Did you leave CA only to realize there is no place like home and came back? (Los Angeles: rental, high schools)

[nightbird47]

Originally Posted by .highnlite

I read a study some years ago. People where shown photos of different landscapes. The landscape most appreciated was of grasslands spotted with trees, like east Africa. Lending some support to the idea that that area was where we evolved. I observed yesterday, the exact same sort of landscape through Santa Barbara County. The rolling golden hills of California, grasslands dotted with oaks. Generally we appreciate the landscape where we became aware. I know people who consider the Central Valley a lovely landscape.

I do appreciate the oak grass lands of CA, whether the Irish emerald green they have in winter or spring, or the golden hues after the grasses cure.

Drive through anything but the panhandle which is climatically part of Texas, and it looks just like that here in Oklahoma. Add lots of creeks and rivers and lakes. I fell in love with the open green space first drive through. And the air which is breathable. Couldn't wait to leave socal after that and haven't come up with a reason to go back there even to visit. Don't want to choak on brown air and a sea of mini-malls.

The difference is that instead of having to fight insane traffic to get out of mini-mall hell, and then for a few more hours to see these rolling hills and trees, all we have to do is drive out of town.

Northern California, above Redding, is also beautiful, but is still very expensive.

I have a bank of tall trees lining my back yard and dearly love them and would not have that in most of California, nor a yard big enough to hold them. I spent the whole first year saying wow all the trees when I moved. Now I only say it to myself.

The weather here is colder in winter but its easy to warm up, and not quite as hot in summer as where I was in the IE. All a win win.

For me, I'm quite happy about where I moved to and would be fine never going back to CA.

[nullgeo]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Second only to the great state of confusion, huh?

These are things I know a great deal about from experience ... ... now, where are my brain band-aids?

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by nightbird47

Drive through anything but the panhandle which is climatically part of Texas, and it looks just like that here in Oklahoma. Add lots of creeks and rivers and lakes. I fell in love with the open green space first drive through. And the air which is breathable. Couldn't wait to leave socal after that and haven't come up with a reason to go back there even to visit. Don't want to choak on brown air and a sea of mini-malls.

The difference is that instead of having to fight insane traffic to get out of mini-mall hell, and then for a few more hours to see these rolling hills and trees, all we have to do is drive out of town.

Northern California, above Redding, is also beautiful, but is still very expensive.

I have a bank of tall trees lining my back yard and dearly love them and would not have that in most of California, nor a yard big enough to hold them. I spent the whole first year saying wow all the trees when I moved. Now I only say it to myself.

The weather here is colder in winter but its easy to warm up, and not quite as hot in summer as where I was in the IE. All a win win.

For me, I'm quite happy about where I moved to and would be fine never going back to CA.

As highnlite said, the savanna is likely where we evolved and it does have its own beauty but it's not for everyone.

If you're happy with where you are then no one can argue that, even though there are those who will try.

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by curmudgeon

if you're happy with where you are then no one can argue that, even though there are those who will try.

*cough*

Originally Posted by curmudgeon

you'll be sorrrry! :d

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

*cough*

Ahem! Missed the sarcasm smiley did ya?

[Fontucky]

Is that what this means now? I didn't get the memo. I never get memos.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

Is that what this means now? I didn't get the memo. I never get memos.

Count yourself lucky!

[blauskies]

Originally Posted by nullgeo

Any place in the country beats any place that's city, in my book ...

but more specifically: you do understand we are comparing the Ozark lake / mountain country with D.C.?
When I lived, went to school, and worked in D.C. - yes, I could find some fun and fascinating distractions ... I also found the weather unbearable in summer ... a drag in winter ... acceptable in fall ... and actually pretty great in spring. Other than that and the Smithsonian and old Georgetown and Rock Creek Park, it's just another nasty city to me -- and one without any easily accessible escape to dramatic countryside and certainly not to any wilderness ... although I'll give one thumb up to the Chesapeake Bay for sailing.

NoVA is real nice, the summers are no different than the rest of the Mid-Atlantic ie Central PA hazy, hot and humid, cut the air with the knife variety. Winters can be plain nasty or mild. You would have to travel north into MD to the Catoctin Mountain Park to hit any wilderness, which is a nice area as well.

Problem is, most of Suburban DC and even up into Surburban Baltimore is very expensive and to me not worth it compared to just picking up and moving to CA. More opportunity in CA for me anyways and I'll avoid the winters. Commutes in those areas are horrendous, even compared to Atlanta.

[nullgeo]

Originally Posted by blauskies

NoVA is real nice, the summers are no different than the rest of the Mid-Atlantic ie Central PA hazy, hot and humid, cut the air with the knife variety. Winters can be plain nasty or mild. You would have to travel north into MD to the Catoctin Mountain Park to hit any wilderness, which is a nice area as well.

Problem is, most of Suburban DC and even up into Surburban Baltimore is very expensive and to me not worth it compared to just picking up and moving to CA. More opportunity in CA for me anyways and I'll avoid the winters. Commutes in those areas are horrendous, even compared to Atlanta.

I lived in Pennsylvania: Philly, north central, and State College areas. I lived in D.C. a couple years and in north Virgina, Arlington. Having also lived in Maine, and then California, Washington State, and Hawaii ... which all last three I continue to make my wide-ranging home. While parts of Virginia, Pennsylvania, and even the mid-west, where I lived in both Michigan and Minnesota, have their spots -- uh, west coast has NO competition ... except from Maine. Once you live out west, I can't imagine being satisfied with east if you are a lover of the outdoors. But a good nod to N.H., Vermont, and Maine.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by nullgeo

I lived in Pennsylvania: Philly, north central, and State College areas. I lived in D.C. a couple years and in north Virgina, Arlington. Having also lived in Maine, and then California, Washington State, and Hawaii ... which all last three I continue to make my wide-ranging home. While parts of Virginia, Pennsylvania, and even the mid-west, where I lived in both Michigan and Minnesota, have their spots -- uh, west coast has NO competition ... except from Maine. Once you live out west, I can't imagine being satisfied with east if you are a lover of the outdoors. But a good nod to N.H., Vermont, and Maine.

One difference though is in CA and much of the West you're tripping all over people anywhere close to where you live that's worth spending time outdoors. It was even that way when there were only 20 million residents. I can't even imagine how bad it is now. I can canoe on the creek or river by my house on a beautiful day, just 15 miles from the Capitol, and not see another soul but plenty of bald eagles and other wild things. If this were SoCal it would be overrun with hundreds of beer swiling rednecks from the IE.