[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by JayCT

The others posting here are generalizing too so I am generalizing my opinions as well. Of course there are not self absorb people everywhere. Of course there is not traffic everywhere but overall the state's development policies encourages sprawl which means more traffic. Yeah there are mountains but in between the mountains and the shore is a lot of brown nothing. The climate is arid. The state is over developed and does not really have enough water to serve the people if it continues to grow. Earthquakes have occurred throughout the state. These are the generalized things I have observed that turns ME off to the state. And sorry but the title of "capital of self absorbed d-bags" goes to LA hands down. Jay

The only thing I see in this thread [regarding California] are stats on how much property taxes are. That's not generalizing, in fact, I think it's pretty specific. Also, lets not talk about traffic. As someone who commutes 95 regularly, we here in Connecticut have no business putting down other places for their traffic. CA gets a few earthquakes, sure. Did you forget about the multiple blizzards we had here this year, and what a toll it has taken on our state (schools being closed, town budgets being stressed, roof collapses, major flooding). Oh, and did we forget that CT is also in a fiscal crisis, and that we have the highest debt per capita in the nation? Either way, we get your point that you think CA is awful by making sweeping generalizations. But for every negative you post about CA, there's an equal and perhaps greater negative to match about CT.

It doesn't sound like you've even been to northern CA. Have you? And how recent?

[Angelic_Avalon]

I didnt really like California... thankfully I dont have to deal with the problems they have with the illegal aliens.

Well is it me or did somebody forget California gets tsunami, or forest fires?

[jjinla]

Besides the tiny area affected in OR due to the earthquake in Japan, I've never heard of a tsunami in CA in my lifetime.

And as for forest fires, yes, areas high in the mountains or canyons do get fires on rare occasions during the dry season. And when they do, sometimes they will then get mudslides during a heavy rain. But I would venture to guess, less than 2% of the population of CA has ever even had to worry about it. How many people in CT had to deal with the blizzards this year?

Illegals I won't defend. Yes, they suck, and are tarnishing the quality of life there little by little. But like Kid said, NorCal and SoCal could not be any different. They shouldn't even be in the same state, to be honest.

It's not for everyone, to be sure. It's just funny how many people hate it for nonsensical reasons.

[HeadedWest]

Originally Posted by jjinla

But like Kid said, NorCal and SoCal could not be any different.

Yeah, it read to me like some people wrote "California" but they really meant "Los Angeles".

[Angelic_Avalon]

http://www.youtube.com/embed/xSHZesMK9O8

Well whatever it is California still at risk for a tsunami at least this video shows that Cali had it at some point recently so if that happens recently, what about in the future?

Now for forest fire, it can happened in populated areas, too. And I'm sure that a big quake gonna happened again or maybe worse than 1989 that would casue more than what would spent in the Iraqi war if a big one comes.

I rather deal with a blizzard anyday. It's like dealing with the hard way in Connecticut than dealing with the easy way in California. The easy way can cause a price later on. There is that saying.

[oc2nyc]

I am one of those people who are from CA, but don't really like CA. In saying that, I really mean Southern CA. And I think that most generalizations about CA are pointed towards So. Cal., not Northern Cal. Many Californians will probably agree that Southern and Northern California could be two separate states. The climate, landscape, culture, and people are completely different.
My daughter goes to school in SF and absolutely loves it. She was born and raised in Orange County so to her it feels like she is a million miles away, yet it only takes her a few hours by plane to get home.
I do have to say that I have lived in So. Ca. my whole life and spent a lot of time up North with family, and now visiting my daughter, but there is still something special (for me) about the east coast. I love the seasons, the landscape, the history, the architecture. Could I find somewhere in CA that is comparable? Probably. Bit would it be the east coast? No. Is San Francisco a nice city? Yes. Is it Manhattan? No.
As far as I can tell regarding the COL, coming from where I live, CT is a better deal as far as house prices and gas, but the cost of utilities, taxes and food seems to be higher. Between CT and CA it comes down to what is important to you. Plain and simple.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

The only thing I see in this thread [regarding California] are stats on how much property taxes are. That's not generalizing, in fact, I think it's pretty specific. Also, lets not talk about traffic. As someone who commutes 95 regularly, we here in Connecticut have no business putting down other places for their traffic. CA gets a few earthquakes, sure. Did you forget about the multiple blizzards we had here this year, and what a toll it has taken on our state (schools being closed, town budgets being stressed, roof collapses, major flooding). Oh, and did we forget that CT is also in a fiscal crisis, and that we have the highest debt per capita in the nation? Either way, we get your point that you think CA is awful by making sweeping generalizations. But for every negative you post about CA, there's an equal and perhaps greater negative to match about CT.

It doesn't sound like you've even been to northern CA. Have you? And how recent?

How can you compare an earthquake to snow? An earthquake has serious long term impacts and effects everyone in the area it strikes. Thousands can be killed. Snow is expected to happen here and can be predicted. We are prepared to deal with it and after a day or so our lives go back to normal. Earthquakes strike without warning and take years to recover from. The snow this year stuck around longer than normal but now has gone away. There was flooding but it was mostly in areas that normally flood anyway. California has floods too and massive wild fires.

We have a high debt here in Connecticut but it would not be highest if you include other states obligations from their county governments as well (remember our state does not have county governments and takes on that levels responsibilities). We also have a higher per capita income to offset it.

Traffic on I-95 is bad but does not compare to what you find in both northern and southern California. The difference is it is just that one road with a serious issue and there is a mass transit option for people along the I-05 corridor.

Each state has its good and bad and we could argue about which one is better and which one is worse. You seem to like CA, I do not. Lets leave it at that. Jay

[bobtn]

Jay, If when you think earthquake, you think 7.0 or more, you are right. But most are minor, and the 2nd to last foot that fell on Northeast was blamed for 7 deaths. Yes, snow is predictable, but I wonder how many dozen died in the multiple foot of snow storms that went on for 5 plus weeks? Had the same quantity died in an earthquake, CNN would have covered it ad infinim. The footage is so much more sensational, and the public is not news savvy enough to notice the lack of coverage snowstorm deaths get, at a national level. A few dozen per year is typical.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by bobtn

Jay, If when you think earthquake, you think 7.0 or more, you are right. But most are minor, and the 2nd to last foot that fell on Northeast was blamed for 7 deaths. Yes, snow is predictable, but I wonder how many dozen died in the multiple foot of snow storms that went on for 5 plus weeks? Had the same quantity died in an earthquake, CNN would have covered it ad infinim. The footage is so much more sensational, and the public is not news savvy enough to notice the lack of coverage snowstorm deaths get, at a national level. A few dozen per year is typical.

Exactly. Heart attacks, car accidents, there were even 2 reports of women in the North Haven area slipping and freezing to death in the snow.

Jay, regarding traffic, the issue is that here in CT, we don't even have major cities, it's just suburb after suburb, and we still have ridiculous traffic. Additionally, we have only two highways (five lanes total each way) that lead toward a city next door of millions of people, while in places like Los Angeles, there are at least 5 or 6 highways. I can't tell you how when the traffic was awful on the 405, I would slide off and take side streets home. Here, you can't do that, so you're held hostage on the 15-20 mile backup that occurs regularly on both highways.

Regarding debt, sure we can offset it with a higher per capita income, but don't forget about our higher taxes to offset it, too.

It's fine if you do not like California, but don't use irrational reasoning when explaining your stance.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Exactly. Heart attacks, car accidents, there were even 2 reports of women in the North Haven area slipping and freezing to death in the snow.

Jay, regarding traffic, the issue is that here in CT, we don't even have major cities, it's just suburb after suburb, and we still have ridiculous traffic. Additionally, we have only two highways (five lanes total each way) that lead toward a city next door of millions of people, while in places like Los Angeles, there are at least 5 or 6 highways. I can't tell you how when the traffic was awful on the 405, I would slide off and take side streets home. Here, you can't do that, so you're held hostage on the 15-20 mile backup that occurs regularly on both highways.

Regarding debt, sure we can offset it with a higher per capita income, but don't forget about our higher taxes to offset it, too.

It's fine if you do not like California, but don't use irrational reasoning when explaining your stance.

You keep accusing me of being irrational. What is irrational about what I have said? Is any of it untrue? No it is not. California has one of the most active and dangerous fault lines in the continental US period. Is that irrational? No it is a fact. And that fault line stretches almost the entire state and through or near its major cities.

As for traffic you are right that the highways to New York are not great but there is excellent train service too. And not everyone in Connecticut wants to or has to go into New York. Furthermore while traffic in the major California cities can come from multiple directions there are chokepoints that can't be avoided. If it were as easy as you say there would not be the miles of backups on their highways. California traffic prolems are LEGENDARY. When ConnDOT brought traffic engineers from California here several years ago to review traffic in and around Hartford they literally laughed when they saw how short our rush hours are. In CA they can go on for several hours without letting up. Here after a couple of hours they are gone.

As for the snow, you can argue that everytime it rains anywhere people die in weather related car accidents too. So should we only live in dessert climates where the chances of rain are slim??? I don't think so.

Who now is being irrational? Jay