why do you suppose everyone has a hard-on for California
 

"hard-on" could be positive or negative. :D

it is universal. any forum, any topic. bring up CA and all bets are off. there is a 50% chance the thread will derail. no other state brings up more opinions. good or bad.

why? NY..okay NYC (to be fair) isnt even a blip on the radar by comparison.

explain please. i am a transplant here. when i was living in TX, i didnt even think about CA.

You left out Flori-duh.

Mostly because Californication is a real thing.

The state is beautiful for the scenery, has some of the best farmland in the world and the most screwed up politicians on the planet sort of Washington DC.

I have visited California three times in my 911. When most people think of California they see a mental picture of LA or southern CA along the beach. Most of the state is nothing like that. Drive through Needles or Barstow or the center part of the state and it is a different planet.

Yosemite and the Redwood Forest is mind blowing pretty. Centerville, not so much.

I'm just glad that everyone on this website is well adjusted

Calif. is the golden state with the beaches the mountains and all things in between however, for all of it's goodness.
Some of it's liberal thinking and politics has gotten way out of balance.
That along with to many people. (flakes,nuts and fruits :-) )
That's my 2 cents without getting to deep on this subject.

a huge amount of Californians are transplants, legal and illegal, the really rude ones are from New York. Hollywood hasn't helped the perception of California. On the good side you actually can surf and snow ski the same day.

That's what I asked in the other thread but mainly about real estate prices, but yeah, I agree with you Vash.


Oh, all our high quality comes from elsewhere:)

just another day in paradise. :cool:

I've lived in New York, Seattle and visited most states. California is just spectacular. I'm 20 miles East of San Francisco in Walnut Creek. Easy to SF. Easy to wine country, easy to Monterey. Easy to Lake Tahoe. And Walnut Creek is the finest city I've ever known. I just ignore local politics for the most part. I'm living in Paradise.

Well, except for you, JimSmileWavy

If you can't find something you like in California, you have a problem.
On the car/ pedestrian thing mentioned above, I've found it to be the exact opposite. It amazes me that cars actually stop to let pedestrians cross regardless where in the street you are.

^this^

had no idea you lived in WC. one of my favorite cities in CA, maybe my top 5. i lived in WC's shadow over in Concord. now..i'm in the boonies of Santa Rosa. :D

Growing up in the 50s, California was the place my parents liked to go for vacation. Disney Land, Knott's Berry Farm, Marineland of the Pacific, the National Parks...... My brothers and I would squirrel away every penny we could so we could blow it all there. Great memories. Later on, I have visited many times and loved it all, the last time was a week in the Sacramento area a few years ago.

California is the land of the golden dream. It really is spectacular. I am constantly amazed by how much diversity the state holds. It could easily be its own country and be a top destination. I think a lot of it comes from jealousy. California gets a lot of "air time" in the media, so there is also that. People might get sick of hearing of it.

Yeah well **** you!

j/k ;)

Almost 20 years in California. I've earned my opinion.

My take is a little different:
there is lots and lots of great stuff in this state, and lots and lots of people fighting for it all.

That creates an air of competition and resentment.

Sure it's great to live in Newport right on the beach, but most of us can't afford the $3 mil it takes. And the rich A-hats don't want us riff-raff spoiling their neighborhoods anyhow.

Sure the weather is great, while you're stuck in traffic for an hour and a half trying to get home from work.

Sure the national parks and beaches and campgrounds are great, but they have a two year waiting list (exaggeration, sort of).

Sure there's lots to do here but with taxes and prices so high it is expensive, plus there's already a go-zillion people in line ahead of you where ever you go.
You could go anywhere and do anything, if it weren't already full.

You really are.

I remember driving with my Great Uncle when I was 10 (1966) around the Bay Area. He lived in the Sunset District and I would stay with him when we all came up to visit the families in the Bay Area.

He would head north over the bridge then arc around telling stories about hunting around Vallejo, Walnut Creek, etc. Two of his brothers had ranches between Stockton and Modesto and we'd go see them.

He was convinced, in 1966, there were too many GD people in the Bay Area for his tastes:cool:

Paradise.

It's not like that when you live here...

Yosemite is only crowded when school is out for the summer. Mid-week pretty much everything is accessible. Fall and spring in the Sierras are glorious and uncrowded. Same with wine country mid week. Same with the entire glorious Northern California coast.