Living SoCal: Pros and Cons

A few years ago I did a pro/con post about living in Arizona, I think California deserves the same treatment. I know it is a big state, I've not seen all of it, but this is one woman's experience in L.A.'s South Bay area.

Knott's Berry Farm

Pro: Everything you need is within 2 miles. Seriously, every store, restaurant, and entertainment type within 2 miles of your home, it makes errand running much easier.

Long Beach Harbor

Con: With having so many options, it is really hard to determine where to find good quality. There are hundreds of Mexican restaurants near us. I just want to know which ones are actually delicious and affordable. I don't have the time or money to go to every single one and find out! And online reviews are always a little suspect. Just because no one has reviewed it doesn't mean it isn't great. Just because lots of people love it doesn't mean I will. I am overwhelmed by indecision so we rarely eat out.

The beach at Miramar Park

Pro: It's not too hot and not too cold and all you need is a light jacket. In all seriousness, the area we live in doesn't often get warmer than 80 degrees, it gets into the 90's sporadically in the summer. We've had a couple hot days but it isn't ever Arizona hot. Everyone knows So Cal is warm and there isn't real winter here. It might be in the 50's sometimes, but it never gets Rocky Mountain cold. There is often a nice coastal breeze that keeps the weather feeling pleasant.

Con: No one has A/C. That might be a slight exaggeration, but most rental properties do not have air conditioning. We don't. Even though the daily temperature is usually pretty mild our house is not well insulated and it gets very warm inside. Our house was warmer than 80 degrees every day of July and August and many days in September. We had a few days around Independence Day where the temperature inside was 90 degrees. It was miserable.

Tide pools in San Pedro

Pro: There are a lot of interesting, fun things to do nearby. We are about 30 miles from Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, and Universal Studios, 10 miles from the city of Long Beach, and 5 miles from the ocean. There are a lot of National Parks in the state making them very reasonable road trip destinations.

My minion meets a minion at Universal Studios

Con: I've had to re-think time and distance when traveling in a big way because, spoiler alert, there is a lot of traffic here. In a small town with a non-crowded freeway, 30 miles of driving can be accomplished in about 30 minutes, give or take. Depending on which direction I'm driving and what time of day and day of the week it is, it will probably take significantly longer to get anywhere than makes any kind of earthly sense.  If we want to visit our family who live a mere 50 miles away we have to plan for about 2 hours in near stopped traffic for a significant portion of the drive. L.A. is only 15 miles away, but it might as well be a hundred. I never go there. It is the epicenter of the bad traffic, like some kind of black hole/time vortex, you come out on the other side with gray hair wondering what year it is.

The sand dunes in Death Valley National Park

Pro: Transitional Kindergarten. This is very specific to our family and might not matter to most people, but if your kid has a fall birthday that means you have a whole extra year where they are at home. You have to pay for them to go to pre-school or join a co-op neighborhood pre-school. However schools in this part of the world have TK, which is special Kindergarten for kids who missed the deadline like by a few months. And, whether transitional or otherwise, kindergarten is all day. I didn't think I'd be a fan of an all day kindergarten, but I AM. 5 hours of recess, play, reading, writing, singing, counting, and art. Paul loves it and we wouldn't have had this as an option in Utah and I never heard about anything like this in Arizona.

Con: The air quality. It is significantly worse than Southern Arizona's air. I rarely saw smoke or smog in Tucson, only when a fire was close. LA just has gross air year round.
Utah has similarly bad air because inversion! The reason I think LA's is worse is because at least the inversion happens when it is cold and there isn't any pollen floating around. Here there are allergens AND smog! It's a win for people like me with assorted respiratory issues.

Pro: I didn't think I'd care one way or another about going to the beach, but I actually love it. The kids splash and dig, I think watching the waves is relaxing, and we frequently see dolphins or sea lions. It's a cool thing that we get to do on a pretty regular basis, last summer we went to the beach at least once a week.

Con: Parking. And everything to do with cars. So little free parking at the beach. Parking at my own home is a chore. When people park in front of my house I want to slash their tires. Don't they know that is my parking spot and I have a car full of groceries and children and just MOVE ALREADY!
I've looked into the city bus. It doesn't come at the right time to take Paul to or from school, or I'd use that and sell my car. Except...
Double Con: The DMV. It is only a couple blocks away from us, but it is the worst place I have ever been. Imagine all the horrors of a normal DMV, but the line is out the door. And around the building. And that's for the people who made an appointment six weeks in advance. That appointment, from start to finish, will take 2-4 hours. If you didn't plan that far ahead, you'll wait in line for 4 hours to get a number, wait for 2 more hours for your number to be called, and then have your appointment take 4 hours. Going to the DMV again is my number two fear, after giant spiders with machine guns.

Sequoia National Park

Pro: Southern California is a true melting pot. Every religion, nationality, and lifestyle can be found here. People from all over the world live here and they brought their delicious foods and beautiful languages with them. I am beginning to think I am the only non- bilingual person in the state, and I am really okay with that.

Con: The big one you all knew was coming: Cost of living. Compared to Arizona especially, this is a seriously set back. A house is literally 800% more expensive. I am not exaggerating even a little bit. Good luck finding 2,000 sq ft for less than a million dollars. If you did, someone else would out bid you...by offering a million dollars. The real question is not "do you like living here?" it's "can you afford to live here?"
And the answer is largely no. Next time you take your family to Disneyland, look around. See all the smiling employees? (Yes, I know they're called "Cast Members," I just think that's stupid.) They aren't paid a living wage. Some of those friendly, enthusiastic, hard working people are a sneeze away from homelessness. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? Now enjoy your trip to the "Happiest place on Earth!"

Long Beach Aquarium

Neither Pro nor Con, just different: It is noticeably humid this close to the coast. In someways that is nice, it is annoying in others, I've had to adjust mentally from the assumption that bread left out for an hour will be drier than toast.

When it comes down to it, for some people the pros out weigh the cons. There are certainly people who would never want to live anywhere else. So they don't. Then there are folks who wouldn't live here if you paid them, and they all live elsewhere.

My moving around the west has taught me a couple things:

1) I hate being too hot more than being cold.

2) Most of my hobbies involve being inside.

3) I don't have Seasonal Affective Disorder.

4) I'm allergic to all nature so the pollen will

 ruin good weather for me wherever I live.