East Coast - West Coast

[clevispin]

I live on the east coast - Virginia. Never been farther than the Ohio/Indiana line. Where I live we freeze or sweat except for a few weeks of awesome autumn weather and a decent bit of springtime. Here, outside of Washington D.C. the pace of life is wicked.

I've always wondered about California - the lower half mostly. The east seems very provincial. What is the west like? Swimmin' pools, movie stars...? Are folks grounded in their history or family or political bearing etc.? Is life more care free? Is SoCal a different world?

m

 

[scotrace]

The CA members of FL have a lot of parties, dances, places to Lindy Hop, gatherings and fun. They find vintage clothing in perfect condition in their size lying around like dandelions.
But the food is skimpy and the whole state is non-smoking, I hear.

 

[jamespowers]

Whoa! I think your perceptions certainly aren't about Northern California. That is for sure. There are swimming pools and once in a while you see a no account movie star around but as far as folks being grounded in any way, I would say a great majority aren't. A good amount of the people we have out here really weren't born here so family means they are usually too far away to make a difference. Their history is likely to be closer to you than to me here. However, they sure have a political bearing. I bet you can guess what that is without me telling you.
Life is not carefree in Northern California. Let me tell you, every time you turn around you are spending money. If you want to come out here expect that your housing is going to cost three times more at least for something comparable. Food costs more, utilities probably cost more and taxes are liekly to scare you. We do have property tax under control for now though. Until some idiot decides to repeal Proposition 13.
In short, don't expect that it is any better than where you are. We don't shake trees and have money fall out of them. We work just as hard and have just as little free time as anywhere else. Don't envy us because there is probably someone here that is envying you right where you are. Provencial or not. :cheers1:

Regards to all,

J

P.S. The whole state isn't smoke free but they are sure working hard to make it that way. [huh]

 

[John in Covina]

So Cal

Southern California is Bizarroland.
It is schizofrenic, no, it is multiple personalities.
I find it an amazing place to live, filled with adventure and the most mundane. It can be very laid back, or absolutely frenetic. There are urban areas, a lot of suburbia, country living and wilderness. We have fires, floods, earthquakes, storms, tornadoes, bug infestations, plagues of rats and Hollywood stars involed in Scientology. It's got history back to the Spanish explorers and is as modern as tomorrow. We have revolutionaries for the ecology or for the Mexican reclamation. We have weird stuff like a new built Kodak Theater made with polished metal skin that was so reflective the surrounding building were getting over heated from the reflected sunlight, they had to bead blast the finish. Or the Library at the Pasadena City college was built and the enginners forgot to figure in the weight of the books on the foundation. We have near daily car chases on TV and game shows being filmed in Hollywood. We have Disneyland and the movie studios. We have some really extraordinary restaurants and some of the best ethnic foods you will ever have anywheres. Rent and real estate is pretty high, but there is a fair chance the bubble will burst and one will be able to get a reasonable deal on a house "for Southern California." We have wineries and Spanish Mission churches. We got some cool museums and a couple of car collections that are just nuts like Petersen's and the Nethercutt.
We have a Griffith Park Observatory that will reopen soon, it was Jorel's home in the old 50's B&W Superman Origin episode. We have stage productions all over and music nightly. We have LA originals and all the big chains from Starbucks, and Macy's to the House of Blues.

If you want to get a decent idea of what is up in the general LA area, you should find a copy of "Access Los Angeles" by Wurman published by Harper.

(I'll also recomend the Access Las Vegas, if they publish a new one soon.)

In SOuthern California it is possible when the weather is right to go Snow Skiing in the morning and water skiing in the afternoon.

LA is one of those places in which you basically find anything you want, you'll just have to drive an hour to get it.

I like it out here.

 

[AtomicBlonde]

Some pretty darn good bands come out of CA! This Saturday at Glen Echo was Steve Lucky & the Rhumba Bums from Cali.... they were top notch!

 

[Jack Scorpion]

Wait, I thought everything came out of California?

My impression of east coasters is that they put too much dressing on their salad and have too much pride in their home city than is warranted.

As an LAer, I have to say, there is LA and there is LA and I live in LA.

 

[mysterygal]

living in Washington...our weather is pretty mild...rains a lot...it is absolutely beautiful around here, you only have to drive 30-40 min. and find hiking trails with waterfalls with the most breath taking scenery. The area I live is very expesinve to live in...not as bad as California so I hear, It was a pretty relaxed atmosphere until the Californians started moving over here lol

 

[Andykev]

It is tough in California

Oh, Northern California is terrible. Please don't come here. And tell all your friends and co-workers not to come here either.

Well, the air, it's just too clear. Oh, and our winters, too mild, you'd be bored. The summers, no humidity, and the "natural airconditioning" comes in every night like a big gray blanket pulled over the city. It's tough, You won't like it, being so damn hot all day and then suddenly being air cooled for free.

The scenery? NAW, too many rolling hills, sparkling bay waters, sailboats, funny gold painted bridges....french bread to die for, and of course too many fine resturants to count.

On and the traffic....gee what fun is that? It's only about 30- 40% of what those lucky folks in LA get. Where's the fun in that? Oh and house prices? Gee that little shack you got two years ago for $500k is now worth $700!!! How can you handle that much equity. Bad for you.

Oh, and you are just an hour from the beaches, or wine country, or the delta for hundreds of miles of river. Boaters hate the place. So do fishermen. Oh, and you are only about three hours to Tahoe for skiing, or Yosmite...but how can you handle all that recreation and senic beauty. On, and we are surrounded by countless local park districts, camping areas, there are trains to ride, museum's, cultural events, concerts. Really too much to handle. Oh and it was so much nicer 20 years ago...guess we've been "discovered", and it's becoming a bit more crowded.

Ya stay where you are.

 

[Rosie]

My impression of east coasters is that they put too much dressing on their salad and have too much pride in their home city than is warranted.

Too much dressing on their salad? That is too funny.

I live in NYC where we take our dressing on the side, thank you.

 

[scotrace]

Trying to Decide, AndyKev

Should I just rent a truck? or hire a mover? We'll be out in a week...

 

[jamespowers]

Oh, Northern California is terrible. Please don't come here. And tell all your friends and co-workers not to come here either.

Well, the air, it's just too clear. Oh, and our winters, too mild, you'd be bored. The summers, no humidity, and the "natural airconditioning" comes in every night like a big gray blanket pulled over the city. It's tough, You won't like it, being so damn hot all day and then suddenly being air cooled for free.

The scenery? NAW, too many rolling hills, sparkling bay waters, sailboats, funny gold painted bridges....french bread to die for, and of course too many fine resturants to count.

On and the traffic....gee what fun is that? It's only about 30- 40% of what those lucky folks in LA get. Where's the fun in that? Oh and house prices? Gee that little shack you got two years ago for $500k is now worth $700!!! How can you handle that much equity. Bad for you.

Oh, and you are just an hour from the beaches, or wine country, or the delta for hundreds of miles of river. Boaters hate the place. So do fishermen. Oh, and you are only about three hours to Tahoe for skiing, or Yosmite...but how can you handle all that recreation and senic beauty. On, and we are surrounded by countless local park districts, camping areas, there are trains to ride, museum's, cultural events, concerts. Really too much to handle. Oh and it was so much nicer 20 years ago...guess we've been "discovered", and it's becoming a bit more crowded.

Ya stay where you are.

See? Now you ruined it. I can just hear those moving vans. Shhhhhhh for goodness sake! You contramanded everything I was trying to put forward.

Regards,

J

 

[jamespowers]

Should I just rent a truck? or hire a mover? We'll be out in a week...

See?! Here is just one example. lol

Regards,

J

 

[Baron Kurtz]

So, east coast is too much dressing on the salad, or on the side. West coast presumably is less dressing on the salad.

In the middle, it's just hard (or impossible) to find a good salad. When will these people realise that Iceberg is not the only type of lettuce? And croutons!!! Ask for a salad and get a plate full of horrid croutons fresh from a freezer bag.

As for dressing, tomato ketchup is not French dressing. They look at you like you're a freak when you say you'd rather not have a dressing than the garbage they're likely to produce. Just olive oil and vinegar, please!

rant over ... The one thing i honestly desire is some good food in a restaurant. This has been a very dissappointing part of my stay in the US. Give me more than a slab of meat! Do something interesting with it. When i visit the coasts i eat well in restaurants. Then back to Indiana where the food is so bad that it drives one away from the restaurants.

okay .. rant really over this time.

bk

 

[mysterygal]

salad dressing depends on the restraunt...some places there's more dressing than salad! It's probably the same thoughout the country....you've got some restraunts labled as the 'grease pits', the mediocre ones, and then you've got the restraunts that you can count on to always have top quality food.
Don't worry James, I'll be staying right here I am trying to get the hubby into taking me to Pasedena for a little trip...One place I"ve been dying to go to is Universal Studios....hopefully this year!

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Some of my fondest memories of traveling the US is of the various foods unique to a particular place.

Philadelphia; my beloved king of junk food. Amazing cheesteaks, porkroll, Yeungling beer, Italian Hoagies, and soft pretzels. Of course, there is LeBec Fin, but give me Pat's any day of the week.

New York has the finest pizza in the world, bar none, in my humble opinion. They also have the best sandwiches and pickles. Of course, the continental cousine is extraordinary and I have had many fine dinners, but I keep going back to the pizza, Oh, and the hotdogs.
NYC is the only place in the world where I'll eat the cole slaw.

Oh, my beloved San Francisco, how I celebrate the day my sister moved there! Dungeness Crab; could I ever eat enough?
My sister calls and asks, "Are you coming out soon to see me?"
And I respond, "Are the crabs in season?"

Miami, Caffe con leche was invented by the gods to help us bear the whips and scorns of time!
Cuban pork, Cuban fish sandwiches with hot sauce and potato sticks. Breakfast at Versailles!
Is there a taste more delicate or refined as Key Lime pie in Key West? It's a delicate line, fall on either side and it is a mess; but get it right and, if you close your eyes, you can see God.

Boston has wonderful seafood and great chowder recipes borrowed from Maine.

I could eat my way across this land.

If I would have to add to the sweeping generalizations here and try to summarize east versus west, I would have to say that Boston is a very permissive town that still manages to remain uptight.
San Francisco is very permissive town that is laid back and welcoming.
The goal here in the east is capital. The goal in the west is lifestyle.
The east is well worn wood and brass with a deep patina.
The west is concrete and glass towers.

My sentiments are here in the east. I can always get on a plane.

 

[jamespowers]

Don't worry James, I'll be staying right here I am trying to get the hubby into taking me to Pasedena for a little trip...One place I"ve been dying to go to is Universal Studios....hopefully this year!

No worries at all actually. I'd be perfectly willing to welcome you myself.
I just don't want too many people coming. The state might sink. lol
Universal Studios is a good tour. At least it was when I was 15. Needless to say it has been a while.

Regards,

J

 

[clevispin]

Herr Kurtz,

I had a salad in Fostoria, Ohio once. Once.

m

 

[John in Covina]

Back to the Future

I am trying to get the hubby into taking me to Pasedena for a little trip...One place I"ve been dying to go to is Universal Studios....hopefully this year!

Old Pasadena is a fun place. Good beer too. Check out Lucky Baldwins and the brewpubs. Also PF Changs is fine Chinese food.

Universal Studios is fun to visit and about every 2-3 years they change enough to warrant a visit. The Jurrasic Park ride is best when the weather is warm, 'cause you're gonna get wet. (You can get a rain coat.)

Also if you are on the right side of the tram, note that Kong's breath smells of bananas! There was a Mummy walk thru that was good and DO NOT MISS the Backdraft set! get up close and take some pictures.

Have fun!

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Herr Kurtz,

I had a salad in Fostoria, Ohio once. Once.

m

Was it good?

bk

 

[mysterygal]

Old Pasadena is a fun place. Good beer too. Check out Lucky Baldwins and the brewpubs. Also PF Changs is fine Chinese food.

Universal Studios is fun to visit and about every 2-3 years they change enough to warrant a visit. The Jurrasic Park ride is best when the weather is warm, 'cause you're gonna get wet. (You can get a rain coat.)

Also if you are on the right side of the tram, note that Kong's breath smells of bananas! There was a Mummy walk thru that was good and DO NOT MISS the Backdraft set! get up close and take some pictures.

Have fun!

I've heard of a lot of good things about the backdraft set too...I've only seen a few of the things they've got around there, but from what i did see....it looks like a fun way to spend the day