Can moving to CA be a good decision during these times? (Los Angeles: living, zoned)

[Mollym313]

Originally Posted by partybuddha

hey Molly, don't let these naysayers discourage you just because they're having a hard time and don't have the desire to stop and smell the roses. Oh boo-hoo paint the mailbox, the night is ruined when the fog rolls in, let's blame the immigrants, why even bother going to the beach, blah blah blah. I'm willing to bet that more than of half of the complainers are not native but now claim cali as their state. Notice most of them still live there.

Sure, the economy is rough but that's true everywhere. Sure Nor-cal has fog but it beats the snow or extreme heat. The beaches are beautiful and if people don't take the time to enjoy them, that's their decision.

I'm not suggesting you move there willy-nilly but you don't need 20grand to make things work if you live within your means. Ventura is an awesome place, one of the last genuine beach towns in the state, kicked back attitude, nearly perfect weather, nice people. If you have somewhere to stay for a month or so until you can find a place, all the better, but do be sure you have enough money to last you a few months as jobs are tight. You should be able to find a small place big enough for you and your son for around $1100 or so if you're comfortable in an apartment. Not sure what field you are in but you may end up working an extra PT job to make things work, but so what? If you're enjoying life, it's worth it.

Most importantly, is the opportunity to get to know your family better, you're likely to regret it if you don't and I think you're lucky that you can do it in a place as cool as Ventura.

I am a native and have lived in SF, Oakland, Berkeley, Pacifica, Half Moon Bay, LA, the valley, Oceanside and San Diego. I left in 2000 for adventures sake and have been all over the country and world and met my wife 2 years ago and we're just about to finish up our immigration process, I currently have a good job in the Florida Keys and you know where we're moving to? Back to Cali, stylin' and profilin'.

To you grumps, sure times are tough but if you're not going to enjoy so much of what is free (or nearly) in cali, the beaches, the diversity, $6 burritos, botanical gardens, redwoods, the parks (pinnacles, yosemite, joshua tree, sand dunes, etc), minor league baseball, frisbee golf, salt and fresh water fishing, it goes on and on...you're missing or have forgotten the point of what brings people to california.

Go for it Molly,

Well I will say that knowing my family is the #1 reason I thought about moving. When you grow up never knowing the other part of you, there is a hole that never gets filled. A lot has changed since I was born in Ventura back in 1970. But at the same time I want to do my homework. I have never been an impulsive person, so moving without having a good plan just won't work for me.

Ok...now what is this "RED TIDE" and what critters come ashore. Are they washed up dead?

[Mollym313]

Originally Posted by jodibird1

lol and amen! Five years ago i left my home state of california to help my then-husband start the business of his dreams in kentucky. I tried to adjust and find positives here. Really really tried. He left last year and i am finally comfortable that i have enough savings to go home. My last moving sale starts in a few hours, my kids are already out there staying with their grandparents and our new apartment is ready august first. I know it is expensive and crowded and many kinds of challenging. But i also know i can do it, i will be near family and it is worth all of it to live somewhere exciting and beautiful. Plus my kids will be in an atmosphere that is health-conscious and high achieving. People complaining of conditions and attitudes in california have not had the experience of stagnating in backwoods, obese, low expectation laden, poorly educated middle america.

Molly if you are reading this, my advice would be to extend whatever visit you are planning and really get to know the area and your family. Then get to know the surrounding areas. You sound pretty sensible so i won't repeat the suggestions about research, savings, job, etc. Think about the adult you want your son to become, the style of life you want and can afford, and how much you are comfortable with working. It is all about trade offs in whichever place you choose.

Good luck!

good advice...thanks!

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by jc76

Yay for Nihilism!!!

And your not at all stuck in my craw

Your just one of the proud to be an Americans, that's all. Get an old truck, a rifle, some camo gear, move to my state, or another boring crap-hole state, and join the many others who share your mode of thought outside of California. You think your so solo in your beliefs but most of America is on your side, just not so much in CA.

You need to explore the U.S. and get out of California, your never going to change it so why don't you move somewhere "American" so you can cool your nerves?

Because I'm not a wus.

And to be fair, there is still a solid 25% of Californians who are like me. We hate carpetbaggers.

(Also, some other little known facts about me, the redneck ... graduate degree, I have all my teeth, I have traveled all around the world, I'm married to a durn furiner ... who thinks like me, I'm somewhat of a mover and shaker in business, etc ...)

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by The_Rambler

I keep reading complaints about high taxes, but here in Tinytown, AL the sales tax is already up to 10%. Also, there is nothing to do unless you want to hunt, fish, or watch cars go in a circle. We have two grocery stores, Wal-Mart and the local "cash your welfare check here" 900 sq foot dump. Sure you can buy a bigger house with some land here, but then what? Sit on the porch and swat bugs all night?

I don't think people who've never lived in a tiny, rural, redneck, isolated town can really comprehend what it means to have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO. I think a lot of people feel the same way I do when they entertain thoughts of moving to the west coast, which is "I AM BORED".

Yeah man, danged rednecks! What's wrong with Kansas? (or in this case, Alabama?) / sarc

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

Why do people always see America as only having a choice between a "tiny, rural, redneck, isolated town" and California? The rest of the country is full of big and medium sized cities that have things to do but aren't the overgrown, overtaxed, overregulated mess California has become. People who think that California is the place to be without ever having been here have been watching too much TV and movies.

Oh come on now! Everyone knows, once you get away from the Zip Codes where "Money and Brains," "Urban Gold Coasts," "Young Digerati," "Uptown Bohemian" market segments live, it's just tumble weeds and a bunch of high school drop outs, making meth, shooting at each other with twin 50s! EVERYONE knows this! /sarc

[The_Rambler]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

it's just tumble weeds and a bunch of high school drop outs, making meth, shooting at each other with twin 50s!

I see you've been to central Alabama....

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by The_Rambler

I see you've been to central Alabama....

As a matter of fact, I have. Funny thing, I saw quite a few high tech geeks around there as well as people making real things in factories. Working really, really hard. Taxed a lot less. Good hard working Americans. Sort of reminded me of California about 30 years ago.

[nightbird47]

Originally Posted by Mollym313

Well I will say that knowing my family is the #1 reason I thought about moving. When you grow up never knowing the other part of you, there is a hole that never gets filled. A lot has changed since I was born in Ventura back in 1970. But at the same time I want to do my homework. I have never been an impulsive person, so moving without having a good plan just won't work for me.

Ok...now what is this "RED TIDE" and what critters come ashore. Are they washed up dead?

Ok, periodically there is an ultra high tide. The water washes up the beach higher than normal and deposits little crabs and other ocean creatures on the sand. It retreats faster and more severely because of the reach. It can happen in the winter, but that tends to be storm tides which stay high (and why you want to live a very reasonable distance from the natural breakwater mark). But when its warm the little creature die. The tide does not come back up to take them out to sea. The smell is baaadddd on a hot summer day. They take machinery and scoop them out of the sand at the state beaches but the smell lingers.

It can also happen when the temperature gets much higher than normal. The water gets hotter than normal too and some of the ocean life by the shore dies in the water and wash up with the tides. This has happened as long as there have been tides, but only is a problem for people who live by the beach and don't much like the smell of dead sea critters filling the air.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by nightbird47

Ok, periodically there is an ultra high tide. The water washes up the beach higher than normal and deposits little crabs and other ocean creatures on the sand. It retreats faster and more severely because of the reach. It can happen in the winter, but that tends to be storm tides which stay high (and why you want to live a very reasonable distance from the natural breakwater mark). But when its warm the little creature die. The tide does not come back up to take them out to sea. The smell is baaadddd on a hot summer day. They take machinery and scoop them out of the sand at the state beaches but the smell lingers.

It can also happen when the temperature gets much higher than normal. The water gets hotter than normal too and some of the ocean life by the shore dies in the water and wash up with the tides. This has happened as long as there have been tides, but only is a problem for people who live by the beach and don't much like the smell of dead sea critters filling the air.

Bzzzzzzzst! Wrong ....

A red tide is when there is a significant bloom of plankton of types which excrete toxins. Shellfish eat the plankton and become toxic themselves. You'll see warning signs saying not to harvest mussels / abs / clams etc during such times.

[nightbird47]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

Bzzzzzzzst! Wrong ....

A red tide is when there is a significant bloom of plankton of types which excrete toxins. Shellfish eat the plankton and become toxic themselves. You'll see warning signs saying not to harvest mussels / abs / clams etc during such times.

Ok, maybe I'm calling it something different. But I lived a quarter of a mile from the beach for 15 years, and when there was a really high tide there would be a smell... The little creatures that live along the shore in water get tossed past the sand line, the tide retreats and it warms and they die. BAD smell. It happened a few times a year. Worse in summer of course.