California Bashing ... Enough Already! (San Diego, Long Beach: sales, rental, lawyers)

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by goodbyehollywood

There's more to life than money.

Sure, there's more to life than money.

But life really sucks when you don't have it.

[City Boy]

Yes traffic is bad, but there are other ways to get around like BART if you live in the bay area. Traffic is bad all over the country now in all major cities. You cannot avoid it. I do not think traffic is that big of a deal. Yes it sucks but not enough to make me want to move out of the state. I would rather live in California in a 1000 square foot condo than a 4 bedroom house in the middle of nowhere just so I can say I own a 3000 square foot house. Then what? So you have a big house and no traffic. I guess i'm just a fast paced person. When i'm 80 i'll enjoy the slow small town life. But for now?

[sweetclimber]

Originally Posted by goodbyehollywood

I, too, love CA. But the past 5-7 years have not been kind. In many ways, I think the beach communities have suffered the most, and the change is irreversible.

Quiet, low-key Marina Del Rey has become Miami Del Rey, filled with sprawling high rise after high rise and strip mall. They're still building them, anywhere they can scrounge a scrap of land. Quaint, artsy Venice has become Stucco Box Row. Every time a For Sale sign goes up, neighbors cringe, because everybody knows somebody will tear down another beach cottage and build a boring big box McMansion that crowds the lot. Playa Vista has turned the wetlands into dozens upon dozens of never-ending condo buildings. And all this has put some half a million additional cars on roads incapable of handling them. And added half a million additional people's noise and discontent to a situation that isn't making anybody very happy.

If you're wealthy and want to live high density, amidst constant noise, with your own kind, the beach communities will still appeal. If you're looking for peaceful beach living, those days are sadly gone.

I'm not bashing CA at all, but I do wish we could stop destroying it and preserve whatever beauty and charm it has left.

Exactly! This is what I have been saying, I used to live in San Diego and talk about the sprawl, pollution, detroying the environment etc. but all several posters do is say "oh, you're just hating". I do not hate the state, just hate what Southern Cal. has become.

[it's all good]

But like Sheri said, if you don't like it why even bother? You don't see Californians going to other state threads to complain about that state. And I've seen some of the most ridiculous and ugly comments about the people in CA, I just don't get it. I was thinking about moving out of state to buy a house somewhere else, but when I saw how hateful it is in some of the more affordable states, I completely changed my mind. I have children, I'm not raising them in places like that. In California, people are a lot less narrow-minded, I like that. We have people from all over the world here and we make it work. Yay, California!!! I'm staying, I'll just have to save a few more years to get my house. It's worth it.

[goodbyehollywood]

There's a difference between bashing and expressing concern with the direction things are going. Some people hate CA indiscriminately and trash it at every opportunity; others love CA, but wish certain things could be curtailed. Some CA lovers are even forced to leave, because of the escalating costs, traffic/commute, difficulty in raising kids, etc., and they are simply relaying their dismay or dissatisfaction at that.

Yes, some people are needlessly ugly and overboard about it; others are just sharing an opinion in a (more or less) respectful fashion.

CA is great; many of us love it, but there are negatives, as well as positives, as there are anywhere.

[Mach50]

Originally Posted by City Boy

Yes traffic is bad, but there are other ways to get around like BART if you live in the bay area. Traffic is bad all over the country now in all major cities. You cannot avoid it. I do not think traffic is that big of a deal. Yes it sucks but not enough to make me want to move out of the state. I would rather live in California in a 1000 square foot condo than a 4 bedroom house in the middle of nowhere just so I can say I own a 3000 square foot house. Then what? So you have a big house and no traffic. I guess i'm just a fast paced person. When i'm 80 i'll enjoy the slow small town life. But for now?

100% Agree. So many out of state people say to me "We love Cali, but it must be hard to live there".

Yeah it is hard, I work hard, I don't have a 4k sqft house on 9k sqft lot.
But guess what? My life is exciting, I do something different every day.

When I think of a good place to live, I want a thriving, fast paced environment, I want to look back and say "I earned this life, I worked for it".

Sitting back in a 4 sqft house, is just an item, you won't take it when you part this world.


One thing I do think Californians need to work on is going to other states and acting like nothing can compare to Cali.

[it's all good]

Originally Posted by Mach50Thunderdart

One thing I do think Californians need to work on is going to other states and acting like nothing can compare to Cali.

Maybe they do that because the other people are cutting down California? Anyway, in my opinion, there's no place like home. : )

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by goodbyehollywood

There's a difference between bashing and expressing concern with the direction things are going.

Point taken: I didn't mean to throw you in with all of the heavy duty Cali bashers.

[Mach50]

Originally Posted by it's all good

Maybe they do that because the other people are cutting down California? Anyway, in my opinion, there's no place like home. : )

I hear you, I get defensive too because California is a great state. I was in Atlanta a few months back and it was like California was the only topic on everyones minds...it is definitely the focus of blame for Americas problems, which is just silly.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by goodbyehollywood

There's a difference between bashing and expressing concern with the direction things are going. Some people hate CA indiscriminately and trash it at every opportunity; others love CA, but wish certain things could be curtailed. Some CA lovers are even forced to leave, because of the escalating costs, traffic/commute, difficulty in raising kids, etc., and they are simply relaying their dismay or dissatisfaction at that.

Yes, some people are needlessly ugly and overboard about it; others are just sharing an opinion in a (more or less) respectful fashion.

CA is great; many of us love it, but there are negatives, as well as positives, as there are anywhere.

I'll add, many of us who did leave have a lot of valid comments on practical things like traffic and transportation, jobs, weather, economics, local history, geography, schools, culture, shopping and restaurants, and sports.

In some ways I live in LA virtually. I read the World Champion LA Times everyday (not for local news, but because it has excellent business, sports, health, and real estate sections). I still root for the LA Teams.

For me, LA is kind of like an ex-wife. You remember the good times, and in some ways you still care about her, but you just can't keep living with her.