Best things about California...

[ellisonz]

1. Home of Baywatch
2. Happy Cows
3. Freeway Time in LA County

[cliffordu]

1. Antioch.

[ellisonz]

2. Bakersfield.

[cliffordu]

3. Sheesh. You win.

Pittsburg. HAH!!!

[Gormy Cuss]

7. Discovery Bay.

[dana_b]

15. Well, at least Pittsburgh has a BART station

although Antioch has a Loews!!

[Le Taz Hot]

6. San Francisco.

:

[ellisonz]

8. Escondido

[Juneboarder]

9. Hey I'm in Vista!

[ellisonz]

13. I had to look Vista up.

Notable Residents

Carrie Prejean, Miss California USA 2009, was raised in Vista, and graduated from Vista High School in 2005.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vista,_California

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_Prejean

[itsrobert]

51. San Marcos

[Juneboarder]

52. Woo-hoo!

Just around the corner from Stone Brewery!

http://www.stonebrew.com/home.asp

One of my fav's

[Le Taz Hot]

4. We're not Texas.

[ellisonz]

11. Or Flori-duh.

[Sedona]

47. or Arizona

on edit....seriously, you live in a blue state with fabulous weather and the Pacific at your front doorstep, the Sieras in your back yard. La Jolla Cove! Monterey bay! Big Sur! Yosemite! The Getty Museums! If I get cold I can warm up in Palm Springs.

Come 2015 when my youngest daughter graduates high school, this East Coast, Arizona transplant will be coming home to Ventura County. Besides, UC schools have a reciprocal in state tuition agreement with Arizona so my ocean loving daughter can join me and get a first class education. Another plus!

California, here I come!

[ellisonz]

48. lol

[shanti]

19. that's good enough for me!

[cally]

5. Exhorbitant housing prices

[Juneboarder]

10. Beaches, Mountains, Valleys

and the weather, of course! I've always said I'd move away from California when I find a place that is actually better!

[petronius]

14. Sunsets over the ocean

Sunrises over the mountains or deserts...

[Auggie]

12. Fantastic wine

[dana_b]

16. eh hem...

it's not all about Southern CA., you know. The 405 is bigger but I'll bet 880 has more potholes. Orange County has beaches and republicans but have you ever heard of Sonoma? Cows... Cows?! Are you freaking kidding me?! We're Northern CA - our cows shit sunshine AND fog. Baywatch... alright, I'll give you that. The closest we have to Hasselhof is Don Johnson from Nash Bridges

[ellisonz]

17. I don't take anything north of the San Gabriels...

...to be worth much

Make a list and I'll reconsider my prejudice toward "hella" and NorCal

[shanti]

18. let's see.....

mendo purps?

case closed!

[Bluenorthwest]

21. Water

nt

[ellisonz]

26. You win.

I'm thirsty, can I drink your milkshake?.

[KamaAina]

28. Sourdough. Anchor. Sierra Nevada. Dungeness crab.

Berkeley radicals. Mission District burritos (and barhopping). A baseball team that isn't bankrupt. Lack of smog.

I coukld keep going, but it'd be a hella long post.

[ellisonz]

29. Anchor is some good grog.

Spare me the Berkeley radicals (This isn't the 1960s), Sierra Nevada (tastes like pine trees), and both your baseball teams (Barry Bonds and Jose Canseco).

[KamaAina]

30. Two words: Manny Ramirez.

AFTER the whole world knew he was 'roiding.

[ellisonz]

31. McCourt is a scum bag.

We're throwing him out on his behind.

Funny story, I was at a game with my mother, the Red Sox fan, and I had to beg her to stop booing Manny. You should have been there for the reception we would give Bonds though! Manny at least knows he has a problem and has served a punishment for it; Bonds rode off into the sunset like some super-charged gorilla.

[DBoon]

34. La Brea Bakery. La Guelaquetza. Tiki Ti. Bacon wrapped hot dogs.

There!

[KamaAina]

35. Bacon-wrapped hot dogs are just as easily found in Oakland's Fruitvale district.

And seriously, you're gonna put La Brea up against Acme or any of a half-dozen other bakeries I can't name right now (largely because I can't get them in San Jose)?

[AsahinaKimi]

53. You got a date!

I love sourdough and Dungeness crab! We ALSO HAVE THE BEST ASIAN FOOD EVER!!

[KamaAina]

55. Srsly?

At some point that hockey team of yours will be back in the Tank. SJ also has a miniature Nihonmachi, though it is not nearly as modern and flashy as SF's. Then again, I could do worse than to come to The City!

I have actually heard that Chinese food is better here than in China, because the ingredients are better quality.

[nwliberalkiwi]

20. Eastern Sierras

Long way from the madding crowd.

[JDPriestly]

25. Gotta love the Eastern Sierras. Serenity.

[JDPriestly]

50. Yes. Eastern Sierras. Bodie and Lone Pine!

[kestrel91316]

22. Winter cold in SoCal = 28F.

[roody]

23. not having one's vegetarianism questioned

[JDPriestly]

24. My wonderful neighborhood.

My wonderful neighbors.

Mild winters.

Growing veggies all year round.

Avocado trees.

Lemon trees.

Bougainvillea.

Rosemary grows like a weed. MMMMM. Delicious.

Democrats in power.

Democratic majority.

Mountains.

The Gold Line in LA.

Craftsman style houses.

I love LA (most of the time)>

[Merlot]

33. I second your list!

would only add: Pacific Ocean

[StarsInHerHair]

27. more best things in CA

roses in December...from my own backyard
fresh sweet seedless oranges ripen just before Christmas, again from my own backyard
yeah, I have 1 of those 'weeds' you call prostrate rosemary-can you say barbecue? I use it for barbecue smokewood

Plus snow available by car in 1 direction, beach available also by car in another direction

[Taverner]

32. Hmmmm

Medical Marijuana, SF, Oakland, El Lay, Berkeley, Santa Cruz, Tahoe, Yosemite, Diversity, Tolerance, Diamond Lane Stickers for EVs....

The list goes onl....

[Kablooie]

36. Another great thing is it starts with "c" so it appears high on drop down lists.

As opposed to United States that can be down at the bottom of a list of 200 countries.

[Ecumenist]

37. NORTHERN CALIFORNIA!!

I'm a native Angelina and I guess, Socal has it's points but there's so much more here in the northstate.
1. REAL forests
2. Beautiful Rivers and lakes at every turn.
3. WIDE OPEN Vistas
4. Unspoiled spaces
5. Mount Shasta
6. The Lost Coast
7. Bald Eagles
8. The Bay Area, as a whole.
9. I live in Sacramento which a VERY pretty city and county
10. On and on and on

However, I'd only leave the state if I were blasted out, Socal, Central or Norcal. I LOVE MY STATE.

Oh yeah, Sonoma, Mendocino and Humboldt counties!!

[proud patriot]

38. everything but the Traffic congestion

I love California there are too many positives to list. I figured it would be easier to list what i don't like.

[ellisonz]

39. I listen to NPR during traffic time. n/t

[Ecumenist]

44. I have to agree with you, completely

[Kablooie]

40. Take a look at the Harris Ranch cows on I-5

Not so happy.
Stinky, yes.
Happy, no.

[mitchtv]

41. The weather in Coachella Valley

most of the year,like now

[SHRED]

42. 1. Weather in Encinitas

Beacons Beach Christmas Day 2011 ...one quarter mile from my house:

[Tikki]

43. Location, location with weather, location with many amazing things to do..

location to move around to the beat of your own drummer, uncritisized.

The Tikkis
42 year CA residents

[whathehell]

45. Yeah...I love California...Beautiful picture, by the way

I lived there, back in the day and never forgot it.

Thinking of moving back, but do worry about The Big One, don't you?

They say it's long "overdue".

[mwdem]

46. was out your way this weekend...

Last edited Sat Jan 21, 2012, 02:24 PM - Edit history (1)

the happy cows stink all over the inland empire. I will be moving out there soon, but will probably be renting before making the total commitment, probably in Simi, since I have friends in Westlake Village.

[bayareaboy]

49. The two states of California would be nice to me!

The folks of Jefferson had the right idea.

Perhaps somewhere around Buttonwillow. Hell I will even give up Los Banos.

[AsahinaKimi]

54. Asian areas..

1. Japantown!!
a. San Francsico Nihon Machi
b. San Jose
c. Little Tokyo in Los Angeles


2. Chinatown!
a. San Francisco
b. Los Angeles


3. Little Saigon!! San Francisco.

4. Koreatown!! Los Angeles


Woot!! Love visiting these places!!

[AsahinaKimi]

56. California is the ONLY STATE

Where you can go snow skiing in the morning...and drive a few miles to go surfing in the late afternoon. Or visa versa!!

[bayareaboy]

57. Well actually I have a friend that lives in Hilo ...

Who says he did that for many years on the Big Island.

It's only for a couple of months a year though.

[hvn_nbr_2]

61. Also the only place I know ...

Also the only place I know where, on a drive of only 15 miles, you can use the car heater and air conditioner both. I did that a few times when I lived by S.F. Bay and made trips to Orinda. There may be places where you do that driving up a mountain, but this is level terrain except for a row of small hills.

[Kablooie]

58. Nearly all Of California's energy needs can be tapped from sub surface volcanism.

No, wait a minute. ... That's Iceland.


... Never mind.

[Cleita]

59. We have miles of ocean, lots of sun and wind.

We seem to lack the will to do what needs to be done, or maybe it's really our corrupt politicians that lack the will.

[Kablooie]

60. Some things are being done.

Not as fast as we'd like but there are increasing efforts to extract energy from our resources.

Some of the slowness is probably politics but also it takes a long time to build power plants on the scale needed to supply communities. There are several projects that are being constructed right now but none are online yet.

Also many of the technologies aren't ready for industrial use yet. They have to be pretty efficient and robust before communities can start to rely on them and many are still in the experimental phase.

There are several ideas for getting energy from the ocean and tests are being done right now but none have yet proven to be the reliable, efficient system we really need.

Unfortunately science is a very time consuming process and turning science into functioning technology can take even longer.

[steve2470]

62. everything except housing prices

Hope it's ok I necro-bumped this.

[antiquie]

63. California, my home, does things just a little different than everywhere else

Linking for the OP...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=thread&info=1&address=1018470474

[zappaman]

64. We have a Governor that has turned this state around.

Amazing what you can do when there is no Republican obstructionism!

[antiquie]

65. Ramen, brother, ramen.

Or, as Warren Beatty, his friend since 1970, sums up: “I think what you’re saying is he’s not full of s- - -.”

A lot of people are saying that, now that he’s done what was long assumed impossible: balance the California budget. This is California, the Greece of America, the liberal state that wants to spend on everything and the libertarian state that won’t pay for anything. Californians are so committed to their faulty economic theory that they built laws to enshrine it: The legislature has to pass tax hikes by a two-thirds vote, and citizens can put new laws on the ballot as propositions. When Brown took office two years ago, the state had a $27 billion deficit. Standard & Poor’s (MHP) rated California’s credit the worst of the 50 states, and 24/7 Wall St. ranked it as the worst-run state in its 2011 and 2012 surveys.

This year, California will have an $850 million budget surplus in the coming fiscal year. Unemployment, which peaked at 12.4 percent just before Brown took office, is 9.4 percent. S&P has upgraded its outlook on the state. Confidence remains fragile, according to a survey of 1,142 large and small business leaders conducted by the California Business Roundtable: More than six out of 10 say it’s still harder to do business in California than in other states. But 24 percent of businesses say they plan to add jobs this year, compared with 16 percent that intend to cut them.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-04-25/jerry-brown-californias-grownup-governor

[zappaman]

66. Just posted the ROLLING STONE article.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023661958

[antiquie]

67. Thank you for the current link. (nt)

[zappaman]

68. Oh, and this...

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-minimum-wage-20130913,0,1527959.story

SACRAMENTO — A bill that would boost California's minimum wage to $10 an hour by 2016 won approval by the state Legislature on Thursday and was sent to Gov. Jerry Brown, who said he would sign it.

The measure would raise the current $8 minimum wage to $9 an hour next July 1 and to $10 on Jan. 1, 2016.

The 25% increase would be the first minimum-wage hike in California in five years and would put extra money in the pockets of an estimated 2.4 million Californians.

[Steerpike]

69. I've done all these when I was a kid and or Young Man...kicks ass!

1.Go to San Francisco China Town and order Sea Cucumber in a clay pot and some Crispy Duck!
http://www.sanfranciscochinatown.com/

2. Go to Huntington Beach on Saturday Morning and go Body Surfing
http://www.ci.huntington-beach.ca.us/

3. Spend a Day at the San Diego Zoo
http://www.sandiegozoo.org /

4. Eat lunch at In and Out Burger
http://www.in-n-out.com/

5. Spend a Day at Disneyland
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/vacation-packages/?CMP=KNC-DLR_Scope_Domestic_Test-SEMDLP|G|4132414.RD.AM.02.01B30&SEMLP=G_T1_D1_U1_I0&keyword_id=sQniDEn4H_dc|disneyland|25885299503|e|1540glj14037

6. Go drinking at any Dive Bar in Hollywood on Santa Monica Blvd
http://www.visitwesthollywood.com/explore/santa-monica-boulevard/

7. Go to the San Gabriel Mission
http://sangabrielmission.org /

9. Take a cruise up Azusa Canyons and take a hike in the Angeles Crest National Forest
http://www.ci.azusa.ca.us/index.aspx

9. Go to Santa Anita Racetrack
http://www.santaanita.com /

10. Go to the Arboretum near Santa Anita
http://www.arboretum.org /

11. Spend a day at Knott's Berry Farm
https://www.knotts.com/

12. Go to the Whiskey A-Go-Go on Friday Night in Hollywood
http://www.whiskyagogo.com/site/

13. Check out the House of Blues
http://www.houseofblues.com/venues/clubvenues/losangeles/business.php#about

14. Go to Redondo Beach and check out the Pier
http://www.redondopier.com /

15. Go and spend the day at the Museums at the La Brea Tar Pits
http://www.tarpits.org /

16. Walk up and down Olvera Street
http://www.olvera-street.com /

17. Take a tour of the Winchester House in San Jose
http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/

18. Eat at Bob's Big Boy in Burbank on Riverside Drive
http://www.bobs.net /

19. Check out just how Squalid Beverly Hills Really is!
http://www.beverlyhills.org/

20. Go See a Movie at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
http://www.tclchinesetheatres.com/

[mitchtv]

70. Highest in lower 48 ,Mt Whitney

Lowest in Death Valley

[roody]

71. Hot days and cold nights. within 24 hours

[antiquie]

72. Shorts for New Years, Skiing on Spring break