Apr 3rd, 2008, 05:28 PM
In all honesty, my only regret about California is that I didn't move here sooner. There's just sooooo much to see and do out here. When I lived in Richmond, 99% of the time, I'd end up sitting around and watching a movie at somebody's house. Don't get me wrong, that can be fun 'n all, but it does get old doing the same exact thing every week. L.A. is such a huge city that seemingly goes on forever, so there's always something to do no matter what you're into.
The weather, as somebody already stated, is pretty much as perfect as it gets with virtually no humidity. I remember whenever I went outside for a measly 5 minutes on a hot summer day back when I lived on the East coast and I'd always feel like I needed to change my shirt because I was already drenched with sweat. That just doesn't happen out here. I'm definitely a big fan of the weather here.
As far as food goes, I'm definitely more of an East coast fan... but having lived in New York and Philadelphia, I've had some of the best food in the world. Food is pretty much great everywhere you go in the tri-state area back East. Out here, however, you really have to search. It's a gargantuan city with a fuck ton o' restaurants, and many of them have little to nothing good to offer. That's not to say there aren't awesome places to eat out here, you just really gotta try a lot of places until you find 'em. Having been here over 2 years now, we've found some fantastic places to eat at. It took a while, but I now know what places to go if I want a damned good Philly cheesesteak or a perfect giant slice of real New York style pizza. It was just hard having to eat all the sub-par stuff in our long journey to find the good places. If you like seafood, however, you'll be set out here. There's a LOT of good seafood places out here.
Traffic is definitely bad if you're somebody who has to commute on the highways. The best thing you can do for yourself as a SoCal resident is to a) learn all of the local backroads instead of taking the over-congested highways and b) live close to where you work. Do this, and the traffic will be a non-issue. Oh, and don't drive a Hummer, that's another suggestion.
As far as jobs go, there are a ton of opportunities out here if you're interested in working in the entertainment industry. Kinda goes without saying. That being said, the economy is utter shit right now, so even out here, the job market isn't too great at the moment.
My favorite thing about California would have to be just exploring it. It's such a big state and, though it's cliché sounding, it's completely unlike any other one in the country. I want to stab my eyes out from boredom after driving up the East coast for any longer than an hour. In California, however, I can drive for 8 hours straight and still not be bored. The oceans, the mountains and all the quirky places in between... there's just a whole lot to see.
I've also been to San Francisco a lot, and I used to imagine it was the greatest place in the world before I came out here. When I lived back East I always thought I'd end up in San Francisco... L.A. never even crossed my mind until I came and visited a friend who lived here and it completely changed my outlook on the place. San Francisco is a cool place and I love how absurdly hilly the city can be. Definitely a unique place, no doubt about it. There are some cool shops there 'n all, but I just don't understand why the cost of living there is so absurdly expensive. I can understand it being expensive in places like L.A. and NYC, but San Francisco just doesn't seem to have anywhere near as much to offer. Plus, the weather there can go from fairly nice to complete ass in the blink of an eye... no joke. It's a nice city to visit and perhaps with some extra time spent there I'd like San Fran more, but so far, I've yet to see why some people are so gaga about the place.
I've been to San Diego a lot as well, and it's definitely the cleanest city I've ever been too and I always look forward to being there for the Comic-Con. That being said, I wouldn't want to live there. It may be clean, but other than the Comic-Con, there's not a whole hell of a lot to do there unless all you like doing is hanging out at bars and making occasional trips to Sea World.
Like any city, L.A. has its ups and downs, the truly interesting people and the truly moronic ones... you just gotta take the time to get to know it all. I've said it before and I'll say it again: this is easily the best place I've ever lived and it's honestly hard for me to imagine living anywhere else because I can't think of a place with as many fun things to see and do (with the possible exception of NYC). The beaches, the countless quirky shops, UCB's amazingly affordable comedy shows & classes, Amoeba Music (the greatest and largest music/dvd store in the country), killer revival theaters like the New Beverly Cinema, insanely cool arcades... and that's just barely scratching the surface.
In summation: ME LIKEY WHERE I LIVE.
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