[SheaButter]

Originally Posted by NEFARIOUS

In 2 weeks, I am going to be moving to Orange County, CA.

Why? I'm drawn to the finer things in life; good living, good cars, good food, and was able to afford all that at one point, but my finances took a nosedive after a failed business venture and a couple other incidents. Now that I feel that my finances are no longer in the red, I not only miss the hell out of Fullerton where I bought a house once, I had a job interview on the outskirts of Irvine, but passed by a waterfront property for sale in Lake Forest that CALLED OUT to me with a daydream... "Ed, you're home. Once you open this door, you'd have your beautiful wife, adorably well-behaved kids and German Shepherd waiting to welcome you home. Now park that 6-figure car in your garage and enjoy the perfect meal the missus cooked." Seriously, I didn't want to leave.

But with all that being said, I can't wait to get out of this sorry-ass dump called Alhambra. A friend that started out cool but now is an energy-leeching parasite that brings everyone he meets down and likes to complain, lie and make excuses so much that I've picked up his habits, so he doesn't deserve to be in my life. With that, I'm not disclosing what city I'm moving to, I'm changing my number and blocking/deleting him and mutual friends from FB, all of which will probably be the smartest move I've made in 5 years...

...Not to mention with this shit-hole in Alhambra, my roommates are inconsiderate slobs that is all-take-and-no-give, the cockamamie parking arrangement is a nightmare (you have to fit 6 cars in a driveway designed for 3 unless you buy a $60 parking permit and I'm not going to waste money on one), people can't drive around here worth shit, and the only reason I stayed here is that the rent is recockulously cheap when I fell on hard times. Other than that, I had a friend's dad who worked for The Gas Co in Monterey Park, but requested to be transferred to Compton. At first I thought it was ridiculous, but after living here for a while, I can see why.

If you're truly able to ditch that leech, I'd do so ASAP without looking back. I have had several in my life, and am an absolute horrible judge of character when it comes to my personal life. In business I have an odd talent in pinpointing people as if I could read their minds. But when it comes to my personal life, I swear I am absolutely blind and like to see the absolute most good in every person I meet. It took me forever to stop carrying friends to the top with me, and finally realized it would be more beneficial to reach the top and toss them a rope, instead of piggybacking them up with me.

Keep on, keepin' on bruh!

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by CANGRKE70

Man a lot of hate for Toronto here...You guys need to move the fuck out if you don't like it.

I think I'll be here awhile. I don't plan on moving out of the city until I retire.

Hate is too strong a word but it is bland and the you cannot argue about the weather!

[CANGRKE70]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Hate is too strong a word but it is bland and the you cannot argue about the weather!

Come now...weather? Have you been to cities in Alberta or Quebec in the winter? -50 and ice? I have and it blows.

Toronto is pretty mild compared to them. I think we bitch more about it than we need to.

[MrPrena]

I only lived in CA and CO, and majority of CO has a cheaper cost of living than some areas of CA.


-Less traffic
-better/higher speed limit
-better cost of living + cheaper housing.

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by bmw1racer

As opposed to regular, annual blizzards, hurricanes, and tornadoes?

LOL

Originally Posted by fecurtis

DC hardly gets any of those things.

None of those phenomena are unknown in D.C., but they comparatively mild and the risk they pose is considerably lower than any number of other places around the country. The key point, a point I didn't -- as shown my readers' confusion -- develop well, is that those events aren't regular in D.C. Heck, there's no surety that it'll even snow more than a dusting here and there every winter. Ditto hurricanes hitting D.C. before they've diminished into tropical storms.

Tornadoes are going to happen just about anywhere; if one can have a thunder storm, one can have a tornado too. Short of a Fujita 3, my home would probably survive a tornado hit. (Plus, tornadoes probably won't come near my home for they "know" I don't live in a double-wide. LOL) I don't know where I can live that has no thunderstorms and none of the other things I don't like either. Deserts have a low frequency of tornadoes, but I don't want to live in a desert, because, well, it's a desert. Primates aren't, generally speaking, built to live in deserts. There are some exceptions, but I'm not one of them. LOL

Hurricanes and blizzards aren't my favorite weather events, but they don't sneak up on one as do earthquakes. Moreover, unlike volcanic eruptions, their effects don't last for generations on end. Also, the worst thing about hurricanes, the storm surge, is nonexistent in the part of D.C. where I live (just below the top of the fall line). I'm not dying to have a big tree fall on my home, but I can recover from that in less than a year's time. Ditto heavy snow falls.

All the best.

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by fecurtis

A real unicorn here folks, someone who lives in DC who's FROM DC.

DC is a very clean city I'll give it that, I thought Chicago proper was clean too and the architecture is very, very nice.

I live here for a much simpler reason. The job market here is great given my background.

Red:
Yes. There are a bunch of us around, but we are rare-ish. It's pretty easy to find native black folks. Less so white folks.

Surprisingly, my parents moved to the D.C. 'burbs, although Mother and all her ancestors were born and raised in the city itself. That left me to carry on the torch of maintaining an unbroken line of Washington, D.C. residency. And, yes, I'm a little bit proud of that fact. I may, however, be the last of the line to do so, but I have three kids, so there's still a chance.

Blue:
That is very positive thing about D.C., indeed about the whole D.C. metropolitan area.

All the best.


P.S.
With playful snobbery I'll note that you can't really claim to live in D.C. when speaking of and with those of us who truly do. <winks & chuckles>

(you know I'm just messin' witcha, right?)

BTW, "cavedweller" or "hillsider" rather than "unicorn" are the terms that's been given to identify us natives. <winks>

[TXSTYLE]

For me:

Knowing that I would soon have children, I wanted the following:

1. Solid educational system as an option if I did not want or choose Private School.
2. Good to Great local Economy
3. Low Crime rate
4. Nice and well maintained Roads
5. Shopping and Dining
6. Easy access to Tollway and Freeways
7. Not near major traveled roads (noise)

A few other things but these were on my list before purchasing our current home 15yrs ago.

We've built up some juicy Equity for sure and if we choose to remain here, will pay off our mortgage in less than 10yrs!

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by bmw1racer

We hardly get earthquakes of any significance here... And there are no volcanoes in California.

People may not know a lot about them because they don't go "nuts" very often, but they are there. (http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2...ve-volcanoes/# and http://phys.org/news/2010-04-underwa...alifornia.html)

For me, the whole damn state's proximity to multiple continental plates is the bigger issue. Irrationally and outside of foreseeable probability, I just can't "get with" the idea of settling in a place that is unpredictably exposed to the effects of huge sections of earth moving under miles of water and sending that water my way.

The idea of maybe, if I'm lucky and unlucky at the same time, sitting in my living room atop the Hollywood Hills watching a giant wall of water heading toward me is something I just don't want to deal with. Period. It doesn't matter how remote are the odds of that happening. I just don't want to be there if it does. Especially insofar as I know it's a matter of "when it happens" not "if it will."

All the best.

P.S.
I absolutely pray it doesn't happen in the lifetimes of anyone I know, know of, or love, and that includes all o' y'all.


P.P.S/Edit:
I suspect a lot of folks in the middle of the country aren't aware they live within the "danger zone" of one of the largest volcanoes on the planet! Quite frankly, I am unwilling to live within 100 miles of outermost red zone on the map below.

[Mr Tonka]

1 Bought the family business in 2003, it's located in Tampa.
2 FL gun laws are very reasonable.
3 The weather is great for 8 months of the year, fantastic for 4 of those 8, and we're not shoveling snow the other 4 months.
4 Cost of living is very reasonable.
5 Family is close

I like the idea of living outside of Denver, but i don't want to "have to" work in snowy winter conditions.

I also like the idea of living in western North Carolina. Loads of great things to do, somewhat mild winters in terms of snow. 2 hour drive in any direction gets you to lots of interesting places.

But i think the wife has plans for us to retire outside of the US on an island somewhere. But that's up for debate.

If i didn't have the business, i'd be up for moving. My wife will be a partner level CPA in a year, so she can work just about anywhere there is a regional sized CPA firm after that. But Tampa is a cool place. It's got that open all night thing that party places have, with out all the party crap. Beaches, lakes, plenty of sunshine. Theme parks if you like that crap, good food, good shopping, NFL, MBL, NHL, and NBA just a 1 hour drive away. Florida government is now running in the black after years in the red. Many cutting edge health care facilities close by or in town. Traffic is reasonable. I live 22 miles from my office and it takes me 30 min to get there. 40 min in rush hour. Not many drawbacks, except for the occasional hurricane and all the relocating northerners. But some developer got smart and built this HUGE development, like a small self sustaining city, and marketed the crap out of it to older people. Best part is they built it out in the sticks, far enough away for them not to wander into town too much, but close enough that they can make larger purchases here.

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by ASAP

^ Lived in DC... can confirm... terrible place to live and raise a family.

DC and the surrounding suburbs are some of the most expensive in the nation. Services like babysitting and the like are through the roof... Winter sucks.... taxes sky high... unfriendly people.

I respectfully, but strongly disagree.

As for the COLA, yes, it's high, but then so are salaries.

All the best.

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by tony20009

People may not know a lot about them because they don't go "nuts" very often, but they are there. (http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2...ve-volcanoes/# and http://phys.org/news/2010-04-underwa...alifornia.html)

I tend to agree with almost 99% of what you post, especially in the watches subsection, but to quote the Reader is going over the top. Not exactly a journalistic marvel. There are lots of underwater volcanoes due to shifts and chasm's everywhere in the Pacific known as the Ring of Fire and most islands in the Pacific were formed this way. Only active land based volcano I know of in Cali is in the extreme northern section by Shasta and it's pretty dormant(they also said that about Mt St Helen). Either way I'll take my chances in Cali and quakes over Tornadoes, Hurricanes etc.. I've been near(within 125 miles as the crow flies) of two in my life of 58 years and both were close to 75 miles away.

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by CANGRKE70

M
-Still have hope in the Maple Leafs winning the cup before I move.

I think I'll be here awhile.

You will need to be there awhile before the Laffs win one, hopefully Babcock turns that wreck around as the fans deserve better. The wifey is from Winterpeg so we have experienced cold when required, we do not visit except for May and June unless tragedy strikes. But when the wind blows in Toronto it does get cold like Chicago.

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by Bobble

I tend to agree with almost 99% of what you post, especially in the watches subsection, but to quote the Reader is going over the top. Not exactly a journalistic marvel. There are lots of underwater volcanoes due to shifts and chasm's everywhere in the Pacific known as the Ring of Fire and most islands in the Pacific were formed this way. Only active land based volcano I know of in Cali is in the extreme northern section by Shasta and it's pretty dormant(they also said that about Mt St Helen). Either way I'll take my chances in Cali and quakes over Tornadoes, Hurricanes etc.. I've been near(within 125 miles as the crow flies) of two in my life of 58 years and both were close to 75 miles away.

TY for the compliment and for reading my posts. I sincerely appreciate both.

I realize the Reader isn't in the running for a Pulitzer (LOL), but I think they are legit enough to accurately report whether active volcanoes exist or not in California. That was all I was getting at.


News video re: a volcano 100 miles east of San Diego: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1k...-eruption_tech . As they say, it's a remote possibility is remote, but as I wrote earlier, it's just something I just don't want to deal with.

The USGS lists 17 volcanoes in CA. (http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/observatories/calvo/) Seven of them have what the USGS cite as a "high" threat potential. Specific hazard assessments can be found here: http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/observator...o_hazards.html . In discussing CA's risk from volcanic eruptions, the USGS writes:

More than 500 volcanic vents have been identified in the State of California. At least 76 of these vents have erupted, some repeatedly, during the last 10,000 yr. Past volcanic activity has ranged in scale and type from small rhyolitic and basaltic eruptions through large catastrophic rhyolitic eruptions. Sooner or later, volcanoes in California will erupt again, and they could have serious impacts on the health and safety of the State's citizens as well as on its economy.

The potentially more hazardous eruptions in the State are those that involve explosive eruption of large volumes of silicic magma. Such eruptions could occur at vents in as many as four areas in California. They could eject pumice high into the atmosphere above the volcano, produce destructive blasts, avalanches, or pyroclastic flows that reach distances of tens of kilometers from a vent, and produce mudflows and floods that reach to distances of hundreds of kilometers.

Volcanic eruptions are certain to occur in California in the future and can be neither prevented nor stopped...

I know CA is a very lovely place to live. I am sure that, absent the earthquakes, mudslides, fires, tsunami risk, and volcano risk, I would love to live there. But when I read stuff like the above, I say to myself, "You know what, I'll take my chances visiting from time to time, but I'm not buying property and putting down roots there. I'm just not doin' it."

It's just not a worry I want to have, and worry about it I would. Every stinking day. I'd sooner stand right at the edge of the Willis Tower and look down than live permanently in CA, OR or WA. I have a friend who lives on Vancouver Island and I think she's nuts for doing so.

I think it sucks in a big way that many of the most appealing places to live are also among the most dangerous and unpredictable geologically. Indeed, much as I hate "crazy" weather, if the West Coast were to instead just have "tornado alley" tornadic activity, I'd get over it and take the chance. (I wouldn't do that to live in the Midwest, but for CA's weather and scenery, I could and would.)

All the best.

P.S.
The Midwest has it's beauty too, but the whole "as far as the eye can see, the eye can see" thing would very quickly grow old for me. I guess there's some good to it though. At least one has a reasonable chance of seeing those big ass tornadoes coming and hopefully get the "F" out of the way.

[M_Six]

Jobs brought us here. Low cost of living and very quiet surroundings keep us here. No traffic, no smog, not much crime, fairly moderate winters, decent health care facilities, work for both of us is 2.5 miles away. We're DINKs (dual income, no kids), and the house will be paid off in 3 years, so money is not an issue.

The downsides are a serious lack of good restaurants and shopping. 2-3 drive to the nearest major airports. The local airport (1 hour drive) sucks. Not much to do on weekends. No mountains or ocean or lakes.

So we trade entertainment for low cost of living and a quiet lifestyle. We do plan on lots of travel when we retire.

[Alfisti]

Where are u exactly M6?

[M_Six]

East Central IL.

[bmw1racer]

Originally Posted by Bobble

Either way I'll take my chances in Cali and quakes over Tornadoes, Hurricanes etc..

Same here.

Yeah, a major quake would be devastating, but blizzards, tornadoes, and hurricanes are practically a way of life in the midwest and east... I don't want any part of that on a yearly basis... I'll stick with Cali.

[fecurtis]

Originally Posted by tony20009

Red:
P.S.
With playful snobbery I'll note that you can't really claim to live in D.C. when speaking of and with those of us who truly do. <winks & chuckles>

Oh I'm all too aware of that snobbery, it's all in good fun though. I live less than a mile from the Key Bridge yet if there's someone I know who lives in Foggy Bottom or Georgetown, they will pretend as though they need a passport to come into my neck of the woods.

[fecurtis]

Originally Posted by ASAP

^ Lived in DC... can confirm... terrible place to live and raise a family.

DC and the surrounding suburbs are some of the most expensive in the nation. Services like babysitting and the like are through the roof... Winter sucks.... taxes sky high... unfriendly people.

I don't really think that it's a terrible place to live or raise a family to be honest with you.

Jobs are plenty, the surrounding suburbs you mention have the highest household incomes in the country (hence the high COLA), and the schools around here are great.

As far as living here, there's always lots to do, new restaurants opening, and my favorite thing is that most everything from where I live is within walking distance or a short metro ride. When I have friends and/or family visit, they don't even have to spend much money to enjoy themselves. All of the monuments are free as are most of the museums. I also like going to the zoo every so often...which is also free.

You're also only about an hour away from Virginia wine country if you wanted to spend the day out there.

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by fecurtis

Oh I'm all too aware of that snobbery, it's all in good fun though. I live less than a mile from the Key Bridge yet if there's someone I know who lives in Foggy Bottom or Georgetown, they will pretend as though they need a passport to come into my neck of the woods.

Yes and yes. LOL

Originally Posted by fecurtis

..

You're also only about an hour away from Virginia wine country if you wanted to spend the day out there.

...And hunt country...different from wine country, but every bit as charming and relaxing.

All the best.

[ASBSECU E93]

I had opportunity to stay in Middleberg at the Salander last year - WOW!!!

That is how the 1% of the 1% lives....

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by ASBSECU E93

I had opportunity to stay in Middleberg at the Salander last year - WOW!!!

That is how the 1% of the 1% lives....

Seems like maybe you are a resort vacationer. Seeing as you enjoyed the Salamander (?), you probably would like these places:

• Nemacolin Woods in Pennsylvania
• Glenmere in New York
• Rock Creek in Montana

Though each of them is somewhat remotely located, one can arrange for helicopter or airplane arrival at each resort, making it easy to fit in a quick getaway or longer stay even if work or other priorities beckon while one is there.



All the best.