Orange County: Depressingly BORING (Newport Beach, Jackson: houses, rent, income)

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by Angel Bear

If you're bored, there's lots of fun things to do that are within an hour of driving

The mountains, ocean, and nature are all that I need to make my heart sing

OC is a lovely place with gorgeous, friendly people...I can't wait until we move!

How do you get to those places if you can't drive?

[Paul74]

Just a point from someone from england, isnt one of the nice things about the states, the homes wonderful homes, family, tennis clubs, swimm meets, popping out getting your food shopping, errands, having friends in the community, socializing bbqs etc, nice weather. Is it not true for a lot of people that all the other things, bad things on the news etc outside city problems, just sail on by. Are people pretty happy in themselves over there.

[Caliguy2007]

The minute I read the "back to NYC" part,immediately the thoughts of Yellow Cabs,Concrete Jungle and Honking Horns came to my mind...Just thinking about it made me depressed,but since that's where your from,I guess you've become accustomed to that,but NYC is definately not for me

Originally Posted by Sal Monella

Been there, done that.

Including the frozen banana thingy. BORING. BTW, this ice cream shop you mention and perhaps another 3 or four shops & restaurants are the ONLY "highpoints" on the whole peninsula ..AND surrounding areas.

I guess if my wife & I were 80 we'd settle for a leisurely stroll thru what for all intents and purposes is like an EMPTY MOVIE SET. Sure, it's beautiful, so are another 756,946 places in the U.S..

My wife & I had a boat and used to sail past that very same jetty you reference. Until we got so bored with doing the same thing over & over that we sold the boat. We got tired of sailing around within the tiny harbor and once you get out to the open ocean there's really no place to go on a day's sail except Catalina or Long Beach.

Catalina itself is a barren rock with no points of interest except Avalon and Twin Harbors. Avalon, the larger of the two, occupies at most about 10 city blocks from end to end. You can walk it all in under 20 minutes. BORING.
Long Beach has absolutely NOTHING to make it worthy of the over hourlong trip. There's MORE going on in a single block of Greenwich Village than there is in the whole of OC.

We're into PEOPLE. And the people of Balboa, Newport and OC in general are vain, superficial, materialistic slobs with the cultural develpoment of the common field asparagus. This is a county where -after all- the highpoint of social events is the yearly County Fair. A depressing gathering of hick & rube simpletons who vie with each other over who has the largest pig or bakes the best apple pie. I get suicidal just thinking about it.

I'm moving back to NYC next month. I've done my time here and it's time to get out, before our brains go dead like the rest of the people around us.

[Cattknap]

Sal - I feel sorry for you - poor thing.

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by Paul74

Just a point from someone from england, isnt one of the nice things about the states, the homes wonderful homes, family, tennis clubs, swimm meets, popping out getting your food shopping, errands, having friends in the community, socializing bbqs etc, nice weather. Is it not true for a lot of people that all the other things, bad things on the news etc outside city problems, just sail on by. Are people pretty happy in themselves over there.

Paul, it sounds like you are describing my brother's suburban lifestyle to a tee. Well everything other than the large home... but the neighborhood is full of warm welcoming folks that put together gift baskets for the new arrivals and spontaneous weekend BBQ's are the norm during the summer and yes, his neighbors add-on and remodel their 1950's ranchers rather than move... he lives in Pleasant Hill California... hey maybe that's why his city is called Pleasant Hill?

Oops.. I forgot this is an Orange County Thread...

[Sal Monella]

I am a New Yorker.

I thrive on diversity, culture, socializing and the sheer energy of living at the crossroads of the entire world. I enjoy meeting people from every conceivable corner of our planet and hearing every imaginable language spoken. I love tasting their foods, listening to their music and learning of their cultures. I love being able to say a phrase or ask for things in Russian, Italian, German, French, Spanish, Hebrew and Polish. I love seeing the smile on an arabic storetender's face when I greet him in his language.

I love change. I thank God for the sizzling summers because it elevates my appreciation of the beautiful Fall to come, when Central Park will be cloaked in a dazzling array of multicolored leaves featuring every extant shade of yellow, brown, and green there is. While I wait for better temperatures I can stroll the Village on beautiful balmy nights and/or take in any one of the dozens of on-going art performances, concerts and shows constantly featured thru-out the area. I'll find air-conditioned refuge in the museums, spending hours viewing the artifacts and legacies of every culture that ever was. I'll sit for hours at a sidewalk street cafe, watching the whole wide world parade past my outstretched feet.

I come to life in the middle of Winter, when the icy winds whip my face and serve to toughen me up again, reminding me that life too has it's ups & downs and of how valuable it is to learn to ride both on an even keel. I love seeing fresh fallen snow carpeting the city like in a fairy tale. When that same snow gets dirty and black from the soot I'm reminded of how ephemeral
the good things in life really are. A harsh winter also raises my appreciation of the upcoming Spring, when the trees and flowers of my city will again explode in a palette of colors and aromas.

I love the intense rains that wash the city clean. I appreciate a beautiful sunny day that much more after 3 straight days of dark clouds & downpours. I love the wind funneling thru the buildings and swaying the trees.

I like people who speak their minds strong & clear. I appreciate being told to f*ck off if I deserve it & enjoy telling others to do so when they bug me. I like being around people who know the difference between when it's actually raining and when someone is peeing on your leg and telling you that it's raining.

Seeing poverty reminds me that it is a fact of life and it helps me appreciate my own personal good fortune that much more. It makes me conscious of the solidarity among mankind. It makes me want to help those I can and mitigates by own misfortunes when they inevitably arise, having seen these brave souls weather much worse.

I love the cops, who accept working for ridiculously low salaries and yet put 110% of themselves into their jobs anyway. Just because they're in love with my city too!.

I love the excitement & dangers of NYC, which keep me constantly on my toes and my brain fully in AWAKE! mode.

You poor people in CA -particularly in OC- have NOTHING of the sort. Your lives and personalities are as drab and dull as your constant sunshine and smoggy air. You rave about how nice it is there ..but you've never really been anywhere else in order to draw a fair comparison. You're rascists, intolerant of any culture outside your own narrow, superficial interpretation of what constitutes a truly American society (WASP!, that is). You're shallow, preoccupied with vanity and heedless of content.You're materialistic, equating granite countertops with success in life and a Lexus with a 'winners' personality. You're uncouth, incapable of sofistication or culture.

In short; as far as I'm concerned ...you're history.

[Ultrarunner]

Sal... I was with you there until the last two paragraphs... I guess you've never experienced San Francisco???

[Sal Monella]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

Sal... I was with you there until the last two paragraphs... I guess you've never experienced San Francisco???

I apologize, my comments apply mostly to OC, SD & Southern CA in general.
I completely forgot about San Francisco, IMHO the ONLY westcoast city with a truly vibrant culture & lifestyle of it's own. In fact, if I hadn't already left my heart on the upper west side ..I definitely woulda have left it in SF!.

[FunkyMonk]

Originally Posted by Sal Monella

I am a New Yorker.

I thrive on diversity, culture, socializing and the sheer energy of living at the crossroads of the entire world. I enjoy meeting people from every conceivable corner of our planet and hearing every imaginable language spoken. I love tasting their foods, listening to their music and learning of their cultures. I love being able to say a phrase or ask for things in Russian, Italian, German, French, Spanish, Hebrew and Polish. I love seeing the smile on an arabic storetender's face when I greet him in his language.

I love change. I thank God for the sizzling summers because it elevates my appreciation of the beautiful Fall to come, when Central Park will be cloaked in a dazzling array of multicolored leaves featuring every extant shade of yellow, brown, and green there is. While I wait for better temperatures I can stroll the Village on beautiful balmy nights and/or take in any one of the dozens of on-going art performances, concerts and shows constantly featured thru-out the area. I'll find air-conditioned refuge in the museums, spending hours viewing the artifacts and legacies of every culture that ever was. I'll sit for hours at a sidewalk street cafe, watching the whole wide world parade past my outstretched feet.

I come to life in the middle of Winter, when the icy winds whip my face and serve to toughen me up again, reminding me that life too has it's ups & downs and of how valuable it is to learn to ride both on an even keel. I love seeing fresh fallen snow carpeting the city like in a fairy tale. When that same snow gets dirty and black from the soot I'm reminded of how ephemeral
the good things in life really are. A harsh winter also raises my appreciation of the upcoming Spring, when the trees and flowers of my city will again explode in a palette of colors and aromas.

I love the intense rains that wash the city clean. I appreciate a beautiful sunny day that much more after 3 straight days of dark clouds & downpours. I love the wind funneling thru the buildings and swaying the trees.

I like people who speak their minds strong & clear. I appreciate being told to f*ck off if I deserve it & enjoy telling others to do so when they bug me. I like being around people who know the difference between when it's actually raining and when someone is peeing on your leg and telling you that it's raining.

Seeing poverty reminds me that it is a fact of life and it helps me appreciate my own personal good fortune that much more. It makes me conscious of the solidarity among mankind. It makes me want to help those I can and mitigates by own misfortunes when they inevitably arise, having seen these brave souls weather much worse.

I love the cops, who accept working for ridiculously low salaries and yet put 110% of themselves into their jobs anyway. Just because they're in love with my city too!.

I love the excitement & dangers of NYC, which keep me constantly on my toes and my brain fully in AWAKE! mode.

You poor people in CA -particularly in OC- have NOTHING of the sort. Your lives and personalities are as drab and dull as your constant sunshine and smoggy air. You rave about how nice it is there ..but you've never really been anywhere else in order to draw a fair comparison. You're rascists, intolerant of any culture outside your own narrow, superficial interpretation of what constitutes a truly American society (WASP!, that is). You're shallow, preoccupied with vanity and heedless of content.You're materialistic, equating granite countertops with success in life and a Lexus with a 'winners' personality. You're uncouth, incapable of sofistication or culture.

In short; as far as I'm concerned ...you're history.

Excellent post. That last paragraph about the OC was dead on. they are suprficial, materialiatic, shallow, plastic, conformist and eitist there.

The rest of the post was beautiful nd articulate too. It reminds me of my feelings about Oakland and San Francisco.

Remember people. Northern California is VERY different than Bro-Cal.....i mean So-Cal. Up north we actually have real culture and community.

[nevercoldcall]

Are you kidding me? NYC is garbage. I'm from there. My girlfriend is from there. And guess what? Neither of us would ever live there again.

I just look around our community in Newport Coast and look at the sheer number of celebrities and millionaires who live there. These are people who could live anywhere - and for some reason they're choosing Newport, not the filth and crime and left-wing extreme politics of New York.

It's sad, and yet it still makes me laugh, that some people are so shallow as to assume that those of us with nice houses and cars are automatically materialistic. Maybe you need to go read "Atlas Shrugged" and hopefully you'll understand that these are things we worked hard for and are proud of.

There's no pride in living in a backwards dirty city like NYC. Sorry to break that to you but the truth hurts.

As for your "racist" comments, trying to play the race card is the hallmark of the loser with nothing supporting his argument. It sounds like you're on the payroll of Messrs. Sharpton and Jackson.

"Seeing Poverty": I have no use for that. I've worked hard to become wealthy. I choose not to associate myself with failure.

"Being told to f*ck off": I'm telling you right now. You don't live up to Newport's standards. You are not welcome here. Go back to liberal NYC where the lowest loser is accepted.

"I love the cops": I love the police here in Orange County. There's a reason why this is the #1 safest place in the United States. It's because the cops do their jobs. To top it all, we have a Sheriff who is pro-gun and supports our right to carry. Good luck getting a carry permit in anti-freedom NYC.

I find it particularly amusing that you feel sorry for OC because we don't have the dangers of NYC ... ARE YOU KIDDING ME? It's because we're SUCCESSFUL and WINNERS and choose to have the BEST ... the BEST for ourselves. You wanna live in a crime-ridden dump? GO AHEAD - PEOPLE WITH A LOSER'S MENTALITY LIKE YOU ARE NOT WELCOME IN ORANGE COUNTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!