The Truth about California from a former west coast Girl... (Irvine: rental car, real estate market)

[Morphous01]

Originally Posted by Raelyn28

And I call it the whole story... Everyone wants to live in denial...

Yes, they do, I have seen some unfortunate things in LA, and some of those bad things happened to me however the second shock wave was watching peoples nonchalant reaction. Like I said, it's only when it's at there door do peoples attitude change.

[AKgirlinCA]

Raelyn,

The BEST part of all this, people like skyway will NEVER move to our idea of "paradise"
It's too "boring" etc.....
Now that's something to look forward to!

[Raelyn28]

LOL!!! Good point!! Oh will you be gettin a spankin with that comment

Originally Posted by AKgirlinCA

Raelyn,

The BEST part of all this, people like skyway will NEVER move to our idea of "paradise"
It's too "boring" etc.....
Now that's something to look forward to!

[Raelyn28]

Well with a name like Skyward one is tempted to think of someone looking up and never looking forward or to the sides. Kind of like a horse with blinders?? Kind of like being in denial. I don't know maybe people just walk around oblivious to what is really going on... who knows????

Originally Posted by Morphous01

Yes, they do, I have seen some unfortunate things in LA, and some of those bad things happened to me however the second shock wave was watching peoples nonchalant reaction. Like I said, it's only when it's at there door do peoples attitude change.

[boi2socal]

I didn't read all the pages of this thread...all credibility was lost when Yorba Linda became a murder capital.

[Yvonne1207]

California girl all my life...

Smog: Awful (got to find the right locale. I'm now at the beach and the air is excellent)
Traffic: Hideous in OC, Inland Empire, LA, Bay Area
Expensive: Oh yes! Almost every part of the state
Football team: Who chooses a place to live by what sports teams they have? Seriously!
Earthquakes: Meh... anything 5.0 and under is not worth worrying about.
Jobs: Took me nearly a year to find a new, good job. Yeah, it is bad here.
Crime: Like any other metropolis, it is there and generally in specific pockets, but can leak out to the "safe" places.
Weather: Practically perfect

Would I leave my home state? Probably. But is there any place out there perfect in every way?

[dancingirisheyes]

California girl my entire life too. I've lived in the San Gabriel Valley, South OC, North OC and my sister's family lives in the Inland Empire.

I'm still surprised that California is so full of its own self-worth that the home prices are what they are EVEN in the middle of our economic crisis. I own my own business and my husband works for the government. We make $160K/year, have no credit card debt and we cannot afford a house. We could GET a house. But we'd be living check-to-check just to make the mortgage payment on anything that is in a modest, safe neighborhood with a decent school district. I think that says a lot when honest, hard-working people can't even get a modest home. My sister paid more than half a million for 1600 sq. ft. in Corona. CORONA! And even though she was able to move into the nicer areas of Corona, there is still crime happening every few months within blocks of her home! (Mainly attackers targeting women joggers or trying to take children). And what happened once the economy turned? Her rate increased, her mortgage went up so high she couldn't afford it and now she's looking at a foreclosure. Her husband has a great job, a higher education and excellent credit. In what world should a guy like that be losing his home?

California needs to wake up and realize its not all that its cracked up to be. The smog, the traffic, the crowds, the over-development, the lack of scenery, the fact that all of the activities are amusement parks and shopping malls, the crime, the terrible schools, the state's financial crisis, the overcrowded jail/juvenile units, the unrealistic social pressures that are poison for today's family unit, the earthquakes (which have been excessive in the past few months??!!) and the fires EVERY SINGLE SUMMER/FALL. Everyone raves about the weather and truly, November - June are beautiful. But the summers are miserable if you don't live near a beach. 110+ and smoggy..... not my idea of beautiful weather. And all of these things really lower the value of California in my eyes. I'm certainly not willing to pay half a million for a mediocre house here.

[Ceece]

I'm a CA native but I have never lived in SoCal so my experience have been quite different. The Bay Area is where I've spent most of my life and in my travels I have not found another place I would rather be. I suppost part of it is "living with the devil you know" but there is no denying the appeal, or the fact that people all over the country STILL dream of moving here. For me the only donwside has been the expense, but even that only bothered me once I was aware of how much cheaper it is to live in other parts of the country. I guess because I never had to adapt my life to fit where I live it doesn't seem as bad to me as it does to people who have lived elsewhere and were able to buy new homes on large lots fo $75,000 or whatever. Fortunately that kind of thing isn't priority for me so I'll just happily live here for the rest of my life.

California needs to wake up and realize its not all that its cracked up to be

.

Hahaha, what does that even mean?

[dancingirisheyes]

That means that the IDEA people have of California, the general stereo-type of what people will find here - its far better than the reality.

[Ceece]

Originally Posted by dancingirisheyes

That means that the IDEA people have of California, the general stereo-type of what people will find here - its far better than the reality.

Most things are. I don't know anyplace that lives up to the hype. CA suffers from being too much in the spotlight because of Hollywood and The Beach Boys and such.