[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by amsterluvslife

I think I would like California living, except the cost of living there is insane!

The best thing about an insane cost of living is that it keeps out the riffraff. People get their priorities straight in order to live in the insanely-expensive places. And that's what I like about it. Insanely expensive places are full of people who have their priorities straight.

Cheap places are full of idiots.

[EdgeOfForever]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

The best thing about an insane cost of living is that it keeps out the riffraff. People get their priorities straight in order to live in the insanely-expensive places. And that's what I like about it. Insanely expensive places are full of people who have their priorities straight.

Cheap places are full of idiots.

San Diego is on the top of my list currently, and when I tell people about that possible move the cost of living is the first thing they bring up. You get what you pay for and there is a reason cost of living is high in Cali and a reason it's so low here despite the mild winters. Good thing we are DINKS who make a decent income so we are fortunate to have this option available to us.

[ScoopLV]

I'd go absolutely ballistic if I had to live in Southern California. I would need to have a chauffeur in order to live there because despite having one of the best climates on the planet, most of them drive like absolute maniacs. I don't get that at all. Yet, a few hundred miles north in one of the other best climates on the planet, they all drive like they're hopped up on muscle relaxants.

It is unlikely I will visit SoCal again. And I will never, ever drive a car there again. I'd rather drive in Naples or Beijing. If I was forced to move to that area, I'd move to Catalina Island and ride a bicycle.

[amsterluvslife]

I bet San Diego would be absolutely gorgeous & an amazing place to live if one could afford it! I am pretty sure though that we never could. :-(

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

Edge: I disagree with your assessment that there is no nature here. It's here. It just isn't green. The American Southwest is one of the most stunningly beautiful places I have ever been. I can drive an hour in any direction and it's simply gorgeous. Ansel Adams gorgeous.

The problem is Las Vegas.

I gotta say that the lack of green really struck me last weekend when I drove up there from Phoenix. Phoenix is currently pretty green. Not midwest/back east green, of course, but you could almost see a line drawn as I drove into the Mojave of green to brown.

That part of the drive as you approach Hoover Dam and enter the Lake Mead Rec Area always takes my breath away. Flat, brown, nothing to BAM! Gorgeous mountains and canyons with all the colors...looks like a painting, it's so beautiful.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

Flat, brown, nothing to BAM! Gorgeous mountains and canyons with all the colors...looks like a painting, it's so beautiful.

Is it safe to assume that you have been to Valley of Fire? I go there at least once a month. My wife is at school, so I'll go through Valley of Fire taking the back road and then down I-15 and go to work. I'm doing that a great deal, lately. Not exactly good for my wallet. But my truck's exhaust is cleaner than the air that I am currently breathing so it's all good.

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

Is it safe to assume that you have been to Valley of Fire? I go there at least once a month. My wife is at school, so I'll go through Valley of Fire taking the back road and then down I-15 and go to work. I'm doing that a great deal, lately. Not exactly good for my wallet. But my truck's exhaust is cleaner than the air that I am currently breathing so it's all good.

Yes, we went there last summer. Just gorgeous. I love the windy roads.

The area right before Hoover Dam alwasy gets me because it is hidden from you as you drive closer, the road is on a very flat, brown, "nothing" part of the desert. You'd never know what was to come as you climb that hill and round that corner.

Same with past the dam, all of a sudden it's like "HI Lake Mead!" right there, looking all pretty.

[Wolfpacker]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

Las Vegas has amazing shows and concerts. Las Vegas has amazing restaurants (on the low end of the scale and the high end of the scale). Las Vegas has an exceptionally low cost of living.

And everything else about this town sucks. Las Vegas is what happens when you cram 1.8 million people together who only care about the low cost of living.

The schools suck, the culture sucks, people's attitudes suck. We have truly exceptional people who live here. I'm not saying that we don't. But the average resident is either a mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging moron, or a scam-artist. Scam artists and morons. That's the average in Las Vegas. Las Vegas has the lowest signal-to-noise ratio of anyplace I have ever lived. Wait until you have to hire contractors or deal with tenants in this city. Then you'll see this town the way I see this town.

Good-freaking-riddance to Las Vegas when I finally leave.


EDIT -- May as well bash on Las Vegas a little more this morning. Las Vegas "half-asses" everything. Crews tear up the roads to fix something, do it wrong and then tear it up again two months later. Then they screw it up again and tear it up again. Desert Inn has been in a constant state of construction since I moved here. We have a monorail that stops 1/4 mile away from being useful. Las Vegas is at the bottom of every list that people want to be on and the top of every list where we don't. (Except crime. I'm not going to suggest that Las Vegas is an unsafe place. I may be a hater, but I'm no troll.)

The big thing for me is that I've lived in some truly great areas. They're expensive as the dickens. But it's worth it. I'll leave here and move to the Big Sur area or Hawaii or similar and deal with the bills. I value a high quality of life over low expenses.

Morons exist everywhere. Contractors and tenants suck everywhere. What kind of culture are we talking about?

You should go to my old area, upstate New York. They half-ass everything too. At least in Nevada/Las Vegas, you aren't taxed and regulated to death for it.

[BBMW]

That is the most insanely incorrect statement I've ever heard you, or probably anyone else, make. Insanely expensive places are populated with with people who's prime focus in life is making money. I don't have a problem with that, but it doesn't make them interesting, sociable, or pleasant to be around. I know this, I live in Manhattan. We one of, if not THE highest cost of living in the country. It means the people you live around are not likely to mug you (but they would scam you - Bernie Madoff was high thought of until he was exposed), but that's probably about all it does.

A while back you listed the characteristics of the people you wanted to be around. IIRC it was the artsy, craftsmen types. These are the people who'd be long priced out of the places you want to go. And to be honest, the people who do live where you want to go probably wouldn't want to have anything to do with you (based on sociol-economic class), unless they wanted to hire you to cook for them. To them, you'd be the riffraff.

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

The best thing about an insane cost of living is that it keeps out the riffraff. People get their priorities straight in order to live in the insanely-expensive places. And that's what I like about it. Insanely expensive places are full of people who have their priorities straight.

Cheap places are full of idiots.

[Wolfpacker]

Originally Posted by BBMW

That is the most insanely incorrect statement I've ever heard you, or probably anyone else, make. Insanely expensive places are populated with with people who's prime focus in life is making money. I don't have a problem with that, but it doesn't make them interesting, sociable, or pleasant to be around. I know this, I live in Manhattan. We one of, if not THE highest cost of living in the country. It means the people you life around are not likely to mug you, but that's probably about all it does.

A while back you listed the characteristics of the people you wanted to be around. IIRC it was the artsy, craftsmen types. These are the people who'd be long priced out of the place you want to go. And to be honest, the people who do live where you want to go probably wouldn't want to have anything to do with you (based on sociol-economic class), unless they wanted to hire you to cook for them. To them, you'd be the riffraff.

San Francisco is a prime example of the last part. The "smart" people (techies) that are focused on making money are in a fight with the artsy, craftsmen types...ect.

Prop 13 also has driven up costs in California as well.