Best/worst states.

[stepee]

My general stance as someone living in the SFBA is that I would not recommend living here even if you can afford it. Everything you heard about it, is 10x worse in reality. Take everything that you see on fox news and amp it up to 11.

 

What I would say to someone I’ve already vetted is different, however.

[CastlevaniaNut18]

9 minutes ago, stepee said:

My general stance as someone living in the SFBA is that I would not recommend living here even if you can afford it. Everything you heard about it, is 10x worse in reality. Take everything that you see on fox news and amp it up to 11.

 

What I would say to someone I’ve already vetted is different, however.

Husband's best friend lived out there part time while he worked for Apple, the Reddit, then AirBnB. He hated it. Said it was dirty. He's a pretty left wing hippie, too, so that wasn't his issue. Soon as he could work remotely, he moved back to his place in NW Arkansas full time and now he's semi-retired. I kinda wanted to visit SF at some point, but he's definitely turned my husband off wanting to vacation there.

[best3444]

44 minutes ago, BasemntDweller2 said:

 

 

 

Its also the most boring drive of all time going for PA to Ohio. 5 hours of trees 

 

I love trees and nature 😍 

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

3 hours ago, sblfilms said:

It’s only pretty when you get basically in to Colorado! Uggo pretty much everywhere south of Santa Fe

Watching the Sun set at white sands is a top tier memory for me

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

3 hours ago, best3444 said:

 

Ohio is basically Pennsylvania. I've been there and it's nice overall. Was last there to see LeBron play in his last year in Cleveland. 

Northwest, western, and central Ohio is the fucking pits of hell

[stepee]

2 hours ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

Husband's best friend lived out there part time while he worked for Apple, the Reddit, then AirBnB. He hated it. Said it was dirty. He's a pretty left wing hippie, too, so that wasn't his issue. Soon as he could work remotely, he moved back to his place in NW Arkansas full time and now he's semi-retired. I kinda wanted to visit SF at some point, but he's definitely turned my husband off wanting to vacation there.

 

Could just be a big city thing for them? SFBA is definitely not what I’d call dirty compared to LA, New York, Chicago, Las Vegas, etc, even Seattle from what I recall though I haven’t been there in awhile. 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

3 minutes ago, stepee said:

 

Could just be a big city thing for them? SFBA is definitely not what I’d call dirty compared to LA, New York, Chicago, Las Vegas, etc, even Seattle from what I recall though I haven’t been there in awhile. 

I dunno. He likes traveling to big cities, but he did buy a 30 acre property just outside the city in NWA. City water and fiber internet, but it’s otherwise secluded. I just know he hated being out there. 0/10, would not recommend. 
 

As much as I loved my trip to PNW last year, I wasn’t particularly impressed with Seattle or Portland. It’s sad when these Blue cities price so many average people out of housing. The surrounding areas were gorgeous, though. 
 

Personally, I’m a fan of New England and the PNW. If I lived in the latter, I’d choose one of the smaller towns outside the city, though. They were breathtaking. Just so expensive to live there. As much as I hate the politics of my state, I get to live a very comfortable lifestyle here. I own a nice home in a nice neighborhood and it’s fully paid for. 

[stepee]

7 minutes ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

I dunno. He likes traveling to big cities, but he did buy a 30 acre property just outside the city in NWA. City water and fiber internet, but it’s otherwise secluded. I just know he hated being out there. 0/10, would not recommend. 
 

As much as I loved my trip to PNW last year, I wasn’t particularly impressed with Seattle or Portland. It’s sad when these Blue cities price so many average people out of housing. The surrounding areas were gorgeous, though. 
 

Personally, I’m a fan of New England and the PNW. If I lived in the latter, I’d choose one of the smaller towns outside the city, though. They were breathtaking. Just so expensive to live there. As much as I hate the politics of my state, I get to live a very comfortable lifestyle here. I own a nice home in a nice neighborhood and it’s fully paid for. 

 

Yeah everyone has different tastes I guess, definitely doesn’t match my perception, most people I know love it here too, including people who have moved from all over. It’s all going to depend on where you live, maybe he picked some ill-advised locations.

 

Any large densely populated city/surrounding area you are going to have very very different sections depending on where you are. There’s definitely some places you wouldn’t want to go, but also some very very nice places. I think you’d like SF, but you would just want a different tour guide than your friend lol.

 

That is what I remember of Seattle, beautiful surrounding areas and so-so cities.

 

Agreed on housing pricing here in CA, it’s the biggest shame of this area. 

 

I plan to sneak in New England Novemberish and I think I’ll quite like it. Also will check Pittsburg while visiting my Mom in WV.

 

Edit: I would recommend visiting Lake Tahoe while visiting the bay area if you ever do, it’s almost a three hour drive but it’s a beautiful area and maybe a good place to end the trip on (there is an airport there) - And don’t just visit SF! Visit Berkeley, Santa Cruz, pop by the east bay and say hi etc

[CastlevaniaNut18]

9 minutes ago, stepee said:

 

Yeah everyone has different tastes I guess, definitely doesn’t match my perception, most people I know love it here too, including people who have moved from all over. It’s all going to depend on where you live, maybe he picked some ill-advised locations.

 

Any large densely populated city/surrounding area you are going to have very very different sections depending on where you are. There’s definitely some places you wouldn’t want to go, but also some very very nice places. I think you’d like SF, but you would just want a different tour guide than your friend lol.

 

That is what I remember of Seattle, beautiful surrounding areas and so-so cities.

 

Agreed on housing pricing here in CA, it’s the biggest shame of this area. 

 

I plan to sneak in New England Novemberish and I think I’ll quite like it. Also will check Pittsburg while visiting my Mom in WV.

I’m more interested in the nature of California. National parks have been my thing lately. I think NYC is the last big US city I really want to see. Starting to move into international travel now. 
 

I do like the idea of going to Pittsburgh, went there as a kid and I’d like to go back. Catch a Pirates game. 

[stepee]

19 minutes ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

I’m more interested in the nature of California. National parks have been my thing lately. I think NYC is the last big US city I really want to see. Starting to move into international travel now. 
 

I do like the idea of going to Pittsburgh, went there as a kid and I’d like to go back. Catch a Pirates game. 

 

I hear ya, not counting quick Vegas/theme park trips, I want to concentrate on out of country after knocking out a few east coast places this year. 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

46 minutes ago, stepee said:

 

I hear ya, not counting quick Vegas/theme park trips, I want to concentrate on out of country after knocking out a few east coast places this year. 

Yeah, next year, I’m wanting to do a couple weeks in the UK. I cannot wait. 
 

Maybe take a shorter domestic trip, haven’t totally decided where yet. I’d like to do a handful of days in Colorado. I haven’t seen the Rockies since I was a kid and never been to CO. 

[Keyser_Soze]

6 hours ago, best3444 said:

Beautiful farm lands and country sides. I never heard or read that east coast beaches were prettier than west coast. Where exactly?

 

I'm going to say you will see zero farmland if you come here. Countrysides, yeah I guess a lot of chaparral if you're into that. I guess the biggest out-of-towner impression someone gave me is when WDC came here from Wisconsin, he was impressed that the landscape had elevation, like it wasn't just flat.

 

As for beaches I guess Florida does a lot of the heavy lifting but there is Myrtle beach too, NY beaches, Rehoboth Beach, etc. - Keep in mind I've never been there.

 

East coast sand is made of crushed up shells so the sand looks nicer while on the west coast the sand is really dark because it's made of ground up rocks and the beaches are rocky too. East coast waters are warmer since the currents flow up from the gulf stream and west coast waters are colder since the water flows down from Alaska.

[johnny]

5 hours ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

Husband's best friend lived out there part time while he worked for Apple, the Reddit, then AirBnB. He hated it. Said it was dirty. He's a pretty left wing hippie, too, so that wasn't his issue. Soon as he could work remotely, he moved back to his place in NW Arkansas full time and now he's semi-retired. I kinda wanted to visit SF at some point, but he's definitely turned my husband off wanting to vacation there.

well if he’s comparing it to arkansas where there’s way less people i guess i could see how somebody might call it dirty, but that’s definitely not true lol 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

26 minutes ago, johnny said:

well if he’s comparing it to arkansas where there’s way less people i guess i could see how somebody might call it dirty, but that’s definitely not true lol 

He said there was so much homelessness and he literally encountered human shit on the sidewalks. 
 

I mean, I could see that. It was pretty terrible in Portland and Seattle when we were there last year. Didn’t actually encounter shit, but plenty of places just walking around you could smell piss. 

[johnny]

6 minutes ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

He said there was so much homelessness and he literally encountered human shit on the sidewalks. 
 

I mean, I could see that. It was pretty terrible in Portland and Seattle when we were there last year. Didn’t actually encounter shit, but plenty of places just walking around you could smell piss. 

there are def spots but its not everywhere. def a major problem though 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

3 minutes ago, johnny said:

there are def spots but its not everywhere. def a major problem though 

They’re all going to have nicer areas. I live in the capital here and homelessness is bad, but I’m often shielded from it when I’m not at work because I live in a nicer area. 
 

I just don’t think it does much good to shit on certain areas because of their shitty politics, when these supposedly liberal paradises have the problem of so much homelessness because they’ve priced so much of the population out of decent housing. As much as I hate my state government, I wouldn’t want to live in any of the big California cities, either. 

[Jason]

6 hours ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

Husband's best friend lived out there part time while he worked for Apple, the Reddit, then AirBnB. He hated it. Said it was dirty. He's a pretty left wing hippie, too, so that wasn't his issue. Soon as he could work remotely, he moved back to his place in NW Arkansas full time and now he's semi-retired. I kinda wanted to visit SF at some point, but he's definitely turned my husband off wanting to vacation there.

 

My understanding is that it's like Santa Monica in terms of the issues that exist being extremely overblown and misconstrued. For example yes there's a lot of businesses leaving the core of San Francisco but it's not because of CRIME CRIME CRIME, it's because San Francisco is reaping the consequences of decades of permitting tons of office space but barely any housing. As in, they were SUPER exposed to their tax base being overly reliant upon office workers coming in from elsewhere who can now work from home. San Francisco has consistently refused to let there be a core actual residents be a tax base in their business area that's there regardless of what happens with the office workers and now they're paying bigly for it. 

 

Santa Monica ran into the exact same problem but I think religional tourism has picked back up in a way it hasn't for San Francisco. 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

5 minutes ago, Jason said:

 

My understanding is that it's like Santa Monica in terms of the issues that exist being extremely overblown and misconstrued. For example yes there's a lot of businesses leaving the core of San Francisco but it's not because of CRIME CRIME CRIME, it's because San Francisco is reaping the consequences of decades of permitting tons of office space but barely any housing. As in, they were SUPER exposed to their tax base being overly reliant upon office workers coming in from elsewhere who can now work from home. San Francisco has consistently refused to let there be a core actual residents be a tax base in their business area that's there regardless of what happens with the office workers and now they're paying bigly for it. 

 

Santa Monica ran into the exact same problem but I think religional tourism has picked back up in a way it hasn't for San Francisco. 

He ever said anything about crime or being unsafe. I wouldn’t really be worried about that if I visited. I wasn’t in Seattle or Portland. We felt safe enough walking the streets. It just wasn’t as much fun seeing the tents and general dirtiness just walking around town. I much more enjoyed the nature around those cities. 
 

But it’s a tragedy and so immoral how these places have created this kind of homelessness on that scale. 

[Fizzzzle]

3 hours ago, stepee said:

 

Yeah everyone has different tastes I guess, definitely doesn’t match my perception, most people I know love it here too, including people who have moved from all over. It’s all going to depend on where you live, maybe he picked some ill-advised locations.

 

Any large densely populated city/surrounding area you are going to have very very different sections depending on where you are. There’s definitely some places you wouldn’t want to go, but also some very very nice places. I think you’d like SF, but you would just want a different tour guide than your friend lol.

 

That is what I remember of Seattle, beautiful surrounding areas and so-so cities.

 

Agreed on housing pricing here in CA, it’s the biggest shame of this area. 

 

I plan to sneak in New England Novemberish and I think I’ll quite like it. Also will check Pittsburg while visiting my Mom in WV.

 

Edit: I would recommend visiting Lake Tahoe while visiting the bay area if you ever do, it’s almost a three hour drive but it’s a beautiful area and maybe a good place to end the trip on (there is an airport there) - And don’t just visit SF! Visit Berkeley, Santa Cruz, pop by the east bay and say hi etc

I went to Vermont/new Hampshire in October a couple years ago and it was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. Highly recommend going when the trees are in full autumn. I've never really been anywhere that has an autumn like new England

[CastlevaniaNut18]

4 minutes ago, Fizzzzle said:

I went to Vermont/new Hampshire in October a couple years ago and it was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. Highly recommend going when the trees are in full autumn. I've never really been anywhere that has an autumn like new England

It’s on my list. Maine in September has been my favorite vacation of all so far. 

[Keyser_Soze]

28 minutes ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

He ever said anything about crime or being unsafe. I wouldn’t really be worried about that if I visited.
 

But it’s a tragedy and so immoral how these places have created this kind of homelessness on that scale. 

 

Ah you never had a homeless guy come up to you and ask you what you named your titties then.

[CastlevaniaNut18]

2 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

Ah you never had a homeless guy come up to you and ask you what you named your titties then.

Lol, not that specifically. Had a lady ask us if we could spare a block of cheddar and got mad cursing us under her breath as she walked away. 

[Ghost_MH]

56 minutes ago, Jason said:

 

My understanding is that it's like Santa Monica in terms of the issues that exist being extremely overblown and misconstrued. For example yes there's a lot of businesses leaving the core of San Francisco but it's not because of CRIME CRIME CRIME, it's because San Francisco is reaping the consequences of decades of permitting tons of office space but barely any housing. As in, they were SUPER exposed to their tax base being overly reliant upon office workers coming in from elsewhere who can now work from home. San Francisco has consistently refused to let there be a core actual residents be a tax base in their business area that's there regardless of what happens with the office workers and now they're paying bigly for it. 

 

Santa Monica ran into the exact same problem but I think religional tourism has picked back up in a way it hasn't for San Francisco. 

 

It also doesn't help that San Francisco and the surrounding bay is, compared to similarly dense American cities, so damn small. So you've got all these bad zoning decisions made in an area without a lot of room for sprawl.

 

I used to work part time in San Francisco. A lifetime of dealing with tiny Boston did not prepare me for the realization that San Francisco is half the size of Boston with hundreds of thousands of more people and, somehow, even fewer homes.

[best3444]

7 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

I'm going to say you will see zero farmland if you come here. Countrysides, yeah I guess a lot of chaparral if you're into that. I guess the biggest out-of-towner impression someone gave me is when WDC came here from Wisconsin, he was impressed that the landscape had elevation, like it wasn't just flat.

 

As for beaches I guess Florida does a lot of the heavy lifting but there is Myrtle beach too, NY beaches, Rehoboth Beach, etc. - Keep in mind I've never been there.

 

East coast sand is made of crushed up shells so the sand looks nicer while on the west coast the sand is really dark because it's made of ground up rocks and the beaches are rocky too. East coast waters are warmer since the currents flow up from the gulf stream and west coast waters are colder since the water flows down from Alaska.

 

Very good info in this post. I've been to Rehoboth Beach many times and it was just "ok". Maybe my perception of southern california is skewed by what I see online and tv. I guess I should appreciate the east coast more. 

[Guest]

I’ve spent time at several southern California beaches and quite a few east coast beaches, and other than the chilly water temps, there is nothing better about east coast beaches until you get closer to Florida.

[stepee]

I will add one other thing besides housing about California I don’t like are the trucks

[Biggie]

1 hour ago, stepee said:

I will add one other thing besides housing about California I don’t like are the trucks

AND Diane Feinstein

[stepee]

46 minutes ago, Biggie said:

AND Diane Feinstein

 

honestly yeah that’s worse than the truck 

[Keyser_Soze]

3 hours ago, stepee said:

I will add one other thing besides housing about California I don’t like are the trucks

 

Semi trucks?

[stepee]

3 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

Semi trucks?

 

Just regular trucks dragging trailers 

[Keyser_Soze]

1 minute ago, stepee said:

Just regular trucks dragging trailers 

 

How those landscapers gonna haul their tools around?

[stepee]

2 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

How those landscapers gonna haul their tools around?

 

WITH THEIR FUCKING HANDS

[stepee]

I actually saw the truck drive through the grass right by the spot they got me the other day and saw what the guy did. He just changed the trash can garbage. That’s probably why he ran me over, because he was too lazy to carry a trash bag for about 20 seconds across the park.

[GeneticBlueprint]

On 8/7/2023 at 6:26 PM, Biggie said:

Worst gotta be New Mexico unless you are a meth head 

 

What? So many cool things in NM. Very pretty too. Awesome food to boot.

[GeneticBlueprint]

When we're not talking politics there are things I love about pretty much every state tbh.