Leaving La / California - Asap (San Diego, Empire: wood floors, health insurance, school districts)

[Drover]

Originally Posted by list2buylady

Come on to the South! We dont' bite! Cary, Raleigh, Ashville, areas are wonderful parts of our State (NC) to move to....

I spent some time in Asheville a couple years ago. One thing that really struck me about that area is how the FundieThumpers and the tree-bark-eating new-age hippy whackos all seem to live together quite peacefully. Maybe they learned that the best way to get along is to just ignore each other. Whatever the reason, I don't know that I've ever seen anything quite like it.

[fastfilm]

The only reason some of us posters have provided reality-check counterpoint to some of the assertions here is that we longtime L.A. residents know that, despite its television and film image, our city is not all


I'm glad we have all points of view here, even the apologists and natural optimists. It helps everyone learn. However, when genuine, plainspeaking, tell it like it truths from a professional's P.O.V. like Pacificop's appears, I really like to alert folks to its veracity. He's cut to the chase, that L.A. people who've never known other locations are the main rah-rah boosters here, and that most U.S. cities, warts and all, don't feature the extreme and unique dysfunctions we experience daily here. We have good winter weather: I've now come to the end of the list.

looking4home, I'll counter your personal observations with my own: my friends and acquaintances are ALL working to leave here. No one who's not wealthy has any intention of staying here for the rest of their lives: it's too draining and debilitating. It's also a choice even in lesser matters, like preferring not to shovel 3' of snow; in our case, it's preferring not to clean graffiti off your property every other day.

[Robert123]

Good points, fastfilm. Make sure that you and your professional friends don't move to a place that's cheaper, or less gang-infested, only to find that there are few other professionals to relate to. I moved to San Antonio from SoCal, and while I'm not washing graffiti off my house, I'm washing the "y'all" off my tongue, rubbing the images of cowboy hats from my eyes, and struggling to get a simple glasses prescription filled (they've tried three times) because of the stupid people here. The mentality of a new place affects you in simple and unexpected ways. It makes you realize that you took smart people for granted when you lived around them.

[dusesean1986]

[quote=Yodelady;229862]L.A. is the armpit of the universe. I lived t here for 10 years and couldn't be happier that I've left. There is so much crime, noise, pollution, gangs, riots, crowds, traffic, smog, and you pay a fortune to live there! The only good thing there is the weather.

We couldn't be happier you left.

[fastfilm]

Robert123, if only! If there are intelligentisia surrounding our low-to-moderate income digs, we are never be able to engage in meaningful conversation with them, as no English is spoken by them or very, very limited English. I suspect the retired Korean gent at the corner is highly educated, but as he speaks no English, we can only wave to communicate. I would have to learn at least five languages to even talk to most of my neighbors on my block.

Limited English speakers, even professionals, pose the exact same problems to consumers. An Armenian shopowner misconstrued my recent order for a single row of tiles to line my bathtub (we are do it yourselfers, can't even afford the illegals) into a whole room full of tiling, and yelled bloody murder when I pointed out the errors in the overcharging.

Therefore even conversations about rural concerns would be most welcome. Realistically, we figure we shall be trading our current problems for all new ones when we move, which is our choice.

Originally Posted by dusesean1986

We couldn't be happier you left.

Dusesean, now really. How is it the biggest complainers about "tone" of this forum are the first to chastise people who object to crime, traffic, spitting, gangs, violence, lack of communication and overall environment of rudeness in Los Angeles, while declaring it wonderous that polite, law-abiding American citizens who could have actually helped improve the area are leaving?

[brian_2]

"I moved to San Antonio from SoCal, and while I'm not washing graffiti off my house, I'm washing the "y'all" off my tongue, rubbing the images of cowboy hats from my eyes, and struggling to get a simple glasses prescription filled (they've tried three times) because of the stupid people here. The mentality of a new place affects you in simple and unexpected ways. It makes you realize that you took smart people for granted when you lived around them."

I can relate.

I have had similar experiences here in rural Arizona. I try hard not to look down on people exhibiting primitive thinking and limited verbal dexterity, but it's an unnatural effort of self-control not to rebel. Of course that doesn't mean that those of whom I speak aren't every bit as good as, or better than I as a human being (yadda yadda), but it does seem at times that too many here regard diversity of opinion and critical thinking as suspect behavior.

Often I'm wanting for stimulating conversation, or at least talk without the subject of politics (either or theme), 'what church you go to?, or which football team kicked which football team's ass.

(what a bore, this relentless babble about professional sports celebrities, this adulation of a spectacle of crass commercialism, hormone-raging bravado of cussing, swearing athletes extravagantly payed to uphold the tradition of trying to harm one another, while making old, rich, white businessmen richer yet - this celebrity worship stuff, in sports or popular entertainment, on film and on the field, seems to be the main common thread of the majority of people in America)

impinging on an otherwise pleasant talk. Many people in conversation here, even with formal educations, usually gravitate back to the same topics as the people without formal education and/or interest in reading - politics, religion, and sports.

It's amazing how few books/bookshelves I see in homes here - but lots of sports related swag on display.

I don't know what's harder to take, the intellectual snobs elsewhere, the rednecks, or the rabid sports fans.

[Robert123]

Brian 2, I do relate. I'll take the intellectual snobs, because at least there's something "there." Fastfilm, whereas your neighbors might not provide what you need, you are at least driving distance from proper stimulation. It IS all about tradeoffs.

[dusesean1986]

Originally Posted by fastfilm

Dusesean, now really. How is it the biggest complainers about "tone" of this forum are the first to chastise people who object to crime, traffic, spitting, gangs, violence, lack of communication and overall environment of rudeness in Los Angeles, while declaring it wonderous that polite, law-abiding American citizens who could have actually helped improve the area are leaving?

"California Hatin" on such a Winter's Day! It is good for those who do not like Los Angeles and California to leave, so the rest of us can enjoy ourselves. Law-Abiding American Citizens who are consumed by whining. "The biggest complainers in the thread tone of this forum," according to you. Don't be fooled. It was used to counter the negativity and pessism of California, Los Angeles, and the issues at stake.

[dusesean1986]

[quote=dusesean1986;230161]

Originally Posted by Yodelady

L.A. is the armpit of the universe. I lived t here for 10 years and couldn't be happier that I've left. There is so much crime, noise, pollution, gangs, riots, crowds, traffic, smog, and you pay a fortune to live there! The only good thing there is the weather.

Fastfilm, read my quote above, then read this, and you shall come to the realization of California Hatin' and why we'd rather do without. This isn't an objection, this is a dejected statement.

[andersoncouncl]

It's old, I know, but the need for a car trip in order to see other humans was alienating. I'm from NY, and lived in LA for 11 years, but never really felt like an Angeleno. I did perfect the fastest possible way to get from Los Feliz to the airport, and I still love the Rams and Pink's.