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I live in Oceanside, and the flies and mosquitoes can get quite annoying! Last summer and this summer they have been all over! Not quite as bad as DC, where I moved here from, but still pretty darn bad. Though it has been more humid than usual this summer so far...
I live in Oceanside, and the flies and mosquitoes can get quite annoying! Last summer and this summer they have been all over! Not quite as bad as DC, where I moved here from, but still pretty darn bad. Though it has been more humid than usual this summer so far...
Be happy you do NOT have fire ants as Texas does.
First time I met them I wanted to kill, kill, kill, kill, etc them. Did I mention I wanted them all dead?
I find it funny when people from other states talk about the wonderful weather in Southern CA. I have lived in Orange County for 32 years, and one of the top reasons (besides the traffic congestion) I would like to move out of here is because of the extremely boring weather.
There is no change of season. During the summer the sky is hazy white from the low stratus clouds trapped by the mountains, until July. We call it May Gray / June Gloom. From August through October we are stuck in a bubble of brown smog, which you can see the best when you approach LA/OC from an outlying area. As a private pilot, I can also see this from the air. The mountains trap the clouds and smoke preventing the onshore winds from blowing it out to the desert.
After living here for a while you begin to realize this is the desert. If it were not for the supply of water diverted from the Sierra Nevada mountains through the Owens Valley, we would have parched land with little but cacti to decorate the soil. As the summer moves on with days approaching 100F, you can begin to see the roadside plants dying of thirst as the city landscapers struggle to give them enough water.
The short winter is wet and rainy with accidents on the freeway all over the place, because LA/OC drivers don't know how to drive in the rain (except for this year, when we had record low rainfall).
I can understand why people from cold climates would want to move here to escape from the freeze. But this is not the paradise weather that is so frequently advertised. The Spring and Fall season is nice, although those seasons are nice in a lot of areas of the country.
Whether you will enjoy it here could depend on your personality type. If you like a routine, predictable life, then you may love it. Besides the earthquakes and wildfires, the weather does not offer much surprise. On the other hand if you like adventure and variety, Southern CA weather is like watching the paint dry on a fence, or watching the bagle in the toaster oven.
A little bit of vartiety in nature (forests, cute wild animals, natural meadows) and weather patterns adds a little spice to life. That's mostly missing here.
This is what the smog looks like from an airplane. This layer of smog covers the Southern CA basin every summer and you can feel it in the lungs after a good excercise. How can this be ideal weather?
Wow. Just wow. I realize that this thread is from 2007, and this OP makes some good points, but he/she also has some major things wrong. Yes, we get water from distant sources, but even metro areas that get a little more rain still have to get their water from distant mountain reservoirs. IE: The Bay Area gets its water from reservoirs around Yosemite NP.
A little bit of vartiety in nature (forests, cute wild animals, natural meadows) and weather patterns adds a little spice to life. That's mostly missing here.
If the OP is still around: You are joking right?? Southern California has more variety in nature than just about anywhere else. Does you/he/she realize the elevation change that gives rise to forests in the San Gabriel
If the OP is still around, you REALLY have to get out more.
A little bit of vartiety in nature (forests, cute wild animals, natural meadows) and weather patterns adds a little spice to life. That's mostly missing here.
And cactus??
Have you EVER taken a hike through the abundant parks in the hill and mountains dominated by chaparral?? It is dense with thick growths of shrubs, with trees in the canyon bottomlands, and denser forests at high elevations. If you have never seen mule deer, then you don't know what you are talking about.
This is not a desert. This is Mediterranean. The climate zone and biome that western civilization started in, in Greece, Italy, Israel, etc. The Inland Empire and San Fernando Valley become a little more arid, (semiarid steppe) due to the hotter temps --> more moisture loss, but you do NOT get into true desert until you get to the Antelope/Victor Valley (high, colder desert), and Coachella Valley (low, hot, hot desert).
The only way I can imagine anyone ever saying something like this, is that they stayed in their neighborhood and never got out.
I would also add that LA gets slightly more precipitation than Denver believe it or not.
No I wouldn't compare it to someone who wants an unstable relationship. When I visit other states I am jealous of the clear blue skies and puffy clouds decorating the sky. In different climates, after a brief summer rainstorm the colorful wildflowers bloom. In the winter, a little bit of snow gives a special postcard feeling to the Christmas season, and another way to play like a kid in the soft powder. When the wind blows, it gives a soothing breeze and you can listen to the rustle of the plants. I miss natural meadows with a variety of plants, but in Southern CA the fields are dominated by mustard weed and dried brown grass. These are the wonderful sights and sounds of the natural variety provided by weather... we don't get the "beauty of weather" here in Southern CA.
I know you are probably no longer on this board, but living in Orange County, did you EVER drive into the Santa Ana mountains ever?? I would say the wildflower displays in Southern California is well known wide and far.
One needs to explore southern California to get the most out of it.
I know you are probably no longer on this board, but living in Orange County, did you EVER drive into the Santa Ana mountains ever?? I would say the wildflower displays in Southern California is well known wide and far.
One needs to explore southern California to get the most out of it.
One of the differences between So Cal and where I am now, is that I do not have to explore, i.e. drive through traffic for an hour or two, to experience nature. I step out my door and there it is. If I want more I drive through the neighborhood. If that isn't enough I drive through lite traffic into the Smokies and see beauty CA does not have. Yes CA has some TN does not have, but in TN we live IN it, we don't have to seek it out.
Is CA Great yes it is, is it greater than any other State, nope, just different.
One of the differences between So Cal and where I am now, is that I do not have to explore, i.e. drive through traffic for an hour or two, to experience nature. I step out my door and there it is. If I want more I drive through the neighborhood. If that isn't enough I drive through lite traffic into the Smokies and see beauty CA does not have. Yes CA has some TN does not have, but in TN we live IN it, we don't have to seek it out.
Is CA Great yes it is, is it greater than any other State, nope, just different.
Are you saying that no where in CA is it possible to live less than 1-2 hours from experiencing nature?
I'm not knocking your state, I'm simply saying that the exact same can be had in CA. It just sounds to me like when you we were living in CA, you weren't living in the right place for it. Glad you found it somewhere else, though I hate to tell you that you probably didn't need to drive all the way across the country to find it. Hopefully there were other reasons you left. That would make a lot more sense.
Either way, as long as you are happy, that is all that matters. But yes, what you seek (living IN nature) can be found in CA, too.
One of the differences between So Cal and where I am now, is that I do not have to explore, i.e. drive through traffic for an hour or two, to experience nature. I step out my door and there it is. If I want more I drive through the neighborhood. If that isn't enough I drive through lite traffic into the Smokies and see beauty CA does not have. Yes CA has some TN does not have, but in TN we live IN it, we don't have to seek it out.
Is CA Great yes it is, is it greater than any other State, nope, just different.
I'm not necessarily disagreeing with what you are trying to say, but I do disagree with how you phrase it.
What you are trying to say is that nature is easier to access where you currently live in TN, than it is in OC. I would probably agree. OC is an urban area. This is not a rural area, this is not the wilderness. If that is what you want, there are many, many fine areas in California and Southern California to find it.
But, I can confidently say that, as a general rule, the nature in California blows away anything TN can offer up. The Smokies are pretty, for sure, but you obviously have not experienced the beauty that California nature can offer up. Have you driven through Big Sur on a sunny day, have you gazed around Yosemite Valley on a crisp Fall morning, have you stood atop Dante's View in Death Valley, have you hiked the backcountry of the Sierra Nevada's, have you driven the Lost Coast near Mendoceno, have you stood at the bottom of a towering Redwood or Sequoia, have you seen the wild flowers bloom in Anza Borrego, have you swam the clear waters around Catalina Island, have clammered atop a glacier or tumbled down a majestic sand dune, have you seen dolphins playing offshore in Crystal Cove, have you barreled down powdery slopes with the emerald Lake Tahoe in view, have you stood on Mt. Tamalpais and watched the fog roll into San Francisco Bay, have you experienced the desolate beauty of Mojave desert or a palm tree oasis outside Palm Springs, have you stood on the rim of King's Canyon to view in awe a canyon deeper than the Grand Canyon, have you seen a whale breach, or a bald eagle soar or a desert tortose amble along.
If you had, I'm pretty sure you would not attempting to claim that TN has more natural beauty than CA.
I'm not necessarily disagreeing with what you are trying to say, but I do disagree with how you phrase it.
What you are trying to say is that nature is easier to access where you currently live in TN, than it is in OC. I would probably agree. OC is an urban area. This is not a rural area, this is not the wilderness. If that is what you want, there are many, many fine areas in California and Southern California to find it.
But, I can confidently say that, as a general rule, the nature in California blows away anything TN can offer up. The Smokies are pretty, for sure, but you obviously have not experienced the beauty that California nature can offer up. Have you driven through Big Sur on a sunny day, have you gazed around Yosemite Valley on a crisp Fall morning, have you stood atop Dante's View in Death Valley, have you hiked the backcountry of the Sierra Nevada's, have you driven the Lost Coast near Mendoceno, have you stood at the bottom of a towering Redwood or Sequoia, have you seen the wild flowers bloom in Anza Borrego, have you swam the clear waters around Catalina Island, have clammered atop a glacier or tumbled down a majestic sand dune, have you seen dolphins playing offshore in Crystal Cove, have you barreled down powdery slopes with the emerald Lake Tahoe in view, have you stood on Mt. Tamalpais and watched the fog roll into San Francisco Bay, have you experienced the desolate beauty of Mojave desert or a palm tree oasis outside Palm Springs, have you stood on the rim of King's Canyon to view in awe a canyon deeper than the Grand Canyon, have you seen a whale breach, or a bald eagle soar or a desert tortose amble along.
If you had, I'm pretty sure you would not attempting to claim that TN has more natural beauty than CA.
I've only yet experienced a few of these. You just wrote my 2013 agenda. Thanks!
If I do one per month, I just might get to all of them before 2014. lol
Are you saying that no where in CA is it possible to live less than 1-2 hours from experiencing nature?
I'm not knocking your state, I'm simply saying that the exact same can be had in CA. It just sounds to me like when you we were living in CA, you weren't living in the right place for it. Glad you found it somewhere else, though I hate to tell you that you probably didn't need to drive all the way across the country to find it. Hopefully there were other reasons you left. That would make a lot more sense.
Either way, as long as you are happy, that is all that matters. But yes, what you seek (living IN nature) can be found in CA, too.
HI,
I am saying that in OC, other than the beach, do drive TO beauty such as I live in, takes time. Yes you could live in Big Bear and it would be great if you enjoy the mountains. YOu could live in Indio if you love the desert. In OC it is a long way (time wise) to natural beauty beyond chaparral.
I have lived in multiple cities in LA County, OC (At the beach), SD County and Riverside County. NOTHING in any of the Counties where people generally live, aside from the beach, compares to what I walk in daily.
Don't get me wrong, I love So Cal and in many ways wish i could live there again (at the beach), BUT it is such a financial mess, tax and regulation wise, I would be foolish to move back. I make too much you see and am a bad unfair "rich" guy (Though not really, just according to an arbitrary definition). People want to take more from me for living there, so I left (not the only reason). Now my wife and I can go to Europe, on multiple vacations to CA and other areas, all on the money I saved by moving. I see more beauty and interesting things than CA has and still see my bank account grow. One day I may buy a "vacation" home in So Cal, but never again be a resident, as far as I can see.
AWe left CA three years ago to return to a land of four seasons in part for just that reason. There's nothing quite like summer thunder storms, fire flies, cardinals, bluebirds and clean air.
Four Seasons: Bugs, Snow, Gray Skies, and Road Construction
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