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So basically oakland is a great place, until it gets hipsterized and ruined!!! (which is probably starting to happen as we speak)
my dad knew the NYc of the 80's, he said that place was like no other... now NYC is too whitey goodie goodie two shoes full of yuppies and hipsters and sex in the city fans (sadly), and brooklin too, i get the feeling the same is happening to oakland, chicago etc.
Oakland isn't gentrifying as quickly as other places, especially San Francisco. Oakland's bad reputation has been responsible for that. That has really been a blessing in disguise. When I go home, Oakland is the only city that still has most of it's original charm. There is a new vibe there though. However it is the vibe that San Francisco once had as many people in SF have been priced out and have moved to Oakland. There is some gentrification I won't lie but it's happening at a much slower rate than with other west coast cities and New York.
climate wise California for loooong, also food california beats france
the problem california has is
*too suburban: therefore you need a car to go anywhere, while in France you can anywhere you want without a car, all you need a train,bus,metro ticket or even a bicycle.
*too superficial, tanned, six packs, convertible cars, surfing, OMG accent etc. while France likes to think of itself as a place of culture, philosophy, the whole barbie shopping at the shopping mall in france does not work, the french are way too full of themselves for that!!!
I think both places are spectacular, but for culture, beauty and history Id pick france.... for food and weather and beaches California all the way!
No i'm pretty sure you still need a car to get to a lot of places in France.
France is not that empty, for it has about 4 times the average density of the US (120 people per sq km versus 30 people per sq km), and about the same density as several other European countries : Portugal, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Denmark. France is slightly more densely populated than Spain, Ukraine and Ireland, and much more than Scotland, all of Scadinavia and the Baltic countries, and of course Russia.
I love Oakland. Being from Berkeley you are by default also from Oakland. I don't like Socal either. Never have so yeah, I feel ya LOL. I just have no choice but to live here for now.
Oakland is a great city. You will only hear all the bad things about it but it is also a sophisticated place with lots of art and culture. You can find almost any kind of food there too.
Oakland is awesome. Glad I got exposed to it by friends who were from there when in college. San Francisco is cool too, but wow how different those two are in feel despite just being a bridge apart. I guess it's the way I feel about East LA vs West LA as well.
Having that said, I'm also very much a fan of Southern California, from Torrance to DTLA to Long Beach to Temecula to San Diego...I'm glad to call this place home, despite the negatives (yes, the car culture is the main one for me.) BTW in none of those places I mentioned will you find the stuck up snobs with a valley accent...if anything it is definitely contained within West LA and parts of coastal OC. Outside of those areas, southern Californians are some of the warmest, chill back people you will meet on this planet.
More importantly, what links the state as a whole is our love for our geography, the wilderness and diversity of people. This is why there is saying for LA "In LA nobody walks, but everyone hikes." It's true, we are addicted to our cars, but we don't mind forgetting about them for a weekend (or longer) while we enjoy the Big Bear, Lake Mammoth, Tahoe, Big Sur, the redwoods, Joshua Tree, Mojave, Yosemite etc etc.
From those who have lived in France, does it share a love for nature and its geography the way Californians do? When I think of nature loving people in Europe, I think of Germany and Scandinavia first...not France.
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