TStwahine

Well, I'm an idiot who left California. I decided that perhaps there was more to see than beautiful Laguna in Orange County, CA. I wasn't a spoiled rich kid either, my dad was our only provider and I am one of four kids and he earned/earns I'd say a fairly decent income (he's a sheriff) but I was an athlete so I spent a significant amount of my life outside. I played soccer, tennis, surfed, snowboarded, ran etc etc. I also took up rock climbing. But I felt that to grow as a person I should leave and experience something else. I first left to Boston and then ended up attending the University of Iowa. After experiencing Iowa all I can say is I miss home so much, I find myself dreaming about it. I go through winters here and just cringe. I've never been so cold in my whole life. There was a day two years ago where we were actually colder than anyplace on earth, including Antarctica. My favorite argument that I hear is that Cali has earthquakes...yes it does, but in my opinion they really aren't that bad (this is of course based on 22 years of living in cali) and when I compare it to the Tornados, blizzards, ice storms, thunder storms and horrible humidity I find myself puzzled, and more importantly kicking myself for ever leaving. I recently went back to see my family for a week and I stayed with my sister who lives in a small 1 bedroom apartment in costa mesa right by the newport back bay and yes she pays about $1K a month for the place but guess what she's HARDLY ever there. Because she spends all her time enjoying the weather, spending time outdoors and using california for what it should be, and outdoors persons heaven. I woke up one morning and we went surfing, had a delicious breakfast burrito and decided to then go for a bike ride and after that I had an amazing vegan meal at native foods and after that we went rock climbing, if it had been winter Im pretty sure I could have fit a night snowboarding session in at mountain high or big bear. I think most people are pretty nice there, but then again Ive met a lot of people from the northeast that I don't find to be all that nice, and I really don't think midwest people are all that great either (especially Chicago/suburb people)... but that is obviously just my take.
I think its so worth it and I can't wait to go back there and I'm working my butt off here to be the best possible applicant for med schools back home, plus i want to be a naval doctor and wouldn't be upset if I was stationed in SD.

Sorry, I know that was wordy, so I guess all I'm trying to say is that yes cali has some downsides, real estate is expensive for someone trying to buy now, but rent to me isn't as outrageous as I feel it could be (unless you want to live right on the ocean), yes the traffic does suck, but you get where you're going anyways, I'd rather sit in traffic than have a heart attack because there is an inch of ice on the roads with limited visibility (because I work in the medical industry i HAVE to go into work).
If you want year round weather and access to a great deal of activities and don't feel the need to have a mercedes and a house then I'd say do it... it's up to you, I just know that every time I leave I cannot wait to come back.

Again sorry for the rant, Its 20-30mph winds here and rainy and cold so I'm just grumpy. Regardless I wish you the best of luck with your decision!

2ndGen

Chulo! Que pasa bro!

Yeah, life is going to be life wherever one goes,
but the difference could be where one wakes up.
In February 2012, either of the following are possible;

"This" is definitely going to happen...




Or, this "could" happen...

fauxto nick

Shot this on my ride today, at about 4:45 in Redondo Beach. It was around 78 degrees out.



Also what is this Cali you all speak of?

FrenchFit 

Just got back from a two hour ride. No work this afternoon, OCCUPY STRIKE. Probably going back out for a ride tonight, 61 degrees about 8pm. Oh well, I'll wear a l/s jersey. Life is hard in CA.

No one from here would say Cali, just like no one would dare say Frisco. Get off my beach you tourist.

ruskko

i will prolly be moving to cali this year,due to family issues here.
it seems like the best place to go both for biking and starting a new life and i have ppl who acutally care for me there

fauxto nick

^ This.

2ndGen

Nice!

caloso

In other California related news, I harvested my last tomato of the season today, November 2.

fishymamba

me too!!!

still have a couple eggplants that are still growing and TONS of habaneros on the plant, but they are wayyy too spicy for me.

2ndGen

Honestly?

Despite the intolerance and assault on personal expression and nativist snobbery shown
(to me, a surprising contrast to the freedom that a California lifestyle represents to me),
I'm thoroughly enjoying the "rubbing it in" factor in you CALIfornian's posts!

Hee Hee!

caloso

Nice. A homegrown tomato is one of the great pleasures in life, isn't it?



A bit small and spotty, but it was delicious. Farewell till next summer!

2ndGen

My dad got his tomatoes out last week, but still has corn up (yes, in NY).

With a little salt and vinegar, thinly sliced, or eaten whole...yes.

sced

How about the Carolinas. It's close to Florida. I was born in San Diego but moved away as a baby. I've been to Southern Calif. many times on business over the years and am unimpressed by the traffic, crowds and high costs. The landscape is very unappealing there too. In South Carolina we have beaches to die for as well as mountains, and really fine all year riding weather.

Machka 

So then ... do both.

We're kind of working on that plan ... aiming for something like that eventually, at some point in the future.

6 months in Canada, from about April to October, and then 6 months in Australia from about October to April. Perfect!!

RollCNY

I find it humorous as a New Yorker that the Californians are questioning your California roots, because your New York ones confuse me.

1) "Upstate New York" is a derogatory term coined by New Yorker Magazine to refer to the Rubes and Appalachians that live outside of sight from Manhattan. Residents of the Southern Tier, Central New York, Northern New York, Western New York, and the Adirondacks all recognize people who use the term Upstate as urbanites with little grasp of the state.

2) I left my garage this morning before the sun was up and rode 200 km around Central New York, getting home after dark. I saw four finger lakes and dozens of hamlets I hadn't seen in ages. I didn't get run off the road, hollered at, or perform any MUP racing.

3) Further I checked the CDC statistics on obesity (not tonight but when my wife was raving about a west coast visit), New Yorkers had a lower % of obesity than Washington State and Oregon, and were only slightly behind California. All four of these states were in the top half of slimmest states, so we all seem to be equally motivated. That year round exercise may do wonders for your cycling individually, but your neighbors will be just as fat or slim as they were in New York.

4) The housing costs you list in "NY" seem to not match the New York that I know. My three bedroom two bath house has a $516 15 year mortgage. If you are going to quote Manhattan or whatever crappy borough applies, use "NYC" or some other moniker that narrows your info to its locale. In the mid 1990's, two of the top 5 most affordable housing counties in the nation were in New York State. Your numbers don't seem to reflect that.

I think you should move. Enjoy.

GP

Nice day today. Light beach crowd.

Drew Eckhardt 

Sunnyvale, CA which is in the South San Francisco Bay Area.

TX/AZ generally don't get 79 degree average high temperatures at the peak of summer.

megalowmatt

I like Southern California and personally I do well here on a pretty meager income (by most standards). It's all about managing your money and a lot of people can't do that these days.

I can ride year round and the beach, mountains and desert are all within an hour drive from where we live.

If you're at all interested in living a bit inland here's what you can get in the $350-$400k range...

$350-$400k San Marcos, Ca

2ndGen

Upstate NY for me is anywhere 1/2 an hour north of White Plains!
And for "me", it is a great place to live and I personally love it.
And, I am a "suburbanite", yes. Absolutely.
That's why anything north of WP is upstate.
If there is more than an acre in between two houses, that's "country"!
Not that there's anything wrong with that.


km? In America? Were you born here?

That's what I love about "upstate". Serentiy now!


Wut?

"If..."?

www.RIF.org You should try it before posting.
That's another thing I like about "upstate" NY.
It's sooooooooooooooo cheap to live up there!
I mean, reallllllllllllllllllllllllllllllly cheap!
Super cheap! Cheap! Cheap! Cheap!
Like...West Virginia Cheap!

I can get a house in Wurtsboro for like only $30-50 G's!

(Both are the same climate pretty much, but WV doesn't have NY taxes.)

Really? Westchester County? Really Really?
One one of Forbes most expensive county's to live in?
Wow! You must live over The Beacon Bridge I bet.



You too!







Edit:
CNY? As in Central New York? Holy Damn! (No wonder you used kilometers.)
Why don't you just turn in your American Citizenship and fly a flag with a Maple Leaf on it!

ZippyThePinhead

Born and raised in SoCal. With the exception of a year or so abroad, I've been here more than forty years. There are pros and cons associated with every place. You know the pros: great weather, lots of places to ride. I can ride my MTB and in ten minutes I'm in the hills, or I can ride my road bike as I wish. Cons: unemployment is currently second only to Nevada, which has the worst unemployment rate in the USA. The state is generally hostile to business, and the politicians who run Sacramento have never met a tax they didn't like. The tax burden here is comparable to NY; my property taxes are around 1.2% annually, sales tax is close to 8%, and between the state and the feds, income taxes take about 10% of my income. The state government here is trying to make a utopian nanny state, and the citizens (the ones who actually pay taxes) pay for every bit of it. The grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence, eh? If I could, I'd like to get out of California, but I'm pretty deeply rooted here at the moment. I'm doing my best to enjoy the good, while it is good.

2ndGen

San Marcos is where one of my company's projects is actually.
I already took a look at some places out there.




Yeah, the Carolinas/VA are also considerations if SoCal is not doable.
Plus it's close enough to my fam in FLA and my place in PR.

ruskko

anyone from la habras area?

ethman

As someone who recently relocated back to SoCal from NY let me tell you how nice it feels to be back! I'm reading about snow, rain, and other nastiness back east and I can't help but laugh to myself that I used to deal with that too. The weather in NYC can be so crappy from day to day that I would constantly be checking weather.com for updates to see which days in the week would be best for rides outdoors. Out here I rarely ever check for weather updates, no need to. Of course the weather is great and the riding is awesome but there are some things that I will never get over. 1st, there's nothing quite like being stuck on the BQE during rush hour, however it's even more depressing when you're on the 405 with 8 lanes going in both directions and it's absolutely jammed. 2nd, I'm going to forever miss the sense of community in NYC. The beauty of being able to ride 9W and see dozens of cyclists you know, being able to ride to 2 or 3 races a week and never have to jump in your car if you don't want to, or having so much at your disposal 24/7... NYC is a thing of beauty. What can I say? It cuts both ways. Personally I'm glad to be back.

2ndGen

I heart NY, but I'm ready for bearable (i.e. ride-able) weather all year round.
I felt fortunate being able to work in a City that I loved, that is legendary,
but the time comes when life changes and needs change.

The thing about The City is that The City itself was the landscape;
Man-made mountains. Times Square. There was so much lighting
that you couldn't see the night sky it was like one big room at night.

pgjackson

$1600 might get you that apartment within 5 miles of the coast. I live in Escondido (north SD County) and pay $2550 a month in rent for a moderate house. It's about a 35-40 minute drive to the coast if there's no traffic. NY is probably about the same price wise as California. Both are in the top 5 of the most expensive states to live in.