state by state speak your mind on.....california

[SwampG8r]

never been
always plays well on tv
i like my land mass with less mobility

[Renew Deal]

1. You missed the states that start with the letter B

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

45. Speak your mind on ... British Columbia

well, we haven't annexed them yet, but I think Prez Gingrich could do that between inaugural balls, signing the Executive Order in Limo-One.

[SwampG8r]

95. in the future

do not use gingrich and balls in the same sentence please

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Now, here's a state that *I* can get into...;)

Actually, we have less mobility than you might think. We don't have earthquakes even monthly.

Normally it's years between quakes. You don't even feel the little ones unless you're sitting right on top of them...

It is a beautiful, expensive, and yet broke, state.

Tends to be liberal along the coast, and conservative inland, though there are exceptions, of course.

I love living here!

Here's a couple of pics:

[SwampG8r]

6. thanks peggy

[Little Star]

53. Peggy, have you always lived in CA?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

63. Nope...only since I was 12...

[Tikki]

3. I like the weather, long walks on the beach and World peace....

Last edited Fri Feb 3, 2012, 03:18 AM - Edit history (1)

"California's been good to me...Hope it don't fall in to the sea. Sometimes you have to save yourself...Sometimes you have to trust yourself...Ain't like anywhere else..."..Tom Petty



Tikki

[Ecumenist]

28. I live in the Capital, Sacramento. It's a MUCH warmer in the summer than the City and

MUCH colder in the winter. We have BEAUTIFUL vistas of the Sierras in the winter. We're full of trees and surrounded by rice paddies, corn and tomato fields. We 're about 45 minutes east of Napa and 1.5 hour east of the City...1.5 hours west of Lake Tahoe and 2 hours west of Reno.... Shasta is about is about 4 hours north... It's a beautiful valley criss-crossed by Rivers. Sacramento is called the River city. there are 3 rivers here in the county.. The American, the Sacramento and the Consumnes Rivers. The Gold country in the foothills are dotted with REAL ghost towns and alot of the western towns you read about are still there and lived in.

When you visit, come to the Capital, Schwarzenegger is gone, (thank God) and w sure would like to have you here.

[shanti]

36. hi neighbor!

[Ecumenist]

37. Hiya!!

"hi:

[april]

73. Just moved from good old Sac

and I do miss everything about it ..

[Warren DeMontague]

89. "old sac"

that never fails to crack me up, sorry.

[The Genealogist]

4. California: A Dreamy Kind Of Place

I have only been to California one time, and I was in the San Francisco area during the pride celebration, I think in 2005. It was an interesting place. I LOVED riding around on the BART, and there were so many interesting people. The temperatures were chilly in San Francisco, and I am not used to that in July, especially as I lived in steaming hot Florida at the time.

But until my visit, California seemed like a dreamy kind of place to me. My mother and her parents lived in California (L.A. area) from about 1938 or 1939 til the end of WWII. Mom's dad's mother and siblings lived out there in greater L.A., and their descendants mostly still do. California, as I heard it from the time I was old enough to listen, was warm all year round. You could go swimming at Christmas! It was a beautiful place, with palm trees and interesting flowers. You might even have a lemon tree in the yard! The way California was built up to me, I have no idea why my grandparents came back to Missouri after the war. Perhaps it was to be closer to my grandmother's father, but if so, then why'd they leave my grandfather's mother there? The pictures I saw of the family out there seemed to confirm it was perpetually summer and very fun and pretty, as everyone seemed always to be picnicking and smiling as they did their activities, and there were always flowers and green grass in the photos. And there was Disney Land and Knotts Berry Farm and who knows what else!

As an adult, I know California is not this wonderland. But I sure like to remember it as I never saw it!

[Ecumenist]

5. Um, SwampG8r, there's a reason they call it a "California-quake".

You should visit, especially the north State because California is so much more than what you see on television.

[SwampG8r]

7. i will i know

i like to go to vegas
what can i say
when i leave i go out to the hoover dam
i drive and turn left and go to arizona
next tim e i turn right and go to LA instead

[Ecumenist]

8. I meant to say there's a reason that they DON'T call it a California-quake.

As long as you live on earth you can experience an earthquake.

[SwampG8r]

10. oddly iread it as

you meant it
i didnt notice the difference until i saw this and checked it lol

[Luminous Animal]

9. I am madly in love with San Francisco...

I love the north with the redwoods and the rivers.

I've been to many of the greatest cities in world. I've seen remarkable natural wonders. But I always choke up when the jet dips and I see that skyline.

I love that I can wake up early on a beautiful day and drive 20 minutes out of the city and hike the Marin Headlands and drive a 10 minutes more and hike through steep ravine all the way to the ocean. Another 20 minutes and I am eating oysters at Tomales Bay and taking the kayak out for row. A half hour more and I am wandering illegally in the redwoods of Bohemian Grove (or legally in Armstrong woods). Then, its back home with dinner in Petaluma at Playa Azul (hmmm shrimp civeche or camorones el diablo) or driving straight on through during the sunset with views of my city bathed in gold and meeting up with my friends at the Lucky 13 waiting for the Tamale Lady to show up with dinner.

That's one kind of good day.

[Ecumenist]

11. I LOVE THE CITY too ! I spend ALOT of time in Mendocino and

Humboldt. Love the lost coast, spend so much time in Arcata and McKinleyville....

[Luminous Animal]

17. I love Mendocino and Humboldt!

The Humboldt redwoods are my second home!

[Ecumenist]

19. Me too! Fern Canyon, the Roosevelt Elk herd @ Orick...Good time, Good times...

I'm looking for land in Kneeland to start an organic farm. My favorite place in the world ...NEXT to the City..

[Luminous Animal]

21. I hope you find that land!

[Luminous Animal]

16. Some pics

Marin headlands..


Steep Ravine


Tomales Bay Oyster Company


Tomales Bay


Armstrong Woods


Playa Azul


San Francisco at sunset


The Lucky 13


The Tamale Lady

[Blue_In_AK]

40. Luminous, I lived there in Bolinas from 1970 to 1974

I went back a few years ago, and it hadn't changed a bit.

[april]

77. Half Moon Bay

luv it

[Luminous Animal]

91. Half Moon Bay is lovely. During crap season, we motorcycle down and buy the crabs fresh off the boat

And there is a cute little town called Pescadero on the way down from San Francisco with a 100+ year old tavern that serves wonderful artichoke soup and fantastic pies. Also, Bean Hollow is great for tide pool gazing.

Duartes.

[petronius]

100. You might want to fix that typo in your subject line!

Thanks for the Pescadero mention - I might be driving down the coast next weekend, and I'll try and swing through there...

[Luminous Animal]

101. What? You've got a problem with crap season?

Yeah. Yeah. My mild dislexia has amused family and friends for decades.

[AsahinaKimi]

104. I love THE CITY

I will never leave it again..ever.

[gateley]

12. I love California!

I visited often with my parents -- from San Diego to San Francisco -- and I've been several times since. I always remember flying into LAX at night when I was thirteen (the first trip I remember other than brief snippets of Disney Land when I was about four) and being dumbfounded at all the bright turquoise blobs beneath me. I'd never seen so many swimming pools! And walking out of the front door of the airport, seeing Palm Trees! The warm air felt like velvet against my skin. I thought the ROUND Capitol Records building was amazing!

San Francisco always enchants me, a world of its own. I always wanted to live on Lombard Street. I remember some ancient twin sisters who I'd see at Neiman Marcus in Union Square, the chickens hanging in the windows in China Town, the seals on the rocks by Cliff House, the Presidio, the ride down the Hill in the cable car and there was Alcatraz!

The Big Sur Inn on the drive from LA to San Francisco (about forty years ago!), never wanting to leave Carmel, hanging out in Venice, the Madonna Inn.

There's no place like California!

[Luminous Animal]

33. Alcatraz is so cool. I always take visting friends and family there...

and you have to take the audio tour narrated by past guards and prisoners. Lombard street is okay but I know the REAL crookedest street in San Francisco. None of the traffic and even more a thrill and then it's brunch and a steadying Bloody Mary at the Ramp...

[gateley]

70. Just typing my memories, and now reading your response, I want to go to SF SO BAD!

[stevedeshazer]

13. I love Californians.

I just wish they would stop moving to Oregon and Washington.

[Ecumenist]

20. We see LOTS of Oregon, Washington and B.C. licence plates here too!!

[itsrobert]

71. Yeah, a lot of Oregon Plates

You would think some Californians are using family members to register their vehicles in Oregon to avoid hefty fees/taxes. nah

[Warren DeMontague]

88. Lucky us, we bought our last car not 6 months before we found out we had to move

OUT of California. Probably could have saved a grand or so if we'd known earlier.

it is pricey, in CA.

[shanti]

25. native californian here

3rd generation on mom's side, but dad was from washington, so i have roots there too. there are lots of us

[Ecumenist]

31. Me too NATIVE and have been here MOST of my life!!

[Warren DeMontague]

26. Honestly, man

this paranoid idea here in the pacific NW that there's this big secret and as soon as the 34 million people down there figure it out, they're all coming up here... it's not going to happen.

Don't get me wrong, Oregon and Washington are wonderful, but...

the gates are not going to be stormed. Trust me. Not as long as there's all this rain, much less the occasional snowstorm.

[countryjake]

41. Try saying something like that...

to a local out on the San Juans (and they don't get nearly as much rain out there as the rest of us do).

[Warren DeMontague]

52. Well, on this continent, unless your last name is something like "Red Cloud"

you're probably a relatively recent arrival, too.

[countryjake]

83. Ya, I've tried using that logic...

on a few Islanders, myself, but some of them are a determined and "exceptional" lot.

[Warren DeMontague]

87. Heh. I guess I just don't really care that much if other people are bugged.

...before we moved up here, years ago, I heard "oh, don't tell anyone you're coming from California- Oregonians hate people who've moved up from California"

I haven't seen that much of it, honestly. Anyway, if someone doesn't like it, too bad. I'm here now. Not leaving, either. If I never have to move again, it'll be too soon.

[white_wolf]

14. I haven't been there except in the L.A. airport,but...

the more I read about it, the more I want to visit it and possibly live there. It's on my short list of potential states to move to after I graduate. L.A. or San Fransisco(I can't decide which) are in completion with New York City, which I love.

[Luminous Animal]

18. If you need warm weather and don't mind driving and driving and driving..

Then it is LA.

If you don't mind autumn weather in the middle of summer (and then summer weather 2 days later and then back again), quick access to nature, and fairly good transportation, then San Francisco is the place for you.

I've lived in both LA and SF. I loved the weather in LA but I had little patience with the the amount of driving and traffic. In San Francisco, I don't even own a car.

[taught_me_patience]

66. Los Angeles

Is where it's at. The weather is better, easier to get around, good jobs, cheaper, and just as good outdoor sports as SF. I came here 8 years ago and am never going to leave.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

15. Born there, lived most of my life there, got elbowed and priced out in '81.

Moved to Oregon then to Washington. It's an exciting place when you're young. I miss the mockingbirds and eucalyptus trees but I don't miss the smog, heat, and crowds. I love Washington.

[pamela]

22. I love California

My husband is from San Diego so I've been there a lot. Beautiful city. My favorite thing to do in California is to drive along the coast. I've done sections of that drive and plan to do the whole route sometime. I really want to spend some time in Steinbeck country. Yosemite is at the top of my bucket list.

I love the diversity of California's geography-beaches and mountains and farmland and cities and desert. Hate the traffic.

[Luminous Animal]

24. If you ever make it as far as Laguna Beach

you should stop by Crystal Cove.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=644

[shanti]

27. aren't they lovely?

and almost impossible to snag a reservation.

[Luminous Animal]

32. The cabins are wonderful! Hiking around there, eating lunch and hanging at the beach

It is the only place that redeemed Southern CA in my husband's eyes.

[pamela]

44. That looks beautiful. Thanks!

I've bookmarked that site in my roadtrip folder. Thanks again!

[Warren DeMontague]

23. Got everything. Really, it's big enough to be its own country.

So big it's hard to generalize about. LA is not The Bay Area which is not Mendo or Humboldt which is not the Central Valley which is not Sacramento...

Love California. Spent about half my life living there, all over it. Can't really deal with Los Angeles for more than a couple days but the Northern Part of the state is wonderful.

[Prism]

29. I never want to leave . . .

I moved to the Bay Area 2.5 years ago, and I have never ever lived in a place of such natural beauty. I lived/traveled across Europe for three years, and nothing holds a candle to it.

Everyday, I walk out the door, see the Bay and the hills and think "I cannot believe I live here."

[Luminous Animal]

34. New Zealand is the only place that has come close to natural beauty

for me. But then, New Zealand doesn't have San Francisco.

[hifiguy]

61. New Zealand is incredibly beautiful

and though it doesn't have San Francisco, it does have Wellington - a gorgeous city - and lots of great vineyards.

[Warren DeMontague]

30. California? It's like Sex In The Mouth.

http://upload.democraticunderground.com/101846736

Sorry, I just wanted to be the first one to use that line.

[raouldukelives]

35. The wineries! Fod God's sake somebody stop em!

They are multiplying at a fantastic pace here in my beloved Mendocino County. Not too mention northern Sonoma County. What was once lovely rolling hills and redwood trees is quickly being converted into row upon row of grapes. Illegally sucking water from the streams, slathering crops in pesticides, leading hordes of horribly rude and environmentally oblivious people in SUV's to liquor up and drive our windy roads at breakneck speeds. I have to say I really enjoy the extra roadside clean-up every week from the bastards.
The times they are indeed changing. Run for your life deer!

[Ecumenist]

38. I know!! I noticed the wineries popping up like pimples on a hormonal

16 year old. Do we REALLY need that many?

[raouldukelives]

56. There are some very good organic ones.

But for the most part they are weekend winery owners.
"Oh honey, the Smiths have a lovely vineyard in Mendocino and they can pay immigrant workers next to nothing to dump poison on the vines that we can write off our taxes and flush into the creek. Can we pretty please have one too? Just sell some of that Halliburton stock like we did to cover Buffy's sweet sixteen party! We'll have to look at widening the roads though. I can barely fit my Denali through some of these turns!"
Yeah, I've met more than a few of them. They care nothing for the natural beauty of this area. That only a little more than a 100 years ago was home to the Pomo and was stalked by bear, mountain lions and cougars. Where the creeks were full of salmon and the massive redwoods were well stocked by the 6 months of rain every year.
Now it hardly even looks as it did when I was a child. And that was when my father & grandfather said "You should have seen it when.". Years of lessening rainfall, trees dying at an alarming rate, creeks barely a trickle, increasing amounts of traffic and building. I guess it's just the natural progression of our society. I know it's not too late to bring it back but I fear it's a lost cause. Still, as Clarence Darrow would say those are the only causes worth fighting for.

[Blue_In_AK]

39. I love California.

I lived there from 1969 until 1975, mostly in the Bay Area, and had some of the best times of my life. We go down there to visit every fall. San Francisco feels like my second home.





And one from Santa Monica

[countryjake]

42. Nice place to visit...

and I've done that many times in my life. Backpacking in Yosemite; keeling over in utter awe at the Redwoods, Sequoias; trying to leave the state as a smuggler of Sugar Pine Cones; catching pneumonia after a week in San Francisco; conceiving my only child at Bear Valley; snow snow and more snow in the Sierras; San Diego Zoo; Palomar Observatory; did I mention hiking to Tuolumne Meadows; dropping in on my kid in LA and trying to keep up with her on the freeway; Mount Shasta; Eureka!; walnut farms; San Joaquin Valley; Highway 1; okay... it's one of the best places to visit on earth. And my daughter lives in the Castro down there now (without a car), so I guess that state is very close to my heart.

[jsmirman]

43. One dirty little secret: read Cadillac Desert

A brilliant telling of stolen water and how a place like LA arguably should never have outgrown the tiny little village it languished as for so many years.

I confess, I do enjoy visiting, but Cadillac Desert is an absolute must read for anyone who wants to understand how the western part of this country took on its present shape.

[XemaSab]

46. The tiny silver lining to the shitty economy:

We're no longer building houses all over everything.

[pinboy3niner]

47. California Dreamin' with The Mamas & the Papas...

[Bluenorthwest]

48. First off, the entire Earth is mobile. CA is my homestate and I adore it and loathe it

and adore it again. CA offered me all I needed for most of my life. CA was the Promised Land to my parents and their age peers.
If I had to make one compliant I'd say that Californians do not know the State's history well enough, and they should. So many stories that are nearly unknown.
Now I am in Oregon, California's Canada. I contend that one of the most amazing stretches of America is shared where CA and OR meet, particularly at and near the coast.

[mike_c]

58. that stretch of land you mention is where I live....

[Starry Messenger]

49. I can't imagine living anywhere else.

It might be crazy, but it's home.

[MineralMan]

50. I lived there most of my life.

Great weather, great scenery, great variety. Overall, a very good state to live in, if you can afford it.

[IDemo]

51. My favorite place as a child wasn't Disneyland

It was Sunset Beach, the tiny community where my grandparents ran an old motel on the Pacific Coast Highway. We used to play out on the jetty before it was fenced off. It was somewhat isolated, with the Anaheim Bay bridge on the north and five or six miles of state beach on the south separating it from Huntington Beach. I'm sure things have changed in the 35 years since I've last seen it, though. I think it has actually been incorporated by Huntington Beach for a while now.

[Little Star]

54. Quite the place that California!!

When I think of California the first things that pop up in my mind are Hollywood, Pacific Ocean and vineyards. I’ve never been there and never really gave going there much consideration before now. Was I ever wrong!

California’s official tourism website may not be the most user friendly but their state looks magnificent! http://www.visitcalifornia.com/

Wow! Look at the slide show by California’s State Parks and Recreation Department:
http://www.parks.ca.gov/

And as far as I can tell there are also 8 National Parks in California:

Channel Islands National Park
Death Valley National Park
Joshua Tree National Park
Kings Canyon National Park?
Lassen Volcanic National Park
Redwood National Park
Sequoia National Park?
Yosemite National Park?

Californians boast their US. 395 as “The Grandest Road Trip”. Looks like they got that right!
http://www.visitcalifornia.com/Life-In-California/Adventure/The-Grandest-Road-Trip/


I also found some California Byways here: http://byways.org/explore/states/CA


California, “The Golden State” and other state symbols:
http://www.library.ca.gov/history/symbols.html#Heading4


Glad to give praise to how California’s tourism gives a whole page of guidance to travelers with disabilities. Good on them!
http://www.visitcalifornia.com/Travel-Tools/Travelers-with-Disabilities/

[mike_c]

55. best place I've ever lived....

I've lived in about half the U.S. states, mostly east of the Mississippi but also a few western states, including California, where I've lived since 1997. I love it here. I've been here for nearly 15 years now and have barely scratched the surface exploring the beauty and diversity just in my part of norcal-- that's the coolest part for me, knowing that I'll be discovering new places and things to do, or at least new-to-me, for the rest of my life. And that's just in California. Throw in the adjacent western states, both on the coast and one layer back, and it's an embarrassment of riches.

The west is best, and California is the jewel in the crown.

[Arkansas Granny]

57. I've been to San Diego a few times. There were too many cars and too many people for

my comfort level. I don't fit into something that fast paced. I'm told that it's completely different in Northern California, however.

[Spike89]

59. Californicating off and on for most my life

Like many Oregonians, I've spent time in California for one reason or another. My son was born in the bay area (Alameda) during my first 2-year California residence. I married my 2nd (and current) wife while we lived in Newport Beach for about 2 years. There are so many great things about both the bay area and southern California, but the truth is that I never felt at home there and I made tough economic decisions to get back to Oregon each time.
My wife was also born in Oregon, but she grew up in Modesto. Her family still lives there and we visit frequently. I'm not such a big fan of the big valley, but even it isn't a horrible place.
The biggest thing I've noticed is that if you can get into the middle class or above in California, it is a great place. If you're struggling financially, it really sucks.

[hifiguy]

60. I LOVE California!

First time I was ever there was when I was checking out law schools back in the mid-1980s and visited USC, which had offered me a three-year free ride. I felt as if I were coming home the minute I stepped out of the airport. LA is probably my favorite city in the US.

I would have relocated there in 1990, after I was informed that my services were no longer required at the firm I worked for in Minneapolis and even had a dream job lined up until a partner at my employer poisoned the well with my would-be employer.

Been back a few times since and love it more every time. Have spent a fair amount of time in both the LA and SF areas and both are wonderful. I have a number of friends, especially south of Los Angeles area down in San Diego, Carlsbad and San Juan Capistrano. Gotta go out and see them sometime soon.

[marlakay]

62. Lived there most of my life in bay area

too expensive to retire there so moved to mountains in WA state. I love the mountains but admit I miss living in a liberal area!

I was raised in Napa before tourists and have always loved vineyards. One of my girls lives in Santa Rosa. My husband retired from 30 years driving Bart.

At one point I had a job for two years in small town near Yosemite and I had yearly pass and went on my days off and hiked and camped a lot.

Carmel was one of my fav weekend fun spots along with Mendocino.

I also miss living only 35 min from the ocean that was in Santa Rosa.

[hootinholler]

64. Dang! I missed Arizona!

Can we put a link to the prior state in these OPs please?

[pinboy3niner]

67. Excellent idea!

[SwampG8r]

96. i am posting the link in each states group

if you go to your state i have linked back to its GD thread
and thanks to whoever suggested that i do that

[taught_me_patience]

65. California

Going back to California
So many good things around
Don't wanna leave California
The sun seems to never go down

Some people may treat you ugly
Some treat you beautiful too
That's the way life is all over
So look for the good things for you

California - there is a good place to be
California - that's where I'm feeling so free

Solos

California that's where I'm feeling so free
California there is a good place to be

California - that is a good place for home
California - I'll be back there before long

--John Mayall

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="

" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[pinboy3niner]

69. L.A. Break Down

[SalviaBlue]

68. I have lived in Central CA - Fresno/Clovis all my life.

My husband was also born and raised here. (After we met as adults we realized we had spent several years of our childhood living in the same neighborhood and going to the same elementary school.) Fresno used to be a small town. Now, not so much (2011 pop. 500,000+).

I will never move away. I have never considered it. All of the criticisms of Fresno are true: This is a politically conservative area (but there are allot of liberals too). It is HOT in the summer and FOGGY in the winter. It is usually very SMOGGY (but when it’s clear and you can see the mountains--- WOW!!).

I love the fact that we can leave the valley floor and drive for less than one hour and be in the Sierra Nevada’s. Most of the mountain area above Fresno is National Forest land and we can camp out in the woods with no one else around- for free. It’s like having a second home that we can escape to whenever we want.

Our proximity to the coast is also a big plus. We can escape the heat and go to the coast for the weekend with less than three hours drive. Thanks to the CA State Parks, we can do this with a pretty small expenditure (camping again).

I LOVE Northern CA and San Francisco. (LA, not so much.) I wish I could get away to N. CA more, but it’s about a 6 hour drive from Fresno (in the middle of the state) to the Northern border of CA... This is a BIG state.

The last earthquake I felt was in the '80s. But I am always thinking about the possibility of the BIG ONE we all know is coming one day.

[Liberal_in_LA]

72. beautiful weather today. Nice to live in liberal state.

[11 Bravo]

74. We lived in Coronado when my Dad was stationed at NAS North Island. Absolutely the best ...

tour we ever had. This was back before the bridge and you had to take the ferry to get to San Diego. I learned to surf along the Silver Strand.

[PlanetBev]

75. Lived here all my life

Born in LA, grew up in San Fernando Valley, now live in Thousand Oaks. Never strayed too far from where it started, although I wish I lived in the Bay Area.

Once California throws a harpoon in you, it's hard to get away. Guess I'm gonna die here in my Blue State....

[Bruce Wayne]

76. Don't like LA. They built the buildings too far apart.

Last edited Fri Feb 3, 2012, 07:20 PM - Edit history (1)

And all that sunshine... fuhgeddaboudit! We all need a few lurkable shadows in our lives.

[pinboy3niner]

86. LOL!

Yeah...Bruce Wayne WOULD say that...

[april]

78. I lived in Flosom and Sacramento

just moved to Colorado I want to go back ..I miss my Cali

[april]

79. sorry Folsom and it is Beautiful

[MrScorpio]

80. I'd like to see more of it than just the San Francisco Airport terminal. nt

[truebrit71]

81. Spent a good deal of time there..

Parts are beautiful, others are not. Got married, and divorced, and re-married there..

Love the beaches, the mountains and the weather (in the south)...

Not crazy about the earthquakes though..

[GoCubsGo]

82. They say it's the place you ought to be.

As long as it's any place north of Los Angeles, I tend to agree. The PCH is gorgeous! I loved the Bay Area. Monterrey Bay was cool. Wish I could have gotten out to wine country, Lassen NP, Yosemite... L.A.--bleech.

[KamaAina]

84. Eighth largest economy in the world.

Now we need a legislature that acts like it. Yes, Dems too. Especially the cowards who just "abstained" from the single-payer vote.

[KamaAina]

85. As I tell everyone who asks, "Why (the #*^%!*) did you leave Hawai'i?",

the Bay Area sucks considerably less than anyplace else on the mainland.

[Robb]

90. Stolen from Twitter:

[a la izquierda]

92. the years i lived there were some of the best of my life...

and i miss my friends and family terribly.

[barbtries]

93. home sweet home

born and raised in LA. moved to NC after 52 years because i could no longer afford to live there. miss it, but not the traffic. the people. the ocean. home.

[lunatica]

94. California has UC Berkeley

And I'm very blessed to be working there. Not great income mind you, but working to help the future leaders of our world is very gratifying. My job has a profound value in that way. No corporate CEO is getting rich off of my job. I think of this every day.

[denbot]

97. I'm a 4th generation Angelino..

I lived other places and have always found my way home. I love everything about Southern California, and if I'm away long enough I even miss the traffic.

From San Diego and the Anzo Borrega Desert to the south, the Channel Island off the Coast, to the Sierra Madres, Kings Canyon, Yosemite, San Francisco, Monterey, Big Sur, Point Medicino, The Lost Coast of Humbolt and Medicino counties, there is no place like home.

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[dana_b]

98. I've lived in the Bay Area almost my entire life

except for a few years when I was a teenager that my parents decided that we needed to be in Southern California (blech!). It's gorgeous and there is a lot to do but it is sooo expensive to live here.

[ellisonz]

99. Born and Raised...

...in SoCal. There are things about it I like, don't get me wrong, and I'm back now because of family concerns. But I left at 18, dated Oregon, married Hawaii and am not looking back. I'm going back to the Islands as soon as I can - blue skies, green mountains, and jungle (blessed, blessed jungle )

[limpyhobbler]

102. the grateful dead

Pavement
Brian Jonestown Massacre
Monterrey Pop Festival

[joshcryer]

103. Almost everyone I 'know' online lives there.

Big place.

[AsahinaKimi]

105. Nihon machi!!!! daisuki!

San Francisco's Japan Town.