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California has much more to offer as a state. It has the total package...big cities, small cities, medium cities, dense cities, cool cities, hot cities, mountains, forests, wine country, etc. This is a no brainer.
As far as where I'd live, I'd choose New York, and for this reason.
States are generally big places (Rhode Island and Hawaii, notwithstanding) and you can only live in one place at a time. If I lived in Sacramento, it's unlikely that I'd visit San Jose twice a year, if at all. I think that people are generally inclined to only travel so far to get something, otherwise it might as well be in a different city or state. It's cool that San Diego and San Francisco are in the same state and all, but the distance between those two places is pretty similar to the distance between DC and Boston. So, in a practical sense, I wonder if the fact that they're in the same state really even matters.
If I had to choose a place to live in New York State, I would naturally choose New York City. And I think most West Coasters tend to think of NYC as one city (which it technically is), but you could also think of each Borough as an individual city that matches up with all of Cali's major cities. You could easily put Manhattan up against SF; Brooklyn against LA; Queens against Oakland. The difference is that in New York you have access to all of these places via a subway or short cab ride. So I'd roll with New York to live, even though Cali has lots of great stuff.
Maybe a two hour drive seems far from someone on the East Coast but that's what I would call a semi decent drive to go check a city out on the West Coast. I don't consider Sacramento to be all that far from the Bay Area, I used to have friends who lived out there and went to Sac State that came down to the Bay Area every weekend to escape the heat.
Good post: New York state's geography is nice but easily found in one form or another in many other places.
California's geography is simply one of the most unique land forms in the world. Like CalSur said...from the highest peak in the 48 states (Mt. Whitney) to the lowest in the Western Hemisphere (Death Valley) all within 50 miles.
All the money on Wall Street won't buy you that.
That is why a New York band (The Mamas & The Papas) would write a song called "California Dreaming"...dreaming of what you can never have unless you leave New York.
I remember as a kid taking the tram ride during the winter from the warmth of the desert floor in Palm Springs to the top of snow covered Mt. San Gorgonio (11,500 ft high). The mountains (real ones) next to desert landscapes. Really mind blowing!!
We are all aware that CA has a more diverse landscape but it seems that people are ignoring and even almost denying NY, trying to sort of admit NY has a nice landscape but by then coming in and saying it is found everywhere. Last I checked the Great Lakes were not everywhere, Niagara Falls was not everywhere, the Thousand Islands were not everywhere, the biggest island on the continental U.S. was not everywhere, and the only state to touch both the Great Lakes and ocean was NY. There are plenty of unique and beautiful landscapes in NY that even CA does not have. Plus there are the obvious Adirondacks, Hudson River Valley, Letchworth Park, Finger Lakes, and seashores. The biggest city in the country is a bunch of freaking islands. That is unique. I am not saying it is better than CA but NY is a beautiful state that has far more than "nothing," CaliGuy19.
*Niagara Falls* Joep373526 Niagara Falls At Night - Niagara Falls, NY HDR on Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/joep373526/3520622162/ - broken link)
No doubt about it, those photos of New York state are great. Thanks aggie75 & RussianIvanov [especially like the first photo of the Hudson River; is that area in the photo near NYC? - I'd love to visit it on my trip to New York
No one said that New York state isn't beautiful and, of-course, NYC is spectacular. I guess the idea behind the thread is what state is the "bigger hitter". I am, naturally bias because I live in California and am very fortunate to have visited almost everywhere in the state. I know it is incredibly diverse in many ways and very unique but that doesn't mean other states aren't incredible either. I've seen a lot of Florida and Arizona; both outstanding states for natural beauty and great places. I've driven thru New Mexico & Texas but was kind of young and don't remember them too well but plan to visit those states again.
No doubt about it, those photos of New York state are great. Thanks aggie75 & RussianIvanov [especially like the first photo of the Hudson River; is that area in the photo near NYC? - I'd love to visit it on my trip to New York
NP Here is some info on the Hudson River, via Wikipedia.
LoL people go from san jose to sacramento all the time. So much so that amtrak had to make a commuter train that goes from the sac metro to san jose. San jose is the capitol of silicon valley and sac the state capitol, the two cities have a vested interest in being inter-related. All the silicon valley big wigs and lobbyists have to be in sac.
Sac is about 100 miles from sf and 110 miles or so from san jose.
Conversely there is only about 20 miles of uninhabited mountainous terrain that seperates the north county san diego suburbs and south OC. California's metros are very inter-related and tend to have higher rates of cross commuting between metros than most of back east.
Well california does have that water fall at yosemite that is pretty amazing. New York is not all lost, they do have nyc and long island, and that counts for a lot, a lot more than the vast majority of the other states in the country.
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Here is some info on the Hudson River, via Wikipedia.
