Why the hard time for Cali?

originally posted by: TNMockingbird

originally posted by: CornishCeltGuy

originally posted by: TNMockingbird
a reply to: CornishCeltGuy

Well, just know if he gets 'skint' (?) and needs help, if he can get to me he's got a roof and a belly full ( may be mostly full in all honesty LOL) until you can send for him,
Anyways, good luck to the young man, I remember being young, fearless and going wherever the wind blew. Those were some of the best times of my life!

Ah thank you, I know

Same applies back at ya, need life saving cancer treatment but don't wanna lose your house ever, just shout me, you'll be my American bird.
EDIT
...and the NHS will treat you for free, you never have to go bankrupt over cancer as my friend x

Just take after my girls if they ever wind up in the crap hole London that everyone speaks of! The want to go badly and I try to deter them as much as possible but they are strong so...just return favor?!
My family loves London and visits often and that does not help my case for keeping them home LOL

Deal, but tell them to just see 'the sights' for a day then get the heck out of that cess pit London as fast as they can!
Any south or south west coastal city or town will provide a much safer and happier experience than staying in London, cheaper as well.

originally posted by: Oldtimer2
a reply to: toysforadults

800 a month in an old building in the seedy part of town for a 1 bdrm apt,plus it just gets more expensive from there,drive a car? bring lot's of cash think the gas is expensive try paying to register and smog your cars,I have 3 like renting another place

I'm talking 800 a month to rent a room if you want an apartment you won't get anything less than 1300 for an effieciency in Santa Anna in gang controlled territory.

a reply to: CornishCeltGuy

California is not all bad. Northern California is fricken amazing. The mountain ranges and Redwood national forest are unreal. Once you get away from SF and LA California is truly amazing.

I've also made some really good friends who live out there.

a reply to: CornishCeltGuy

I'd check some of the Gulf Coast states and avoid the really large cities. Look for a middling sized one. Most of the really bad crime is concentrated in certain areas in the largest cities. For example, I live in one of the two largest cities in Missouri, and we are considered high crime, but most of avoiding it is a function of knowing where not to go and even when not to go there.

I imagine it's the same more or less anywhere.

But if I were advising someone to look in this area, I'd say to check out some of the middling sized towns back into Kansas like Lawrence, Topeka, Manhattan, Salina -- they're all growing and not too big, so they'd have jobs and be moderately priced.

I'd say check the sizes and prospects there and then trasnfer those characteristics to cities and towns in states along the Gulf Coast like Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, and the Carolinas. I wouldn't let myself be put off too much by overall state stats. A state can show some dismal stats but still have some very nice places to live. All those states I mentioned have some very, very poor rural areas for example which pull them down.

a reply to: toysforadults
So any medium sized towns/settlements outside of the two big cities you (or anyone else) could recommend so I can do a bit of net searching?

a reply to: ketsuko
Ah thanks for the brilliant reply
I'll do some searching now.
As you said 'state stats' are as misleading as UK stats which are skewed by cess pit cities like London.
I'm only a few hours away from London but my lifestyle and environment couldn't be any more different if you tried to imagine. Coast and countryside, chilled back outlook, low crime, etc, it's why so many people from London buy second homes here to eventually retire.

a reply to: CornishCeltGuy

I lived there for the first half of my almost-40 years of life, and California is a cesspool of fake people, fake outrage, and fake tolerance. The politics there suck, too, if you don't tow the most extreme of political lines (at least in public...most people have a public and private persona in California [see my point about fake people]).

And it's getting worse as the years go by.

But, yes, the weather in most places is lovely. Where I grew up (in the crotch of the San Joaquin Valley...Bakersfield), the average year sees 272 sunny days, but with an average July temperature of 97 degrees and an average annual rainfall of less-than 7 inches. My mom, OTOH, lives up by Lake Tahoe, and it's lovely there in the summer. It sure sucked having a free place to stay when I went up to visit.

Bakersfield

Lake Tahoe

Where would you rather hang out?

a reply to: SlapMonkey
Ooh the lake environment looks so much nicer, but are the people nicer and less fake up there as well?
Can you name one town in (warm) Cali which you'd recommend?
I say town, but I know US cities have smaller populations than some UK towns. 60 odd thousand people in my town but I have a friend in the US who lives in a 'city' but it's only around ten thousand population.

originally posted by: toysforadults
Tell your son he's going to need at least 800+ a month that's the cost for room rental and even much higher in nicer areas.

Maybe you could find a non-code room in somebody's garage for that amount in Los Angeles.

Live in southern CA. Love it. Perhaps you all should take the partisan blinders off.

We've got...
Endless summer, but snow in the mountains if I want it.
Dry heat.
Desert is amazing and beautiful.
Beach.
Diversity among people, food, and tons of diversity in nature.
Architecture is cool.
I work on old cars for fun... no salted roads or rust. Yeah!
A general appreciation of old design is upheld.

Only thing that actually bothers me about LA... everything here is way too slow.
But I think that about everywhere. Lived in NYC for too long where everything is streamlined.

a reply to: okrian

So where would you recommend my son go in So Cal as a safe starter to make his applications and what not?

If you want "ocean" and "warm" check out Savannah, Georgia. I lived in Georgia for a couple of years and I could live there again. Savannah is a wonderful city with a lot of personality.

originally posted by: okrian
Live in southern CA. Love it. Perhaps you all should take the partisan blinders off.

We've got...
Endless summer, but snow in the mountains if I want it.
Dry heat.
Desert is amazing and beautiful.
Beach.
Diversity among people, food, and tons of diversity in nature.
Architecture is cool.
I work on old cars for fun... no salted roads or rust. Yeah!
A general appreciation of old design is upheld.

Only thing that actually bothers me about LA... everything here is way too slow.
But I think that about everywhere. Lived in NYC for too long where everything is streamlined.

I like your description of Cali. I was born and bred in beach area from Santa Monica to Long Beach.

First off, Cali is very diverse -- politically and otherwise.

I've been in AZ for about 30 years. I miss the more relaxed "Live and let Live" attitude of the area I came from.

But, the cost of living is high and the job market is very competitive.

I don't remember store clerks having personal conversations with other clerks about their family & kids -- while customers wait in line. Something that seems to be normal in AZ.

a reply to: schuyler
Just searched it, looks gorgeous
I shall suggest it to my lad.

a reply to: schuyler

I actually have a friend to just moved back to Savannah and she loves it there too.

a reply to: okrian
It does look gorgeous though so I can understand that.
Are Georgian folk friendly, red or blue state? Would a twenty something Brit lad feel welcomed there if he's not being a prick?

a reply to: Annee

I lived in Flagstaff for a few years at one point and it was beautiful (albeit a bit cold). There was just so much so close. Sedona & Oak Creek 1/2 hr away to the south (along with Jerome - so cool). Vast woodlands to the west (or CA if you drive far enough). Grand Canyon to the north, painted desert to the east. Larger desert to the south. It was great. It's funny that now Flagstaff has gotten too big to me (it's been almost 30 years since I lived there), yet LA I accept. I guess it's all in the expectation that you have for a particular place.

Ugh, I feel like everyone here is also talking about their life with the clerk and slowly paying by check. Ha!
NYC just had the streamlining down. Everything is rounded in order to make transactions quick. For example, can of coke... 1 dollar, no scanners at the register, the clerk just knows how much it is. If there is someone in front of me being slow I can just yell to the clerk "1 coke!", toss my dollar on the counter in front of the slow tourist and walk out. No fuss, no muss. Less time at the store, more time TCB.

a reply to: CornishCeltGuy

If you want warm, you should either go south of Los Angeles, the "Inland Empire," or stay in the San Joaquin Valley in between Stockton and Bakersfield.

The valley (the largest on in the world, from what I understand) is one of the largest agricultural areas around, and it's that way because of the warmth and sunshine. The mountains to the west block oceanic humidity, so it keep it quite sunny and dry in there.

The downfall to many of these places is that the heat and the UV-index (sunburns!) can and often do get extreme. I remember many days in my youth being over 110-degrees (Fahrenheit) with direct sunlight and not much wind.

But like they say, "At least it's a dry heat."

That really does make a difference, though, because shade actually cools you off, whereas here in Kentucky where I now live, shade doesn't do sh*t to cool you down in the summer.

So, if you're looking for the highest chance of warmth during the year, stick to those places. Of course, you could venture out to some of the small towns in the Mojave Desert, but I wouldn't recommend it.

a reply to: CornishCeltGuy

I think it's a nice mix as it's a more liberal college town embedded in the south (not so liberal). Mix of worlds. Gotta be ok with humidity though!