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Hello, this post is for those who have never been to Southern California and are looking for information regarding the area. Please believe me... I am NOT trying to be negative because I am not a negative person. I am only trying to help you with my own experience living in Southern California. I am only doing this to help those of you who are thinking about relocating to the area and need help. Trust me I have a lot of better things to do with my time but I really feel this is important so please take a few minutes to read this.
For those of you who absolutely have to make the move then this is my advise.. do a lot of research, ask many questions and don't fall for the information that only shows you the beauty of California. The beauty is only a small part of the picture. Just so you know, I was the typical blonde california girl and totally fit the profile. At one point I was training to become an NFL Ram's cheerleader. Unfortunately, I injured my ankle in my jazz class the day before tryouts and I was unable to participate. The very next year the Rams left for Kansas City. By the way, have you ever wondered why such a large place like Orange County does not have a professional football team anymore?? Interestingly this is what I found out.. When L.A. and Anaheim were home to the Raiders and Rams they didn't make enough money because they didn't have enough loyal and supportive fans. So basically both teams packed up and left... Very sad that an area with so much status and wealth does not have any pro teams. I guess everyone is too busy in California so they have better things to do than sit at a football game??? Or there is just too much to do?? Whatever the case they lost their NFL teams. Hopefully for all you football fans like myself.. someday they can get one back..
Before I tell you more of the negative, let me begin with the positive. First of all, there is A LOT of good things about California. Primarily the weather is awesome. It is basically never too hot (unless you are inland) and it is extremely mild in the winter. The sky is blue most of the time and there are places by the beach that are amazing and breathtaking. I love the ocean and it is one of my favorite places to be.
There is a lot to do in California and many great opportunities for the young and old alike. You never get bored because if you have the money there are always fun places to go. Disneyland was a place that I visited on a regular basis. I loved to get an annual pass and go there in the wee hours just before closing to go on Splash Mountain over and over again. No lines late at night!! Knotts Berry Farm is great, six flags not too far of a drive and Universal Studios a couple of hours away. So much to do and too much to list here in this post.
I met my husband in San Diego County, had my first son in Irvine and my second son in Anaheim Hills. So California holds many precious memories for me. I would have to write a book to tell you of all the happy memories I had in California...
What disappointed me is the fact that it is extremely crowded, stressful on the highways and there is an awful lot of crime. It is so expensive that I never owned a home in the 20-years that I lived there. Half the time I couldn't understand my neighbor because everyone spoke another language. Nothing wrong with that (I have many beautiful Spanish speaking friends) but when an English speaking woman goes to the grocery store and can not find something and nobody speaks english, I have a problem with that. I really started feeling like an alien in Orange County. I actually felt very lonely at times
Another issue is the air quality. In the summer there are frequent smog warnings and you are basically told to stay inside unless you have to go out. I had terrible allergies and sinus problems while living there. I know it was the air quality because almost immediately after I moved to Oregon my problems went away.
I think there are absolutely way too many people in Southern Ca. It takes 2-3 hours to get to a 10-mile location most of the time. Even at night... My step-kids and several friends live there and they hate it. They continually tell me that it is getting worse with each passing year.
Finding a job is another problem. Jobs are hard to come by everywhere but read the statistics on California. The state is in a heap of trouble financially.
There are gangs and bad neighborhoods everywhere. You can be in a nice neighborhood and drive a half mile down the street and you will be in a bad neighborhood. For example, at the beginning of my marriage my husband and I lived in a really nice apartment. One night while we were sitting on the patio we heard gunshot. My husband ran down the street to try and help. A teenage boy was dead in the street as a result of a drive by shooting. It is very hard to find a decent place to live unless you are making a huge amount of money.
So again this is my suggestion. If you have to move there do your homework, talk to a lot of people and weigh your options carefully. If you are rich move to a beach house in Malibu, Laguna Beach, Newport, etc. Stay on the beach and don't venture too far inland. Also, there are very nice places along the coast just south of Irvine and nice places in Irvine and Costa Mesa, but then again you will be paying a high price to live there.
And also, home school your children or put them in the best private school you can find... again if you can afford it. Between the gangs and all the other problems it just wasn't worth it to me.
Good luck to you... Again, I hope my honesty will help you in making a decision whether or not to move to California and where to live. At least if you go there you won't be thinking it is just like the movies or a popular television series. I am just sharing my experience with you. Have a great week/weekend.
OMG your post made me cry.
I was born in Orange County and everything you say is true!
Even the lonliness part!
Everybody has moved away or are working 2 jobs to live in their tiny apartment border irvine and costa mesa..
I moved to the San Fernando Valley, it's just worse..
where did you move?
Just curious if you found better.. I'm divorced and ready to leave So Cal
I don't think anyone would deny California has a vast array of scenery and it is a wonderfully beautiful state, but to say, no other state is as pretty is a bit of a little biased. Because of the size of the state it is very diversified in its scenery as well as in other ways but I can think of a couple other states I have visited that took my breath away as well. Believe it or not, PA is one. You have mountains, rivers, lakes, the ocean, flat lands, greenery, delightful old cities and towns, country roads and about anything else one can think of. Another state, is right here in AR, no we are missing the ocean, which in itself, is Gods masterpiece, but we still have so much natural beauty it is unbeleivable. NM is another breath taking palce in certain areas. What about OR and Washington? I could go on, some of the New England states. I just don't think there is such a state as the most beautiful...
Nita
Yeah I didn't get into discussing "most" beautiful. I'm sure Hawaii has plenty of areas that would win in that category.
What someone said was that there was no scenery in California. Which could vie for "dumbest comment ever made".
I totally agree, I have no issue with how the beautiful parts of CA are priced. I just feel like the mediocre parts of CA are priced as though they're goldmines and they just aren't. In so many of these areas, they're selling pits for premium.
This is very true. Freaking Compton houses are more expensive than a lot of the country. No doubt that would be a terrible investment.
True. And that's the problem I think. The average joe cannot afford to live in those beautiful places. I feel like, having lived in California my entire life, its just crazy that to live in the run-of-the-mill/smoggy/unscenic/overpopulated areas, we have to pay nearly half a million dollars for a house that will give us less than 2000 sq. ft. But I guess the difference between us is that I don't feel like those are just a handful of places. I feel like that's So. Cal general and the beautiful, coastal cities are the exception. So I don't feel like this state has been managed well at all and its the "idea" of California that drives our housing costs up when the reality is worth far less.
You can debate what percentage of SoCal is awesome/beautiful and what percentage is bad. A lot of one's perception depends on where they've spent the majority of their time.
Especially with kids or anyone with a health condition I would avoid this area. Part of the quality of life is not breathing air that makes you sick.
This is really true. I realized this past year that most of my friends have at least one "nebulizer" kid in their family. That says something to me about our air quality!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Morphous01
Well I like the beach area's and I fell in love with Crystal Cove, Ca and I made a few trips up there to look at property/land but I don't have Crystal Cove money ( you need 500k and up..lol) and even if I did I hate waste so much money just for a roof over my head when that money could go to help somebody else or something.
I agree. I know that area is beautiful and worth a higher property value. But that is a LOT of money that could be used toward so many other things.
Quote:
Originally Posted by skyway31
What someone said was that there was no scenery in California. Which could vie for "dumbest comment ever made".
See, there you go being rude again. Is it possible that, to make your point, you're getting caught up in the semantics? I didn't realize I would need to qualify my every word. Are you a lawyer or something? I think you get my point and yet you seem to be really hung up on the fact that I didn't qualify my statement with a list of the areas outside of the suburbs of all the places that may be classified as scenic.
I said "the lack of scenery". So for YOU, I shall qualify my statement.....
Addendum: ....the lack of scenery (Statement excludes most coastal and mountain regions but includes the majority but not all suburbs, valleys, deserts and Long Beach).
The lack of scenery surrounding the general population. Meaning, it sure would be nice to live on a street with some trees that weren't just imported palms. Or to drive down the street and not just see 50 Starbucks, Targets, Burger Kings and Shopping Centers.
You can debate what percentage of SoCal is awesome/beautiful and what percentage is bad. A lot of one's perception depends on where they've spent the majority of their time.
Agree. Orange County is about 50% very nice areas and 50% not so nice areas. It really depends which half of the areas you live in and I think it shapes your perception.
Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Laguna Niguel, Mission Viejo, RSM, Orange Park Acres, Anaheim Hills, San Clemente, Laguna Beach, Irvine, Los Alamitos, Cypress, Yorba Linda, etc.... make up about 50% of the county population.
About 24% of the county lives in Santa Ana or Anaheim, two cities with most of the areas generally considered the "worst" part of Orange County on this forum. The rest of the areas in not so nice were parts of Garden Grove, Buena Park, Stanton, La Habra, etc... while their cities have there nice areas, they aren't as uniformally nice as the other cities.
So interestingly, OC is a 50/50 county.
It is amazing how different lifestyles can be in California. It really isn't all that different in the whole state. Oakland has wealthy hills and poverty near the water, Los Angeles has wealthy communities in the hills and on the beaches only separated by a freeway from a rough neighborhood of gang violence, etc...
Yes, I agree, and actually the pacific ocean was one of the big disappointments for me. I'm from the east and I grew up looking at the pictures of California beaches but when I finally got there and I saw how dirty the water was but out of my own safety I decided just to stand a watch.
There is something going on with the water; my bud is a big time fisher and he knows a lot about fishing and he told me the water is so polluted that the levels of fish have dropped over the years. It's just really sad to see that we are so dirty that nature can no longer regenerate itself but I mean, what do you expect when ships dump medical/nuclear waste in the ocean as if it's just going to go away.
This depends on where you're at. There are many beaches in California with very clean water. Others have dirty water. There is a wide variance between beaches. It's no different on the east coast. But, I'm guessing you spent all your time at one or two of the less than desirable beaches and decided you'd loop all of California under the same umbrella.
OMG your post made me cry.
I was born in Orange County and everything you say is true!
Even the lonliness part!
Everybody has moved away or are working 2 jobs to live in their tiny apartment border irvine and costa mesa..
I moved to the San Fernando Valley, it's just worse..
where did you move?
Just curious if you found better.. I'm divorced and ready to leave So Cal
OMG. And I'm not even an OMG type of guy. But that deserves an OMG. lol
That YOU'RE lonely is neither a reflection on SoCal as a whole nor does it suggest that being lonely is a part of living in SoCal. At least we are seeing the truth revealed. A few people move here, have a hard time meeting people, get lonely, and decide all of California is bad. Sorry you guys have had a hard time. But don't blame you're loneliness or the fact that you're divorced on Califronia.
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OMG your post made me cry.
Feel better?
