Where will you be in September?

[Lord of The Curry 0]

If you're ever in the Greater Toronto Area, let me know so I can give you my cell number. I'll take you to the Hotbox Cafe in Toronto and chances are that you won't want to leave the city after that.

 

HungryJack- Don't you live in T.O?

[Guest HungryJack]

No, Calgary. used to, though, back in the day.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Shame.

 

Nice city though, Calgary. Downtown reminds me of Toronto, nightlife-wise.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I think I'd like to move to Canada someday. Then I realize I've grown up in L.A. and Miami and I don't think I'd be able to adjust to the weather quite well.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

What are some good spots in California to live in? I always wanted to move there, mainly because of the weather, but there's a bunch of other stuff you have to know about I guess. What are some good spots to move to in California?

[Guest Vitamin X]

It reeeeeally helps to know where abouts in California you're planning on moving to. California's such a large and diverse place that your experience can vary wildly from one area to another. I grew up near LA, so I can tell you pretty much the whole area near the coast, except for Long Beach, are nice areas. Anywhere near downtown, or south of it, is pretty much a forgotten part of town.

 

General rule of thumb is when you start seeing store signs in any language other than English, you probably don't want to live around there. Most people seem to love San Francisco quite a bit, but it's ridiculously expensive. When I go back, I'm moving to Ventura hopefully, which is a quiet little beach town about a half hour north of downtown LA taking the 101 with no traffic (ha) and about 45 minutes south of Santa Barbara. As with any place, I'd recommend spending about a week or two out around where you think you're going to move to before deciding on it. Orange County is nicer the closer you stick to the coast, and some places like Huntington Beach or Garden Grove can be affordable. Some parts of San Diego are really nice too, and they have absolutely perfect weather practically year-round (never dips below 50 as far as I remember, and never gets up in the 90's). There's a lot of desert and a lot of mountains if you're into living in that sort of environment as well. Just depends on what you like, I guess, but California's got a place for pretty much everyone, which is why it's the most populated state in the country.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Well I should say I wanted to move to a place in Southern Cali pretty much, a populated city but not too much like LA, more like San Jose or San Diego, maybe even Sacramento. Hell, even if it's a nice little beach town or whatever, as long as it's close to one of the bigger cities in the state. I also don't want to go to a place where there's no real nightlife and social atmosphere. I don't want to retire.

 

What's so bad about all those things you mentioned about Los Angeles? Ha, I'm only familiar with "The city they call Long Beach" because I heard it in a bunch of songs.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Okay, San Jose and Sacramento are absolutely nowhere NEAR Southern California. That's waaaaaay the hell up north.

 

L.A.'s a great place though, and anywhere near Hollywood will guarantee you a nightlife and social atmosphere. I don't know how you are personally, but your experience can vary wildly from place to place depending on what you like. You'll probably like Santa Monica or maybe even the Valley, though you have to be careful whereabouts in the Valley.

 

Long Beach and some of the places I mentioned I don't like in L.A. are the more run-down forgotten places that seem like they won't ever get rid of their crime and poverty issues.. but unlike most places, you can go your whole life living in L.A. and never have to encounter being around these areas. Long Beach isn't really my kinda town, but neither is Compton or South Central, ya know? It's a ghettofied beach town from my experiences there, and very industrialized which is kind of a turnoff for me.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Well shows how much I know about this shit, regarding San Jose and Sac Town.

 

I was actually thinking of staying there for a couple of months somewhere, just to see where I would enjoy it, which is actually what you suggested.

 

That's actually one of the main problems I had with LA, as I never really wanted to live close to a place filled with crime or whatever, but judging by what you're saying I wouldn't have to worry about it.

 

Have you ever lived in Santa Monica or the Valley?

[Guest Vitamin X]

Yeah, the whole gangbanger thing is really just a media craze. Hell, Mikey Moore and some other white dude stood on the corner of some some street in Compton or South Central in Bowling for Columbine and it seemed like a perfectly normal, calm, albeit impoverished area. That doesn't prove much, but I'll say that there's really nothing to worry about with the gangs and shit that supposedly are all over L.A... it's no worse than any other place, just don't fuck with them and they won't fuck with you. I got caught up in it because I was in bad shit at the time, but that's another story.

 

I lived in a couple places in the Valley (Burbank and Glendale), and have had friends who lived in Santa Monica (and spent a lot of time there while I was homeless too.. nice beach!) and I liked the time I spent in Burbank and Santa Monica. Fuck a bunch of Glendale though, but even there are some nice parts there as well. It's just that L.A. is such an immensely large, populated place (which leads to the traffic) that even the worst places has some good to it. Lots of variety.

 

The attitude is very different from the East Coast though, which I'm still trying to adjust to. People just want to mind their own business out there, but they're polite enough and have good manners for the most part. As with any place, you'll find good things along with the bad, so as the old saying still goes, the grass is always greener on the other side. For me, the bad parts about living there was how everything was so far apart and living was expensive in nice parts (when I was living in Santa Clarita for example, my mom worked 3 jobs, and had to commute for all of them.. an hour and a half for her regular one, then a 35 minute commute to her second one, and on the weekends about 45-75 minutes roundtrip for her third one).. Just bear in mind unless you work in the entertainment industry or something, it pays to be a professional out there since employment is VERY competitive and at times very difficult to find.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Hmm, thanks for the info, I plan on moving out there once I graduate which won't be for a LONG time, although I still want to spend a good part of a summer there soon enough to test out the waters so to speak.

 

Did you prefer Southern California to NoCal?

[Nighthawk 0]

I lived in South Central for a while. There was gang violence to be sure, but you could walk around and stuff.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Hmm, thanks for the info, I plan on moving out there once I graduate which won't be for a LONG time, although I still want to spend a good part of a summer there soon enough to test out the waters so to speak.

 

Did you prefer Southern California to NoCal?

Definitely. Larger variety of people. Up in Northern California you just find a lot of these pseduo-hippie/yuppie pretentious types, and it's cold, rainy, and windy up there. There's more things to do in Southern California also obviously, because LA is a much larger city than San Fran is, and San Diego is only a couple hours' drive from LA with only Orange County seperating them.

 

A lot of people prefer Northern California to Southern California, though.

[Nighthawk 0]

No Cal is better if you're rich, So Cal is better if you're budgeted.

[Matt Young 0]

VX- What would you consider to be "affordable"? Huntington Beach and Garden Grove don't seem affordable whatsoever to me.

 

I'm just curious, because once I can afford to move out of my parents' house (it sucks going back after living on my own) I'd like to live closer to the coast, but it doesn't appear to be feasible unless I win the lottery or live in a closet sized apartment in the ghetto.

[tominator89 0]

I really appreciate this information on California. The idea of moving out there, from Pennsylvania, has crossed my mind quite a bit. Sadly, I know nothing of the state so any advice is appreciated. Being someone who's lived his entire life on the East Coast (Pennsylvania and Long Island) what are the differences that I should know about?

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I like Northern California lightyears more, but I'd never move to California, so I'd probably opt for Oregon or Washington, were I to move out west.

[Crimson Platypus 0]

San Diego is still the best place I have ever lived. Fucking paradise there. Plus, tons of scantilly clad Brazillian women. Of course now I live in shit-hole Michigan so what the hell do I know.

[Matt Young 0]

I really appreciate this information on California. The idea of moving out there, from Pennsylvania, has crossed my mind quite a bit. Sadly, I know nothing of the state so any advice is appreciated. Being someone who's lived his entire life on the East Coast (Pennsylvania and Long Island) what are the differences that I should know about?

I am by no means an expert on this stuff, but I can tell you one thing- If you hate cold weather like me, the climate alone is a good enough reason to move. Fuck those sub zero winters in Illinois. I was wearing shorts in January.

 

The main drawback about living out here, as you may have guessed, is the cost of living. Housing costs where I live are twice as much as they were back in Illinois, and they only increase the closer you get to the coast (I'm maybe an hour away).