What is life like in Southern California?

[TimTheAzn]

Hey guys and gals,

An opportunity has presented itself that is great in a lot of aspects but would require me to move across the country to the Santa Ana/ Irvine area.

Have any of you lived out that way? Opinions? Likes/ Dislikes? Pros/Cons?

I get it, it's expensive to live out there, I do not believe this will be an issue.

Even opinions from those who have moved away from friends and family for a good opportunity, how'd it work out? Regrets? Items to think about that you realized only after you made the jump?

Appreciate it guys.

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[Tpoppa]

First off, I hope you like hippies.

 

The cost of living is high.  Very high.  A freind of mine just could not make ends meet there and had to move back to Ohio.  He liked living there except for the cost.   He made good money, too.

Edited October 15, 2014 by Tpoppa

[TimTheAzn]

My buddy is out there already making around what I would be making and he's doing alright.

I don't mind hippies. I went to OU.

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[BadTrainDriver]

Take water.

[TimTheAzn]

Come again? Is it like not drinking water in Mexico? lol

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[jbot]

he's referring to the drought.

 

Socal living is kewl, weather is nice, and you're asian so you'll instantly be accepted.

 

cost of living is high, so unless you have some arrangement to move in with someone for cheap, don't believe what they say when they say "it's fine".  Do the math and due diligence in general.  My father in law rents a few houses where you're moving to and... well, it's expensive as fuck.  food is cheaper in some ways though.

 

politics are bad enough to make native californians move, but all in all, it's a nice place to live.

 

do it, and if it doesn't work out, come back or do what every other failed californian does: move to texas or arizona.

 

the ONLY thing i ask is don't be like every other Ohioan that moved to Cali and start trash talking ohio the moment you get there to your ohio friends.  those kinds are the worst.

[TimTheAzn]

he's referring to the drought.

Socal living is kewl, weather is nice, and you're asian so you'll instantly be accepted.

the ONLY thing i ask is don't be like every other Ohioan that moved to Cali and start trash talking ohio the moment you get there to your ohio friends. those kinds are the worst.

I'm not Asian I have no idea what have you that idea.

My friends and family are one of the biggest reasons I want to stay lol.

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[dpgasser]

I lived in Orange for awhile and loved it. SoCal is great for a motorcyclist, awesome roads, ability to ride all year around, and lane splitting eliminates traffic concerns. I love Ohio, but honestly, I would probably still be there if my wife didn't hate her job in Anaheim and really miss her family in Akron.

[ReconRat]

I remember crowded, intense traffic, sunny all the time with lots of smog. I think it's still the same except more crowded and less smog. Air quality seemed really good when I was last out there. Little things don't cost more, but everything else does. I once figured a 60% increase in pay was breaking even. You might drive enough to probably replace an engine about every two years.

 

And most likely don't bother trying to bring any firearms into California. Either banned or lots of red tape transfer stuff.

Just buy new when you get there.

 

The advantage of a drought is that it is recommended to shower with a friend.

[Casper]

I was in Irvine a few weeks ago for work. My hotel was less than a mile from the client. Took me 30 minutes to drive there during rush hour. I would've walked but it was like 105 degrees out. F that.

[mattm]

he's referring to the drought.

 

Socal living is kewl, weather is nice, and you're asian so you'll instantly be accepted.

 

cost of living is high, so unless you have some arrangement to move in with someone for cheap, don't believe what they say when they say "it's fine".  Do the math and due diligence in general.  My father in law rents a few houses where you're moving to and... well, it's expensive as fuck.  food is cheaper in some ways though.

 

politics are bad enough to make native californians move, but all in all, it's a nice place to live.

 

do it, and if it doesn't work out, come back or do what every other failed californian does: move to texas or arizona.

 

the ONLY thing i ask is don't be like every other Ohioan that moved to Cali and start trash talking ohio the moment you get there to your ohio friends.  those kinds are the worst.

If your spend 3 days in Cali you can't help but trash Ohio. We are now entering our 6 month "gray" phase. How can Ohio compete with Cali? No contest.

[jbot]

I'm not Asian I have no idea what have you that idea.

My friends and family are one of the biggest reasons I want to stay lol.

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your baby penis kinda gave it away.

 

If your spend 3 days in Cali you can't help but trash Ohio. We are now entering our 6 month "gray" phase. How can Ohio compete with Cali? No contest.

i'm not trying to change anyone's opinion about anything, but speaking for myself, I can tell you that i visit LA, San Diego, NYC/Connecticut, and some parts of Florida a few times a year for a week or so at a time to visit family, and while I enjoy the weather breaks and the novel sights and sounds... those are not places I would ultimately want to raise my kid(s) in.  i know that i save more money here living in a (much) nicer house, with an excellent public school system all around me and even better private schools nearby.  i could move my business literally anywhere in the CONUS and do well because my customer base doesn't care where I am and my wife can get a job in any area that has marketing departments (great graphic designers are hard to find), and we live here for a reason.  that's not to say our priorities are the same as anyone elses, or even that our is "right" or "more right", it's just what we chose.  Ohio can't compete with Cali weather though, no denying that.  I fell in love with the weather and atmosphere of Monterey/Carmel area during our few visits there, and if I accomplish what I intend to accomplish, we will retire there... but until then, we have our own little piece of crazy ass weather heaven right here.

[Steve Butters]

i trash talked ohio long before i got the hell out....so i guess im in the clear lol

 

im not so sure id choose socal over ohio though.....the beach and weather are great....but thats about it

[Tpoppa]

Traffic

[bloodninja420]

Your motorbike can negate a lot of Socal traffic, though this isn't a solution if you're chauffeuring kids around.

I'd move to SoCal in a heartbeat if I had the money. The paradox is to afford CA, I'd have to work so hard I'd never have time to enjoy the things that make living there worthwhile.

[JackFlash]

The way I understand it is that California has

two seasons.  Fire and Mud.

 

.

[cOoTeR]

A little over 3 years ago I moved for a great job opportunity to Arizona. Cost of living isn't bad here. I don't know about cali but customer service is pretty much non existent here. I hate cookie cutter neighborhoods and prefer to live out in the country. Which makes commutes suck. I work outside you get used to the heat but it still sucks.

The parts that suck the most are being away from family+friends. The schools kind of suck if you have kids. The culture differences here suck causing people to be very rude to everyone. The snow birds are annoying and there are a ton of tweakers running around.

I plan on moving back to the Ohio area once my son is in middle school. I'd like to retire in the NC TN area. Here is nice for now but not where I want to spend the rest of my life.

Edited October 19, 2014 by cOoTeR

[turnone]

Can be expensive of course. High taxes. Property taxes are downright scary for new residents.

I like the whacky funky cool and don't mind the different people that inhabit the left coast.

Some have a problem with hippies, Asians, weird white people, lots of Latino people.

Crazy pockets of crime and huge areas in LA that should be avoided.

In and out burgers are great.

A lot of trust fund baby's and huge gap between the rich and poor. Lots of weed.

Horrible traffic. Nothing hardly within walking distance. Pedestrian laws are taken very seriously.

If you need 70K to live in Ohio, you might need around $110-125K to replicate in most respects.

[snot]

It is a pretty state. I would never live there,for personal reasons.

Its worth checking out.

[TimTheAzn]

All good things to think about....

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[NinjaDoc]

You get endless options of these > Mountains + ocean + twisty + sunny + warm + lane splitting + biker friendly + tons of riders

Every thing else doesn't matter :-)

Move ...now

[Josh1234]

I was in San Diego for a little while.

 

The women in Cali are in a whole different league. If you take a "6" from Cali and bring her to Ohio, she's a "9."

 

If you take an Ohio 9 to Cali, she's only a 6.  It's wild. But I think some of them are on a different "crazy scale," too, so watch out

[cOoTeR]

Are you married, single, boyfriend or girlfriend attached? If you are attached to someone the two of you have to talk about it and not just focus on the positive aspects. Make sure to talk about the negative stuff you can think of. If you two disagree about the change you have to think if it's worth leaving the other behind or if its better to stay in Ohio.

If your single and don't have many friends or family near by are you willing to leave all of your support group behind? If you are the type of person that has trouble making friends that's something to consider. If you don't have a group of people in the area to lean on little crap becomes a bigger pain in the ass than you'd expect. Like buying a new car, fridge, couch and trying to figure out the best way to get it into your new pad without an extra set of hands. Or learning which areas are good to live in and what areas to avoid even when going out. When I moved to AZ one of my supervisors tried really hard to convince the other new hires and myself to live in the same area as him and our new job. He basically told is if we didn't live in town we wouldn't make it through training since it was such a stressful time working long hours the commute from the other towns near by would be too long. Well the town is a crappy place and only 1 of the 4 of us that got hired at the same time still live there. I don't know what reason he had for trying to convince everyone to stay there was maybe he was trying to make the neighborhood better by having trust worthy people move in. But the point is you need a person that you can trust to lead you to the right area.

Also if you have kids or plan on having kids their grandparents are going to want to see them a lot. I post an annoying amount of pictures of my son on Facebook just so I don't have to send the pics to every family member. Friends without kids don't really understand. Also I spend $3000-$6000 a year in airfare and most of my vacation time flying back and forth from Ohio just to see friends and family. Also I recommend having about $1000 per person you are with out there set aside in case there is an emergency back home and you need to buy a plane ticket for the first flight to Ohio you can find.

Edited October 21, 2014 by cOoTeR

[ohdaho]

I moved to Cali (palmdale area) after college and training for my first assignment. I was single, made just enough to get by and have some fun, and knew no one. I'm still pretty close with those friends I made out there.

Put yourself in uncomfortable environments esp if its best for your development (economically and socially). Most of your family will still be in Ohio, friends inevitably move around, but this opportunity at this point in your life may not be here for long...pull the trigger and move. Too many ppl are just content with their lives without pushing themselves, if thats your cup of tea so be it....but that seems boring to me. You'll meet new ppl in Cali....there's a metric shit ton of them in that area...most Asian, some women, and many smoking hot.

Hit up the Viet coffee shops on the bike...they'll love ya.

Housing is expensive, gas is high, food is cheap, hookers are reasonably priced, blow for the cheap and you should never be bored while out there. Find a sane roommate and that definitely helps out.

Edited October 30, 2014 by ohdaho

[TimTheAzn]

Haha thanks for all the input so far guys, lots of things I hadn't thought about yet. Exactly why I posted up.

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