OT: Time for me to move out of Los Angeles.

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Sun May 03, 2009 3:15 pm

F308GTB wrote:
LAking wrote:
F308GTB wrote:You couldn't pay me enough to live in LA (well, I guess you could). I hadn't been there in a few years and had to go in February this year. I forgot how much concrete was there. Houston certainly won't win any natural beauty contests, but at least when flying over Houston you see a hell of a lot of green (tons of trees). Toss in overpriced housing, valet or pay garage at many restaurants, lousy Mexican food, and a poorly run state government and you've got little reason to settle in LA or its suburbs. And who can stand the same freaking weather day in, day out?

Tornadoes and earthquakes are equally bad - come out of nowhere. Hurricane? You can run from those.

LA is like Boston - great place to visit, but I don't want to live there (4 months of Boston was enough for me).
Lousy Mexican food? Are you freaking kidding me? Tell that to the millions of Mexican-Americans living in Los Angeles, they would beg to differ.
Damn straight lousy Mexican food. Know a few dudes (Hispanic) who were raised in Texas and moved out there. Thing they miss most is the Mexican food here. Heard the same thing from some of the SoCal locals too - been to Texas and we gots the best. Don't forget we have plenty of Mexican Americans in our neck of the woods too...

Cali-Mex is freaking bland.

No disrespect to your Hispanic friends from Texas who preferred Tex-Mex (shocker!), but LA & San Diego are excellent culinary hot spots (for all cuisine).

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun May 03, 2009 3:41 pm

greggsand wrote: No disrespect to your Hispanic friends from Texas who preferred Tex-Mex (shocker!), but LA & San Diego are excellent culinary hot spots (for all cuisine).

Agreed, except for chicken wings. It was damn hard to find an authentic Buffalo wing when I lived in L.A. 15 years ago. Granted, I'm sure much has changed since then, but nearly every wing I found out there was teriyaki, sesame, barbecue sauce, ketchup or Tabasco or the absolute heresy of all heresies -- a breaded coating.

In other words, not a Buffalo wing. But L.A. isn't alone. I've never seen such a simple recipe as true Buffalo wings f*cked up in so many locales:

1. Pour Frank's RedHot sauce into a bowl.
2. Add a bit of melted butter to taste to RedHot in bowl, less the better. Stir.
3. Add a few dashes of black pepper to RedHot-butter mixture in bowl. Stir.
4. Deep-fry wings with NO coating -- just a nude wing -- until lightly crispy to golden brown depending on preference. Remove from deep fryer and dunk them in the bowl of sauce. Serve immediately.

MMM, good.

Take care,
PK

bkrich83 · Post by **bkrich83** » Sun May 03, 2009 4:06 pm

pk500 wrote:
greggsand wrote: No disrespect to your Hispanic friends from Texas who preferred Tex-Mex (shocker!), but LA & San Diego are excellent culinary hot spots (for all cuisine).
Agreed, except for chicken wings. It was damn hard to find an authentic Buffalo wing when I lived in L.A. 15 years ago. Granted, I'm sure much has changed since then, but nearly every wing I found out there was teriyaki, sesame, barbecue sauce, ketchup or Tabasco or the absolute heresy of all heresies -- a breaded coating.

In other words, not a Buffalo wing. But L.A. isn't alone. I've never seen such a simple recipe as true Buffalo wings f*cked up in so many locales:

1. Pour Frank's RedHot sauce into a bowl.
2. Add a bit of melted butter to taste to RedHot in bowl, less the better. Stir.
3. Add a few dashes of black pepper to RedHot-butter mixture in bowl. Stir.
4. Deep-fry wings with NO coating -- just a nude wing -- until lightly crispy to golden brown depending on preference. Remove from deep fryer and dunk them in the bowl of sauce. Serve immediately.

MMM, good.

Take care,
PK

Agreed, it's like trying to find a true Philly Cheesesteak outside of Philly. For some reason it's impossible. I have to hit Geno's every time I land in Philly because of it.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Mon May 04, 2009 9:45 am

My only experience with Texas is driving through the panhandle on I-40, which was like being on a conveyor belt to hell. I swear I passed the same tree five times. It's a remarkable achievement to make a traveler long for the site of Albuquerque.

Southern California has the nicest weather and the most things to do of any place I've ever been. You can literally drive to any imaginable activity within a few hours. I don't particularly care for LA, but San Diego is the nicest major city in the country.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Mon May 04, 2009 9:55 am

Best Mexican food I've ever had was in San Antonio also. Probably 4-5 places where I had one heck of a meal. Great place, but I can't go there after the choke last year.

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Mon May 04, 2009 12:27 pm

Brando70 wrote:My only experience with Texas is driving through the panhandle on I-40, which was like being on a conveyor belt to hell. I swear I passed the same tree five times. It's a remarkable achievement to make a traveler long for the site of Albuquerque.

Now them is fighting words. Chicago pizza has now gone from overrated to tastes like crap.

For the traveler who is just going down I-40 to go somewhere else I can agree with you. Flat, few trees and some large crosses every 50 or so miles. That said, there is plenty of stuff to see and do, just off that little highway for those actually planning to stop. I mean many people have heard of "historic Route 66." You just so happened to be on it, though I imagine you probably knew that. You missed quite a bit.

http://www.historic66.com/texas/

Heck even a neat little Canyon just off the beaten path.

http://www.palodurocanyon.com/

Our farm is just a 2 hours north of the place you refer to as the conveyor belt to hell.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Mon May 04, 2009 12:53 pm

Ha, BD, I am sure if I got off the beaten path it would be nice. I like farm country quite a bit. But the I-40 route is just so dreadfully dull (I've been on it a few times driving from Chicago to California). The most interesting thing I saw was the billboard for the free 72 oz steak if you could eat it in an hour.

I am supposed to go to San Antonio for work in July, and I'm excited to see it as I've heard a lot of good things about it.

Of course, now I live in a place where the local grocery store sells spice rub specifically for bear meat.

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Mon May 04, 2009 1:00 pm

Brando70 wrote:The most interesting thing I saw was the billboard for the free 72 oz steak if you could eat it in an hour.

That and the potato, salad, etc.

http://www.bigtexan.com/

<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vixJ1TgO6PU&co ... edded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed>

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Mon May 04, 2009 2:02 pm

Brando70 wrote:San Diego is the nicest major city in the country.

Man, I couldn't agree more. Every time I go down there (3 hour drive from LA), I ask myself "why am I not living here??". I love L.A., but SD is like L.A. without all the crappy stuff. Oh, the weather's not too bad either (best in the country). If we could move the entertainment biz down there, I'd start loading my car this afternoon.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Mon May 04, 2009 2:20 pm

I concur, anytime someone tells me they moved from San Diego, I ask them how insane they are.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Mon May 04, 2009 2:36 pm

fsquid wrote:I concur, anytime someone tells me they moved from San Diego, I ask them how insane they are.

Till you realize that even a modest house in the area goes for a half a million and you can sell and pay cash in virtually every other part of the country. Some people just don't like mortgage payments.

My mom for example, bought in SD when they were reasonably priced...sold in 06 and paid cash for the house in Arizona. Viola...no mortgage payments. Sure, she lives in an inferno, but I'd do the same if I could have afforded it at the time. Now I'm just paying 2,000 a month for a 1400 sq. foot house in Thousand Oaks. Awesome. And that's cheap around here these days.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Mon May 04, 2009 3:17 pm

Yeah, the real estate is ridiculous in SD. I lived there during high school because my dad was stationed there, and it's the only time we ever lived in Navy housing because homes were so expensive (and that was 20 years ago).

You can definitely put a price on nice. For all the crap I have to put up with in terms of weather now, I have a beautiful view of Lake Superior in a house I didn't have to mortgage for three generations, and the summers are California-nice (once summer actually shows up).

Still, if you can afford it, San Diego is about as good as it gets.

bkrich83 · Post by **bkrich83** » Mon May 04, 2009 5:12 pm

Brando70 wrote:Yeah, the real estate is ridiculous in SD. I lived there during high school because my dad was stationed there, and it's the only time we ever lived in Navy housing because homes were so expensive (and that was 20 years ago).

You can definitely put a price on nice. For all the crap I have to put up with in terms of weather now, I have a beautiful view of Lake Superior in a house I didn't have to mortgage for three generations, and the summers are California-nice (once summer actually shows up).

Still, if you can afford it, San Diego is about as good as it gets.

As long as you are not right on the coast, the housing prices in SD have dropped considerably. Still higher than most places in the country, but not out of the realm of reality any longer. Rumor is the north county coastal region will see some downturn in pricing soon as well.

It's the price you pay for the quality of life here. There are few places I would rather live. Although the wife and I have considered Colorado a few times.

TheGamer · Post by **TheGamer** » Mon May 04, 2009 9:36 pm

Guys, I'm a mortgage collector for a major global bank, and its ridiculous the prices people are paying for their mortgages out in California. In all parts of the state. Albeit, the company I work for mainly deals with subprime borrowers, but the average monthly payment for a second mortgage is easily $1500, with the first mortgage averaging at the minimum $3500-$5000. The California accounts are either the best or the worst accounts to get on the phone. Either you're going to get an extremely high amount due and make some money, or you going to get someone way over their head asking for assistance and normally can't pay until the next month. Normally its because they have to pay their extremely high car note. I suppose its what I get since I used to be an underwriter signing off on these bad deals.

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Mon May 04, 2009 9:53 pm

TheGamer wrote:Guys, I'm a mortgage collector for a major global bank, and its ridiculous the prices people are paying for their mortgages out in California. In all parts of the state. Albeit, the company I work for mainly deals with subprime borrowers, but the average monthly payment for a second mortgage is easily $1500, with the first mortgage averaging at the minimum $3500-$5000. The California accounts are either the best or the worst accounts to get on the phone. Either you're going to get an extremely high amount due and make some money, or you going to get someone way over their head asking for assistance and normally can't pay until the next month. Normally its because they have to pay their extremely high car note. I suppose its what I get since I used to be an underwriter signing off on these bad deals.

No doubt there's lots of that going on out here these days, BUUUUUUT it's also one of the few places in the US where you can make some serious cash on a house in a (relatively) short amount of time. My neighbor bought his house for under 200K in the late 90's and sold it for $743,000 2 years ago. Risk vs Reward I guess. Now the dude who paid the $743,000?? Well, I'm sure Gamer will be talking to him soon!!

ALL THAT SAID, please no more people move out here. We're out of room, thanks!

bkrich83 · Post by **bkrich83** » Mon May 04, 2009 11:05 pm

greggsand wrote:
TheGamer wrote:Guys, I'm a mortgage collector for a major global bank, and its ridiculous the prices people are paying for their mortgages out in California. In all parts of the state. Albeit, the company I work for mainly deals with subprime borrowers, but the average monthly payment for a second mortgage is easily $1500, with the first mortgage averaging at the minimum $3500-$5000. The California accounts are either the best or the worst accounts to get on the phone. Either you're going to get an extremely high amount due and make some money, or you going to get someone way over their head asking for assistance and normally can't pay until the next month. Normally its because they have to pay their extremely high car note. I suppose its what I get since I used to be an underwriter signing off on these bad deals.
No doubt there's lots of that going on out here these days, BUUUUUUT it's also one of the few places in the US where you can make some serious cash on a house in a (relatively) short amount of time. My neighbor bought his house for under 200K in the late 90's and sold it for $743,000 2 years ago. Risk vs Reward I guess. Now the dude who paid the $743,000?? Well, I'm sure Gamer will be talking to him soon!!

ALL THAT SAID, please no more people move out here. We're out of room, thanks!

Agreed. We've got enough out of staters here. If you must move to California, try northern California, they're always looking for people.

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Mon May 04, 2009 11:29 pm

greggsand wrote:No doubt there's lots of that going on out here these days, BUUUUUUT it's also one of the few places in the US where you can make some serious cash on a house in a (relatively) short amount of time. My neighbor bought his house for under 200K in the late 90's and sold it for $743,000 2 years ago. Risk vs Reward I guess. Now the dude who paid the $743,000?? Well, I'm sure Gamer will be talking to him soon!!

ALL THAT SAID, please no more people move out here. We're out of room, thanks!

That story is like buying tech stock just before the bubble and selling right before the bubble burst. It's simply extreme good fortune that is completely non-reproducible in Cali or anywhere else, as the whole nation saw home prices more than double during that time period. I hope you and your friend realize how lucky he was with his timing!!

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Tue May 05, 2009 8:53 am

bkrich83 wrote:
greggsand wrote:ALL THAT SAID, please no more people move out here. We're out of room, thanks!
Agreed. We've got enough out of staters here. If you must move to California, try northern California, they're always looking for people.

Go west, young man, but please veer to the north.

FatPitcher · Post by **FatPitcher** » Tue May 05, 2009 9:24 am

bkrich83 wrote:
greggsand wrote:
ALL THAT SAID, please no more people move out here. We're out of room, thanks!
Agreed. We've got enough out of staters here. If you must move to California, try northern California, they're always looking for people.

That's odd...California has seen negative net domestic migration for the past 4 years, and the state's economic woes and tax hikes are sure to keep that trend going for a while.

The overall population is still growing at a rate of about 1% per year thanks to foreign migration, though. Is that what you meant by out-of-staters?

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Tue May 05, 2009 12:46 pm

FatPitcher wrote:
bkrich83 wrote:
greggsand wrote:
ALL THAT SAID, please no more people move out here. We're out of room, thanks!
Agreed. We've got enough out of staters here. If you must move to California, try northern California, they're always looking for people.
That's odd...California has seen negative net domestic migration for the past 4 years, and the state's economic woes and tax hikes are sure to keep that trend going for a while.

The state may going that direction, but not Los Angeles. Head North people! I hear they have free beer on Sundays..

bkrich83 · Post by **bkrich83** » Tue May 05, 2009 10:53 pm

FatPitcher wrote:
bkrich83 wrote:
greggsand wrote:
ALL THAT SAID, please no more people move out here. We're out of room, thanks!
Agreed. We've got enough out of staters here. If you must move to California, try northern California, they're always looking for people.
That's odd...California has seen negative net domestic migration for the past 4 years, and the state's economic woes and tax hikes are sure to keep that trend going for a while.

The overall population is still growing at a rate of about 1% per year thanks to foreign migration, though. Is that what you meant by out-of-staters?

I'd be interested to see how those numbers pertain to San Diego. Not Riverside, Ontario, Temecula areas that have really been hard hit economically.

San Diego does not seem to be changing. I am one of the few native San Diegans o Californians I know living here.

bkrich83 · Post by **bkrich83** » Tue May 05, 2009 10:54 pm

greggsand wrote:
FatPitcher wrote:
bkrich83 wrote: Agreed. We've got enough out of staters here. If you must move to California, try northern California, they're always looking for people.
That's odd...California has seen negative net domestic migration for the past 4 years, and the state's economic woes and tax hikes are sure to keep that trend going for a while.

The state may going that direction, but not Los Angeles. Head North people! I hear they have free beer on Sundays..

I don't believe that to be the case in San Diego either. Again head north, Silicon Valley is awesome.

lexbur · Post by **lexbur** » Wed May 06, 2009 10:05 am

Speaking of LA, is the rest of the country supposed to care that SportsCenter is now in LA? Maybe it was a big deal right after they moved, but how long are they going to show those shots of the Santa Monica Pier, the Hollywood sign and those damn palm trees? There's even a little homerness coming through on their reports covering the Lakers or Dodgers that wasn't there before, and probably shouldn't be on a national show.

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Wed May 06, 2009 10:14 am

lexbur wrote:There's even a little homerness coming through on their reports covering the Lakers or Dodgers that wasn't there before, and probably shouldn't be on a national show.

I prefer it to the homerness they showed to the Red Sox and Celtics.

lexbur · Post by **lexbur** » Wed May 06, 2009 10:30 am

XXXIV wrote:
I prefer it to the homerness they showed to the Red Sox and Celtics.

True enough. Maybe I'm just a little more sensitive to it now, since the Lakers and Cavs *MIGHT* be heading for a showdown in June.