, creative, thoughtfulness to them as well. Open minded too, but maybe not in the same way that you may have meant so I separated that to a separate sentence. :-). Maybe innovative and curious are better words, but still with minds open to new ideas, new ways of thinking, and new resources.
Either way, liberal or conservative the people here are really expansive to try new things or new ways of viewing the world or if not a new way to view the world, new ways of implementing their view of the world or atleast are open to it. That to me creates a great freedom of both expression and of living.
Additionally and statistically speaking, southern California is not only full of people pursuant of spirituality but specifically of people who belong to some form of religious denomination (60% and upwards I believe as stated on Sperlings' website). Combine this stat with the large amount of liberal population and you have another unique feature to southern California compared to northern California and the NW. These religious stats are way higher then northern California and the NW (which rest around 35-40%--I believe, either way significantly lower)! Face it folks we are a unique mixture of qualities here.
By the way, this is in no way a judgment of liberal or conservative. Just my experience as a conservative to add to the post below. It is also not a judgment on the religious or non-religious beliefs of fello City-Data contributors, just some stats and some thoughts on how this differs from our northern friends. For those not familiar with the political climate of southern California there is also a large conservative population, just not an overly vocal (except maybe fiscally) or large one (except maybe fiscally) in Los Angeles, but we are here. If you are curious exactly of which is blue and which is red it should be broken out by county on the web somewhere.
As a side note, some people I have met in LA that call themselves liberal would be considered conservative in the NW, which I too have theories about and won't share as it is not part of this thread, but find it to be curious. Either way there is some variety and some variation in the political areana, probably to many people's surprise that have not lived here.
The items listed above are some more qualities of people and place that keep me in S. California.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rivkadr
I'm originally from the Midwest, and I couldn't wait to get out of there to come to California. I've bounced back and forth between the OC and Los Angeles for the past 7 years (blame my husband's job), and both of them have their pros and cons, but regardless, I love SoCal! I love the weather, I love the people, the diversity, all of the different things to do, the culture, the beach, the mountains, and -- to be frank -- the often more liberal and open-minded viewpoints that you find out here (at least, compared to my experiences in the Midwest). Sure, the traffic sucks, and being constantly surrounded by people gets a little wearing sometimes, but it's worth it for all of the other things that you gain, in my opinion. Every time I go back home (especially during the winter), I'm reminded of the many reasons I don't ever want to live in Michigan again.
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