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Old 03-02-2012, 08:35 PM
 
18 posts, read 108,751 times
Reputation: 25

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Moving to the Bay Area from the East Coast, and on many forums I'm hearing a lot of hate about California. I personally love it and can't wait to move, but I wanted to get people's opinions on the downsides of California. For me, pros outweigh cons, but here are a few things I've heard:
#1: Political Corruption. My hometown of Baltimore has pretty messed up politics, and I figure it isn't that severe in CA
#2: High Cost of Living. I know California is very expensive: Utilities, housing, taxes, and everyday items cost more. But jobs also pay more to compensate for that, right?
#3: Crime. Once again, I don't think Crime could get any worse than it is in Baltimore.
#4: Earthquakes. This is the one thing that still terrifies me. Living on the peninsula means I'm always right by the San Andreas, and I know it could potentially be devestating. But it is a risk I'm willing to take.

Overall is California that bad a place to live? It seems like there's a lot to do, and the climate is fantastic, so I'm just wondering why so many people dislike it.
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Old 03-02-2012, 08:48 PM
 
Location: The Bay
6,914 posts, read 14,677,670 times
Reputation: 3119
A certain percentage of people in the US are going to dislike California just because of what they think it represents as far as the immigration and gay rights debate goes. Ignoring those people, people dislike California because it's more difficult to live a middle class lifestyle here (safe neighborhood, good schools, etc) than just about anywhere else. Do not move here without a job lined up unless you're coming here to retire. What's more, don't just come here with any job... if you're making less than 60K a year, be prepared to make one of three concessions:

1) terrible commute
2) unsafe neighborhood
3) crappy schools

That's just the way it is in the big CA metros (LA, Bay Area, Sac) right now. You could always live in Central CA (Stockton, Fresno, Modesto, etc) but the air quality sucks and it's no more appealing of a place to live in than downstate Illinois.

Other than that, if you like CA otherwise then there's no reason you shouldn't move here.
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Old 03-02-2012, 08:51 PM
 
Location: Raleigh, NC
376 posts, read 648,336 times
Reputation: 353
California is great. The only things that are bad are the high cost of living, however this is because it's so great to live here and so many people want to that housing is a premium. Crime is the same as anywhere, non-existent in rich areas, lots in poor areas, very socioeconomically driven.

Earthquakces are something you just know is going to happen but you have to accept it if you want to make a go of living here. Natives and long term residents just accept it I think.

Politics: Things are sort of messed up here, state government has been constrainted by the people initiative process (Prop 13 limiting property tax, etc.), weak governorship, lobbyists, special interest groups hijacking the initiative process, a longstanding 2/3 majority to pass tax increases which means they never get passed, and a boom in state prisons which has downgraded education and other public works spending.
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Old 03-02-2012, 08:52 PM
 
2,145 posts, read 5,050,732 times
Reputation: 1666
I'd add san diego to that metro list, as well. ):

I also think it's relative to where you are coming from [baltimore, in this case], and what stage of life you're in.....

Last edited by lrmsd; 03-02-2012 at 08:53 PM.. Reason: typo
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Old 03-03-2012, 12:55 AM
 
Location: South Korea
5,242 posts, read 13,030,161 times
Reputation: 2957
Having lived in Chicago, political corruption in the Bay Area is almost nonexistant, other than that Ed Jew guy who was jailed for taking bribes a few years ago. On the one hand the policy-making process in California takes forever because it's very open and pretty much anyone can slow down any decision indefinitely, so nothing ever gets done, but on the other hand it prevents the closed-door process you'd see more in other states. There's plenty of corruption in Southern California though...Vernon, Bell, Duke Cunningham, etc.

As for people hating California, it's probably only people who listen to a lot of crappy talk radio and watch too much Fox News. The people on those shows are basically trying to recreate a new civil war for no particular reason other than they hate what America has become, and California is #1 on their hit list. Gay rights, Hollywood, liberal politics, and plus we have great weather, tons of money and the hottest babes. Haters gon' hate.
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Old 03-03-2012, 01:46 AM
 
Location: San Francisco, CA
506 posts, read 1,150,667 times
Reputation: 317
Quote:
Originally Posted by headingwest236 View Post
Moving to the Bay Area from the East Coast, and on many forums I'm hearing a lot of hate about California. I personally love it and can't wait to move, but I wanted to get people's opinions on the downsides of California. For me, pros outweigh cons, but here are a few things I've heard:
#1: Political Corruption. My hometown of Baltimore has pretty messed up politics, and I figure it isn't that severe in CA
#2: High Cost of Living. I know California is very expensive: Utilities, housing, taxes, and everyday items cost more. But jobs also pay more to compensate for that, right?
#3: Crime. Once again, I don't think Crime could get any worse than it is in Baltimore.
#4: Earthquakes. This is the one thing that still terrifies me. Living on the peninsula means I'm always right by the San Andreas, and I know it could potentially be devestating. But it is a risk I'm willing to take.

Overall is California that bad a place to live? It seems like there's a lot to do, and the climate is fantastic, so I'm just wondering why so many people dislike it.
I can only speak about San Francisco.

1: The lack of corruption is astonishing. I have been completely floored by things like very wealthy real estate companies failing to get permits without meeting standards, and other city jobs held by people who actually do their work (rather than it just being a political pay-off.) Coming from Chicago it never occurred to me that it was possible!

2: The rent is crazy expensive. I suppose parking is too (same difference, really). Everything else is normal for an urban area. Utility bills are pretty low, since you hardly need heat and won't even have air conditioning. You can get away without a car here and save quite a bit. For me, it's vastly more productive to be in such a nice climate so it's a good deal.

3: Yeah, compared to Baltimore I don't think you need to worry. It's all neighborhood based, like anywhere.

4: Don't live in a shoddy building on landfill. Keep emergency supplies on hand, especially drinking water. Hope for the best while in the Transbay Tube. Honestly, it's way better than the tornadoes in the Midwest!

FWIW, for years I dismissed the idea of moving to SF because I'd heard so many "bad" things (crazy in-your-face liberal culture, rampant homelessness, bad weather) but none of it turned out to be true.
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Old 03-03-2012, 02:30 AM
 
Location: San Diego, California Republic
16,581 posts, read 27,261,181 times
Reputation: 9002
Quote:
Originally Posted by dalparadise View Post
I moved to San Francisco from Texas. Nobody hates California as much as most Texans do.

I have dreamed about being out here since I was about 15 years old. Every time I mentioned it, the responses were the same kind of knee-jerk ones:

-You must be gay. San Francisco is all gay. If you drop your wallet, kick it home...
-It's too expensive there. You will be homeless. It is impossible to have a good life there.
-You will never have the standard of living you have in Texas
-People are leaving California faster than they are entering. Why would you want to be there?
-I'll take sweltering heat over earthquakes any day.

Well, let me assure you all that is bull****. I think its a defense mechanism. Coming to and living in California is not easy. You have to cross a lot of miles, through rugged terrain. It is expensive to acclimate and adjust. It's a little difficult to make friends at first. And everything seems different from the rest of the country. A lot of people would love to try to make it in California, but are too scared or risk averse to try. So, it's easier to dismiss it as an inhospitable place for crazies. It's easier to fear the unknown and justify choices made with shallow arguments.

Two months in, I can tell you that California is for real. The dream is still alive if you're willing to work hard and appreciate what it really means. Do it right. Take the necessary steps in the right order to protect yourself as much as possible, then dive in passionately. Californians love a great California success story. They feed off the energy of newcomers who love their state and city. Express it openly. Be a part of it.

You may start to feel like you're in a bubble -- as if nothing exists outside of your piece of California. that's okay, that just means it's working its magic on you. Go with it.

Welcome to California, from a fellow dreamer.
Great post! +1

Also the San Andreas shouldn't be your worry. The Hayward is and I'm not to it and still wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
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Old 03-03-2012, 02:48 AM
 
Location: San Francisco
622 posts, read 1,142,439 times
Reputation: 392
Who cares? They're haters. I'm a well-traveled native and I'm ecstatic to be back home.
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Old 03-03-2012, 10:28 AM
 
Location: SW King County, WA
6,400 posts, read 8,228,286 times
Reputation: 6570
People hate California because they are jealous they have to live in boring and awful states
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Old 03-03-2012, 11:49 AM
 
18 posts, read 108,751 times
Reputation: 25
Quote:
Originally Posted by dalparadise View Post
I moved to San Francisco from Texas. Nobody hates California as much as most Texans do.

I have dreamed about being out here since I was about 15 years old. Every time I mentioned it, the responses were the same kind of knee-jerk ones:

-You must be gay. San Francisco is all gay. If you drop your wallet, kick it home...
-It's too expensive there. You will be homeless. It is impossible to have a good life there.
-You will never have the standard of living you have in Texas
-People are leaving California faster than they are entering. Why would you want to be there?
-I'll take sweltering heat over earthquakes any day.

Well, let me assure you all that is bull****. I think its a defense mechanism. Coming to and living in California is not easy. You have to cross a lot of miles, through rugged terrain. It is expensive to acclimate and adjust. It's a little difficult to make friends at first. And everything seems different from the rest of the country. A lot of people would love to try to make it in California, but are too scared or risk averse to try. So, it's easier to dismiss it as an inhospitable place for crazies. It's easier to fear the unknown and justify choices made with shallow arguments.

Two months in, I can tell you that California is for real. The dream is still alive if you're willing to work hard and appreciate what it really means. Do it right. Take the necessary steps in the right order to protect yourself as much as possible, then dive in passionately. Californians love a great California success story. They feed off the energy of newcomers who love their state and city. Express it openly. Be a part of it.

You may start to feel like you're in a bubble -- as if nothing exists outside of your piece of California. that's okay, that just means it's working its magic on you. Go with it.

Welcome to California, from a fellow dreamer.
Thanks for the support and information! People in Baltimore are the same way...They hate it probably because they're scared of it or jealous. Growing up I'd had at least 3 or 4 families move in to my neighborhood from California, looking for a change. All of them were back on the west coast after a few years. Really got me thinking about this when I was really little
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