What is your favorite thing about California that makes you want to stay? (San Francisco: house, live)

[harrishawke]

I left California to live, but I will still visit there due to family and friends. If you like the same mild weather all year round (coastal cities), and lots of geographic diversity, you will like California.

[D-Doc]

Some nice beaches and countryside. Sadly not enough to keep me here

[Mr5150]

Originally Posted by ikoolu

let me see

1 the fact i have to speak several languages to work or order food- NO
2 the fact that i have to pay the higher gas tax for the crsappy roads -NO
3 the fact i have to pay a utility tax on my cell, internet, tv to funds the idiots in city hall - NO
4. pay 10 % sale and income tax - NO
5 pay $75 ti camp at the beach - NO
6 to give the a holes in Sacramento 10% of my IRA's and 401K when i retire after all the money they stole from me - NO
7 pay the highest car registration in the county - NO
8 To watch teachers get yelled and cussed out and the kids don't get kicked out - NO
9 to watch 10 caldrans workers on there side of the road and only one or two actually working - NO
10 have to walk around all the poop and needles and scums bags while working in DTLA or SF - NO

i guess i can list dozens more - but what the hell i moved out already -

Well a brasher showed up almost immediately. No surprise. On a thread that was supposed to be positive. I live in CA and:

1. I Only need English to work and order food. I call BS
2. Ever driven on I40 in AZ? I wrecked a tire doing so. Bad roads are not limited to LA
3. Gee, my utility tax on said services is about $1.50. Cry me a River
4. If you’re paying 10% income tax you must be pulling in well over a million a year. I would love to be in your tax bracket.
5. If you camp at private campgrounds you pay too much. We pay $10 (senior discount ) to camp in our local NF
6. See #4
7. Which county? You must drive a car I could never afford
8. I am thankful I don’t live in the ghetto parts of LA
9. Having worked on a county road crew in my youth, I'll tell you how it works. Those other guys are on a needed standby and will jump in as needed. The one guy does the prep then yells OK. The rest of the guys jump in. Gets the job done in a few hours rather than the month it would take that one guy..
10. I am thankful I don’t live in DTLA or the seedy parts of SF

Edit: OK this is supposed to be about why I like CA. I don’t live in LA or the Bay Area. So let’s talk about the other 98+% of the place called CA.

The weather-even where I live with four seasons it beats the south and east-Lack of humidity in summer. No bitter cold despite the fact CA gets the most snow anywhere in North America.

People are friendly and polite. I get respect from teenagers! I feel safe wherever I go, but I do avoid Fresno and Stockton. I love the variety of countryside from the coast to the Sierra. You are not gonna find a Yosemite or a Lake Tahoe in Texas. Speaking of which there are no skiing areas in Texas, I live 40 minutes from a ski resort. Traffic and crime are not an issue. To sum it up: what not to like? Unless taxes and politics are the most central issue to you. But taxes are not a big deal to me-this state provides a lot to its citizens. Politics- well I don’t care for Newsom, but Brown and Arnold were great

[Vic Romano]

Originally Posted by OC4life

Best selection of food in the country. Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, Filipino, Peruvian, Argentine, Armenian, Greek, along with traditional European and American fare.

Other reasons as well but now I have to go eat.

Well, having moved this is what I miss most right now. The restaurant selection is sad here. That and being able to golf during winter...

[Californiaguy2007]

Family,Friends,Weather,and so many things to See and Do throughout this Beautiful State,but I also like to establish roots...I really hate having to move to another state,another state,another state,etc and start all over to be familiar with the surroundings and to feel comfortable.

[BurntCoffey]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

.... only pick one thing/reason ....

The weather...

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by Vic Romano

Well, having moved this is what I miss most right now. The restaurant selection is sad here. That and being able to golf during winter...

I also moved out and while I'd say most things have been an improvement for me and I have ZERO urge to move back to San Francisco, I really started disliking it, I do miss the Asian culture/food that's all over California. I'm considering moving to Irvine/Newport/Laguna/Dana for this reason. I want a similar atmosphere of where I moved to (dr. phillips - orlando) where everything is landscaped, new looking, clean, upscale feeling... but I want more Asian stuff. I also miss hiking in mountains/hills and doing road trips in California as the scenery is beautiful and changes often. I'll be going to Irvine area January 13th to make a definitive decision and then going to drive to San Francisco to visit my gf's family. I always look forward to the food in San Francisco, but hate hate hate the weather, in your face poverty, trash everywhere, ugh... but I can't wait for my trip to SoCal and the drive up the coast.

[Csonka]

money

[Vic Romano]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

I also moved out and while I'd say most things have been an improvement for me and I have ZERO urge to move back to San Francisco, I really started disliking it, I do miss the Asian culture/food that's all over California. I'm considering moving to Irvine/Newport/Laguna/Dana for this reason. I want a similar atmosphere of where I moved to (dr. phillips - orlando) where everything is landscaped, new looking, clean, upscale feeling... but I want more Asian stuff. I also miss hiking in mountains/hills and doing road trips in California as the scenery is beautiful and changes often. I'll be going to Irvine area January 13th to make a definitive decision and then going to drive to San Francisco to visit my gf's family. I always look forward to the food in San Francisco, but hate hate hate the weather, in your face poverty, trash everywhere, ugh... but I can't wait for my trip to SoCal and the drive up the coast.

I get it. But I did go to my cousin's place in North Irvine a couple weeks ago and to pay that much money for a 3000 square foot home and postage stamp lot is not what I really want. Looked out to the back yard and saw a wall and the 2 story house behind it.

I do have a good laugh when they show the "rush hour" traffic here.

We go to Sacramento/Roseville probably every other month and SF a couple times a year to get our fix. I haven't seen the poop yet in SF but I'm not surprised at the stories. I've seen it in Portland.

I forgot to mention I also miss my Tommyburger. At least In-n-Out is here...

[V8 Vega]

I was just in Oregon, it sure is a lot cleaner there.