

Is California the most miserable US state to live in? - simonsarris
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12433168

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bugsy
The BBC is making a big error (I suspect intentionally) by extrapolating a
number of 'miserable' cities, using a given criteria, to "most miserable US
state". Many of the most desirable places to live in the world are in
California. But there are also some lousy areas there. The central valley in
particular is a desert that has miserably hot and sometimes humid weather,
plus high unemployment, endemic poverty, and major drug problems as a result
of the last two.

Some people have advocated breaking California into multiple states, in
particular Northern California, Southern California and Central California
(the interior part). Central California produces massive amounts of produce
but is a relatively unhappy place to be, but not more so than many other
similar areas like Idaho.

~~~
TomOfTTB
That's always been a popular theory but if you look at the facts it's not
really true. Yes things in central California are bad but the worst city in
California (and the one cited in the article) is Stockton which is Northern
California by any measure (it's further north than San Francisco). Looking at
the Forbes list posted in this thread only 2 of the 8 California cities listed
as "most miserable" are in Central California (and that list doesn't include
the miserable unincorporated areas bordering Mexico where unemployment is in
the 30% range)

The other part of the article focuses on California's budget problems. Now
without getting into an argument over which political philosophy is better
there are two political facts that are not in doubt...

1\. Central California is very Republican

2\. Republicans have not been in control of the state legislature for AT LEAST
30 years

So whatever problems we have in the state government can largely be traced
back to Northern and Southern California (though the California Republicans do
get an honorable mention for mismanaging their local cities and stirring up
trouble whenever a 2/3rd majority is needed)

~~~
bugsy
"Central California is very Republican"

The voters might be but not the population, most of whom are not US citizens.
Only US citizens get to vote.

I lived in a couple of places in the central valley and have spent quite a bit
of time in the area, so don't try to pull a fast one, I know how it is there.

Tons of drugs, despair, organized crime, and the crime gangs pay the police,
who are corrupt. A big industry is running prisons, a boom economy for the
guards who make a fortune shaking down prisoners to deliver them drugs,
phones, and contraband.

~~~
TomOfTTB
The point I was making was that they had very little control over the state
government because they elect republicans. So only the voters are relative to
that argument.

Beyond that your evidence is all anecdotal. There are certainly cities that
are as you describe but there are also a lot of cities with perfectly nice
communities (Coalinga, Frazier Park, Clovis and others). I don't think either
of us has the statistical evidence to know which scenario is the norm

~~~
bugsy
No one is saying that there are no good cities! That was the whole point of my
other post, the article wrongly extrapolates some miserable cities to a
miserable state, which is obviously an incorrect conclusion. But there are a
lot of really crappy towns in California as well and they've gotten worse the
last 20 years.

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korussian
The Forbes List (minus the 20 clicks needed to read it)

1\. Stockton, California *

2\. Miami, Florida

3\. Merced, California *

4\. Modesto, California *

5\. Sacramento, California *

6\. Memphis, Tennessee

7\. Chicago, Illinois

8\. West Palm Beach, Florida

9\. Vallejo, California *

10\. Cleveland, Ohio

11\. Flint, Michigan

12\. Toledo, Ohio

13\. Fort Lauderdale, Florida

14\. Youngstown, Ohio

15\. Detroit, Michigan

16\. Washington, D.C.

17\. Fresno, California *

18\. Salinas, California *

19\. Jacksonville, Florida

20\. Bakersfield, California *

[http://www.forbes.com/2011/02/02/stockton-miami-cleveland-
bu...](http://www.forbes.com/2011/02/02/stockton-miami-cleveland-business-
washington-miserable-cities_slide.html)

~~~
abrown28
No where in Texas? Sweet! We win!

------
ojbyrne
If you've ever lived in the UK, then you'll know that the quality of life just
about everywhere is below just about everywhere in the US. Oh Swindon, I do
not miss you.

~~~
barrkel
Quality is subjective. I'm Irish born and bred, have lived in west and east
London, spent many months in in the Bay area, and travelled around northeast
US.

Weather better in the northern CA? Sure, though it has its rainy season, and
that's _a lot_ rainer than London.

Food? Variable, but at its best in major metropolises, of which SF is usually
a far distance away, and not less expensive than London.

Culture? The car / mall nexus does severe damage to the US's livability to me.
San Jose isn't really a city so much as a grid of road intersections in the
shadow of an interstate junction. Santa Cruz is out of the way over the hills.
SF is where it's at, but again, it's a fair bit away.

Essentially, I feel I have a better quality of life in London than I do when
I'm in the US.

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phamilton
I always felt that the "sun tax" was an appropriate way to describe living in
california.

If you could pay for sunny skies 330 days a year (like in LA), how much would
that be worth to you?

That's why the cost of living is higher in California. Simple supply and
demand.

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usaar333
Ah I see. Since 6/20 cities on the list are in the Central Valley, the far-
away, far more populous Bay Area[1], LA, and San Diego must also be miserable.

[1] Yes, Vallejo is technically in the Bay Area, but it is so far away from
SF/Oak/SJ, that it hardly counts.

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T-R
Browsing the Forbes article - seriously, they used "how the local sports team
is doing" as one of their 10 factors for judging how miserable it is to live
in a city?

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MrFlibble
If this is misery I'll gladly continue to suffer.

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jackowayed
None of those cities are big. I bet they add up to ~10% of the state
population.

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beej71
Oh well--that's more California for me, then!

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Jsarokin
Definitely not. No matter what some article says, its awesome to live in Cali.

~~~
sp332
California is a big place. Some parts of it are nice, but I definitely believe
that "eight out of 20 spots on the publication's annual list of America's Most
Miserable Cities are in California".

