Chad Thorne Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 First, hope none of you are in harm's way from these wildfires that are burning right now. Next, a - not rhetorical - question: California has mudslides, wildfires, earthquakes on a fairly regular basis. For those of you who stay, why? I think CA must be a veritable Shangrila to make it worth it. Specific examples of the benefits you see would be appreciated. If it's that great maybe my wife and I should move there. Or maybe you just can't afford to re-locate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moot Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Cali has just about everything you can think of. Mountains, desert, big cities, ocean, farmland, etc., and it's all within a days drive. I've been in Maine my friend and it is a beautiful place but, it aint California. "He is to music what Stevie Wonder is to photography." getz76 I have nothing nice to say so . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RHINO_ROB Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 I have been through and lived in many Southern states, California has to be some of the greatest natural scenery I have ever seen(Arizona and New Mexico a close second). One of my favorite views is a mile from my house. I will say this about the South though. They have some of the nicest most generous people that you will ever meet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Thorne Posted August 31, 2009 Author Share Posted August 31, 2009 I've been in Maine my friend and it is a beautiful place but, it aint California. Chalk and cheese. I haven't yet been to CA, but I'm sure it's not ME. It just seems that CA must have a LOT to offer if people are willing to put up with natural catastrophes on a routine basis to live there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy c Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 I grew up in southern New England (Rhode Island). Then I moved to Michigan and then to Northern California. I've been here 40 years and I'm never going back. Not afford to relocate? If I were to sell my house here (which would sell in approximately 2 weeks), I could either buy two houses almost anywhere else in the country or I could buy a pretty nice estate instead of the 1000 sq. ft. bungalow that I live in. California has mudslides, wildfires, earthquakes on a fairly regular basis. There isn't going to be a mudslide or a wildfire in my neighborhood. An earthquake lasts less than 30 seconds. The east coast has hurricanes, blizzards, slush and sleet, black ice, cold snaps, heatwaves, rainy summers, rainy springs, rainy autumns on a regular basis. The weather here is incredible. It ranges from the 50s to the 70s pretty much year round. I ride my bike, hike and swim outdoors on a daily basis. Mountains, desert, big cities, ocean, farmland, etc., and it's all within a days drive. Other than the desert, all that stuff is within 30 miles of where I live. Within a half hour, I can be in downtown San Francisco, hiking in a park in the hills (where you can't see any cities), walking on a beach by the bay, or enjoying one of the myriad of cultural attractions around here. In an hour I could be on a mountaintop, at a winery in the beautiful Napa Valley, or sitting on an ocean beach with no one else there other than the occasional sea elephant. If I liked to ski, I could be at a ski resort in three hours. One of my favorite views is a mile from my house. If I walk out my front door, turn left and walk 100 feet to the corner, I can see the S.F. Bay, The Golden Gate Bridge with the ocean behind it, downtown San Francisco, Alcatraz Island, Angel Island, and Mount Tamalpais. Free download of my cd!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davio Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 ...all this place needs is an oversized poster of Atlantic City. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Thorne Posted August 31, 2009 Author Share Posted August 31, 2009 There isn't going to be a mudslide or a wildfire in my neighborhood.Which was going to be one of my next questions, and you answered it. It isn't the whole state that's subject to those calamities. O.K. An earthquake lasts less than 30 seconds. Until the Big One which drops the whole time zone into the Pacific, leading people to vacation on the west coast of sunny Idaho? I mean, either Californians don't see the risk of that happening as very big, or else you're all in denial. I'm not saying, I'm asking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenfxj Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Mountains, desert, big cities, ocean, farmland, etc., and it's all within a days drive. Other than the desert, all that stuff is within 30 miles of where I live. Me too and I'm in Jersey. Los Angeles struck me as the classic nice place to visit but... As a born and bred New Yorker, LA reminded me of Queens with palm trees. I've never see San Diego but hear nothing but good things. Anaheim was nice. Push the button Frank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bear Jew Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 I spent about a month each in Sausalito and LA--two VERY different places in Cali. I won't even try to say that I've seen all of California, but what I have seen was absolutely lovely. While I was there, I was more afraid of traffic jams than natural disasters. I think there are a lot of great places to live in this country. Some of those small towns in Maine, for example, are breath-taking. Having said all of this, I am pretty happy where I am. Wherever you go, there you are. \m/ Erik "To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting." --Sun Tzu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rizzo9247 Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Pepperidge Farm Sausalito cookies are the shiznit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picker Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Cali has just about everything you can think of. Mountains, desert, big cities, ocean, farmland, etc., and it's all within a days drive. Yeah, and a person standing on pretty much every 1.5 square feet enjoying it, too. Most crowded place I ever lived, couldn't hardly find a place where you couldn't see at least one other person cluttering up the scenery. Then again, that was 27 years ago. What with the taxes and gangs and aforementioned almost continuous natural disasters either driving people out or killing them off, the population may have dropped a bit... Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil W Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 California is beautiful and as said, it's only certain areas susceptible to fires and major earthquakes are very rare. Of course England is very safe as we really have never had natural disasters on any kind of scale (touch wood). Even in LA, the fires are fairly close to my in-laws but there's practically no chance they could cross the highway to reach their property. Those houses up in the hills look beautiful but they are susceptible to fire. California has the kind of variety of scenery that is pretty hard to find in another state. It also has diversity, great music and fantastic local produce. I always preferred the Bay Area to LA but LA is OK to visit. I wouldn't like to live in the US though as I'd hate being reliant on a car. http://philwbass.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davio Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 I wouldn't like to live in the US though as I'd hate being reliant on a car. You should visit Boston. I'm getting on famously without. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bear Jew Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 You're famously without. \m/ Erik "To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting." --Sun Tzu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy c Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Why do people live in places like the Gulf Coast where there are going to be hurricanes every year? In places which have tornadoes? Floods? Beats me. I live 14 feet above sea level. When S.F. sinks into the ocean, I'll have beachfront property. Free download of my cd!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcadmus Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 If it weren't for the high cost of living and the natural disasters, Cali would be paradise. "Tours widely in the southwestern tip of Kentucky" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil W Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 I worry about BassLand. He is up that way in Altadena I think. Bob Lee has maybe had to evacuate. http://www.bassland.net/ http://philwbass.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy c Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Until the Big One which drops the whole time zone into the Pacific, leading people to vacation on the west coast of sunny Idaho? You are watching too many movies. The biggest earthquake here in the San Francisco area was in 1906. Most of the damage caused to the city, of which parts were leveled, was caused by the fire not the earthquake. Many buildings collapsed and there are places where you can see where the land moved. The picture below was taken at Pt. Reyes, north of S.F. Before the earthquake, the two halves of the fence were connected. http://www.nps.gov/pore/naturescience/images/pic_eq_splitfence_285x190.jpg We had a pretty big earthquake in 1989. Some freeways collapsed and some homes. If you watched the news carefully you would have seen that they showed the same four blocks over and over. That's really the only places where houses collapsed. I was working about six blocks from where those houses were and although the large four story building I was in moved (enough so that if you were standing like I was, you had to hold on to something in order to not fall over), no one was hurt and the building suffered no structural damage. The Bay Bridge did not collapse and fall into the water. One panel of pavement fell. The World Series game was stopped as cracks appeared in the stadium. No one was hurt. At my home, one earthenware vase fell off the mantelpiece and broke. Actually after the experience, my wife and I are less afraid of "the big one". Our house is bolted to the foundation and we have plenty of food, water, batteries and propane gas in case there is a problem. When I lived in R.I., in 1954 (I was 6) downtown Providence ended up under 13 feet of water due to a hurricane. Later in the Blizzard of '78 my mom was trapped in a restaurant downtown for two nights. She finally walked three miles through the snow to get home. I'm staying right where I am in beautiful northern California. I went bike riding yesterday. Here's the view from the bike path (I got there in 15 minutes): http://www.abag.org/bayarea/baytrail/vtour/map5/access/ashbyspit/3.jpg (just to be honest, there were 8 lanes of bumper-to-bumper gridlock on the freeway to the left of me. However, I was looking to the right, listening to the waves lap on the shore, and feeling a cool salty breeze.) Free download of my cd!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Thorne Posted August 31, 2009 Author Share Posted August 31, 2009 Until the Big One which drops the whole time zone into the Pacific, leading people to vacation on the west coast of sunny Idaho? You are watching too many movies.Well, there ya go, I acknowledge my ignorance, that's why I asked. Hope I'm not making you defensive, not my intention; I've actually considered the possibility of moving to Ca a number of times for 2 reasons: 1. More musical opportunities. 2. No winter. Along with this is the fact that California is the agricultural capitol of the U.S., and my wife and I are agricultural people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy c Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Me, defensive? How dare you say that! A lot of the agriculture is gigantic corporate-owned factory farms, so I hope that doesn't burst your bubble. Free download of my cd!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Thorne Posted August 31, 2009 Author Share Posted August 31, 2009 Nope, that only makes sense. I know there are a number of small family farms here and there, too. I'll probably never leave Maine, it's my home and it took me too long to get back here after too many years away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b5pilot Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Cali has just about everything you can think of. Mountains, desert, big cities, ocean, farmland, etc., and it's all within a days drive. We have that in Michigan, somewhat. You want Ocean? I give you the Great Lakes. Standing on a beach it looks very similar except no salty water. You want deserts. We have Sleeping Bear dunes. Mountains? Well we don't have anything like the the Rockys but we have some great hills and spectacular rock formations. Farmlands? big cities? Yep we've got 'em. Even a waterfall and a bridge akin to the Goldengate. No major disasters unless you include our local government and our economy. Those however are still on par with Cali if not actually a little better. Unfortunately we don't have a climate like they do in Southern California except for a short period. But we don't get as heavy a snowfall as the do in Maine. Or NorEasters. Sorry for the slight Hijack but I thought I'd toot my horn about my home state while we were at it. Lydian mode? The only mode I know has the words "pie ala" in front of it. http://www.myspace.com/theeldoradosband Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slinky P Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Mountains, desert, big cities, ocean, farmland, etc., and it's all within a days drive. Other than the desert, all that stuff is within 30 miles of where I live. Me too and I'm in Jersey. My school is on a national park which has a beach. In the winter it snows. Snow on the beach is awesome. Actually the beach is awesome any time. BTW hurricanes = good surf so I actually enjoy them sometimes... "there ain't no faux mojo" jcadmus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davio Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Why do people live in places like the Gulf Coast where there are going to be hurricanes every year? I grew up in Tampa and from what I remember hearing, the last hurricane that actually came through Tampa (as opposed to the projection saying it would go through Tampa) was before I was born. Hurricanes I can stand...Summers with 100 degrees/100% humidity, I can not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy c Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 C'mon, man. I've been in Tampa once for a grand total of 24 hours. We flew in to play a 15 minute show and turned around and left. There was (of course) a hurricane the night we arrived. Not big enough to do any damage, but a hurricane nonetheless. The gear did not make it on the night we arrived and it was touch and go as to whether it would arrive in time for the show the next afternoon. (there was tons of gear: stage sets, props, costumes, etc.) Free download of my cd!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cthulhu Fhtagn Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Lived in the Bay Area for four years back in the 70's. Didn't like it. Won't go back. That's just me. Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davio Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 C'mon, man. I've been in Tampa once for a grand total of 24 hours. We flew in to play a 15 minute show and turned around and left. There was (of course) a hurricane the night we arrived. Not big enough to do any damage, but a hurricane nonetheless. The gear did not make it on the night we arrived and it was touch and go as to whether it would arrive in time for the show the next afternoon. (there was tons of gear: stage sets, props, costumes, etc.) There's a huge difference between getting hit by a hurricane and getting a storm from a hurricane. It's like the difference between getting a little tremor and getting a quake that levels a city. I didn't say FL had favorable weather, just that Tampa hasn't been hit by a hurricane in a couple decades. The areas around Tampa have been hammered in the past few years but somehow Tampa always dodges the bullet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davio Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 There's also a big difference between a hurricane and a tropical storm. The difference between wind that messes up your hair and wind that can plant a 2x4 throught the trunk of a tree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicklab Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 I was vehemently anti-California for years. I attribute that to growing up in the New York area and having a fierce love of New York City. And with that came some disdain for California. That is, until I actually went to California and spent some time there. I spent a couple of weeks working in the Bay Area, and that totally wowed me. I went through San Francisco and wound up working in the Napa Valley. And it was nothing short of amazing. I've also been to San Diego a couple of times. And it's got a very cool vibe. The weather's amazing. But LA? LA sucks. It's an overgrown suburb with a big brown cloud hanging over it. I spent about a week there and was totally underwhelmed. Obligatory Social Media Link "My concern is, and I have to, uh, check with my accountant, that this might bump me into a higher, uh, tax..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenLoy Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Northern California is one of the most awesome places in the nation. One day I'll get back there... http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/Panorama_view_of_San_Francisco_from_Buena_Vista_Park.jpg/1200px-Panorama_view_of_San_Francisco_from_Buena_Vista_Park.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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