We've got the Jersey shore and the desert is boring. What we don't have is rolling power outages, earthquakes, and random fires that can engulf an entire town. Other than that, yeah...I'll admit you've got us beat.

California is vast. One can’t lump the whole state and ask is it worth it? For instance, I grew up in Los Angeles, which is an ugly, festering pile of crap of a city (you only see the nice parts on tv which is the vast minority). The Bay Area is another world. The Mojave desert, Death Valley, wonderful, amazing places. Yosemite as well. (YOZ MITE as our brilliant potus would say). You could hardly find a nicer place to live than Santa Barbara (damn expensive though). Ventura County not bad, but vacuous culture. The state is like multitudinous countries. Narrow it down and then we can criticize etc.

Not true in Nevada. Double the house in Nevada, one third the property tax.
4th generation Los Angels. Moved 20 years ago. Wish I did it 20 years sooner. Yes there are not as much stuff like restaurants and stores but a much better quality of life.

But do you have Mexican food? ...real Mexican food?

Yep Del Taco!

Andrew

I tried "Mexican" food back east once... Sorry, ketchup is not the same as enchilada sauce. Just sayin'.

Yes. Served by REAL Mexicans. You haven't cornered the market on them yet. (The owner of my favorite local restaurant lives right around the corner...they whip up one hell of a queso fundido.)

EDIT: I do make it my life's work to do my homework whenever I'm in SoCal...there are some advantages food-wise in living there, but it's nominal. Also, we have bagels and pizza. And that blows chunks in California.

And btw...you do know this whole argument is ridiculous, right? There are advantages and disadvantages to living everywhere. You pick what's important to you and go where you want to go. It's all personal preference and what kind of taxes you can actually afford.

Seems to me that boardwalk gets hammered regularly so pick yer poison.
I prefer my own Tex-Mex, here is a chili verde burrito with a side of Spanish rice.
I learned how to make real Mexican food including Tortillas from Mrs. Villigan one of my friends mom.

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All: California is a great state, the problem is the political situation. I lived and prospered in LA for 25 years; however, as I have now retired - I have been forced by circumstances to move elsewhere. It wasn't the fires although one (the Corona Fire) did come within 1/2 mile of my house. The weather is great, the beaches and snow superior, and the car culture is wonderful. Great museums and available collections, like the Nethercutt, Wally Parks Museum, LA Art Museum, George Page Museum, and so many others are always available. What great fun to put the top down and cruise the beach cities early on a Saturday morning or head to the Los Angles Crest Highway and many others like it for some high-speed motoring, (just watch for the cops - they are not nice to hot rodders). The many varied ethnic cultures and their cuisines are a joy. But the politics and the ever-increasing taxes along with the extreme liberal mindset of the government has driven me, like many away for good. Take a look at the attached link on California's future at

Should you still wish to move there.....Good Luck. As for me, I will just visit every once in a while. Lynn

Northern California is too broad though. There are great places there and there are some that would be the last places on earth I would want to live.

Anywhere on 17 Mile drive in Carmel will do though.

Hoping well into my 80’s that I’m still doing this nearly every morning here in lovely Southern California, fingers crossed...

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No doubt....every place has its pros and cons...

Is that the wedge?

Nice! Here’s what I’m eating right this minute. Homemade yums.

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Nah,
Wedge is a shell of its former self.
Plus I’m too old to fly that high.
Check my shiny new avatar for a hint.
I grabbed that still (from above) off of my GoPro the other week as I was paddling back out.
Tues, Wed, Thurs last week was easily two/three feet bigger than above pic and even cleaner conditions if you could believe that.
Barrels galore!

I see your homemade yums SKB and raise you “slightly” unhealthier homemade yums!
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Lol too funny!

Dig the paper plate.

It’s california, we got the coolest paper plates too!

I got my first paper straw in Anaheim last January and I was like, "WTF is THIS???" I hated the thing. Paper plates I like.

Been to San Francisco lately?

That wasn’t me pooping in front of the hotel!

It's a great state. More people need to move there.

I'll be honest. It's mentally taxing for Conservatives living in the Bay Area and LA.

Thats an understatement

I’m here for the wine.
And in this state, some nights more than others..

Summary of responses...

Don't actually know: no, my city/state is better.
Couldn't afford it: no, left for __.
Can afford it: yes, stayed of course.

Could afford it; f**k the politicians in Sacramento, I'm out of here.
Californians suffer from never living anywhere else and thinking the s**t in CA is normal. The US is a big country and life is better outside of the failed state of CA.

We never put front plates on our cars. Never been pulled over for it.

The irony is those paper straws are arguably worse for the environment, or at the very best a wash.

Someday I plan to visit CA again, a very fun place for a vacation. I really love the 2 Six Flags parks there.

And the drive changes every few hours. In a desert for a hour, then in mountains, then in a big city, etc.

I know what CA residents mean when they say they can drive a hour to go to the beach, or a hour the other direction to snow ski.

But the high prices on everything, no. And I know gas and everything else is high because of taxes.

All the people I talked to were very cool, and I enjoyed talking to them.

A good friend lived there for several years, and I have heard the good and bad many times.

CA is awesome for a vacation though.

General advice: Speak for yourself and allow others to speak for themselves. Not everyone fits on a team and has a hive-mind.

The US is a big country and not everyone agrees. Relative to other places I've been around the country and around the world, California is absolutely wonderful if you can afford to live there.

How is a paper straw worse for the environment versus a plastic one?

The amount of energy required to make them and the fact that they don't biodegrade as fast as they're supposed to.

Sounds like a study that was funded by the plastic straw company. I'd love to read the paper/research if it's posted online or if you've got references. I believe it's possible, but I'm generally skeptical.

I agree. I haven't read about it for a year or so, but multiple reputable places were reporting it.

I gotta call BS. Plastic straws take over 100 years to decompose in the ocean, paper straw is days. Plus paper is a renewable source. If the energy in is more it’s got to be worth it.

So far the internet sources say paper is much better for environment in 15min of looking.

California is a beautiful state. I've been there on vacation and/or business many, many times throughout my life. I've spent countless nights camping in Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks or along the PCH. So much great scenery and weather, but the heavily populated areas have gone so far downhill since I first started going there back in the early 70s that I would never live there. It's sad. It really is. Let's not even start on the taxes and politics...

Whenever I go to LA on business, I always go out of my way to find hole in the wall Mexican restaurants. There are many great ones, but the best Mexican food and street tacos along with the friendliest atmosphere I have found to date are within 4 miles of my house here in Florida. Proximity to Mexico is not the determining factor. This place has no one who speaks English and the clientele is 99% Hispanic including mostly construction workers who love making fun of me sweating while eating the red hot sauce. It literally could not be more authentic if it was on the border. If you ask for "two chicken tacos", they will look around confused for help translating.

I read this thread title as “Is leaving Ca. worth it?” which essentially what I think the OP is asking anyway.

I suspect he meant 'living' because everyone who lives in CA questions the cost of doing so... It's crazy expensive to live in CA. Anyone in CA asks ... is the weather and amenities worth it? Can I deal with snow? Seattle rain? Arizona/Texas heat? Florida crazies and mosquitos??

In my travels I have heard Seattle is actually pretty good, they just try to act like it rains a lot.

I personally like Cedar Point amusement park in Ohio, and the area and people there.

I currently like every state I have ever traveled to, except LA, I like to drive a tad fast and they busted me going only 12 over. No points on my license, but the fine was hefty.

If I ever go to TX, or CA again, I plan to take I-40 and avoid LA, or if I take I-20 set my cruise 2 mph over the limit and let everyone else pass me.

But really, I never want to move anywhere, I love to travel, and when I travel after some time I miss my home right here.

But, I can see the point of this topic, if I were totally happy right where I live but all these fires and taxes, etc.

So far where I live is pretty good as far as weather, taxes, people, etc.

But do not even try to move to my area at the moment, real estate is very overpriced here at the moment. (not as bad as CA though).

I find most people that talk shit on California have never even been there. The state is absolutely huge, which is hard to understand from people who are from small states and hear from their small local news cycle every day. Living on the east coast, I think a lot of the local bumpkins here think the entire state looks like Los Angeles. As for air quality- I live in "Amish paradise" which is billed as a vacation destination (ha) for NJ and NJ folks due to the "quaint" countryside and whatnot. We consistently have some of the worst air quality in the nation, and those quaint folks contribute significantly to the pollution in the Chesapeake bay. We were tied for 8th worst out of 227 metro areas across the nation the last time I saw an air quality ranking. I go weeks at a time not being able to breathe right. I would love to live with the air quality of some of the places I have visited in CA.

Orange County was the most conservative part of our country while I grew up. My friends are golfers and surfers. And mostly conservative. Out of 75 guys in a couple groups I know at the club, there are 2 Democrats that I know of. I believe most of you have the wrong impression. This state is gigantic. Nearly 40 million people. Spicoli was middle right. He smoked pot, but so do many conservatives. Just think of Odin. I don't drive into Berkeley and expect conservative talk at a local coffee shop. I expect that when I walk into any golf club I will hear conservative points of view. And feel right at home. The same as I felt when I walked into my club when I lived in Irving Tx. A member could easily feel at home in either location. There are plenty of conservative people who live near the beach. Its expensive to live here in the nicer areas. Pretty much like the rest of the world. I refuse to blame Ca for me having to most likely leave when wife retires. I know plenty of other people who figured it out.

Both vehicles lost their front plates over a decade ago, nobody cares as long as the fees are paid.

The air quality is pretty much always good here. For any of those who can remember back to the 70s, it was bad in the LA basin. Real bad. I’m talking, stinging in your eyes, pain in your chest after a deep breath, can hardly see the cars in front of you bad. You have to give credit for all of the regulation that changed all of that.

For the other thing you said, I agree, lots of people don’t get the scale. I have talked to multiple people over the years who are convinced that they can land in SF, tour around there for a few hours, then jump in their rental car and drive down Highway 1 and get to LA in time to see some more sights, all in one day.

I talked to a guy from NJ who in all seriousness asked if it is really true that from LA to SF is basically one continuous city.

It's hard to believe how much cleaner the air became. Especially inland. I made ice slushies to cool down my lungs as a kid. 10 years later and the air inland was actually fine. I would have a hard time believing you if I hadn't lived it.