Living in Small Town America versus Living in LA (Los Angeles: mortgage, to buy)

[music7lover]

I agree that things are not black and white. There is good and bad about living anywhere.

Also, the internet has massively changed the world and when I go back to the small town that I grew up in, it surprises me with how connected a person now does feel with the rest of the world once they get online. People there are alot more up to speed on world issues etc than they were before the internet. Plus I notice it with just conversing with people that things have changed and the small town thing is really not true anymore.

[monti]

Originally Posted by seohkna

In Southern California it is a bigger issue than just equating happiness with home ownership, it is about having a stable place for your family to live. My family and I left state 2 years ago because we were paying way too much to rent and the owners kept selling and we would have to move. To some people moving every year or two not by choice isn't good, and security deposits are huge!

Marie

Guess what Marie,

I grew up moving sometimes several times a year due to being raised by a single mother on welfare.

I was not in an enjoyable climate, I was in MN.

I have moved 17 times (at 18 years old). That's nearly once a year, however in reality its several times 1 year, then stay in one hovel for 2 years.. and so forth.

Why is stability important - if I hadn't had to constantly reconnect and break off friends I'd be like every other kid here, hanging out with the same friends that I had since i was a kid growing up sheltered in the suburbs. Only to finally agree to all go to similar colleges (almost everybody I know is attending school here in MN, or Chicago or Ohio, which is ridiculous just to be around old boring friends, I don't understand why, but I won't belittle them, it's their lives, or lack thereof)

Sure my childhood was kinda ****ed up (seeing mom get the **** beat out of her by a methhead in our old duplex).

However I somehow still managed to excell to the top of over 8,300 other likeminded kids my age, in a very expensive medium, winning the top prize at NFAA, Chimera Awards, Chicago International, among others.

Never again - will I be subjected to long, nearly wrist-cutting depressive bouts with cold, cloudy, windy winters. Being FORCED to wear your coat at all times except when at school or a friends house due to a non working heater in a house over 110 years old full of cracked walls is not my idea of fun.

Nor the ridiculous questions: "Oh so you're moving to CA, so are you like, gay?" "I don't get why black people exist, they're like not even people?" - yes a girl seriously said, that. Guess what her last name was, Anderson. Yes the people here are extremely homogenous, most can trace their roots back to the netherlands, and many harbor underlying racist tendencies.

The 4 months I lived in SoCal were the best (and most expensive) of my life, and I can't wait to return.

[UB50]

I suppose I should have distinguised between "rural" and "small town" living in my original post. I've actually lived in both -- out with the cows and in a town with a population of less than 10K.

Our town was so small, we only had McDonalds. You had to go to the neighboring town to get Burger King.

I totally forgot about drives to the airport! OMG! What a drag! The choices are catching the local commuter flight to a bigger town from your own town or driving hours to get to the big city to get on a real plane. When you travel for your job, this can be such a PITA. The local airports usually don't have many flights and they don't always connect with the flights you need to catch at the bigger airports. (On the plus side, at the local airports -- they will actually come and find you if you don't hear the boarding call. Ha!)

[UB50]

Originally Posted by katenik

i received a gift of the coolest pajamas EVER... only they were the wrong size. when i went to exchange them, i got the last ones in my size. had i waited another day, it's likely that i would have had to choose a different pattern (none of which i liked) or another item altogether because it was the ONLY outlet of that particular store in a 100 mile radius. it was a reminder of a fairly trivial thing that i take for granted, but wouldn't really want to give up: the ability to drive to stores all over town in search of that item that i absolutely must have. it's something i find myself doing about twice a year, and it can become an adventure of sorts. it would be very frustrating if i were forced to give up after the first stop. (yes, i can shop online from anywhere, but that doesn't help if i'm searching for something i need right away.);

I'm a shopping junkie too! Your post brought back memories of going to the only local department store looking for something simple like "high heeled black shoes." At the store, you would find they had three styles -- two that you didn't like and one that they didn't have in your size!

I also remembered a time when a friend and I drove 100 miles to try on these "new bras" that were advertised in the newspaper. I really think you have to be a woman to understand the importance of finding "the right bra." It's really sad when your own community only has a selection of "the wrong bras."

Another thing too: Shopping for that "special" outfit in an area where there is a small selection of places to shop at. Not only does everyone know where the outfit came from, they also know what it cost, etc.

[Glitch]

Originally Posted by goodbyehollywood

It isn't all black and white. There are lots of shades of gray. You can choose to leave LA for a lot of progressive cities where your neighbors aren't livestock, have all their teeth and have been known to attend plays or the symphonies on the weekend-- and converse intelligently about them over a gourmet meal afterward. I love LA and while it's one-of-a-kind, there are other one-of-a-kinds, too, and some of them are quite small. There are smart, cultured, interesting people everywhere... and a lot of them are much too busy living their own lives to poke their nose into yours (unless you're Paris Hilton, then they'll probably be a little more interested).

Of course, if you live in Deliverance country or in the middle of a cornfield, all bets are off.

Well said. Wasilla, Alaska, has a population of less than 8,000. Yet I still go to concerts, and next week I will be attending a wine tasting and a gourmet meal at an Argentinean restaurant. The view is also better than anything you will find in Los Angeles or anywhere else in the lower-48.

If you like Los Angeles, great, but that doesn't mean that there aren't better places. If you think otherwise, then you need to get out more often.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Glitch

Well said. Wasilla, Alaska, has a population of less than 8,000. Yet I still go to concerts, and next week I will be attending a wine tasting and a gourmet meal at an Argentinean restaurant. The view is also better than anything you will find in Los Angeles or anywhere else in the lower-48.

If you like Los Angeles, great, but that doesn't mean that there aren't better places. If you think otherwise, then you need to get out more often.

Where is Sergeant Preston and his lead dog King?

Just for fun I noticed there is a Korean restaurant 48 miles away in Anchorage. OK, 48 miles, Alaska, Korean food, 48 miles, It's Alaska, no big deal..I guess you'd expect that....It's Alaska for cripes sakes.....

korean loc: Wasilla, Alaska - Google Maps

OK, now hold on to your hats....

Four Thai restaurants and three sushi restaurants within four miles of Wasilla. That's probably a higher density than in Sherman Oaks.

thai OR sushi loc: Wasilla, Alaska - Google Maps

[Glitch]

Originally Posted by Charles

Just for fun I noticed there is a Korean restaurant 48 miles away in Anchorage. OK, 48 miles, Alaska, Korean food, 48 miles, It's Alaska, no big deal..I guess you'd expect that....It's Alaska for cripes sakes.....

korean loc: Wasilla, Alaska - Google Maps

OK, now hold on to your hats....

Four Thai restaurants and three sushi restaurants within four miles of Wasilla. That's probably a higher density than in Sherman Oaks.

thai OR sushi loc: Wasilla, Alaska - Google Maps

As the most northern, western, AND eastern state in the Union, we get a lot of Asian immigrants, and as far as shopping is concerned, there is always the INTERNET!

[katenik]

Originally Posted by UB50

I'm a shopping junkie too! Your post brought back memories of going to the only local department store looking for something simple like "high heeled black shoes." At the store, you would find they had three styles -- two that you didn't like and one that they didn't have in your size!

I also remembered a time when a friend and I drove 100 miles to try on these "new bras" that were advertised in the newspaper. I really think you have to be a woman to understand the importance of finding "the right bra." It's really sad when your own community only has a selection of "the wrong bras."

Another thing too: Shopping for that "special" outfit in an area where there is a small selection of places to shop at. Not only does everyone know where the outfit came from, they also know what it cost, etc.

ah, my long-lost sister, there you are!

[UB50]

Something I missed after I moved to LA: The joy of passing on a two lane road with oncoming traffic in the other lane! There is nothing quite as exhilerating as knowing that you just barely missed getting creamed by someone driving in the other direction! (I actually did miss this... for awhile. I got over it though...)

Also, hitting live animals on the road on a constant basis. I can't remember the last time I hit something living driving on the streets of LA, but I sure do remember mowing down those little animals with the shiny eyes at nights out on those lonely country roads! And beware of the cows and deer because they sometimes win when they tangle with a car!

I also missed actually "driving" an hour to work. An hours drive in the sticks is about 60 miles. An hours drive in LA at rush hour can be 5 miles.

Oh! But that reminds me of another thing I didn't totally miss: 4 years of rural living means it's time to trade in the car. It's very easy to get over 100,000 miles in 4 years. Cars really don't last very long when you start putting 30K+ miles on them every year so while you are factoring in the cheaper housing costs, you need to factor in the additional auto costs.

[UB50]

Originally Posted by Glitch

As the most northern, western, AND eastern state in the Union, we get a lot of Asian immigrants, and as far as shopping is concerned, there is always the INTERNET!

You can't try on bras on the internet. (Of course, only women would really make a stink about that... )