California: Wonderful Despite Disasters, Crowds, Expense? (San Diego, San Francisco: crime, house, contractors)

[NatureYogi]

Pros and cons of California!

I used to live in California several years back (Santa Cruz, SF East Bay, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara) and though I love other places too I still think longingly about it. There's a chance I may move back sometime.

For you current or past Californians, what are your thoughts on if the pros outweigh its tougher aspects in your opinion? (I know we all have different preferences but still would be fun to hear your opinions and info.)

Some Pros to Me:
- Many agree it has quite good weather/climate in parts (though we all have personal preferences)
- That California mystique excitement and history (San Francisco's 1960s hippies, L.A.'s movie and music scene, certain [maybe especially Northern California] hippie and spirituality stuff, etc., for anyone into those things)
- A lot of nature variety to choose from (though other states have that too), including some highly-regarded spots like Big Sur, Yosemite, Tahoe, Joshua Tree, oceans
- Such highly-populated cities (San Francisco, L.A., San Diego...) means many social, subculture, education, and business options
- SF Bay Area seems to maybe have a mix of high progressiveness and high diversity that is somewhat rare in the U.S.?

Some Cons to Me:
- Floods
- Fires
- Earthquake risk
- Drought
- Some areas (San Diego, L.A., San Francisco) extremely crowded and more expensive than most U.S. cities (along with NYC)...plus along with that comes much crime and much poverty
- I guess every state has a lot of drugs but California in particular seems known for being very heavy on marijuana and heroin, etc.

Looking forward to your replies!

[snackdog]

Pros
- diversity of people, opinion, culture, art, cuisine, climate
- generally fabulous climate
- emphasis on outdoors and health, well-managed parks and green spaces
- access to west coast, beaches, ocean and pacific rim
- interesting housing stock and general attention to design
- collaborative local and state government
- relatively few right-wing zealots

Cons
- enormous costs for housing, food, vehicles, taxes, electricity, tolls, any contractors, etc
- fire, landslide and earthquake risk
- litigious, shallow population full of millenial FANG type hipsters
- idiotic referendum system which allows voters to make insane laws based on their reaction to TV ads
- many hard-core left-wing zealots who want to control everyone
- crowded freeways and weekend getaway spots

[jcp123]

Mostly wonderful, but the COL would pretty much permanently keep me from moving back. That hurts a little, being that I grew up there, but less so when I take into consideration the traffic and the fringe lefties which are admittedly as bad as the fringe righties here in East Texas, a particularly red part of the state.

[edsg25]

There is an element of California: Wonderful Despite Being Wonderful.

Wonderful isn't a good. Wonderful invites a ton of development and crowding that ruins the wonderful. I could use California locations to illustrate what I mean, but I'll use another spot since it best gets my point across: Waikiki was a beautiful location with beaches on the Pacific and mountains on the perimeter. Everyone wanted to go to Waikiki. So it became totally developed and in many ways, indistinguishable from Miami Beach.

California's natural beauty and benevolent climate were the very magnets that can lead to destruction. If California is the proverbial golden (state) egg laid by the goose, it is very much subject to killing.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by edsg25

There is an element of California: Wonderful Despite Being Wonderful.

Wonderful isn't a good. Wonderful invites a ton of development and crowding that ruins the wonderful. I could use California locations to illustrate what I mean, but I'll use another spot since it best gets my point across: Waikiki was a beautiful location with beaches on the Pacific and mountains on the perimeter. Everyone wanted to go to Waikiki. So it became totally developed and in many ways, indistinguishable from Miami Beach.

California's natural beauty and benevolent climate were the very magnets that can lead to destruction. If California is the proverbial golden (state) egg laid by the goose, it is very much subject to killing.

Eggsactly.

[Angelino19]

Great natural beauty, great cities, high cost of living.

[sas318]

Pros: hiking trails, weather mild all year, a few hours drive north to the snow, beaches nearby, all sorts of food (American, Mexican, Indian, etc.), I grew up here.

Cons: expensive, drought, never knowing when there will be an earthquake, traffic, liberal.

[veritased]

All that was left for me was 'climate'. For coastal regions.
Otherwise the rest starting degrading. I voted with my feet and left.

[JJonesIII]

San Francisco only (since this is a SF/Oakland forum)

Pros:
You can make more money if you can save it and live in a Hostel
Compact
No floods, hurricanes, or tornadoes
The Presidio
View from my living room
My friends
Mitchell's Ice Cream
My masseuse when I can afford it

Cons:

Lack of Diversity (Predominately White and Asian)
COL
Echo Chamber
People aren't all that friendly compared to other places I've been and tend to be pretentious
Weather (I like it warmer)
Traffic
Earthquakes
Dirty Ocean Beach
Homeless

[Eli34]

I am a Canadian who has lived here for more than 5 years now....

Pro's:

-Sunshine, sunshine, sunshine!
-You can grow fruit!
-It's clean, no mud, no dirt, no puddles everywhere (try living in a winter city after snow melts).
-It's beautiful, the landscape, the plant life, the architecture, the Spanish influence. It's bright and colorful!
-All the great grocery stores like Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Sprouts, local Co-op's,
-The insane amount of different foods to eat, all the Mexican food, cheap healthy food, ethnic foods, American foods, fusion etc, etc, etc.
-The California vibe of the people, the friendliness, the warmth, the happiness. I don't feel hostility here. Strangers smile and say hello to you
-Cost of living is not much different from Canada! I couldn't afford a house up there, I can't afford one down here. Gas prices are more up there, food costs more, and taxes about the same.

Con's:

-You realize there is not enough time in your lifetime to explore the millions of beach's, activities, attractions, towns, cities, landscapes, national/state parks, etc that exist in this state.
-You start taking things for granted here (until you go somewhere else, then realize how good you have it).