6 ms·

California the land of sky high housing & rent, insane deadly forest fires, homelessness like no other state, landslides, earthquakes... it just doesn't sound v

California the land of sky high housing & rent, insane deadly forest fires, homelessness like no other state, landslides, earthquakes... it just doesn't sound very appealing. What are the positives ... chasing and potentially realizing your creative (music/film) or tech dreams there? That can be done in other cities like Nashville or possibly close to here in a few years with Amazon building in Crystal City, VA (other big tech companies may follow). Well love to hear the positives of living in California!

thisiszilff 8y ago
Weather.
burtonator 8y ago
"California the land of sky high housing & rent, insane deadly forest fires, homelessness like no other state, landslides, earthquakes... it just doesn't sound very appealing." This is just sample bias. California is the size of NY all the way down to Florida. If something bad happens on the west coast it has a 60% chance of being in CA but if it happens on the east coast it could be in VA, MD, DC, FL, GA, SC, NC, WV, DE
olivermarks 8y ago
If California was a nation state it would rank 6th in the world https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/07/american-state-bigger-economy-than-india/ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/07/american-state-bigger... The media and Hollywood create a pretty weird perception of California, the climate, geography and economy is very varied.
- labster 8y ago
  I thought the reason Hollywood was in California is because of the wide range of climates and shooting locations. Beach, farm, desert, and alpine, all just a few hours drive away. We're a bit short on tundra, though.
  - mikestew 8y ago
    It was to escape Edison’s patents. No one was going to go all the way to CA to enforce them. Im sure Wikipedia has a page.
jdavis703 8y ago
I lived the first 22 years of my life in Northern Virginia before moving to California. Let me tell you the things I don't miss: 1) Freezing winters with snow and ice 2) Scorching summers 3) Hours-long drive to the beach 4) Lack of vegetarian food (though that's been changing in recent years!) 5) The politics (extremely politically driven people from the entire spectrum wind up in the DMV). Of course there's plenty I miss, but just depending on what you value the DMV is not that much better than California.
tropdrop 8y ago
Kindly keep the conversation productive - I don't tell my relatives to abandon the Florida they dearly love when hurricanes strike, even though we both know they'll just strike again and again. They have their reasons for loving and rebuilding the place they call home. Instead, I wish them the best of luck repairing their homes and send my condolences (occasionally monetary aid).
jchw 8y ago
This is really unrelated to anything else in this thread and it could just be trolling but... Are you kidding? Maybe you've always grown up in nicer areas than I have and don't realize how bad it can be. Sure, rent in Michigan is cheap, near Detroit - which is appealing all the way up till there's police tape in your backyard from a shooting. You pay less taxes and you feel it every morning when you drive to work, because the roads are less maintained than the flavor of the week JavaScript frameworks from 2012, which BY THE WAY you almost certainly will need to drive to work in Michigan, since the jobs tend to be far away and public transport would be great if it were supposed to be the punchline to a joke. The restaurant scene in NorCal is not the best in the world or country, but unless you want Mediterranean food it's nearly unilaterally better than anywhere I've been in Michigan. Michigan does not have the harshest winters by far, but I'd almost rather choke to death in smoke than deal with another Michigan winter, sliding around on the ice trying not to crash my car while freezing my ass off. Speaking of which, How about Michigan car insurance? It's pretty hard to put into words how godawful the car insurance situation is, but I paid more than double for worse insurance in Michigan and that's reason enough to hate it. Wildfires are terrible. Homelessness is bad. But the rent prices, well, they're high for a reason; it's a great place to live despite all of the setbacks. And maybe there's a better set of trade-offs elsewhere in the U.S., but I get the opportunity to work with some of the best engineers I've ever met and that's pretty hard to find anywhere else. So yes. It is a bummer when the rent comes out of my paycheck each month, it is upsetting when I hear the death tolls and see the wildfire smoke. But, I also remember where I came from and frankly I'm choosing to stay for now.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
paul7986 8y ago
Hmmmm i was seriously asking in a nice way as I don't live in California. I've only been there for vacations, competing on a reality tv show and an unpleasant meeting with Google re: buying one of my apps.
- tropdrop 8y ago
  If you're genuinely asking (quite irreverent to ask in this thread, I must say), what keeps me here personally are its people. Californians are a passionate folk who are without a doubt the most non-judgmental Americans I've ever encountered as an immigrant, and I've lived in many states. It feels like here, regardless of your background, gender, etc. you can truly be who you want to be - as long as you love to work!
- jtmcmc 8y ago
  you were in no way asking in a nice way. You were incredibly condescending in a post about a natural disaster striking the area. Don't be disingenuous.
  - paul7986 8y ago
    Sorry you feel that way ... wasn't my intent!
nitwit005 8y ago
Why would you live in the united states? It has fires, tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, landslides, volcanoes, tsunamis, blizzards, heat waves, droughts... If you list all the disasters in a big area, your list gets big fast, but no individual place actually has all those things, unless perhaps if Moses shows up to intimidate a Pharaoh.
masonic 8y ago
it just doesn't sound very appealing Indeed. Don't come here. It's horrible. Fires, earthquakes, dragons, locusts, and roaming gangs of hungry zombies abound.

thisiszilff 8y ago

Weather.

burtonator 8y ago

"California the land of sky high housing & rent, insane deadly forest fires, homelessness like no other state, landslides, earthquakes... it just doesn't sound very appealing." This is just sample bias. California is the size of NY all the way down to Florida. If something bad happens on the west coast it has a 60% chance of being in CA but if it happens on the east coast it could be in VA, MD, DC, FL, GA, SC, NC, WV, DE

olivermarks 8y ago

If California was a nation state it would rank 6th in the world https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/07/american-state-bigger-economy-than-india/ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/07/american-state-bigger... The media and Hollywood create a pretty weird perception of California, the climate, geography and economy is very varied.

labster 8y ago
I thought the reason Hollywood was in California is because of the wide range of climates and shooting locations. Beach, farm, desert, and alpine, all just a few hours drive away. We're a bit short on tundra, though.
- mikestew 8y ago
  It was to escape Edison’s patents. No one was going to go all the way to CA to enforce them. Im sure Wikipedia has a page.

jdavis703 8y ago

I lived the first 22 years of my life in Northern Virginia before moving to California. Let me tell you the things I don't miss: 1) Freezing winters with snow and ice 2) Scorching summers 3) Hours-long drive to the beach 4) Lack of vegetarian food (though that's been changing in recent years!) 5) The politics (extremely politically driven people from the entire spectrum wind up in the DMV). Of course there's plenty I miss, but just depending on what you value the DMV is not that much better than California.

tropdrop 8y ago

Kindly keep the conversation productive - I don't tell my relatives to abandon the Florida they dearly love when hurricanes strike, even though we both know they'll just strike again and again. They have their reasons for loving and rebuilding the place they call home. Instead, I wish them the best of luck repairing their homes and send my condolences (occasionally monetary aid).

jchw 8y ago

This is really unrelated to anything else in this thread and it could just be trolling but... Are you kidding? Maybe you've always grown up in nicer areas than I have and don't realize how bad it can be. Sure, rent in Michigan is cheap, near Detroit - which is appealing all the way up till there's police tape in your backyard from a shooting. You pay less taxes and you feel it every morning when you drive to work, because the roads are less maintained than the flavor of the week JavaScript frameworks from 2012, which BY THE WAY you almost certainly will need to drive to work in Michigan, since the jobs tend to be far away and public transport would be great if it were supposed to be the punchline to a joke. The restaurant scene in NorCal is not the best in the world or country, but unless you want Mediterranean food it's nearly unilaterally better than anywhere I've been in Michigan. Michigan does not have the harshest winters by far, but I'd almost rather choke to death in smoke than deal with another Michigan winter, sliding around on the ice trying not to crash my car while freezing my ass off. Speaking of which, How about Michigan car insurance? It's pretty hard to put into words how godawful the car insurance situation is, but I paid more than double for worse insurance in Michigan and that's reason enough to hate it. Wildfires are terrible. Homelessness is bad. But the rent prices, well, they're high for a reason; it's a great place to live despite all of the setbacks. And maybe there's a better set of trade-offs elsewhere in the U.S., but I get the opportunity to work with some of the best engineers I've ever met and that's pretty hard to find anywhere else. So yes. It is a bummer when the rent comes out of my paycheck each month, it is upsetting when I hear the death tolls and see the wildfire smoke. But, I also remember where I came from and frankly I'm choosing to stay for now.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

paul7986 8y ago

Hmmmm i was seriously asking in a nice way as I don't live in California. I've only been there for vacations, competing on a reality tv show and an unpleasant meeting with Google re: buying one of my apps.

tropdrop 8y ago
If you're genuinely asking (quite irreverent to ask in this thread, I must say), what keeps me here personally are its people. Californians are a passionate folk who are without a doubt the most non-judgmental Americans I've ever encountered as an immigrant, and I've lived in many states. It feels like here, regardless of your background, gender, etc. you can truly be who you want to be - as long as you love to work!
jtmcmc 8y ago
you were in no way asking in a nice way. You were incredibly condescending in a post about a natural disaster striking the area. Don't be disingenuous.
- paul7986 8y ago
  Sorry you feel that way ... wasn't my intent!

nitwit005 8y ago

Why would you live in the united states? It has fires, tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, landslides, volcanoes, tsunamis, blizzards, heat waves, droughts... If you list all the disasters in a big area, your list gets big fast, but no individual place actually has all those things, unless perhaps if Moses shows up to intimidate a Pharaoh.

masonic 8y ago

it just doesn't sound very appealing Indeed. Don't come here. It's horrible. Fires, earthquakes, dragons, locusts, and roaming gangs of hungry zombies abound.