All former/current residents of CA: What's good/bad about living in CA?

In My Humble Opinion
21

I worked in San Luis Nabisco for four and a half years in the 1980s.

What a beautiful area to be a part of!

I lived in Atascadero, Paso Robles, Los Osos and San Luis Obispo proper. I was a disc jockey at the time, so I needed to move around where the jobs were.

Other beautiful areas close by are Morro Bay, Cayucos, Cambria, Pismo Beach (where at last report there was a stretch of beach that it was still legal to drive your car on), Avila Beach where you simply MUST rent a mineral springs water hot tub for a couple of hours one night and then a meal at the Fat Cats Cafe, and Santa Maria, where you’ll experience the best barbecue you’ve ever had in your life.

I left in 1984 and would move back in a minute if I could find a decent job up there. When you get there call Sly 96 FM and tell them that Ric Stratton, the evening DJ in the early 80s (that’s me) says hi!

There. That ought to keep you busy for a while.

:smiley:

22

I’ve spent half my life in CA, the rest being the midwest. During the time I was in CA, I was surrounded by people who have lived everywhere else. One constant that I have seen is that with very few exceptions, the majority of people who love CA have either never lived anywhere else for any length of time, or or lived in CA for a very short length of time. The weather never really changes, it is expensive as all hell (unless you are in the desert, and that isn’t much different than downwoods Arkansas) and the people are basically assholes.

I’m married to a SoCal beach native who would divorce me if I even suggested we move back to San Diego, Huntington Beach or anywhere in Orange County. Because she has seen the reality of the midwest (even though she misses the beach). I really like SLO, and all of NoCa, but I turned down a job with NASA in the San Jose area simply because of cost of living. SLO is right in the middle of “hippie-ville”. Wonderful people, but if you want to raise a family in that area, I hope you are making a hell of a salary. From the Bay Area south, good luck. If you are living in NoCal, just go a state higher and get a better deal.

I hate CA. There are some nice places but it is really just a novelty. A nice place to visit and spend a couple of years for the experience, but not a place you want to live forever if you’ve been anywhere else, unless you are as plastic as the rest of the state, thinking that anybody really cares what goes on in CA.

23

Not true. The hate only seems to go north-to-south. Born & raised in SoCal and have rarely, if ever, known anyone who hates Nothern Californians.

24

We lived in LA for 12 years and don’t regret a minute.
However, we moved to Las Vegas five years ago, and almost all of our friends from LA have sinced moved away as well.
We have also been to SLO several times. Nice place. A little “touristy”, but nice.

California in general has simply gotten far too expensive, the traffic is beyond belief and unless you are very young, and very adventurous, the state is becoming unlivable.

That said, we still have fond memories and I am sure if you move there, you will love it as well. As others have said, the weather is great, the people are open and free, you are usually only a short drive from a beach or a mountain, you will spend a lot of time outdoors and the experience is worth the effort.

Go.

25

Well, my goodness. I spent most of high school listening to Sly 96 FM, Rico.

It’s quite true than Northern Californians don’t like Southerners much, while the Southern Californians don’t think much about us at all, except to think how hopelessly lame we are. As someone who lives in the really-forgotten upper third of the state, though, I can say that a lot of the reason for that is that no one–even in Sacramento–remembers that we exist. We pay as much tax as anyone, but get nil out of it because it all goes to feed and water San Francisco and LA (which IMO is a horrible place to live, BTW). So a lot of stuff up here suffers from neglect–though OTOH it’s also far more pleasant than other places.

Back to SLO–as far as I know the schools there are just dandy. Schools in CA tend to be patchy; some are great and some are awful. The school is far more likely to be great when the parents are working hard at support, and since SLO is an area where most parents can do that, education there is probably doing fine. The San Luis kids I knew seemed to be getting a better education than I was, anyway. And they could surf.

26

Hey, I thought of NoCal! And I never thought you were lame.

I think I shared many of your views. Remember when they wanted to build another aquaduct to steal… I mean relocate… water from NoCal to quench L.A.'s thirst? I voted against it. I figured we in SoCal could bloody well learn how to conserve our resources. Besides, IMO the water didn’t belong to us.

L.A. does have advantages, as I mentioned. But for me, the disadvantages I listed outweighed the advantages. I would have liked to have left SoCal under different circumstances than I did, but I still wanted out!

27

I’m sure it does, but it’s far, far too crowded for me. If I wanted to be squished in a big city, I’d at least go to one I liked and move back to the East Bay. However, I like towns best. Do you realize that I can drive from one end of my town to the other in 15 minutes without taking the freeway? And it’s a beautiful drive, mostly. Huge trees everywhere. And open space just a few minutes away. Bliss.

28

A few more questions: I’m a web developer. Are there many IT companies in SLO or will I have a long commute to make to get a decent IT job? Are the salaries of IT workers commensurate with the cost of living in CA?

:eek: Please say this isn’t the cost of milk at a Whole Foods in CA!

29

At Trader Joe’s (one place that makes things bearable here), you can get half a gallon of milk for $1.69 and the price does not change.

30

I was born and raised in the Bay Area; I currently live in Chicago. I like California fine, but for a recent college grad “just starting out” it was too expensive. There certainly is a myth about how great the place is, and people there (including my parents, neither of whom has ever lived anywhere else) buy into it as much as anyone else. When people here find out where I am from, I am regularly greeted with open-mouthed shock. Why did I leave? How could I have done such a thing? I must be crazy! It’s like I left Eden voluntarily. Come on people, it’s just a place like any other: some parts are nice, some aren’t (I HATE LA - not the people themselves, as some are implying about us Northerners - the city is ugly, overcrowded, and not really very interesting). OTOH, I really love living in Chicago and my standard of living is much higher than I could afford back in the Bay Area. Maybe someday I’ll move back, not because it’s so unbelievably fabulous, but because I do think of the Bay Area as “home” and it would be nice to live near my parents. And Giants games.

San Luis Obispo is, as far as I know, a nice town. Reminded me a little too much of Santa Cruz, where I went to college, but some people dig that. The Madonna Inn really is incredible. We had a Dopefest there a couple years ago, it was such a blast I think we’ve been banned from the hotel for life.

31

So DEB2WORLD, you are from El Centro. I’ll bet your glad to be away from there, I know I am. I left at 19 and haven’t looked back.
Theres a feud between San Franciisco and L.A. but the people in L.A. don’t know about it

Spelling and grammer subject to change without notice.

32

My children both attended LA City schools (generally considered to be not very good) but both were accepted into the magnet schools program, where they attended a school within a school. The magnet schools get extra funds for each student, and have a totally different program. Yes, they had art, and yes they had music. When I describe in detail my children’s education and programs, people what to know which private school they went to and how much it costs. You should see their faces when I tell them LA City and free. :slight_smile: All it took was an application, and for my kids to ID as “gifted”. In grades K, 1, and 2 that is a teacher’s recommendation, after that there is a test. I’m thinking for a Doper’s kid this should be a slam dunk. (It was for mine)
As far as higher education goes, While you are technically correct, Voyager your answer is misleading. Yes, California has a three-tiered system. The UC schools are at the top. With 10 campuses statewide these are world class schools. Some of these schools are very hard to get into (Berkley, UCLA SF) others are easy (Riverside)
Next comes the California State Universities (CSU) with 23 campuses statewide including 2 cow colleges (Cal poly Pomona, and San Louis Obispo), and the California Maritime Academy. The education at CSU is great but the degree may not have the same “name value” of a UC degree. This of course depends on the field of study.
The California Community College system has 108 campuses. These are 2 years schools, which lead to either a 2-year degree (AA) or specialized training for a career. One of the many programs (and a very popular one) is for a student to graduate high school, go 2 years to a CC then transfer to a UC CSC school for upper division. This allows the student to get their lower division general ed. requirements out of the way for a lower cost, in smaller classes than would be the case at a UC/CSC. At the end the degree reads the same, as if they had spent four years at the UC/CSC.
The bad news is that cost have gone up in recent years and will probably go up some more, due to the state?s current money problems. But costs are still WAY under what a private school costs.

Getting back to SLO, the weather is wonderful, I would move there in a heartbeat if my job would allow it.

-Rick
Whose son graduated with honors from Cal State Northridge after 2 years at a community college, and whose daughter is attending Cal Poly SLO.

33

Nobody stole anyone’s water. The water goes where it’s needed, and it’s needed in SoCal, which is one of the places that bears the brunt of a Federal policy of third-world population growth driven by mass immigration. California’s population is growing as fast as that of Bangla Desh, according to a recent article in the L.A. Times Sunday magazine, and almost all of that driven by immigration. This statistic is based on the immigration itself, and the fertility of those immigrants once they’re here, which is much higher than that of the general population. Don’t like to have rivers diverted or groundwater depleted? Don’t like vanishing wilderness area, crowded, inadequate schools, or uber-expensive housing? Then think about the effects of population growth, and remember that at the state level, let alone at the municipal level, we have no say in immigration policy despite its effects on us.

34

Frickin’ hamsters ate my first carefully composed and well reasoned post. I’ll try again.

dangermom, Qburn and Rico pretty much got it right. I was born in Santa Maria, 30 miles south, lived, worked and went to school in San Luis Obispo. I worked in area theatres, including dangermom’s fog-shrouded drive-in and graduated from Cuesta College, and Cal Poly (Bus ’72). We bought our first house there and I wish I still had it. It was built in 1960 and sold new for $11,000. The house was inexpensively constructed on a concrete slab poured on adobe soil that heaves when it is rainy, (so that none of the doors will close). I bought it in 1969 for $17,500 and sold it in 1973 for $20,500—a tidy profit, I thought. In about 1979, I ran into the neighbor who told me it had just sold again for $50,000. doh! I looked up some comps today and it looks like it would cost you something is excess of $370,000 today. doh! doh! Last time I drove by, it had been well kept up, but still…

Food and utility costs are pretty comparable with the rest of California. Gasoline is 30-50 cents higher than in the Central Valley or the metro areas. I haven’t been over there in a few months, but I’d expect something just under $2.00 a gallon for unleaded regular. Housing is pricey, but not the priciest in California.

California politics are always nuts. After all, we brought you Proposition 13 property tax mayhem, Three Strikes and you’re Out and the actor-politician, including Song and Dance man/Senator George Murphy, Gov/Pres Ronald Reagan, Mayor Clint Eastwood, Mayor/Congressperson Sonny Bono, Mayor Alan (Bubba) Autry, and of course, Gov Ahnald. San Luis Obispo county politics have a history of delightful schizophrenia. There is a liberal/progressive wing that seeks to protect the environment and lifestyle values and a developer/ag wing that seeks to exploit the desirability of the area for as many as can afford it. Makes for some interesting times.

There isn’t a large high-tech industry base, but there is a history of successful niche market companies in cutting edge areas, mainly spawned by people associated with the university.

Rico is right about the BBQ. There is nothing finer this side of heaven than a properly seasoned, rare Santa Maria Style Tri-Tip barbequed over red oak, with just the right amount of bark in the fire. The technique was developed at the Elks Club and the Santa Maria Club when I was small. My wife’s brothers would hole her over the back fence of the Elks Club when they were barbequing and they would give the cute little girl a taste. Then her brothers would take it away from her and eat it. She loves SM Style BBQ and holds remarkably little animosity towards her brothers. The best of the best is at the Far Western Tavern in Guadalupe on Hwy 1.

I wouldn’t move to the area until I had a job. It is too expensive to hold out for long. However, thought the locals don’t like to admit it, it is not a bad place to be homeless, because the climate is so mild. Personally, I prefer the hot summers and foggy winters of the Central Valley, but most folks think I’m way too weird on that point.

Good luck in SLO

35

Spectre of Pithecanthropus: Discussing the “fertility of third-world immigrants” can quickly turn nasty, so I don’t want to go there.

Nevertheless, it is a fact that people need water.

Mono Lake has lost 40% of its volume over the last 40 years because of diversions of freshwater streams to slake the thirst of growing Southern California. Bird populations were threatened because the lower water levels allowed predators to walk over land bridges to what were previously inaccessable islands. L.A. is still getting 16,000 acre feet of water annually from the streams that feed Mono Lake. This, plus evaporation, results in a loss of 50,000 to 80,000 acre feet of water each year. Granted, evaporation is responsible for more loss than stream diversion; but diverting 16,000 acre feet of water means that less evaporation is being replaced, and Mono Lake shrinks.

The good news is that water conservation and reclamation more than makes up for the loss, and Mono Lake is growing again. When the water level reaches 6,392 ASL, L.A. will be able to double its diversions of the streams that feed the lake.

I voted against the new aquaduct 20 years ago. Things have changed. Low-flow shower heads and 1 gpf toilets are now required. Still, there is a limit to the number of people a given environment can support. It was my opinion then, and it’s my opinion now, that populations should not exceed the ability of the environment to support them.

And even if there are resources enough for one population, someone else gets robbed. The Colorado River used to flow to the Sea of Cortez. With the damming of the river and diversions into the All-American Canal, and growing populations in the U.S., the Colorado River now peters out into a desert wasteland. From this site:

I’m sorry for the hijack, but “[t]he water goes where it’s needed, and it’s needed in SoCal” sounds a lot like “stealing” when other populations – human, plant, or animal – suffer because of such diversions. How many other natural environments would be threatened if Southern California continues to demand more and more water from the North and elsewhere?

Again, I’m sorry for the hijack. I just wanted to clarify my position.

36

Actually I meant to write, “third-world style population growth”, which is a subtle but significant difference. As it stood originally, my statement didn’t make a whole lot of sense.

For anyone who’s interested, I found a copy of the article here. The group presenting it is a single-issue advocacy group which advocates a stable, rather than growing, population. As with many single insterest groups, one must filter out some of the more hysterical rhetoric, but bear in mind that the article I cite here did not originate with them, but with the Los Angeles Times, which is definitely considered a mainstream newspaper, somewhat left of center, and certainly not anti-immigrant.

37

This depends on district. Funding per pupil was frozen at Prop 13 time, so my district, which was a lot more rural back then, gets a lot less money per student than LA or even some nearby districts. Nothing is happening about this since the legislature is dominated by LA, which would lose money if the system would become more equitable. I’m on the board of a support group for the parents of gifted kids, so I’m quite aware of what is available. The amount of money the district gets per kid is laughably small, not nearly enough for such a program.

If the OP has kids, checking the funding level for the district you’re thinking of moving to would be a good idea.

I’m quite familiar with this program, which is indeed quite popular. Two things. First, because of the budget crunch, the CSUs are not letting in people in the January term like they used to. So, anyone wanting to go this route should check.

Second, while it is true that you get the same degree, do you get the same education? If you want a degree at minimal cost, which seems to be true of a lot of Californians, this is a good approach. (People I served with on our high school site council took this route, so it is not out of concern for the quality of education.) However it is not the same. My daughter took Statistics in the local community college (which is not a bad school at all) and found it quite unchallenging. Some of her friends went to the CC, and some of them , not so self-moivated, just sank out of sight academically. My parents paid for me to go to a world class, though expensive, college, and so I sure was willing to pay for my daughter to do the same. I found the contacts I made invaluable. She got to take Hittite cuneiform for fun her second year, and to to work for someone mentioned as being a candidate for a Nobel Prize in Economics. No offense, Rick, but the California mindset that two years at a CC are the same as two years at a UC is exactly why a lot of people in this state feel we’re overspending for education unless we’re dead last.

My other daughter has a friend going to Cal Poly, and seems like a darn good school.