What is Northern California like? (San Francisco, Sacramento: how much, attorney, home)

[collint]

I have another post up asking about CHP now i have another question. As i research california i keep coming back to northern california. I know what the coastal of california is like (ex.. ventura, santa barbra) because of my family living in that area. But i would like to know whats it like in northern california compared to the rest of the state?

[CA central coast]

Above Santa Barbara? Above San Francisco? Sacramento? where exactly?

[collint]

Sorry i didn't specify how far north. I meant inbetween the Oregon Border and Sacramento.

[sonarrat]

Yeah, be careful.. everyone from San Luis Obispo on up considers themselves NorCal.

Once you get past Sacramento, the further you go the less stuff there is and the farther it is between big towns. The biggest city north of Sacramento is Chico, which has some absolutely amazing natural attractions.. I can't say much to what it would be like to live there!

[CA central coast]

It's been years since I've been up there. It's beautiful, it rains more than it does down here. Housing costs are less. But then again, were you thinking the coast, the center or the eastern part of the state?

[CA central coast]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

Yeah, be careful.. everyone from San Luis Obispo on up considers themselves NorCal.

Once you get past Sacramento, the further you go the less stuff there is and the farther it is between big towns. The biggest city north of Sacramento is Chico, which has some absolutely amazing natural attractions.. I can't say much to what it would be like to live there!

That's true. Don't call us part of Southern California

[happ]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

Yeah, be careful.. everyone from San Luis Obispo on up considers themselves NorCal.

Once you get past Sacramento, the further you go the less stuff there is and the farther it is between big towns. The biggest city north of Sacramento is Chico, which has some absolutely amazing natural attractions.. I can't say much to what it would be like to live there!

Agree with sonarrat that Chico is your best choice [I am biased since I was raised in Chico but live in LA]. It is off the beaten track [Interstate 5] but has a nice university w/ lots of young women\ sports bars\ recreation\ huge trees.

The Sacramento Valley is a world apart from SoCal since it is still mostly agriculture & relatively small cities [under 100,000] but the Sierra\ Lake Tahoe\ Shasta Lake\ Napa-Sonoma not far away. It is much cooler than SoCal in winter [lots of fog] & much hotter in summer [95-105F] but everyone has a pool or the fun Chico river has swimming holes/dams for inter-tube rides in warm clean water.

[collint]

i was thinking of the coast the center part of the state

[NBTFman]

I worked at a CHP office in a nonuniformed job. What i found out by working there is not only did they make a very competative wage, very high in fact for the education required etc, but they get to goof off like nothing I had ever seen in my 25 year working career.

Truth is, had they been 10 buck an hour Walmart people, most would have been terminated for taking excessive breaks, goofing off on the job, watching cartoons on the clock etc etc.

I went into the position with zero bias towards law enforcement and came out of almost terrified of them. They have a way of justifying goofing off because it's not busy and standing in line with thier hands out for overtime the second the job actually required WORK.

Not only did I find out they sat around in the squad room on the clock watching ridiculous cartoons, movies like Napoleon Dynomite, over and over, they also actually seemed to enjoy watching videos of horrible accidents and would even laugh.

While I'm sure anyone can say THEY AREN'T ALL LIKE THAT, surely that is the argument of a moron, OF COURSE THEY AREN'T ALL LIKE THAT. What I found out however was, that enough of them are, the code of silence even applies to that. They want you to believe they work so hard for their money that the fact that they regularly had cookoffs, group lunches, sat around having birthday parties and all on the clock is a well kept secret.

Topping all of this off what how they dipped into charity funds for personal use. That ultimately was the straw that broke the camels back for me. They fund raised using the whole, education fund for children of fallen officers and teddy bears for traumatized children to get people to open their wallets. The truth was, half of the funds went right back to the officers by way of picnic foods purchased, lunch room food, and even GET THIS, money for THEIR KIDS directly, any and all in college with zero requirement to get it other than be enrolled in 12 units or more. Oh sure they did give some to that other fund that "Apparently" supports the children of fallen officers, but it was actually less than half of what they gave each officer in the office's kids.

When all of it piled up enough to turn anyones stomach, I was promptly black listed, shown the door and basically can never work at the CHP again.

Yes, I do drive with my eye on my rearview mirror and my attorney's home number in my wallet!!!! They're corrupt to the core if you shake any aspect of their self serving existance.

ZERO RESPECT for the participants and for the secret keepers, which covers all of them.

[NBTFman]

The further up from Sac you go the less likely you will be to remain honest and uncorrupt. The bottom line up there is not how you do your job but rather whose ass you kiss, whose ass you will kiss and whether or not you're in the click. It's your typical small town moronic behavior and their are always the "Locals" who will never accept you. They will, and do endlessly talk about your when you're not at the station, create a personna that is you in their minds and will ultimately drive you to put in for a transfer.

If you are even thinking of such a place, make sure you really know what you're getting yourself into. After that, you will have a cloud of stink that will follow you throughout your career because regardless of who you are or where you go, they always have friends there and they will pass their crap along.

I know plent of officers this has happened to, some transfer, some buy up and retire to get the hell out. BE CAREFUL, small towns breed small minds. I don't care who you are and how much you think you don't care about, ultimately you will be touched by it in one way or another. You'll either turn into one or be shut out because you refuse to play, either way good luck!