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I'll just tell you what I found in my current locale that I couldn't find in North SB county.
1) Better Public Schools, Funny thing, my daughter at AG high just got an invitation to apply to CalTech, seems someone thinks her public school is great, and hers is far from the only one.
2) Better sense of community. My neighbors were strangers in Ca. Today my neighbors are my friends. Your choice, My wife just moved here from a far away place (as did I) and she has more friends than I can keep up with. I have fewer friends, but I am not particularly socialable
3) More/better Educated Populace. Really? Most of my friends have college degrees (makes them liberals,
4) Waaaaaay less scumbags. Really? You found a place with less scumbags? Leaves me wondering what you mean by scumbag, to me it might be anyone who smokes and throws their butts on the ground, what does the essentially meaningless word mean to you?
5) Lower taxes AND better services. I don't find California taxes onerous, I have a hard time figuring out why anyone does. What services? What services would an educated person need from the guvment?
6) Less materialism even though the populace is "richer" per capita. Okay, you got me there, less nonquantifiable something, whatever materialism is, or isn't
7) Less prejudicism. Prejudice I suppose, but wait, you have already told us you are prejudiced against scumbags and materialists. I think you are seeing what you want to see. Some used to say in Truckee, "we aren't prejudiced, we don't have to be, no minorities".
8) Friendlier people. See number 2.
9) Less Gangs and Drugs. Gangs and drugs were a problem for you? They may exist, but they do not affect my life one whit.
10) More people that speak my native language than those that don't. Gee what was that about prejudice?
11) Less Crime. Crime? What crime exists in North SB County apart from those nasty gangs and drugs?
12) Alot more concerts and things to do. Really, how often did you go to the PCA? Chumash Casino? Clark Center? Cal Poly, Oceano Melodrama, there are constant concerts with many venues, and as far as things to do? I will admit that skiing sucks around here, but there is not much limit to things to do other than that.
13) A theater that brings in Broadway shows. Holy cow, you got me there,
14) Good D1 Athletics. Whatever that is, I suppose it involves sitting on one's derriere watching some one else playing a sport instead of playing a sport one's self.
15) 4 seasons, Beautiful Fall and Beautiful Springtime. Funny thing, it was 92 at our house yesterday, while snow is predicted for our old house for the weekend, I will take the 92, No place is prettier than the Central Coast in Springtime anywhere in the world.
16) A place that is not brown for 10 months out of the year. Brown, mmm... If you want to talk brown, gray, bare, depressing it is an eastern winter, tough to beat the golden hills of California.
I found all of this and much more, and I grew up it that "allsome" place called SB county. For towns that size, SM and Lompoc are ****holes. The biggest thing is that they weren't always that way. Stuff changed in the 90's, And continues to get worse.
"Allsome", not sure what that means. Lompoc and Santa Maria are what they are, but one does not have to move a thousand miles away to get to a better location, ten miles east of Lompoc, ten miles north of Santa Maria, are fine and dandy places. One must say, that if one finds the Central Coast of CA a miserable place, one must be a mite different.
1. People see what they want to see
2. No matter where you go, there you are.
3. Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties share between them 500,000 acres of designated wilderness and many more acres of defacto wilderness, that is a lot of room to wander around in. I think one could spend most of a lifetime and not see it all.
In 2008, California's wipeout[ed] economy attracted more venture capital than the rest of the nation combined. Somehow its supposedly hostile business climate has nurtured Google, Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Facebook, Twitter, Disney, Cisco, Intel, eBay, YouTube, MySpace, the Gap and countless other companies that drive the way we live.
Boy! What on earth has happened to California? People are leaving the state in droves!!! What happened to our once idyllic state?
I've lived here for 30 years. I recall how proud I was to tell people that I lived in California; the land of milk and honey; our own slice of paradise. Things have changed enormously. There are the ever increasing tax issues, the fluctuating home prices, traffic, the hustle and bustle of urbanized living. But, there's something else beneath all that which I can't seem to put my finger on. Here's what I mean:
Just this week, my folks moved out of California for good! After visiting several states within the U.S. they finally settled for a rural community within an east coast state. Wednesday afternoon, I picked them up from their home and took them to a nearby restaurant. We struck up a conversation with the waitress and told her how this was their last day in California. The blond/blue eyed doll told us she was born and raised in California and could not wait for the minute in which she could permanently leave the state.
What's happened here? What is that one underlying issue that is making most of us turn our backs on the once pristine state of California???
Simple, the high cost of living and the sudden high unemployment rate. You can't have both factors and expect people not to leave. Most other problems can be looked past. I would bet big money (if I had it) that if the unemployment rate dropped down to about 7% (like it is here in Denver) you'd see the trend slow down and probably reverse.
Even a year after the bottom fell out of the housing market, it's still very expensive to live in many of the nice, or even decent areas in California.
For whatever reason there are many people who are jealous of CA, that's the only reason there is so much hate and so many similar threads. It's lame, but true. They have to convince everyone (themselves) that their NEW state is "all that" by tearing down their old one. We see this kind of stuff all the time in relation to other things in life, but states??...well it's weird to me. I've never torn down another state because I KNOW I like mine and don't have to convince anyone. Oh, and nobody cares. nobody.
Back to the State of CA, those of you who think there are greener pastures elsewhere, aside from possible lower housing costs what is it out there that you feel you cannot find in CA?
Forest roads that aren't locked up, places to shoot on public land, and decent gun shops where you can purchase a regular semi-automatic rifle along the lines of the AR-15, just to name a few.
The laws in California have become very restrictive compared to what they were twenty or more years ago, without providing any actual benefit, at least to me and those around me. Most of these laws were passed to make some politician feel good about passing the law, not to address the actual problem.
I believe in taking care of myself, not relying on government to tell me what I can and can't do. California is one place where it's becoming increasingly more difficult to make decisions for myself, because government agencies are dictating what I'm permitted to do. Some of the legislation that has passed or has been considered includes:
Bans of big screen TVs if they draw too much current. This is intended to reduce electricity consumption. I can regulate my own consumption by using the power button!
Restrictions on the type of car you can drive. This started many years ago with "49 state" cars and California cars. You couldn't get certain performance options in California, and you can't add them to a vehicle, even if they don't affect emissions, unless approved by the state.
Restrictions on the color of car you drive. There was a proposal recently that people could not purchase cars of certain colors in California because they require too much power (due to A/C usage) to cool them down after sitting in the sun in the summer. I happen to live in a mountain environment, and I welcome solar heating of my vehicles in the winter, since it helps melt the ice on the windshield.
Restrictions on self protection and self defense. In California, it is very difficult for the average person to obtain a concealed carry permit, even though it's easy to do in many other states. Use of a firearm in a self defense shooting within one's home will even normally lead to long, drawn out legal proceedings because California does not have a "Castle Doctrine" that protects homeowners.
Restrictions on woodburning fireplaces. Wood is still one of the least expensive ways to heat one's home, and though it's not necessarily the best option, many people still use it as their primary source of heat. There are many places in California where the use of wood for heating has been banned or severely restricted. These restrictions are even reaching out into rural areas where smoke from wood fires isn't much of a pollution issue due to the limited population density. Admittedly, in dense, urban areas, excessive wood burning contributes greatly to air pollution, and probably should be restricted. I don't agree that rural, sparsely populated areas need to adhere to the same restrictions.
These are just a few examples of the many reasons people want to leave California. It has become way too much of a "nanny state" for those that are able to think and do for themselves.
Last edited by jdavid93225; 10-27-2009 at 01:29 AM..
Here, I will give you one example of small town America, with small town American values, Williams, CA, I can give you a hundred more.
The biggest problem with Williams, as far as small town American values goes, is that it is still in California. The big cities in California affect the rules and regulations that are imposed upon small towns in California, whether those small towns benefit from those rules and regulations, or not. As long as the small town is within the boundaries of the state of California, they will be subject to rules and regulations imposed upon them by folks in the bigger cities. This is probably the biggest negative to living in small town California.
Let me repeat, inspite of the slur;As I stated, if you are an "urb" person, it makes no difference if you are in LA or Cleveland or any other urb, but, if you are a rurale, California ain't so bad, to whit;
Wow, great picture, we went on vaction in northern and central california earlier this year and were blown away, the mountains, ocean and scenery were breathtaking. We loved San Francisco too, fishermans warf was really cool, as was the rest of the city. Napa was awesome, as was Big Sur. Yeah, there were alot of non-english speaking people, and all that, but no different than Green Bay,believe it or not, so I guess I'm used to that. GB actually has one of the fastest growing mexican populations in the country. Not saying I have anything against them, many of them are decent people, they just can't speak english well, so it can be frustrating at times, like when trying to order food.
Forest roads that aren't locked up, places to shoot on public land,
Most Forest roads in CA are not locked up, Since you are referring to National Forest, it is helpful to remember that those are Federal decisions, not state. I have found that private gates on inholdings preventing travel on Federal roads is a much bigger annoyance than federal gates. This is due to morons with trucks beer and guns shooting up the countryside and stripping the hills trying to hill climb. I lived for many decades surrounded by National Forest, no gates, except those which closed roads until they dried in the spring. Shooting allowed anywhere, except in campgrounds and across roads.
and decent gun shops where you can purchase a regular semi-automatic rifle along the lines of the AR-15, just to name a few.
a personal decision, you want one, drive to Las Vegas. I find it hard to come up eith a purpose for a semi automatic, they are a lousy deer rifle and for personal protection a shotgun is a lot easier to find the target with without taking out a few neighbors, and, I have a couple of them, gathering dust.
The laws in California have become very restrictive compared to what they were twenty or more years ago, without providing any actual benefit, at least to me and those around me. Most of these laws were passed to make some politician feel good about passing the law, not to address the actual problem.
Without specifics, it is hard to know the problem. The biggest negative law affecting America today is NCLB, and it is Federal.
I believe in taking care of myself, not relying on government to tell me what I can and can't do. California is one place where it's becoming increasingly more difficult to make decisions for myself, because government agencies are dictating what I'm permitted to do. Some of the legislation that has passed or has been considered includes:
Bans of big screen TVs if they draw too much current. This is intended to reduce electricity consumption. I can regulate my own consumption by using the power button!
You are using a common resource, a resource shared by others, the reduced energy consumption dictated by various state laws has enabled the state to reduce its power needs compared to other states, if CA had done what the other states have done, or rather not done, CA would have needed 24 new powerplants. Not having to build 24 new power plants seems like a good thing to me.
Restrictions on the type of car you can drive. This started many years ago with "49 state" cars and California cars. You couldn't get certain performance options in California, and you can't add them to a vehicle, even if they don't affect emissions, unless approved by the state.
Again, a general statement, without specifics it is impossible to know the validity of your complaint.
Restrictions on the color of car you drive. There was a proposal recently that people could not purchase cars of certain colors in California because they require too much power (due to A/C usage) to cool them down after sitting in the sun in the summer. I happen to live in a mountain environment, and I welcome solar heating of my vehicles in the winter, since it helps melt the ice on the windshield.
First, it is a proposal, not a law, here is a proposal, I propose all cars be wrapped in styrofoam, that would cut down on both heating and cooling energy requirements, but, notice, it is a proposal and does not affect your life, just like the proposal you mention.
This is pretty funny, if you are able to lounge around till the sun melts the ice on your windshield, you need a job. Besides, waking up to 2 feet of snow on your car, it does not much matter the color.
Now, try an experiment, drive to one of California's hot towns, Fresburg, Barstow, Palmdale etc. Go to a car dealer, ask the salesman to open a black car for you to sit in, then a white or silver car. Color makes a difference, the added energy need to cool a dark car adds emissions, to our shared resource, the air.
Restrictions on self protection and self defense. In California, it is very difficult for the average person to obtain a concealed carry permit, even though it's easy to do in many other states. Use of a firearm in a self defense shooting within one's home will even normally lead to long, drawn out legal proceedings because California does not have a "Castle Doctrine" that protects homeowners.
More humor. I have managed to exist nearly 60 years without feeling the need to take someone's life away from them. You have a far greater chance of being killed by bees than attacked by a stranger. I do carry, in National Parks, and other wildland, in case I have to put down pack stock. There are plenty of Californians who carry, inspite of the law, they have carried for years, and surprisingly, have never shot anyone.
Restrictions on woodburning fireplaces. Wood is still one of the least expensive ways to heat one's home, and though it's not necessarily the best option, many people still use it as their primary source of heat. There are many places in California where the use of wood for heating has been banned or severely restricted. These restrictions are even reaching out into rural areas where smoke from wood fires isn't much of a pollution issue due to the limited population density. Admittedly, in dense, urban areas, excessive wood burning contributes greatly to air pollution, and probably should be restricted. I don't agree that rural, sparsely populated areas need to adhere to the same restrictions.
Burning wood does reduce the cost of heating your home, if you have a pickup truck, a chainsaw, a wood splitter, and the time to drive into the forest cut your 5 cords, bring them home, split them, stack them.
If you have to buy your wood, you are not going to save money over propane. Other states have also severely restricted woodstoves and burn days. Here, a story for you. I used to work as a Ski Patrolman at North Tahoe, I was typically on top of the mountain by 8:00AM. After a storm with new snow and crystal clear air I could see the woodstoves in Truckee and at Lake Tahoe fired up, through the morning I would watch the grey/black smurf in the air reach out acrosss Martis Valley and across the spectacular lake, by lunch time the smoke would nearly block the view of either Martis Valley or Lake Tahoe. In addition, Truckee got a double punch, I89 stretches across the valley, the smog/emission/smurf would form a small cloud above the freeway, then expand outward until it mingled with the woodstove emissions, creating a miserable cloud of Smurfness.
Limiting emissions is a good thing, more power to the State of CA.
These are just a few examples of the many reasons people want to leave California. It has become way too much of a "nanny state" for those that are able to think and do for themselves..
America is a nanny state, California is simply a part, as population increases controls over the population must increase. My little valley north of Truckee does not need a sewer system, put in a subdivision of 6,000 homes and you will need a sewer system, increased infrastructure, increases regulation, follows population, as people bailout of CA, they increase the population of where ever they go, guess what, all the "ills" of CA will come with them.
In California there is room to roam, you cannot say that about any state east of the 100th meridian except North New York State and Maine.
Do we need major emissions controls? Here is a photo of a section of over 300,000 acres of wildland in CA, the smurf you see did not originate there, it came in from distant populations centers
To me, there's too many illegal Mexicans. Other than that problem, the state is fine. But yeah, if people are actually LEAVING and can't wait to get out, than there's indeed a problem. I suspect it's probably because of all the illegals.
Oh it's before that
It's the damn Chinese coming in for the railroads
Or the Mormans with their damn religion
or wait, is it the Italians?
no no
"No Irish Need Apply"!
If you are not a native american indian, how can you ***** about immigration?
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