this post was submitted on 06 Aug 2023
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I recently moved to California. Before i moved, people asked me "why are you moving there, its so bad?". Now that I'm here, i understand it less. The state is beautiful. There is so much to do.

I know the cost of living is high, and people think the gun control laws are ridiculous (I actually think they are reasonable, for the most part). There is a guy I work with here that says "the policies are dumb" but can't give me a solid answer on what is so bad about it.

So, what is it that California does (policy-wise) that people hate so much?

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[–] chickenwing@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Well from my perspective it's not that people hate California it's that they hate the influx of Californians in their state. Tons of tech people moved from San Francisco to Austin and now it's near unrecognizable. Austin a long time ago used to be a small city with a lot of charm now it's the tenth largest city in the US. It's not just Californians moving their but they are the biggest group and they are pretty loud about where they come from.

Everything gets more expensive, they bring some of their failed policies with them, and there are a lot of weird ideas that come out of California. I don't mean your generic lefty policies that may upset some old timers in Texas but like the weird transhumanism shit that tech people are obsessed with. It feels like a cult, another thing California is known for, and it's basically the opposite vibe of what Austin used to be. I personally have met a lot of Californians I really like but it's not hard to see the culture clash. Also when I say California I really mean San Francisco and LA, not like Sacramento or the other parts of California. It's the tech people, the Hollywood people, and the groupies they aquire. They leave California due to costs and it's somewhat chaotic nature but then start to transform their new home into California.

If you've ever met old timers in Texas you know great don't like change. They talk about building an overpass as a sign of the apocalypse. So that's where I assume most of the hate comes from.

[–] tko@tkohhh.social 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

they bring some of their failed policies with them

Can you elaborate on what you mean by this?

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[–] bigschnitz@aussie.zone 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Taxes are super high. I'd be big mad if I was Californian, they get very little investment back from federal taxes (they are effectively subsidizing the poorly run states) and have to make up the shortfall at the state level.

[–] Scary_le_Poo@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago

Food isn't taxed at all. We have great social programs. We have beautiful parks. We have tons of public land dedicated to being places where people can go and hang out and enjoy nature. We have absolutely tons of activities that cost $0 to enjoy. You couldn't fucking pay me to live in another state.

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[–] BartsBigBugBag@lemmy.tf 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

California is a garden of Eden
A paradise to live in or see
But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot
If you ain't got the do re mi

Woody Guthrie, “Do Re Mi”

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[–] UnicodeHamSic@hexbear.net 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Everyone hates liberals. Even other liberals. California is probably the most liberal state. The cost of living is ridiculous. The transport is terrible. However, it is one of the cultural capitals of America. We have San Francisco, Hollywood, Silicon Valley. Probably some other stuff. It is also heavily non-white and has a large unhoused population. So people should hate it just not for any of the reasons people hate it for

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[–] PandaBearGreen@hexbear.net 5 points 1 year ago

You know why you never see elephants hiding in trees. Cause they're so fucking good.

[–] Tygr@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

As a mortgage lender that helps clients relocate out of California, you cannot blanket statement the entire state this way.

You can live in the slums, rampant homelessness or live in paradise. You can live in suburban desert hellscape or on an absolutely gorgeous vineyard.

People relocate out of there all the time but some do move back, realizing they hated the area of California but not the entire state.

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[–] sirdrakexviii@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 1 year ago

I think it's just all politics at this point, that and prob the cost of living being so high too.

But from what I can tell it's a great place to be. Not without flaws but just like any other state

[–] jabib@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago

What part of CA did you move to? I moved here a few years ago and love it. The weather is great (depending on where you live of course - coast is always temperate) and I've traveled to most of the regions in the state and they all have something unique and amazing to offer.

The fact that I don't fear my personal rights getting stripped T the federal level as much is because California does so much in the way of protecting and bettering our lives here.

[–] Auzy@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You won't find any Aussies remotely worried about the Gun laws by the way

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[–] barsoap@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago (6 children)

It's endless soulless suburbia interspersed by twelve-lane traffic jams, what's there to like?

[–] KLISHDFSDF@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I can go surfing in the morning, hike beautiful mountains in the evening, and experience the TJ nightlife, all in a single day. The next day I can go offroading in ocotillo or take a stroll through a park bigger than NY's Central Park. idk, my section of California is heaven.

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[–] sammer510@hexbear.net 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The fucking ridiculous natural beauty everywhere? I live in the most soulless of the soulless suburbs of Los Angeles and if I left my house right now and didn't stop for anything I could be standing beneath the biggest tree in the world in just 4 hours. Or if I want to see the oldest trees in the world I can go roughly the same distance and do that instead. I could be at the trailhead to climb the highest peak in the contiguous US in 3 hours and on my way there I would see an ancient basalt waterfall where obsidian litters the ground, the Grand Canyon of the Mojave where semiprecious gems flow out of the mountains, lakes, rivers, the Sierra Nevadas, Death Valley, it's ridiculous. Every fucking state has traffic and suburbs but I'll go to my grave arguing that we can't be beat for scenery.

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[–] charonn0@startrek.website 3 points 1 year ago

California's natural beauty is world-renowned and a major tourist draw.

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[–] techwooded@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Someone who lives in California not originally from here chiming in. For me personally, I hate it because of the weather. I live in SoCal, which people claim to have good weather, but to me it’s hell. It never rains, the sun is always shining, and it’s always hot while most apartments don’t have AC. This may sound lovely to you, in which case more power to you. I’m the kind of person where the sun saps all energy out of my body and I prefer being cold to warm, so this sucks. Other main downside is housing cost. My 650 square foot one bed apartment in suburban LA costs over $2000 a month and it’s cheap for the size and area. Maybe Northern California is nicer, but SoCal ain’t it

[–] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 3 points 1 year ago

Funny, I have an ex who lived in San Diego for a while, and for her the weather was one of the best parts of living there.

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[–] ReallyKinda@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

I think one reason is the news portrayal like others mentioned—though this often goes two-ways—ask a native Californian what they think the South or Midwest are like and you’ll often get some crazy off base responses.

I think another big piece is that CA policies have a disproportionately large impact on everyone else’s policies (they share this characteristic with NY to some extent). CA has the 3rd largest economy in the world and therefore companies often have to adhere to CA policies in order to keep from losing an extremely significant market share. For example, CA committing to no more gas cars by X date immediately made gas vehicles an obsolete product for the manufacturers’ bottom line.

[–] Geostorm@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

Instead of helping Britney Spears, guardianships increased without a fiduciary duty lawyer for "gravely disabled" or predicted to get worse. Homeless people need shelter, not chemical restraint.

[–] JasSmith@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I can’t speak for the entire state, but I’ve visited San Francisco many times (never lived there). It was one of the dirtiest, most disgusting cities I’ve ever visited, and I’ve visited Mumbai. I would leave conferences after speaking to people worth hundreds of millions of dollars, to be greeted by a sea of homeless people shooting up drugs, vomiting, and shitting in the streets. I’ve witnessed multiple crimes in the short trips I’ve taken, including mugging, theft, and assault. I’ve no doubt the city once held cultural cache and beauty, but it’s hard to find now. It’s hidden under a layer of crime, trash, boarded up stores, and graffiti.

Sadly my trips to Los Angeles were not much better. I am told other Californian cities are much nicer. It’s just such a shame to see what they have allowed to happen to such once beautiful cities.

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[–] DavidDoesLemmy@aussie.zone 3 points 1 year ago

The problem with California is that it's in the USA. A country with many problems. Compared to other developed countries, anywhere inside the USA is bad.

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