Just returned from california

Just spent my holidays in California two weeks to be exact. I was in Ventura, Santa Barbra , San Diego and LA. I live in Maryland and I must say California must be TACO heaven. I mean I must have seen at least 25 tacos everyday I was out there. One thing that struck me was that 95 percent of them were two wheel drive. I would think with all of the mountain trails you would see more 4x4 trucks. Anyway, the weather was gorgeous and I am considering moving out that way.

 

Other than the roach killer trucks, I don't see much 2wd here in Norcal ... maybe I'm just not paying attention

 

Environmentalists have pretty much locked out off road activity in all but forest fire roads out here in Santa Barbara County, and other places too.

 

You liked Cali and want to move there? Get a check-up from the neck-up SOON!

 

Go to Hawaii...see how many tacos you see out there.

 

From California and certified internet doctor. Can confirm any diagnosis of losing marbles. Prognosis, regret.

 

+1...Been here 37 years and getting out as early as July 2019 or as late as January 2022.

 

Yep, here in San Diego, it seems like a quarter of the vehicles on the road are Tacomas. It's crazy.

 

I was born in California. Lived here all my life. But I have also traveled quite extensively. Been to all continents except for Africa (will go soon) and have seen a lot of the US as well. I can say that there are few places as beautiful and with as great of weather than we have here in California. The only other place I would consider living in the US is Hawaii. Actually plan on moving there in about 5 years. I have a lot of friends there and it's closer to Asia and that part of the world. The plan is to split my time between Hawaii and Philippines and Thailand.

There is a lot of hate for California from some and it's not completely unwarranted. It's expensive. To the point that if you don't have a well paying job, you will come to resent it. The politics can get to some people as well. Especially if you lean very right. And if you're a gun owner, it's getting harder and harder to participate in any type of gun-related hobby.

I'm a pretty middle of the road Republican. I am a fiscal-conservative. I am pro-2A. BUT... when it comes to some of the hot social issues, I tend to be pretty liberal. Gays/trans/whatever... eh, I'm cool with them. I think we should protect are environs as much as we can but through policies that make sense. I pro-wall and enforcing our immigration policies, especially deporting criminal aliens, but I also don't blame illegal immigrants for all our woes. Stop the bleeding and then lets figure out what to do with the folks that are here already.

I'm fortunate that my wife and I make a great living so we are still able to enjoy ourselves without the high cost of California being prohibitive. If you can afford to live here, there are few places in the US like it. But I urge you to really look closely at your finance and the cost of living here before you make a move.

 

Very good post. I love California to death, born and raised here. But here are my gripes.

-Expensive
-Seldom jobs will compete with real life living expenses
-Politics
-Gun control

But as my father always says, we pay for the weather, and ain't that the truth.

 

There are a lot of tacos around here! Glad you enjoyed your stay. It looks like you got out of Ventura and SB right on time, lots of rain forecast for this evening and mudslides and flooding likely due to the fire damage.

Cheers.

 

Christ, some of you got way too hung up on the moving here part. And while some of you (and I) may not find CA the most ideal, for every one of us, there are like 100 more that dream of being here.

 

Double post. Sorry.

 

All in good fun man, if people want to move here, cmon on in. People always want somewhere else to go that's just nature, but we all know there's no place like home, no matter where your from.

 

Cali weather sucks, you only have a few places to snowmobile! Ideal weather is Saskatchewan, Canada. Solid ice for fishing hardwater and snow cover for half the year!

 

And yes OP... there are a lot of Tacos here. But as @rlx02 says, go to Hawaii and pretty much every truck on the road is a Taco. And if it's not a Taco, its a Tundra!!!

As I stated, I have a lot of friends on Oahu. I visit them about 2 to 3 times a year. The 3 that have trucks, they're all Tacomas.

 

I moved home in 2016 to Colorado after 5 years in the south Bay Area. The weather, ocean, and mountains there are amazing, but for me it wasn't worth the cost of living, the traffic, and the crowds. Could hardly go camping without reserving a site 6 months in advance. Spent 40 mins each way to go 8 miles to work. Just couldn't do it anymore. Wouldn't trade my time there for anything, and have already been back twice to visit friends, but 8.75% state income tax and everything else cost wise is the pits.

 

Consider what the new Tax Cuts will do to you in CA. My understanding is you will no longer be able to take anything over 10K of your State + property taxes + home interest off your Federal taxes.

 

Haha... the traffic can be terrible for sure. Especially here in the LA area. I'm lucky that I work from home as much as I want and when I do have to go into the office, it's 1.5 miles from my house. Again, I have a very skewed perspective of living in California.