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For us it was between FL and CA. The taxes are just to high in CA. We would only be able to afford a Trailer in Orange County CA. Here in Orange County FL we have a beautiful 2600 sq. ft house in a great neighborhood.
Was there for a short time - had a good time - but could have closed our eyes and we were here in South Florida except for the humidity. I love our beaches!! It's nice to visit somewhere but also nice to come home!
So my wife and I were on a grand California vacation recently. Visted north then south. We capped it off by doing a pretty typical 8-hour bus tour around LA and hitting all the "popular" spots, hoping to catch a glimpse of some movie star or signs of glamour and consumption that would make us say "Gee, we wished we lived here".
Ummmm, no. Completely opposite. For the first time since moving to Orlando, I actually appreciated what we have here. It's one of those situations where the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, or so you think until you're actually there.
LA was dirty, congested (I mean, REALLY congested), the city is bankrupt and it showed by how bad all the roads were. Am I'm talking about in Bel Air and Beverly Hills where a house recently sold for $84m had horrible cracked roads right outside its driveway. The roads were far worse than anything I've experienced in Orlando or Florida in general. There was garbage and debris in the medians and all around the roads in general. Housing is beyond expensive. We picked up a real estate book just our of curiosity, and talk about rediculous...old 3/2 homes going for $799k, and anything with 4 beds not in the ghetto is pretty much over $1m, and it's not like they have huge lots either. People sometimes complain in Florida about the zero lot lines, let me tell you even the rich and famous have zero lot lines over there! We saw Adam Sandlers house, the gate was even open so we got a good look around...I've seen far better homes with more land in just the "average" parts of Winter Park.
Okay, so they do have mountains and terrain which make things a little more interesting to look at than in Florida. But what does that get you? Well, more traffic, increased drive times all-around, eathquakes perhaps?
And, yes, there are some beaches. Venice and Santa Monica are particularly nice we had to admit. But you CAN'T EVEN SWIM in the water without wearing a wet suit to protect you from the freezing water. Seriously freezing. I consider it a bad day at the beach in FL when the water drops out of the 80's. Go here and you can see the water temp chart for the year in LA. US NODC Coastal Water Temperature Guide Low to mid 60's is about the norm. Shrinkage anyone?
So I guess it's worth living in LA to become a movie star or plastic surgeon, because at least with millions at your disposal I can see how you "might" be able to live a decent life there (traffic aside).
Anyway, I know this is coming across as a general rant about LA but the reason I thought it worth explaining is because for us it put living in Orlando and Florida in general in a whole new light, and we were very glad to be home and happy we live in a warm, tropical place that's green all year around, that's affordable to live in, has wonderful beaches with warm water most of the year, and nothing like the traffic of other places. Interestingly, not a single part of California felt tropical to us despite the palm trees. This really surprised us.
So just an observation that if you feel like complaining about Orlando/Florida, please go take a tour of LA and you'll come back feeling a lot better. Not saying it's perfect here, but there are plenty of places a lot worse off overall.
Spot on everything you said. I've been telling my friends this for a long time. The public unions in CA have bankrupted the state and the business taxes are driving businesses out of the area. The Pacific ocean is freezing and the air quality in CA is awful. Florida has its problems, but it also has A LOT going for it.
So my wife and I were on a grand California vacation recently. Visted north then south. We capped it off by doing a pretty typical 8-hour bus tour around LA and hitting all the "popular" spots, hoping to catch a glimpse of some movie star or signs of glamour and consumption that would make us say "Gee, we wished we lived here".
Ummmm, no. Completely opposite. For the first time since moving to Orlando, I actually appreciated what we have here. It's one of those situations where the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, or so you think until you're actually there.
1.)LA was dirty, congested (I mean, REALLY congested) were. Am I'm talking about in Bel Air and Beverly Hills where a house recently sold for $84m had horrible cracked roads right outside its driveway. The roads were far worse than anything I've experienced in Orlando or Florida in general. There was garbage and debris in the medians and all around the roads in general. Housing is beyond expensive. We picked up a real estate book just our of curiosity, and talk about rediculous...old 3/2 homes going for $799k, and anything with 4 beds not in the ghetto is pretty much over $1m, and it's not like they have huge lots either. People sometimes complain in Florida about the zero lot lines, let me tell you even the rich and famous have zero lot lines over there! We saw Adam Sandlers house, the gate was even open so we got a good look around...I've seen far better homes with more land in just the "average" parts of Winter Park.
2.)Okay, so they do have mountains and terrain which make things a little more interesting to look at than in Florida. But what does that get you? Well, more traffic, increased drive times all-around, eathquakes perhaps?
And, yes, there are some beaches. Venice and Santa Monica are particularly nice we had to admit. 3.)But you CAN'T EVEN SWIM in the water without wearing a wet suit to protect you from the freezing water. Seriously freezing. I consider it a bad day at the beach in FL when the water drops out of the 80's. Go here and you can see the water temp chart for the year in LA. US NODC Coastal Water Temperature Guide Low to mid 60's is about the norm. Shrinkage anyone?
So I guess it's worth living in LA to become a movie star or plastic surgeon, because at least with millions at your disposal I can see how you "might" be able to live a decent life there (traffic aside).
Anyway, I know this is coming across as a general rant about LA but the reason I thought it worth explaining is because for us it put living in Orlando and Florida in general in a whole new light, and we were very glad to be home and happy we live in a warm, tropical place that's green all year around, that's affordable to live in, has wonderful beaches with warm water most of the year, and nothing like the traffic of other places. 4.)Interestingly, not a single part of California felt tropical to us despite the palm trees. This really surprised us.
So just an observation that if you feel like complaining about Orlando/Florida, please go take a tour of LA and you'll come back feeling a lot better. Not saying it's perfect here, but there are plenty of places a lot worse off overall.
1.)
I've lived in San Diego 25 years and I totally agree with the OP's assessment. Even though Arnie has revamped emissions standards in LA and California, the air here is ridiculously dirty, just by way of an inherent climate flaw. It seems just pointless to wash my car here, because within 3 days there will be a layer of black sooty oily crap all over the car and the sunroof. I can't help but be reminded of the fact that the same air that does this to my car is the same air that I breathe into my lungs, and I can't get away from it and it P1SSES ME OFF!!!!
2.)
Feh! Who needs mountains and terrain? Florida's got CONDO'S for that kind of crap!
3.)
The water temperature is RIDICULOUS and no one should be expected to deal with it besides Vince Troniec. I need access to salt water for my skin condition and I can't do it here because the salinity levels in the cold water suck and it's frankly too damn cold to stand in! Oh, and did I mention that the water's kind of disgusting? It's not clean like it used to be in the 80's!
4.)
Yes!!!!!!! You totally nailed it!!!! Exactly!! IN SPITE OF THE FACT that there are a few palm trees, no part of LA or San Diego feels tropical! How the hell can it when the temperatures are in the high 60's and low 70's with very little in the way of humidity! It's one of the first things you'll notice when you come to Southern California. You are always a bit chilly if the sun is not shining DIRECTLY on your skin. Which brings me to another point! with the lack of humidity and with the ambient temperatures being in the mid to high 60's in August, you will feel like a lamb on a rotisserie with one side of you being scorched by the sun in the dessicating air as your other side freezes and you have to keep turning and facing different directions to give yourself some kind of temperature equilibrium! The palm trees here hate that crap and it shows! with the dry air, the transpiration rates of the trees do not match the chlorophyll replenishment rates even at lower temperatures. The dewpoint needs to be 63 and above or you need constant desert like temps to increase the growth rate to counteract this. The trees here look like crap.
Then you have the constant dryness during the winter months! I am sooo dreading November through May because we'll have dips where the dewpoint goes down to 12 degrees and the humidity goes down to 8% and your skin gets cracked and windblasted even when you're indoors! Bloody noses galore! Not to mention that my body's temperature regulation system and my digestion go haywire in that kind of dry weather. I rely on a layer of humid air to allow me to radiate heat and the super dry air acts as an insulator to prevent that, causing me hot flashes. A thing which never troubled me in Miami, oddly enough. If you want a hard science demonstration of this fact, watch how quickly a glass of ice melts at room temperature when the dewpoint is above 67 degrees as opposed to how fast it melts at room temperature during a winter dry wave where the dewpoint is in the 30's or low 40's. Heat transfer is vastly improved during humid conditions.
South Florida and San Diego feel like different planets! In many ways, even though Orlando is not as tropical as Miami, it is way more tropical than Los Angeles or San Diego!
Yikes.. I'm planning on moving from Orlando to LA in a few years (after college) but this thread is rather discouraging
LA is a major city full of amenities and attractions that Orlando could only dream of, I would not let this thread discourage you from moving to a city that can expand your horizons. Orlando is far to small to criticize a major city like Los Angeles.
Yikes.. I'm planning on moving from Orlando to LA in a few years (after college) but this thread is rather discouraging
Whether or not you will like LA is going to depend on WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR.
You will NOT find tropical or balmy weather.
You will NOT find lush greenery or any rain to speak of.
You will NOT find warm water to swim in.
You will NOT find air that is fragrant like a perfume, and clean.
You will NOT find 2 different oceans to visit.
Nor will you find clear watered springs to swim in, or exotic wildlife, or a high sun angle and white sand, soil, and roofs to contrast with the green.
What you will find in LA and Southern California:
First, the bad --
Dry scorched hills and parched looking greenery, even where it's been watered.
Generally chilly (compared to Florida) air, and people wearing hoodies.
A climate that makes you forget what a thunderstorm is like.
A frigid ocean with dark water
No lakes to speak of other than reservoirs for the local water supply.
Ridiculous traffic
Black soot that covers everything, and you will have to breathe the air that does that, and you won't be able to get away from it.
Dry, dry winters, and dry air all around which leaves you with horrendous allergies, congestion, cracked skin, and nosebleeds.
Canyon fires and general wildfires in the October through early December season.
Now the good ---
You will find a city composed of many nations. Seriously, you will be able to drive through one part of the city where all the signs are in Arabic, another part where the signs are all in Hebrew, as well as other parts with signs in Thai, Spanish, Armenian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Farsi, Indian and Vietnamese, and you will be able to partake in the food and culture of each, and it will be relatively easily accessible.
You will feel like you are in the center of the universe, and you will come to realize that this is because most of the shows and movies you watch were filmed in this area and the general look of the area registered with you subconsciously, so you will feel as if you are IN a movie as you drive down the 101 toward Hollywood Blvd passing Rampart street and looking toward the Hollywood sign. It carries an air of surrealism to be in that city. It's kinda cool!
You will have access to the most amazing collections of museums and art galleries you could imagine. There is a whole museum row on Wilshire.
You will have access to world class surfing spots.
You will have access to spectacular dining and proximity to celebrities.
It is no uncommon thing to spot a celebrity on Melrose or on one of the many restaurants on Sunset Blvd.
You will have access to the most fantastic and bizarre clubs imaginable.
LA is a city of many facets. You can get nearly anything you are looking for.
You will find temples and groups to represent nearly every religion you could think of, from UFO cults to ashrams, synagogues, mosques, churches of all denominations, Masonic temples, Rosicrucian fellowships, Atlantean, Lemurian, New Age, Thelemic lodges, Wiccan covens, Theistic Satanists, Non Theistic Satanists, Discordians, Subgenii, and Atheists.
You will find many eccentric underground clubs, stores, and hangouts.
There are hills, valleys and canyons.
You will be able to see subtropical desert in the morning, take a tramway up to the snowy peak of Mount San Jacinto at noon and listen to the dripping as the icicles melt on the chalet they have up there, as you peer down on the Date Palm plantations below, and wade in the (frigid!) ocean that very afternoon. All these things are possible to do in the same day.
Last edited by Reptoid Humidian; 10-01-2011 at 03:55 PM..
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