Cali is terrible.. where would you go?

Thats awesome I truly appreciate all the information. I hear you about traffic. Yeah there are a myriad of causes and issues in every state and it's no fun, especially to the secret spots that we all cherish. If anyone is on instagram, checked out Insta_wrecked. It chronicles a lot of well known areas and the devolution due to the popularity of social media and cool pictures. I thought it was almost singular to my area, amount of oversight by me for sure! But, I realize it's more of a nationwide problem. I think the 19th post down talks about The Enchantment Hike in Washington.

 

Great if you like chucker, from what I hear.

 

Big mulies in northeast Nevada. My dad and I hunted there for years every fall back in the 70's. West of Sheldon Antelope Refuge. Fishing for native brook trout and browns is quite good too.

 

I have lived in Spokane, Bend, OR a lot of my life and Coeur d' Alene, ID, Jackson, WY and now I bought a house in Victor, ID. I loved all but 4 out of 5. I hated living in Jackson, WY. Jackson is way to expensive and the people are not friendly, has the feel of the NE. Mountain biking is sick and the skiing is off the charts good. I live to ride too. I am currently in San Diego, staying in La Jolla for work and this place is sick! Looks way to expensive but awesome! I love this state has everything but I see what you mean by too many people and off the chart taxes and cost of goods. I would stay and work 3 jobs. Just kidding get out and discover a new location. I loved Spokane, WA and Bend, OR. Bend has sick Mountain biking as well as Spokane, Mt Spokane has some new killer DH trails. If you ever in Jackson, Victor area give me a shout I will show you some sick trails or if your skiing I will show you around Jackson Hole, I work there.

 

Northeast you say...gonna have to do some research. Love me some mule deer hunting.

 

It really is sad. We went to Maui a few years ago and took the kids down to Nakalele Point to see the blowhole. All the other tourists were taking selfies with the heart-shaped hole in some of the lava adjacent to the blowhole for social media.

The Enchantments are rumored to be incredible but it's a lottery system to get a backpacking permit. Day hikes are ok though. I'm still waiting...

Judging by the response to your post, it seems there are folks all over this continent that would welcome you. Now that's community!

 

I was there some years back looking for possible property to settle in the future...and got looks like I didn't belong, still bought but outer parts of Reno, only as investment that since took a tank...

 

My beer of choice is the Polygamy Porter when I visit Utah..

 

Montana is the place for me. Next would be Idaho. Then Maine.

 

@glide and @Geezer are exposing the crown jewel of the US. Has everything the OP requires (although a very small desert). If you go to the desert for the dunes then you outta try ripping around power lines. Way more fun and far less chance of getting killed. Great comfort food which is probably why everyone is fat. Most people have never been to Maine which is why it's not well known. But, if you ever go to Millinocket in the 3rd week of August (has to be 3rd week - lived there for 5 summer; 5 weeks of perfect weather) and you'll never want to live anywhere else. I'll be retiring there. Just my $.02

 

ok, both! Waiting for my new Ripmo to arrive and get some trails cleaned. The wife and I were talking about going to Park City, Jackson Hole, or Sun Valley this winter to see what dry snow is actually like. Not too many true powder days in the Sierra cement.
When we were in Jackson on a road trip, I was drinking a beer at Wilson's Bike Shop at the bottom of the pass. I told the guy we just came from riding in Sun Valley.
He chuckled and said " Sun Valley is for millionaires. Jackson is for Billionaires." I laughed then drove back past a road that was something like DICK CHENEY DRIVE. I guess he's right.

 

I'm sure it'll come back. It always does.

 

Yeah what @Jim LE 1301 said basically sums up this lovely city we got wildlife also.

 

I was in Jackson last year and saw someone driving a Rolls Royce Cullinan SUV. They weren't even available in the US at the time. $325k base price plus whatever ungodly amount of money it must have cost to get it to Wyoming from India or Saudi Arabia or wherever it came from.

 

I have lived in New England (CT) and now Ohio. Ohio is not my first choice of places to live, but it does have its benefits. The cost of living is low, taxes are cheap, people are nice, and it is 2nd amendment friendly. I travel to CA a few times a year for work and absolutely love Santa Barbara! LA is well...LA. And San Francisco is a dump. The benefit of living in fly over country is that I have a nice house, nice cars, will be able to pay for my kids college in full, and will be able to retire early with plenty of money for fun! If my wife and I had our current jobs in CA there would be no way in hell we could afford everything we have now. If you are looking for outdoor activites (fishing, mountain biking, beaches, etc.) you are out of luck. But the quality of life in the mid-west isn't too bad!

 

thats exactly what I think about CA. I live in Utah for almost 25 years, Salt Lake City isn’t big but isn't too small either. It depends on what is your priority in life. Slc housing market is affordable and good family oriented. Just last 5 years it’s been growing and booming like crazy. We have pretty much everything like CA have.

 

I see a lot of vitriol towards California on multiple boards/groups that I'm a member of, with most of it political or very generalized for one of the largest states in the Union with the largest population.

I thought I'd just put in my 2 cents about my situation in California. I've lived here most of my life (46 of 48) years, so I have very little personal experience of living elsewhere, just experience from visiting places and reading or hearing about them. I live in Santa Barbara County (Santa Barbara City is liberal), but live in the Northern edge of the county in Lompoc (more conservative). I would say that what people use as ammunition for hating California has extremely little to zero impact on my daily life.

What does have a daily impact on my life are things like weather, commute, neighborhood, and employment/career. Where I live, I never deal with traffic, my neighborhood is quiet and safe, I have my own thriving dental practice (I'm booked out around 4 weeks), and the weather is around 67 degrees year round. I never deal with my hot, humid or extremely cold weather unless I travel to other places. My house doesn't have AC.

For my situation, I have found an ideal location in California to live and raise my kids. Granted that's not the same for everyone, but to peg all of California as a horrible place to live with everything that you see on the news effecting everyone's life on a daily basis, is unfair to do.

I understand the OPs original post, and best of luck! My response is directed at a lot of the comments from people that say something like, "why would anyone live in California?"

 

Your version of California is not the common version-- Think SF, SD, LA, OC... a smoggy, polluted hell hole with far too many people and homeless. Not to mention the cost of living and taxes. And I grew up in San Diego and LA.

 

You’re way off. California is much bigger than those cities combined. In your state, would it be safe to say that Las Vegas is a great representation of what the whole state of Nevada is like? Same goes for all major cities in all states. Probably not, right? I hate Vegas for reasons I will not get into, but I’m smart enough to know it doesn’t represent the whole state.

 

One man’s hellhole is another man’s paradise. But seriously though, I get that those areas you mentioned definitely have those problems, and they are the main reasons I don’t choose to live there, but a lot of people are able to deal with those “hellhole” traits to take advantage of what those areas have to offer: beaches, weather, art, culture, great food / booze, night life, attractions, museums, etc... It’s not for everyone, and I opt to be closer to the mountains, but hellhole might be a stretch. I’ve visited those areas many times and have always had a great time ... then I get to enjoy my drive back to my relatively quiet corner of Cali. Different strokes...