were comin back baby! (San Fernando, Lincoln: home, to live in, prices)

[rebagirl]

Originally Posted by wilczy

why are we coming back? because socal has culture, excitement, a vibe and its beautiful, yes even the dirt is nice to see. there is a sense of freedom and adventure when your in california that we have not been able to find in processed colorado. there is a charm to each neighborhood in LA where as colorado is formatted and bland, very vanilla. im sure many people like colorado for what it is, its just not for us. im tired of bland, blue sky and brown mountains. i need green and some clouds and the wonderful plants and trees that LA has. if you really love CO, we have a home well be renting out! lol.

As someone who lived in L.A. County for 44 years and just recently moved to Colorado, I don't get where you're coming from. I agree that So Cal has a lot to offer if you don't mind sharing it with a bazillion others. However, since when are blue skies and mountains bland? Maybe you prefer the orange, red haze of So. Cal, otherwise known as "Smog Sunsets." Choke

[wilczy]

its boring blue everyday. its brown on the ground and in the mountains. its always the same. ask any photographer whats more interesting blue sky or a sunset bouncing off the clouds? in the mountains its only pine trees and those are being killed off by the beetles. theres no color, no interest. and its riddled with prefab trails with rules posted everywhere and county officials giving tickets for not picking up dog pop or for walking off the trial.

as for sharing it with a billion others, yes! im happy to share with interesting, diverse, eccentric people in la compared to the vanilla bland people in colorado. now i drive from the mountains to denver everyday for work... there is a nice brown cloud that sits just above the skyline that isnt far off from the one in LA.

drive down a street in colorado and you see a mall, plaza, fast food chain, repeat. yes la has that but also has wonderful boutiques and markets and outdoor shopping and inspiration. to me CO is just bland, boring and lacks any sort of charm, its just kind of there.

[Radical Raul]

Originally Posted by wilczy

its boring blue everyday. its brown on the ground and in the mountains. its always the same. ask any photographer whats more interesting blue sky or a sunset bouncing off the clouds? in the mountains its only pine trees and those are being killed off by the beetles. theres no color, no interest. and its riddled with prefab trails with rules posted everywhere and county officials giving tickets for not picking up dog pop or for walking off the trial.

as for sharing it with a billion others, yes! im happy to share with interesting, diverse, eccentric people in la compared to the vanilla bland people in colorado. now i drive from the mountains to denver everyday for work... there is a nice brown cloud that sits just above the skyline that isnt far off from the one in LA.

drive down a street in colorado and you see a mall, plaza, fast food chain, repeat. yes la has that but also has wonderful boutiques and markets and outdoor shopping and inspiration. to me CO is just bland, boring and lacks any sort of charm, its just kind of there.

Give me a break. The only reason I returned to California was due to the economy. Finding good jobs in nice places is always the limiting factor.

There are ton's of things to do in Colorado and the weather and scenery alone is exhlirating enough to overcome anything Los Angeles has to offer, and there is plenty of culture, you just have to bo open to it.

The bottom line, there is nothing in L.A. that justifies the housing cost's to live here.

[BRinSM]

Originally Posted by Radical Raul

There are ton's of things to do in Colorado and the weather and scenery alone is exhlirating enough to overcome anything Los Angeles has to offer, and there is plenty of culture, you just have to bo open to it.

The bottom line, there is nothing in L.A. that justifies the housing cost's to live here.

raul, you forgot to add "in my opinion" to the end of your post. just because you don't like it here doesn't mean that others have to feel the same. there are in fact over 10 million people in the county. if it was so miserable here, you'd think the population would be substantially lower.

Wilczy, good luck on your move, it sounds like the right decision for you. just be wary of the current job situation here, it is difficult to find jobs right now, even for experienced people.

[rebagirl]

Originally Posted by wilczy

its boring blue everyday. its brown on the ground and in the mountains. its always the same. ask any photographer whats more interesting blue sky or a sunset bouncing off the clouds? in the mountains its only pine trees and those are being killed off by the beetles. theres no color, no interest. and its riddled with prefab trails with rules posted everywhere and county officials giving tickets for not picking up dog pop or for walking off the trial.

as for sharing it with a billion others, yes! im happy to share with interesting, diverse, eccentric people in la compared to the vanilla bland people in colorado. now i drive from the mountains to denver everyday for work... there is a nice brown cloud that sits just above the skyline that isnt far off from the one in LA.

drive down a street in colorado and you see a mall, plaza, fast food chain, repeat. yes la has that but also has wonderful boutiques and markets and outdoor shopping and inspiration. to me CO is just bland, boring and lacks any sort of charm, its just kind of there.

O.K., well ...I guess I like the boring blue sky, the boring mountains with their layers of brown, blue and sometimes white, the boring hikes I've been on, the boring plethora of things for my kids to do, the boring, friendly, non-scary-looking people I've met, etc.

Of course there are things I miss about L.A. (mostly friends, though, rather than the place itself). I had a good upbringing there, but I eventually realized that:

1) I didn't want to continue raising my kids in an area where most people don't speak English (making it difficult to converse with the parents of my kids' classmates--and we're not just talking Spanish here (Farsi, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Mandarin). Diversity is great, so long as the people actually make some sort of effort to learn the language. And in my experience as a teacher in L.A. County, many, many people refuse to learn English, expect us to cater to them, demand that their kids receive free breakfast and lunch, and the list goes on.

2) There was too much crime coming way too close to home. I also don't consider graffiti to be an art form, and I got sick of looking at it.

3) The air quality in L.A. County is one of the worst in the nation, if not the worst (Pittsburgh is competing with L.A. for the title) Comparing the occasional brown cloud in Denver to what is in L.A. is a joke. See links: (if they don't go through, just type in zip codes for Denver and L.A. in red box) Focus mainly on the number of red, orange, and purple days. There is quite a difference between the two, despite the denials of many L.A. folks.

American Lung Association:*SOTA05 County Report (http://lungaction.org/reports/sota05_county.html?fcc=08031 - broken link)

http://lungaction.org/reports/sota05_county.html (broken link)


Maybe if I were in my early 20's and single, L.A. would somehow still appeal to me (I do love the beach) But when you're worried about your kids' futures, the priorities change. I'm happy with my decision and hope that you'll be content with yours as well.

[rebagirl]

Sorry--can't get the link to cooperate when I copy/paste. Anyway, if you click on the first link and enter your desired zip code, a report on air quality should come up.

[the one]

a preemptive "welcome back" to you.

hope you find what you are looking for.

[HotFudge]

Welcome back!

[gypsystar]

We are moving back to LA for the second time in a year - we moved in May after living there for almost 4 and then made a series of stupid moves. Last time we moved there, we didn't have housing set up and spent all of our money living in an expensive extended stay hotel - we were trapped (and tapped) financially. It was back to Florida for us at that point. I do love it here, but I've never stopped missing LA. My advice is to definitely have something set up before you get there, or you might waste all of your money on hotels and be stuck. We have already put down a deposit on our new apt., so I feel better about our move this time. My job is based in LA (I have been working remotely), so I am lucky that way.

We are moving next week and I CAN'T WAIT! I have complained a lot about LA, but after being away from the city, I realized that NOTHING compares to LA. I've lived and traveled everywhere and no other place has ever felt like "home" to me. I'm happy to finally be going home for good! I won't be leaving again.

[Charles]

One other thing to think about is this is the time of year when the contrast between LA and other parts of the country is at its greatest as far as weather. We read a lot of posts "I hate the winters here in .....". In summer, the weather differences are quite a bit less. It's the winters that drive people to thinking of California as they watch the webcams of people jogging in shorts on the beach in January.