does anybody live in california??

[Alan D. 0]

After few years living in the city on the east coast, I have this desire has been arisen moving to somewhere like a country side and specifically beach area somewhere like in california with all the nature and nice sunny weather. I even listen that song "california dream" everyday.I really want to know what it's like to live there. is it really a paradise for immigrants? just a random thought..

One thing these people are not telling you. You can't actually go swimming at the beach ... even in the middle of the summer ... unless you're all the way down in San Diego or vicinity. Frankie and Annette lied. That water is FREAKIN COLD. ...

East coast water is like a bathtub but that's not the case on the west side.

[Alan D. 0]

After few years living in the city on the east coast, I have this desire has been arisen moving to somewhere like a country side and specifically beach area somewhere like in california with all the nature and nice sunny weather. I even listen that song "california dream" everyday.I really want to know what it's like to live there. is it really a paradise for immigrants? just a random thought..

On the upside ... now is a great time to buy a house in California if you've got the job and money. Prices are still slightly below outrageous.

[Marilyn. 340]

As a ex-californian I can honestly say I am very glad to be out of that god forsaken state. I was born there, lived there till I turned 13 and then moved away. I have been back several times and each trip re-afirms why I moved away. It's a nice place to visit but live...hmm you have to make at least $4000 a month to live there comfortably. The last time I was down there which was a few years ago, a loaf of bread was $5 and a gallon of milk was $7. I dont know about now. I looked at some places to rent and #######, $1000 a month for a studio. No thanks I'll stick to Idaho with our 4 seasons, cheap cost of living (you can rent a 4 bedroom house for <$900/month) and our .89 loafs of bread. Crime is another problem in Cali,there is lots of it.

not sure where you were living but we pay about 1000 bucks for a nice two bedroom 2 level apartment.. yeah, Idaho still is cheaper in that department:P

but bread doesn't cost 5 bucks here though nor does milk cost 7 bucks... I can get a loaf of bread for under a dollar and a gallon of milk from 2 to 3 bucks...

[redBlue 1]

After few years living in the city on the east coast, I have this desire has been arisen moving to somewhere like a country side and specifically beach area somewhere like in california with all the nature and nice sunny weather. I even listen that song "california dream" everyday.I really want to know what it's like to live there. is it really a paradise for immigrants? just a random thought..

Here is a good site for some comparison http://www.bestplaces.net/city/

Good Luck

[Hannah+Vito 0]

As a ex-californian I can honestly say I am very glad to be out of that god forsaken state. I was born there, lived there till I turned 13 and then moved away. I have been back several times and each trip re-afirms why I moved away. It's a nice place to visit but live...hmm you have to make at least $4000 a month to live there comfortably. The last time I was down there which was a few years ago, a loaf of bread was $5 and a gallon of milk was $7. I dont know about now. I looked at some places to rent and #######, $1000 a month for a studio. No thanks I'll stick to Idaho with our 4 seasons, cheap cost of living (you can rent a 4 bedroom house for <$900/month) and our .89 loafs of bread. Crime is another problem in Cali,there is lots of it.

not sure where you were living but we pay about 1000 bucks for a nice two bedroom 2 level apartment.. yeah, Idaho still is cheaper in that department:P

but bread doesn't cost 5 bucks here though nor does milk cost 7 bucks... I can get a loaf of bread for under a dollar and a gallon of milk from 2 to 3 bucks...

Where are you living marilyn because we were looking for something that size and price to live and couldn't find it.

Edited June 17, 2009 by Hannah+Vito

[What Happened? 4]

As a ex-californian I can honestly say I am very glad to be out of that god forsaken state. I was born there, lived there till I turned 13 and then moved away. I have been back several times and each trip re-afirms why I moved away. It's a nice place to visit but live...hmm you have to make at least $4000 a month to live there comfortably. The last time I was down there which was a few years ago, a loaf of bread was $5 and a gallon of milk was $7. I dont know about now. I looked at some places to rent and #######, $1000 a month for a studio. No thanks I'll stick to Idaho with our 4 seasons, cheap cost of living (you can rent a 4 bedroom house for <$900/month) and our .89 loafs of bread. Crime is another problem in Cali,there is lots of it.

not sure where you were living but we pay about 1000 bucks for a nice two bedroom 2 level apartment.. yeah, Idaho still is cheaper in that department:P

but bread doesn't cost 5 bucks here though nor does milk cost 7 bucks... I can get a loaf of bread for under a dollar and a gallon of milk from 2 to 3 bucks...

Where are you living marilyn because we were looking for something that size and price to live and couldn't find it.

It's in central and Northern California. Fresno, Stockton, Sacramento, Roseville etc. and the 1000 bucks is most likely a newer and nicer apartment in Sacramento. Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay area are where the high rents are.

[Creel 0]

California is an extremely large State with over 30 million people. If you are seriously considering moving here you need to come visit first. I was born and raised in the Central Valley here so it is home, but my husband hates it here. You need a car for everything unless you live in San Francisco (SF). Public transport in Southern Cal is impossible. Yes it can be expensive, but my brother is getting ready to buy a decent house in Fresno for under $90k and minimum wage in the State is $8.00. My cousin rents a little dump in SF for $1,100 a month, but she is one street from the ocean. In general wages are better here than in most of the rest of the country. If you live inland you make $20- $30k less than in the Bay area or Southern Cal for the same type of professional job, but the cost to live is a lot less.

I would like to move around and experience more of the world, but California will always be my base and where I retire. It is so diverse that you can find something for everyone here.

The weather in the Central Valley (Sacramento down to Bakersfield, aprox. 250 miles) ranges from 105 in the summer to freezing in the winter, but everyone has central heat and air conditioning so it is quite livable. The Bay area stays cooler, even in the summer and Southern Cal in general stays warmer.

Good luck on your decision.

[emmaline_g 2]

I consider myself lucky that I was born in California. In the north we have nice mountains, vineyards, etc. and in the south we have beaches and Hollywood. If you live in Northern California you can make a trip to Southern California in 45 minutes by plane, or 8 hours by a very beautiful, scenic road trip.

I live in San Francisco... there has not been a major earthquake in 20 years and it is very expensive to live inside a city. My rent is $1350/month for a 1br apartment and I certainly DO NOT make $4000 per month. It's true that that would be the amount to make if you want to live comfortably. As it is right now I live very frugally and I'm "comfortable" but really would like to make more! The weather in SF does not follow the same pattern as the rest of California ("the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco..."). And I feel that the history of my city is overshadowed by people who move here and act weird for the sake of being weird!

And like Creel said you need a car unless you live in San Francisco. I am laughing at how true that is. Even then, San Francisco's municipal transit system is kind of crappy and unreliable but apparently it's the best in the state. Ew!

I have also lived in the Silicon Valley... it is much more hot down there and good if you work in a technological field.

I also visit Los Angeles frequently... it's very very hot in Southern California and obviously that's where Hollywood / Disneyland / Malibu etc. is. I don't know what it's like to live there but I like visiting. The most famous person I saw there was Simon Cowell, do I get any cool points for that?

ANYWAY... to the OP

If you want to move to California I recommend that you live just *outside* of a city. Like if I wanted to live near a major city, I would move to a small town NEAR the city where the rent will be cheaper, then I would commute to the city, work there, and commute back home. This way you won't be overwhelmed by how overpriced the cities can be, but you will still be close enough to make trips to the cities/countrysides and enjoy all the local culture.

I highly recommend California but dont jump in unprepared and end up hating us!

Edited June 17, 2009 by emmaline_g

[whatislove 0]

After few years living in the city on the east coast, I have this desire has been arisen moving to somewhere like a country side and specifically beach area somewhere like in california with all the nature and nice sunny weather. I even listen that song "california dream" everyday.I really want to know what it's like to live there. is it really a paradise for immigrants? just a random thought..

Here is a good site for some comparison http://www.bestplaces.net/city/

Good Luck

Thanks!

[whatislove 0]

I consider myself lucky that I was born in California. In the north we have nice mountains, vineyards, etc. and in the south we have beaches and Hollywood. If you live in Northern California you can make a trip to Southern California in 45 minutes by plane, or 8 hours by a very beautiful, scenic road trip.

I live in San Francisco... there has not been a major earthquake in 20 years and it is very expensive to live inside a city. My rent is $1350/month for a 1br apartment and I certainly DO NOT make $4000 per month. It's true that that would be the amount to make if you want to live comfortably. As it is right now I live very frugally and I'm "comfortable" but really would like to make more! The weather in SF does not follow the same pattern as the rest of California ("the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco..."). And I feel that the history of my city is overshadowed by people who move here and act weird for the sake of being weird!

And like Creel said you need a car unless you live in San Francisco. I am laughing at how true that is. Even then, San Francisco's municipal transit system is kind of crappy and unreliable but apparently it's the best in the state. Ew!

I have also lived in the Silicon Valley... it is much more hot down there and good if you work in a technological field.

I also visit Los Angeles frequently... it's very very hot in Southern California and obviously that's where Hollywood / Disneyland / Malibu etc. is. I don't know what it's like to live there but I like visiting. The most famous person I saw there was Simon Cowell, do I get any cool points for that?

ANYWAY... to the OP

If you want to move to California I recommend that you live just *outside* of a city. Like if I wanted to live near a major city, I would move to a small town NEAR the city where the rent will be cheaper, then I would commute to the city, work there, and commute back home. This way you won't be overwhelmed by how overpriced the cities can be, but you will still be close enough to make trips to the cities/countrysides and enjoy all the local culture.

I highly recommend California but dont jump in unprepared and end up hating us!

Hollywood is definitely one thing i like to see all these glamourous people B) thanks for the realistic & detailed info tho!! it certainly helped to get the idea.

[Wyld Blu 35]

I consider myself lucky that I was born in California. In the north we have nice mountains, vineyards, etc. and in the south we have beaches and Hollywood. If you live in Northern California you can make a trip to Southern California in 45 minutes by plane, or 8 hours by a very beautiful, scenic road trip.

I live in San Francisco... there has not been a major earthquake in 20 years and it is very expensive to live inside a city. My rent is $1350/month for a 1br apartment and I certainly DO NOT make $4000 per month. It's true that that would be the amount to make if you want to live comfortably. As it is right now I live very frugally and I'm "comfortable" but really would like to make more! The weather in SF does not follow the same pattern as the rest of California ("the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco..."). And I feel that the history of my city is overshadowed by people who move here and act weird for the sake of being weird!

And like Creel said you need a car unless you live in San Francisco. I am laughing at how true that is. Even then, San Francisco's municipal transit system is kind of crappy and unreliable but apparently it's the best in the state. Ew!

I have also lived in the Silicon Valley... it is much more hot down there and good if you work in a technological field.

I also visit Los Angeles frequently... it's very very hot in Southern California and obviously that's where Hollywood / Disneyland / Malibu etc. is. I don't know what it's like to live there but I like visiting. The most famous person I saw there was Simon Cowell, do I get any cool points for that?

ANYWAY... to the OP

If you want to move to California I recommend that you live just *outside* of a city. Like if I wanted to live near a major city, I would move to a small town NEAR the city where the rent will be cheaper, then I would commute to the city, work there, and commute back home. This way you won't be overwhelmed by how overpriced the cities can be, but you will still be close enough to make trips to the cities/countrysides and enjoy all the local culture.

I highly recommend California but dont jump in unprepared and end up hating us!

Hollywood is definitely one thing i like to see all these glamourous people B) thanks for the realistic & detailed info tho!! it certainly helped to get the idea.

Er...um...don't mean to burst yer bubble...but the glamourous people don't hang down on Hollyweird Blvd. Grauman's Chinese Theater is a fun, touristy thing to see and walking the Blvd to see the Walk of Fame is cool for a minute...the sidewalk performers can even be entertaining. I recommend ya do it once and get it out of your system.

-Blu-(slightly jaded)

[Marilyn. 340]

As a ex-californian I can honestly say I am very glad to be out of that god forsaken state. I was born there, lived there till I turned 13 and then moved away. I have been back several times and each trip re-afirms why I moved away. It's a nice place to visit but live...hmm you have to make at least $4000 a month to live there comfortably. The last time I was down there which was a few years ago, a loaf of bread was $5 and a gallon of milk was $7. I dont know about now. I looked at some places to rent and #######, $1000 a month for a studio. No thanks I'll stick to Idaho with our 4 seasons, cheap cost of living (you can rent a 4 bedroom house for <$900/month) and our .89 loafs of bread. Crime is another problem in Cali,there is lots of it.

not sure where you were living but we pay about 1000 bucks for a nice two bedroom 2 level apartment.. yeah, Idaho still is cheaper in that department:P

but bread doesn't cost 5 bucks here though nor does milk cost 7 bucks... I can get a loaf of bread for under a dollar and a gallon of milk from 2 to 3 bucks...

Where are you living marilyn because we were looking for something that size and price to live and couldn't find it.

we live in Covina, about 20 miles from the actual city of Los Angeles.. it really isn't the greatest neighborhood but our place is nice and big.. we are thinking of moving to San Dimas next year..... you can get a 2 bedroom apartment there for about 1200 to 1300 a month.. a smaller place then what we have now though.... but most of them have pools, fitness centers and on site laundry facilities and they are usually gated...

Edited June 17, 2009 by Marilyn.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I've lived in California for 29 years. A little less than half that time in SoCal. I moved to the SF Bay Area a little after the Loma Prieta quake, and before the Northridge quake - missed both of 'em! Talk about timing!

I started here as an electronics engineer working in aerospace, and then switched over to computer programming before the bottom fell out of the aerospace industry in the late 1980's. Again, great timing!

Good things about California: The weather is great, overall, but it depends a lot on where you live. Inland is going to be hotter in the summer, and the high desert is insufferably hot. On the flip side, living right on the beach can have a therapeutic affect on both body and soul, but it can also be freakin' cold and windy pretty much all the time. The best climate seems to be a measured distance from the coast - within two to five miles in SoCal, and within twenty or thirty miles in NorCal. Professional jobs in California tend to be some of the highest paid in the country. California also has some excellent public and private universities, though the public primary and secondary schools tend to suck pretty hard.

Bad things about California: The cost of living is very high. The closer you get to the cities, the higher your living expenses will be. Taxes are the worst in the nation. State sales taxes were recently increased to 8.25%, but many cities and counties add to that. In Alameda county, where I currently live, the total sales tax is 9.75%. State income taxes are also high - up to 9.3% for anyone making over about $45K per year, which is not a very high income level in California. Fuel costs are high - gasoline prices in the Bay Area are often the highest in the country - and has been noted, you cannot live in California without a car, save for San Francisco which is the only city in the state that resembles an east coast city. The rest of the cities are widely dispersed into many dozens of suburban communities. As has also been noted, public transportation sucks horribly, but it's mainly because everything is so spread out - you're not often near a rail station, and it can take several bus transfers to get where you're going. Also, each community or county often has it's own bus system, so you need to transfer when you cross from one district to another.

Housing prices have tanked in the state, but they are still far above the national average. It also looks as if the prices haven't quite bottomed out yet, so be cautious buying a home here now.

Don't forget - California is on the verge of an unprecidented bankruptcy that may result in a complete shutdown of the state government, and all services provided by the state.

If you have skills in a field where employment and wages are good, and you're looking for a place with a mild climate and great people, California is still a great place to live. On the other hand, if you expect your income level to be pretty low then you're better off someplace with a more affordable cost of living.

[Wyld Blu 35]

I've lived in California for 29 years. A little less than half that time in SoCal. I moved to the SF Bay Area a little after the Loma Prieta quake, and before the Northridge quake - missed both of 'em! Talk about timing!

I started here as an electronics engineer working in aerospace, and then switched over to computer programming before the bottom fell out of the aerospace industry in the late 1980's. Again, great timing!

Good things about California: The weather is great, overall, but it depends a lot on where you live. Inland is going to be hotter in the summer, and the high desert is insufferably hot. On the flip side, living right on the beach can have a therapeutic affect on both body and soul, but it can also be freakin' cold and windy pretty much all the time. The best climate seems to be a measured distance from the coast - within two to five miles in SoCal, and within twenty or thirty miles in NorCal. Professional jobs in California tend to be some of the highest paid in the country. California also has some excellent public and private universities, though the public primary and secondary schools tend to suck pretty hard.

Bad things about California: The cost of living is very high. The closer you get to the cities, the higher your living expenses will be. Taxes are the worst in the nation. State sales taxes were recently increased to 8.25%, but many cities and counties add to that. In Alameda county, where I currently live, the total sales tax is 9.75%. State income taxes are also high - up to 9.3% for anyone making over about $45K per year, which is not a very high income level in California. Fuel costs are high - gasoline prices in the Bay Area are often the highest in the country - and has been noted, you cannot live in California without a car, save for San Francisco which is the only city in the state that resembles an east coast city. The rest of the cities are widely dispersed into many dozens of suburban communities. As has also been noted, public transportation sucks horribly, but it's mainly because everything is so spread out - you're not often near a rail station, and it can take several bus transfers to get where you're going. Also, each community or county often has it's own bus system, so you need to transfer when you cross from one district to another.

Housing prices have tanked in the state, but they are still far above the national average. It also looks as if the prices haven't quite bottomed out yet, so be cautious buying a home here now.

Don't forget - California is on the verge of an unprecidented bankruptcy that may result in a complete shutdown of the state government, and all services provided by the state.

If you have skills in a field where employment and wages are good, and you're looking for a place with a mild climate and great people, California is still a great place to live. On the other hand, if you expect your income level to be pretty low then you're better off someplace with a more affordable cost of living.

Well...yes, So. Cal. IS very hot in the summer...but the high desert...at least around where I live tends to be a bit cooler than the San Fernando Valley. We get breezes up here...and full out wind storms in the fall. We also get just a bit of snow. Enough to be beautiful then melt off...usually. Last winter, I was snowed out of my house when they shut down the freeway for 2 days. I couldn't go home. Luckily, some of my family was snowed IN, so they got to take care of all the animals. But that is not the normal M.O. I wish I could stay here. But when my fiance gets here, we are going to have to move. We want to start up a couple of businesses and well, California is priced out of our range...and going under fast.

-Blu-(throw me a line)