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why trust what someone else says about people in a certain area.That is like saying all mexican people are gang members. Seems kind of dumb to me why dont you visit san diego or LA and find out that people here are no different than anywhere else.A mix of mostly good and a few bad apples.
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Originally Posted by ^Eagle^
I've been told NOT to go west of the Mississippi river. Why? I wont like the people and the people won't like me.
I'm from the East Coast, I'm an average looking guy at best and not tall. I have people skills and a quiet confidence. I tend to be able to adapt to cultures.
The word on the street though is that people in your area and the surrounding area's like SD, SF, the beaches, and even into cities like Pheonix are very vein. The rumor is your very superficial, vein, narcisistic, shallow people who care nothing more than what car someone drives, where they fit in society, how they look and dress, who they know. I have met some people from California and they seem very adorable and interesting to me and I always get a kick out of them so maybe I am missing something, or maybe it's just the culture when your OVER THERE. Don't know.
In short is this true? In particular I am interested in hearing from transplants from the east coast or the south. You guys would notice the difference.
okay then you shouldn't have a problem meeting the types of people you like with those interests.
No one is pretending CA doesn't have problems, we obviously do but make up for it in other ways. We have our good and bad like everywhere else.
Someone making $8 an hour isn't going to be living in a $2400 month apartment and I don't even know where you would get that from. If they make that little they more than likely they are sharing an apartment with someone.
How are you going have to deal with this "elite" attitude? Unless you go to the wealthy areas of town to look for housing, which if you're making only $8 an hour you're not gonna do, you aren't going to find "elitists" everywhere. You seriously have these stupid stereotypes stuck in your head and try to justify it with some BS logic that is far from reality.
Plenty of people I have met have just come out here with some savings and found a job and have made it out here fine. You don't need to a lucrative job offer or transfer to make it here. It's not easy but who the hell in their right mind expects just picking up and moving across the country with no job to be easy anywhere?
And what makes you think every time you look for a room you're dealing with "elite" people or "superficial" standards? It's expensive so maybe that's why it seems ridiculous to you. When you're looking for a roommate on CL you gotta be careful b/c you never know you're gonna get. Most people I know have found good, down to earth people to live with or have people live with them.
And how does it "seem" like that???? Yeah b/c of all of those illegal immigrants in the food service industry were hired for their breathtaking looks......
Do you really believe everything you see and hear from the media or from "someone"? That superficial and elite vibe exists in people's heads and imaginations more so than anything else, like yours.
And our natural disasters are so OVERPLAYED and exaggerated. When was the last time CA had a major earthquake? Almost 15 years ago! More people have died from heat on the east coast in the past week than a CA earthquake in over a decade. More people have died in tornadoes just this past spring than wildfires and earthquakes combined in the last decade.
CA isn't all about "weather and beaches" either, especially Northern CA. Weather sucks in SF and so do the beaches yet it's the 2nd most expensive city in the US. Not all of us are beach bumming surfers that lay out in the sun all day, actually very few people are like that.
Crime is worse in many other states than CA and we have some of safest cities, and most dangerous.
Pollution is worse than many other states to and CA is not the most polluted.
Yeah we have 36 million people so traffic will be an issue.
Is it really a "FACT" that "California has spiralled out of control"?? based off of what? The FACT that we are the world's 7th or 8th largest economy. That our population continues to grow and people continue to come here. We have problems like elsewhere but it's not nearly as bad as you think or perceive it to be.
I'm not an "elite" nor is anyone I know an elite. Plenty of regular people from across the country have come here and made it fine. All the ones I've known to do it are anything but elite and are just average, normal people. If some fence hopping illegal can make it then there is no reason an average American can't do it.
The mild climate and other cities out of state busing their homeless here have to do with that situation.
You have a really negative mentality based off of BS stereotypes and honestly I don't think you should come here with that mindset. If you do all you will notice is these negative things that you seem to obsess over and actually believe as fact or reality. It's expensive here so that is going to make it harder but plenty of people do it.
CA has always been a very open minded and accepting place, which is probably why people are attracted to this place. When people feel out of place in their home state they come here many times. We have so many transplants from all different walk of life you can't generalize it. You just seem bitter than CA isn't exactly how you want it to be and that's it's not the easiest and cheapest place to move to. If you really want it then you can make the best of it and make it here, but you don't seem to have that can do attitude at all.
If you have never been here or experianced CA I don't see how you can have such strong and negative feelings about it. Just b/c someone says this and that and you see this or that in the media does not mean much. Like I said, perception is often different than reality.
Well I have been doing a lot of research and yes I do watch television. I have never been to California. What I am seeing for the most part in this thread though is consistant with some of the complaints. It seems I am bringing up things that are relevant to me and being judged for it. It's not even really that you guys are necessarily denying my concerns but more just belittling me for having them.
Let me tell you a little about myself, I AM a hard working person. The last place I moved to is not even as expensive as California and at one point I was working 3 jobs just to break even and pull ahead from the cost of my move and the setbacks financially along the way. I made it work but it was out of the pure joy of being in a new place with new possibilities. If I were to move ANYWHERE I would be out there putting out 20-30 resumes a day. I don't have a area of "expertise" though. What I have is a wide scope of experience mostly on an entry level for a wide variety of things. I also have a general degree. So I'm not going to be going anywhere with a focused skill of expertise, just a lot of general experience in things that can earn me around 30 G a year if I find a descent job.
As far as the housing thing goes these apartments cost a lot of money, I have looked into them. I would want to be relatively close to the beach and nightlife because I am in the prime of my life singles wise. This means if I want to afford to move to a place like California I would have to be in a shared apartment experience, and the cost people are asking for in order to merely share the apartments are about the same as the cost of owning your own apartment would be in most of the situations I have been through. Now granted I have experience with shared apartments, but I am wondering if my plan of bringing 5 grand to a place would be sufficient. If I wanted to get a place and do my own screening for a roomate we would be talking at least 3 grand down leaving me with a mere 2 grand. So most likely I would need to rent from someone else and they probably would be in a low end area or place -- so that makes me hesitate. It's not that I don't have the drive to make something work or the work effort, it's more a matter of is it really worth the trouble.
I would love to hear from people who have just picked up and moved over there with similar issues and hear their experiences, or to hear peoples experiences that have came from other area's of the country and if they found it hard to fit in. Until then lets knock off the stereotyping both towards you AND towards me.
Eagle, I don't think anyone has been particularly harsh with you or stereotyped you. The tone of your discussion points has come across as "I've done a lot of research and I don't think that LA and the people really fit my style. So, please, convince me otherwise."
You're right, we don't know you. But 95% of the posters on this forum truly try to give the best advice that we can in this vaporware environment. The fact is, coming to LA with $5K and a plan to get a $30K job and live by the beach can be done. But it won't be an easy road. It has nothing to do with anything more than the cost of living in LA, near the beach, is very high.
As I said before, you'd be surprised at how many people in all parts of LA are a paycheck from living on the streets. So, work the numbers and see if you can make it work. Give it a try and you might surprise yourself. But don't let all of the negative things you see and hear in the media (or this forum for that matter) decide your future. It's up to you to make the most of whatever you decide to do.
Look around this forum. There are many folks who post with some of the same concerns that you have whether they be financial, cultural, racial or whatever. Just go for it and be yourself. If it works, great. If not, it's a lesson learned. In any case, I wish you the best.
OK I am from suburban CT and I now live in rural Texas so I know a thing or two about stereotypes - and here is my take on them. Most stereotypes have a grain of truth to them or they wouldn't have become stereotypes in the first place. However, on the flip side, some people use stereotypes as a self fulfilling prophecy because it gives them a more solid identity - I won't go into abstract psychological theories here but will just leave it at that. That being said, they are what you make of them. Believe them or not - but you still have to live with YOUR own perception. Remember that reality and perception of reality are not the same thing.
So - as an east coaster and now Texan who visits here occasionally, here is my opinion for what it's worth. I think to some degree there is a feeling of plasticity, phoniness, and materialism in the LA area. Yes, you will find that everywhere but I feel it more in LA. Just like I felt in more in CT - same thing. Heck the city's biggest claim to fame is the movie industry - what would you expect? Menonites?? LOL. But every place has its goods and its bads - like Eddie Van Halen said "You got to ro-o-oll with the punches and get to what's real".
So for me, LA is a nice place to visit, fun, and different. Take a vacation, meet some of the people, and worry about more important things in life than stereotypes. If you are a down to earth person looking for the same, you'll find it.
Then you have the job situation. There is an insane amount of competition as it is. On top of that it seems that people are only interested in the elite as far as looks go for jobs as trivial as food service.
This a classic scarcity mentality - a malady too many people fall victim to, these days. One finds in California (or any place else) exactly one comes in expecting to find. If ones thinks one has to "compete" for things, one does.
If you are expecting the state to magically make your dreams come true they way it does on TV shows, you are in for a disappointment. If you expect it to be a place you can make your dreams come true, you'll find that to be the case, too.
I live in a town of like 30,000 people. I spent 10 years in a very very small city that was more like a town, the population in that general area was probably like 200,000. I have traveled enough to see Boston several times, which doesn't intimidate me, but I can notice the difference even there in how you kind of need to catch a break or have good connections. I also notice that compared to warmer climates people can be a bit weird in Boston and not as open and friendly, it's like your a threat to them unless there is some stable connection and even then they are watching you closely with hesitation. I have also spent short amounts of time in New York (which seemed too much for me in the short day I was there) and down in Floriday (which seemed not nearly as bad as the rap it gets but last time I was down there was about 10 years ago). I have also done some small-medium sized tourist places with tourist/population numbers during tourist season ranging from 300,000 to a million over the season.
When i lived in this very small city I was close to the beach. It wasnt big enough but I enjoyed it enough to know that I wanted to live in a place that had a bigger city nearby and a beach, with more nightlife and more things to do during the day. The city I lived in was limited with jobs and action but had the high costs associated with a bigger city.
I have been searching and searching and it feels like too much to ask to be in a hip and growing area with lots to do and a variety of everything, with lots of jobs that is by the beach!!! People make Austin or Vegas out to be the closest thing to what I am looking for but without the beach!! Plus word is over in Nevada that the elite thing has spread to them too. Then there is Boston but I wanted the California weather, and the interesting/diverse people. I do catch an elitest vibe though in Cali. I do. People don't notice it there because they live there. A lot that reply moved and bought a house and transfered their job so they dont understand. If I were to go I would need to get a server job in a place where I can expect good tips to make it and get cheap housing where I wont be shot in the head. This seems like a difficult thing to accomplish these days in Cali. I remember in the 80's everyone would just head out there with next to nothing and find a way to make it. Long live the 80's!!
LA was expensive in the 80s and was a much dirtier/less desirable place. Gangs and crime were much worse than they are now and Hollywood Blvd was filled with prostitutes and teenage runaways. The air was dirtier then and we had no rail lines to anywhere. Except for the fact that traffic may have been a bit lighter and the Olympics were held here, I don't think anyone in LA is really hoping that the "glory days" of 80s return.
I live in a town of like 30,000 people. I spent 10 years in a very very small city that was more like a town, the population in that general area was probably like 200,000. I have traveled enough to see Boston several times, which doesn't intimidate me, but I can notice the difference even there in how you kind of need to catch a break or have good connections. I also notice that compared to warmer climates people can be a bit weird in Boston and not as open and friendly, it's like your a threat to them unless there is some stable connection and even then they are watching you closely with hesitation. I have also spent short amounts of time in New York (which seemed too much for me in the short day I was there) and down in Floriday (which seemed not nearly as bad as the rap it gets but last time I was down there was about 10 years ago). I have also done some small-medium sized tourist places with tourist/population numbers during tourist season ranging from 300,000 to a million over the season.
When i lived in this very small city I was close to the beach. It wasnt big enough but I enjoyed it enough to know that I wanted to live in a place that had a bigger city nearby and a beach, with more nightlife and more things to do during the day. The city I lived in was limited with jobs and action but had the high costs associated with a bigger city.
I have been searching and searching and it feels like too much to ask to be in a hip and growing area with lots to do and a variety of everything, with lots of jobs that is by the beach!!! People make Austin or Vegas out to be the closest thing to what I am looking for but without the beach!! Plus word is over in Nevada that the elite thing has spread to them too. Then there is Boston but I wanted the California weather, and the interesting/diverse people. I do catch an elitest vibe though in Cali. I do. People don't notice it there because they live there. A lot that reply moved and bought a house and transfered their job so they dont understand. If I were to go I would need to get a server job in a place where I can expect good tips to make it and get cheap housing where I wont be shot in the head. This seems like a difficult thing to accomplish these days in Cali. I remember in the 80's everyone would just head out there with next to nothing and find a way to make it. Long live the 80's!!
You seem to answer direct questions with lengthy diatribes. So, where do you presently live?
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