I have lived in Chicago all my life and never really traveled anywhere until I was about 23. I have fallen in love with California and I really feel like that is where I should be living. I havent had the balls to move forward with it but I really feel inside of my shipp that I will be happy living there more than Chicago.

 

Do you guys think that maybe I am just seeing California to be a better place just because I have had good experiences when I go to visit? Maybe I am glorifying it in my head to be a place that is far better than it actually is. I dont know but I become obsessed with moving there sometimes.

Gage lives there.

I have lived in Chicago all my life and never really traveled anywhere until I was about 23. I have fallen in love with California and I really feel like that is where I should be living. I havent had the balls to move forward with it but I really feel inside of my shipp that I will be happy living there more than Chicago.

 

Do you guys think that maybe I am just seeing California to be a better place just because I have had good experiences when I go to visit? Maybe I am glorifying it in my head to be a place that is far better than it actually is. I dont know but I become obsessed with moving there sometimes.

two thoughts...

 

1. If you want to live somewhere, not visit, then think through the types of things you do when you aren't travelling... what area your job is in, what activities you like, etc., and then take a look at the place. Its not the same when there on vacation.

 

2. Cali has a lot of great places, but its like a small country - the cities can have vastly different cultures and what not. So where in Cali are you thinking?

 

Any city that I have been to in California I have loved. I have been to all the major citys there (I think). So I would love to either live anywhere in SO Cal. or the San Fran area.

 

I have thought about trying to get on the police force in San Diego.

California.

 

Great place to visit, terrible place to live.

 

 

From what I've heard, at least.

Any city that I have been to in California I have loved. I have been to all the major citys there (I think). So I would love to either live anywhere in SO Cal. or the San Fran area.

 

I have thought about trying to get on the police force in San Diego.

If you want to talk shop on becoming a cop, let me know.

 

I've been wanting to move to St. Louis for awhile. I love that area and have family down there, so it wouldn't be a huge change for me. Just a change of scenery.

I always look for jobs down there.

If you want to talk shop on becoming a cop, let me know.

 

 

Are you a cop? I've been testing for years, but these days it doesn't appear that anyone is hiring.

I have lived in Chicago all my life and never really traveled anywhere until I was about 23. I have fallen in love with California and I really feel like that is where I should be living. I havent had the balls to move forward with it but I really feel inside of my shipp that I will be happy living there more than Chicago.

 

Do you guys think that maybe I am just seeing California to be a better place just because I have had good experiences when I go to visit? Maybe I am glorifying it in my head to be a place that is far better than it actually is. I dont know but I become obsessed with moving there sometimes.

Ahhh, it is home to the coolest poster in the history of Soxtalk.

California.

 

Great place to visit, terrible place to live.

 

 

From what I've heard, at least.

That is the biggest load of mularcky I've ever heard.

Ahhh, it is home to the coolest poster in the history of Soxtalk.

Yep.

 

 

Balta.

Cali is going through a tough time right now, probably tougher than most of the country. Housing is down, the tax man bends you over and the state is almost broke.

On the positive:

The weather, I didn't realize how bad the weather in Chi is until I moved away. It's not just the winter, but it rains for a big chunk of the fall and spring and the summers are humid as hell...and rainy.

How much there is to do, in SoCal you're literally two hours from almost anything you could ever desire to do, LA, SD, the ocean, mountains, the desert, Vegas, Mexico.

The friendliness of the women. Women here are very easy to talk to, very outgoing, always smiling and less attitude. Most of the time, they will approach you.

I say do it, you can always move back, Chicago ain't going anywhere.

I say do it, you can always move back, Chicago ain't going anywhere.

Agreed, and while your're young and can. Everyone should leave 'home' for at least a year. So much out there to see, experience. Plus you'll grow to appreciate home a little more, or realize it wasn't where you see yourself growing old. Balls up and leave.

 

I say wait to see how the whole on the verge of bankruptcy thing pans out first.

Not sure if you've done this or not, but if you decide that you want to for sure move then spend about a week in that specific city. Get to know the area a little bit, etc. & see if you could really see being there permanently. My dad just did this about a month ago when he was thinking about moving to Jacksonville, he didn't really like it enough to make it his new home, but he's glad he spent enough time down there to realize it before he made any concrete plans.

San Diego's a cool city, especially the Gaslamp District, and there's lots of nice beaches and golf courses, plus Tijuana ain't far away at all.

San Diego's a cool city, especially the Gaslamp District, and there's lots of nice beaches and golf courses, plus Tijuana ain't far away at all.

Some of the beach towns north of the city are great places to live like OB, PB and encinitas

Ahhh, it is home to the coolest poster in the history of Soxtalk.net

 

where the hell have you been posting, I believe this is .com besides the coolest posters are in Texas, right Kap?

where the hell have you been posting, I believe this is .com besides the coolest posters are in Texas, right Kap?

 

I could've sworn the coolest posters were in Iowa, right Heads?

 

As for California I really want to visit there, but I'm not sure if I would want to live there, at least in a big city. I don't like crowed areas.

Are you a cop? I've been testing for years, but these days it doesn't appear that anyone is hiring.

Former.

 

When the economy is bad, its a lot harder to get into departments. You'll show up for a test for some suburb that might hire 2 or 3 guys off a 2 year list, and there will be 200 people there.

 

The way most departments in the Chicago area work, they test every two years regardless of need, create a 2 year hiring list, and make their way down the list as they need people.

 

I could've sworn the coolest posters were in Iowa, right Heads?

 

As for California I really want to visit there, but I'm not sure if I would want to live there, at least in a big city. I don't like crowed areas.

 

 

this much is so.

I like California, but as someone pointed out above, especially in this economy, make sure you nail down a job. You don't want to move out there, eat through savings then have to move back right away. If you do, then give it a shot.

 

It's a different world out there, I've never lived there, but with family out there have spent long stretches of time out there. Biggest neg to me is the traffic. It can't be overstated how bad it is. It's nothing for a 10 minute drive to turn into 45+ at ANY time of day.

 

I think the biggest difference is the laid back lifestyle out there. It's a different culture. I happen to have that type of personality so I like it, I know it drives some other people crazy

I say do it, you can always move back, Chicago ain't going anywhere.

 

My dad said this to me before I moved to Austin. Best advice I ever got, next to...you'll never understand women.

Shipps,

Last July I moved from my beloved Chicago to Las Vegas, NV. I did it more out of opportunity than a whim, as I had procured a good job, but I was experiencing a lot of the same questions and emotions that you undoubtedly are. I didn't have to go, but I was relatively young (31), had little or no responsibilities in Chicago, and I was ready for a bit of a change.

 

It was difficult to leave all my friends and family behind, not to mention my beloved Chicago sports franchises, but once I got out to Vegas, I never really regretted it. I know this is not California, but Las Vegas really has turned into a "mini LA" of sorts. Half our City is made up of Californians most weekends, it seems.

 

The weather is far better in the West than in Chicago - that much I can guarantee you. The winters (if you can call them that) are mild, the summers are much drier, and overall, it is just far more pleasant. I recently returned to Chicago for a vacation and the weather was just awful (as many of you know). I never thought I would long to get back to the Las Vegas summer heat.

 

The downside about leaving Chicago is probably the culture and the people. The culture in Chicago is amazing, and the people are genuinely nice. I know California is different than Vegas, but the people here are from everywhere - we seem to have everyone else's castoffs. I'm not sure if parts of California are like that, but my guess is many of the big cities are.

 

My advice is to research the housing and job markets quite carefully. Apply for jobs and see if you can get some phone interviews. Look into how much rents and/or home values are. Look at other interests you may have, such as shopping, restaurants and bars, golf courses, bookstores, etc., and see if they are proximate to where you might live.

 

I did a lot of research before I accepted the job and found a great building to live in, which was close to where I would be working as well as plenty of shopping, restaurants and bars (I live on the Strip). Being close to everything made me comfortable about my move, as not knowing many people I knew I would want to be around things like that.

 

Most importantly, you can get most Chicago sports franchises through cable or satellite providers, so you don't necessarily have to quit watching your teams. It does stink that Las Vegas is claimed as the home market by many California baseball teams, so whenever the White Sox play one of them, it is blacked out. But I buy the package and get to watch about 75 - 80% of the games, which also made me feel comfortable about moving.

 

Put a lot of thought into it and research it thoroughly, and then as someone else said, it may be a good idea to try and spend some time out there before making a permanent move.

 

Best of luck!

Edited June 28, 200916 yr by iamshack

Thanks for all your input guys. I feel like this is something I am gonna do I just need to have that right opportunity to come up and I will jump on it. In the meantime I am going to visit as much as I can.