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Is California worth it?

I've been living in Los Angeles since my high school years and through the last 25+ years I've also traveled to a lot of other different states in the US like Utah, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming & New York etc and spend time there. for me, I can't think of living anywhere else outside of California, and it's mainly because of the food (mostly the 3 big cities of the state thou, ie LA, SF, SD). I've traveled through the midland of California also and while I'm not a fan of it personally, I can see their appeal. it really depends on what you're aiming for of course. if you're looking to "make it big", don't live in LA. go NYC or SF if you can handle the life style. LA, as one of my former coworker so charmingly put it, is for people to live out their retirement before they even realize it. there are exceptions of course but for the most part everything in LA is pretty saturated due to the huge population. and because of that, unless you're in a niche market/line of work, your competition will be very fierce to say the least.

but again, if you're trying to live a comfortable life, LA is not a bad choice depending on how willing you are to compromise and integrate. you'll get used to the traffic and the weather and what you get in return is food, culture and entertainment that's unmatched outside of NYC and SF. at the end of the day, for me, it's all about what kind of choices a city/state can provide me in terms of culture and food. and outside of NYC, SF (I know maybe places like Boston and Chicago can be up to par also but since I've only had some short stays there I can't say for sure), I really can't think of anywhere else. and no, Las Vegas doesn't count. it's fun for weekend visits but living there is an entirely different story.

So you're saying L.A. is like São Paulo.

It has good food from all over the world and a lot of cultural options but ultimately it fucking sucks :messenger_beaming:
 
I used to think California was the ghetto of the first world until I went to New York, where people keep trash bags in the middle of the street and don't notice the pungent smell of shit that raises in the summer. The image of ALL of these places is too embellished.
LOL, this is all true, but in all seriousness, humans are resilient and accustom to any circumstance.

The thought of moving somewhere is always worse than the actual relocation.

The one thing about NYC is that there are just too many people close together, you never really have any private space. Personally I never get used to that. Cali definitely has that over NYC.

It can also be occasionally offputting to see how much money some people just throw around. So when people say the entertainment is great, I'm like ugmm, yeah I'll be staying home. Both places can be very elitist.
 
depends where you are in life and what you want your future to be.

imo, no its not. unless youre single and 18-25

the beaches arent even great.
By what standards the beaches aren't even great? Drive along the Highway 1, and you will see literally miles of the coast without a single soul around, and dozens of different types of beaches.
Have you ever been in an empty beach with a date having that perfect moment looking at the sunset? California brings those kind of moments in masse.
 
By what standards the beaches aren't even great? Drive along the Highway 1, and you will see literally miles of the coast without a single soul around, and dozens of different types of beaches.
Have you ever been in an empty beach with a date having that perfect moment looking at the sunset? California brings those kind of moments in masse.

frigid water. i could go on but that in and of itself puts it below every other coast in the US from the start
 
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California is very unique. It is has high-highs and low-lows. A lot less middle ground than many other states. If you want lots to do, great weather, great food, it's tough to beat. On the other hand, taxes, policies, crime, are all out of control.
 
frigid water. i could go on but that in and of itself puts it below every other coast in the US from the start
Frigid water? Only in the North Bay as far as I am concerned. San Diego has warm waters, and hence is a top spot for surfing.

Look at the map. Perhaps you only have experience with north cal.

California has the same range of diversity of beaches as the whole East coast, it is a humongous state with something for everybody.
 
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Frigid water? Only in the North Bay as far as I am concerned. San Diego has warm waters, and hence is a top spot for surfing.

Look at the map. Perhaps you only have experience with north cal.

California has the same range of diversity of beaches as the whole East coast, it is a humongous state with something for everybody.

its a known fact the pacific coast (and ocean) are colder than the atlantic.

sure everyone might surf, but everyone also wears wetsuits. lets be honest surfing isnt a good indicator of good beach, its a good indicator of good waves, which is dictated by the make up of the seafloor/outcroppings/etc.

the beaches can wide as hell too, where you walk like half a mile till you get to the waters edge. plus they are full of shitty sand and can be very cliffy and rocky, which makes things uncomfortable or difficult to access..

you find way more diverse beaches along the gulf and atlantic than the

im sure there are exceptions with some pleasant beaches, but generally speaking my experience with CA beaches have been disappointing.

(have been extensively to SD, once to SF, a few times to LA, and once to Crescent City)
 
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If you don't pull in at least 4,000 per month as an individual, you wont live comfortably without stress. Most of the great areas, middle class, you're looking at 3k to 3.3k per month rent. Apartments are a bit cheaper but even a studio these days will go for 2,000 /month it's pretty insane
 
Manhattan beach just named best city to live in United States. Newport beach also made the list. Just saying. So many Cali haters. Just keep the hate on San Francisco where it's warranted. So cal is all kinds of lovely.
Living in Redondo Beach or Manhattan Beach would be bliss. Love those areas
 
If you're saying "the pay is... good" then I can assure you it's not good enough for California.

no, California is not worth it. Worst decision of my life.
It's better than I'm getting now. It's nowhere near 200K. I thought I would be comfortable in a small 2 bedroom apartment in a medium income area in the state. I've read enough posts here (and elsewhere) that I'm leading towards not taking the offer.
 
LA sucks. Too much traffic, too much smog. Everything is expensive and a lot of the people are plastic dolls. Weather and beach are great tho.
 
Avoid Commiefornia at all cost. This is the same place where SanFran passed a law saying theft of items under $950 is just a misdemeanor, quite literally a slap on the wrist. They have a huge homeless problem, drugs all over the place, and people quite literally shitting in the streets.

Commiefornia is quite literally a third world shithole now.
 
If you like the great outdoors, sure. I would move to Cali (from Texas) just to visit the skateparks, surf spots, forests, mountains, etc, etc. Great place to be if you're a stoner-beach-bum who likes hiking. I've visited plenty of times, and it's a nice place to vacation (san Diego, san Francisco, los Angeles, etc). I'd consider the northern areas for lifestyle. Oregon and Washington state may be better.
 
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If you like the great outdoors, sure. I would move to Cali (from Texas) just to visit the skateparks, surf spots, forests, mountains, etc, etc. Great place to be if you're a stoner-beach-bum who likes hiking. I've visited plenty of times, and it's a nice place to vacation (san Diego, san Francisco, los Angeles, etc). I'd consider the northern areas for lifestyle. Oregon and Washington state may be better.
I've lived in Austin. I REALLY liked the surrounding area. Austin (Travis county) was WAY too expensive for what I made while I was living there. If I could get the salary that I was offered in California in Texas, I would be down there yesterday.
 
Avoid Commiefornia at all cost. This is the same place where SanFran passed a law saying theft of items under $950 is just a misdemeanor, quite literally a slap on the wrist. They have a huge homeless problem, drugs all over the place, and people quite literally shitting in the streets.

Commiefornia is quite literally a third world shithole now.
Well you're extra. 😂 I absolutely guarantee where you live is trash. I can just feel it. C'mon share.

Manhattan Beach is #1 a California city....Well well
 
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I'm an English man who lives in England!
California is a fucking shit hole. Go to Texas or Florida. Much cleaner places.
 
Yes and it's because of real Mexican food

I know all the best spots in or around San Diego, depending on the fix you need (I got a rolled tacos spot, carne asada fries spot, fish burrito spot, bean burrito spot, quesadilla spot, date night spot, breakfast burrito spot etc). Will provide said information for a low one time price of 1,999.99 dollars. I accept bitcoin.

will change your life
It's well worth the price. You can just steal a bunch of shit for a bit to recoup the cost.
 
I've been living in Los Angeles since my high school years and through the last 25+ years I've also traveled to a lot of other different states in the US like Utah, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming & New York etc and spend time there. for me, I can't think of living anywhere else outside of California, and it's mainly because of the food (mostly the 3 big cities of the state thou, ie LA, SF, SD). I've traveled through the midland of California also and while I'm not a fan of it personally, I can see their appeal. it really depends on what you're aiming for of course. if you're looking to "make it big", don't live in LA. go NYC or SF if you can handle the life style. LA, as one of my former coworker so charmingly put it, is for people to live out their retirement before they even realize it. there are exceptions of course but for the most part everything in LA is pretty saturated due to the huge population. and because of that, unless you're in a niche market/line of work, your competition will be very fierce to say the least.

but again, if you're trying to live a comfortable life, LA is not a bad choice depending on how willing you are to compromise and integrate. you'll get used to the traffic and the weather and what you get in return is food, culture and entertainment that's unmatched outside of NYC and SF. at the end of the day, for me, it's all about what kind of choices a city/state can provide me in terms of culture and food. and outside of NYC, SF (I know maybe places like Boston and Chicago can be up to par also but since I've only had some short stays there I can't say for sure), I really can't think of anywhere else. and no, Las Vegas doesn't count. it's fun for weekend visits but living there is an entirely different story.

Food lol... Oh my. Unless you make a lot of money you won't eat out much. I've eaten at a few restaurants in LA, they were little better than the ones in Sacramento, which make things I could make at similar quality if I spent a few hours on youtube and practiced a few times. There is one seriously good expensive restaurant I know of where I live, literally everything else is overrated expensive garbage.


I have trouble taking seriously people who think that Californians have superior food. Yeah, I live here, I cook, I don't think what we have is special. I know exactly one restaurant that I think is a truly special place in my area, and as far as I'm concerned it's a fluke and it's expensive enough that I only eat there on special occasions.
 
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Need more info. Southern California is HUGE. Need to be way more specific and give some kind of salary range. Just using smaller cities like Montebello and Camarillo, which are like 50 miles apart, is huge, with like a $500 rent increase.
 
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Food lol... Oh my. Unless you make a lot of money you won't eat out much. I've eaten at a few restaurants in LA, they were little better than the ones in Sacramento, which make things I could make at similar quality if I spent a few hours on youtube and practiced a few times. There is one seriously good expensive restaurant I know of where I live, literally everything else is overrated expensive garbage.


I have trouble taking seriously people who think that Californians have superior food. Yeah, I live here, I cook, I don't think what we have is special. I know exactly one restaurant that I think is a truly special place in my area, and as far as I'm concerned it's a fluke and it's expensive enough that I only eat there on special occasions.

hey, that's fine. like I said, that's just me. maybe my palette isn't as refine as yours. but I live in the SGV and there's plenty of GREAT Chinese food here and it's just a hop away from K-town for some great Korean food. I can find a few wonderful Indian food out here and of course there's plenty of good Japanese food. plenty of great Thai and Vietnamese food here too. and let's not even start with the Mexican food out here. they might not be as good as some of the ones you'll find in TX or even down in SD, but they're still great. it's all about what you like and what you would try.

and you mentioned cooking yourself. LA's ease of access to ingredients from different regions is simple wonderful. you can easily find plenty of cooking ingredients from around the world at a pretty reasonable price and that really helps. I've stayed in Salt Lake City for a few summers before and while I love UT, I don't think I'll be able to live there long term due to the food scene there. and I'm not just talking about the restaurants there. these sorta things is simply the advantage of bigger cities with huge populations and there's not much you can do to close that gap.
 
Bullshit. The SJW activism is everywhere. If nothing else, in the rampant homelessness and drug use you can see on market Street.

That isn't normal
Homeless bums are not SJW, you're just conflating two different things you don't like to complain about a third thing you don't like when you're really just using these things as a proxy to complain about a fourth thing you don't like.
 
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Homeless bums are not SJW, you're just conflating two different things you don't like to complain about a third thing you don't like when you're really just using these things as a proxy to complain about a fourth thing you don't like.
One could make the argument that the reason the homeless are attracted to CA is because of the policies that allow them to do pretty much whatever they want. Most places would arrest the homeless for defecating on the streets. San Fran has pretty much said they're not going to do anything except clean it up.
 
to be fair, I think one of the main reason that the homeless problem is so big in California is probably because of the weather. it's always pretty comfortable year round so you won't get heat stroke or freeze to death or anything if you're living on the streets. that is, in comparison with other states like Nevada, Arizona or Chicago, New York.
 
Homeless bums are not SJW, you're just conflating two different things you don't like to complain about a third thing you don't like when you're really just using these things as a proxy to complain about a fourth thing you don't like.
Who do you think advocates for them in city hall? Who do you think proposes ideas like prop 47 or protests against any government that tries to clean up their streets.

it isn't the homeless themselves appealing to various city governments and their board of supervisors. It's obnoxious activists, propelled by SJW voters, that have magnified the problem tenfold. nothing is in a vacuum.

One could make the argument that the reason the homeless are attracted to CA is because of the policies that allow them to do pretty much whatever they want. Most places would arrest the homeless for defecating on the streets. San Fran has pretty much said they're not going to do anything except clean it up.
one could make that argument and they would be correct.
 
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The only nice parts are Santa Clarita and Orange County. If you can live in either of these two places and commute, I say do it.

Even the expensive homes of Beverly Hills and LA are surrounded by trash. Antelope Valley is all desert and completely ghetto.

OP should say what the area is so we can give better information.
 
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I was recently offered a position out in California, but I'm somewhat reluctant to take the position since 1. California is expensive and 2. the policies are garbage.

This is in southern California. The pay is... good. I just don't know if it's good for California. If you live out there can you give me an idea of what it's like.

And yes, I know the weather is great.
Think twice.

INSANE Viral VIdeo Shows People Looting California Walgreens As new Law STOPS Police From Arresting.

 
Need more info. Southern California is HUGE.

Yep, which is why some of these blanket statements being thrown around are ridiculous. Even just take one county, San Diego for example, and there is a huge variation between someone living in La Jolla to someone living out in the East County, like Lakeside or El Cajon.
 
I hate LA and San Fran but would totally live in San Diego if I had the money. Love Texas because of a lot of reasons, but I won't lie and say wouldn't have a home in San Diego if I had the $$$.
 
It depends on the region, I'm in the high desert of southern California about 1 hour and a half away from the ghettos of LA. Housing is cheap here and rather quiet compared to rest and still in driving distance from major events.
 
The only nice parts are Santa Clarita and Orange County. If you can live in either of these two places and commute, I say do it.

Even the expensive homes of Beverly Hills and LA are surrounded by trash. Antelope Valley is all desert and completely ghetto.

OP should say what the area is so we can give better information.

Nah, my favorite part of California is the stretch from Ventura up to Santa Barbara. If I was super wealthy I'd be living in Carpinteria, lived there for a couple of years as a kid and loved it. Visited it again last summer and it hasn't changed much, other than the cheapest houses being close to $1 million.

If you're without kids, I'd take the chance. California is a special place, hopefully one day I'll be able to return.
 
The most desirable places to live often have the most haters.... California the state, USA the country, etc...
 
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