California's Beautiful Central Valley (Fresno, Sacramento: waterparks, movie theaters, university)

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by CALIFRE

Great place to live and work. Affordable Homes, Semi-Rural, Great Weather, Centrally located to the Coast and the Mountains. And best of all...friendly people.

You left out "unhealthy, choking ag pollution".

[CALIFRE]

Wow! Lot's of Flaming here right off the bat!

The valley has many good points, compared to other areas of the country.

First those unemployment statistics mentioned are skewed and not accurate, due to the Seasonal Agricultural work here.

And the weather? No snow, or humidity, and only a few hot days during the summer. The rest of the year is quite comfortable.

Crime is everywhere these days,and nothing new to society. (unless your holed up in a mountain retreat somewhere in the middle of nowhere).

I suggest visiting the area, and deciding for yourself....

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by CALIFRE

and only a few hot days during the summer.

Please define "hot".

[FresnoFacts]

I just visited last weekend with someone working on moving from Phoenix to Fresno.

While sitting on the patio Saturday in 98 degree temps I reminded them that when they lived in the Bay Area (they moved to Arizona about 8 years ago) they always complained about Fresno being hot.

They apologized to me, saying they didn't know any better back then.

After 8 years of living with temps that top 100 degrees for 4 months they now feel that Fresno is actually bearable in summer.

Average number of days over 100 degrees each year
Fresno - 36 days
Phoenix - 109 days

In my opinion Phoenix wins the "hot" competition.

[CALIFRE]

Please define "hot".

Hot is relative. It's all in what you are used to. upper 80's to mid 90's is usually the summer norm here, with a few exceptions. And as i mentioned...it's a dry heat..and it's tolerable.

The Southern part of the valley tends to be hotter than the North, i.e. Fresno. The Modesto/Turlock area is more temperate.

Your location is listed as Hell, Ca. It's much cooler than that here

[Unruly Sky]

Originally Posted by CALIFRE

Great place to live and work. Affordable Homes, Semi-Rural, Great Weather, Centrally located to the Coast and the Mountains. And best of all...friendly people. Check it out....

it's a good alternative for those who commute to work. yeah, i would say that people here are pretty friendly.

of course, it's not perfect but i don't think any place is.

[FresnoFacts]

Originally Posted by CALIFRE

First those unemployment statistics mentioned are skewed and not accurate, due to the Seasonal Agricultural work here.

Forbes magazine just listed Fresno as one of the top 10 cites for average wage growth between the 4th quarter 2008 and 1st quarter 2009.

Wages in Fresno rose 1.9% during that period.

But as they point out that doesn't mean we have strong economy.

It does indicate that in the Fresno area the high unemployment has been in low wage jobs like ag and retail, not in higher paying skilled jobs.

[Bluesmama]

I grew up in the Central San Joaquin Valley and still love it. I couldn't wait to leave there, but as I learned over the next few decades, nowhere is perfect and I haven't particularly liked anywhere else I've lived since.

It has its own appeal. I happen to like flat wide-open fields, and love trippin' down I-5 past the agricultural fields and dairy farms with some good blues or zydeco music blaring in the car. Many people prefer mountains; I hate them.

San Joaquin has the greatest springtimes to be found anywhere, and I mean anywhere. Winters can be cold but are gratefully short. And as for the summer heat. . . well, it could be worse (could be Anza-Borrego).

It's location is perfect. Depending on "where" in The Valley it is a hop-skip-and-a-jump to the coast, Yosemite. . . nowhere is too far. I'd rather live there and just go someplace when I need excitement rather than chuck my entire income into paying rent into a stratospherically expensive city.

Too many illegals? You bet your @ss! That's my main issue with California in general. And "they're" everywhere else in that state. Same with meth labs and drugs and alcoholism. Gee ~ come to think of it ~ it sounds eerily like Portland and its suburbs!

It's definitely not for everybody.

[XJayXJ]

I think the Central Valley is one of the worst areas of California. For one it is flat, it seems like every other person is an illegal alien, there are gangs and something about the air and atmosphere is dirty. Sacramento Valley is the better part, but I'd think long and hard about buying a house in the Valley if I had the choice to live somewhere else.

[pistola916]

The only respectable place in the valley is Sacramento. It has a diversified economy, similar too that of the Bay Area.