Living in California

I love California. Most of the time. San Francisco is one of the most spectacular cities in the world, and the bay area is beautiful. We have the beach, the mountains, the redwoods, skiing, fabulous parks and recreation abound, breathtaking vistas, incredible natural resources, the cradle of technology... all within a few hours drive. Who could ask for more?

Well, call me an ingrate, but I could ask for more. I could ask for English as the language of choice to be spoken here. I could ask that our schools actually receive the monetary allowances that our incredible taxes and lottery proceeds generate for that purpose. I could ask for a higher credence be given to the law and not it's city mayors for their blatant disregard of it. I could ask that the government's spending on homeland security not be in such inequity based on the actual threat level on a state-by-state basis. I could also ask for California's hospitals not to go broke because of the unfathomable amount of money that gets lost treating illegal immigrants. Heck, I could even ask for a President that takes our ever-increasing problem of illegal immigration seriously!

Wow! I agree but I have mixed feelings on it. I'm just south of you and we have a huge Mexican and Asian (primarily) Hmong people here so I can relate. In a lot of business here, an American can't get that job unless they speak spanish too.

What drives me crazy is every time I go to my bank and put my card in the ATM, it says "Hi Sybella! Would you like for me to speak to you in English or Spanish?" Now, seeing as they have my name and related info as soon as I put in my card, why can't they remember that I speak ENGLISH?!?!? I hate having to press the button for English every time I go to my ATM in America. It hasn't bugged me enough to complain to my bank but I'm tempted...What holds me back is that I keep thinking about the possibility of a bilingual family, who may share an account, and how my inconvenience could be a wonderful convenience for them. So, I grin and bear it.

However, for each of my little complaints, I have a dozen fondnesses. I love languages. I love people. I love cultures...and Americans don't really have a "culture" like people from other countries do. We borrow EVERYTHING.

The best neighbors I've ever had were Hmong. Just as they took our soldiers in during the war, they treat you like family here too. Once a week or so, I'd answer the door to find a bowl of strawberries, or vegetables being given to me...from someone that didn't speak English, except for the words, "Hi," "Bye," and "Thank you." It was so sweet. I've never met a Hmong I didn't like. LOL!!

But, I do firmly agree that we should help people but not at the expense of our own.

I am not being predudicial against the people of California at all! I am frustrated with California's government and the state of affairs. My own grandparents immigrated here from Ireland. My step-mother is Vietnamese. My brother's wife is of Mexican decent. This is not the issue.

The issue is, that we in this State, seem to be suffering from a serious case of mis-prioritized values. I can't speak for all Californians, but I know that our schools are among the poorest in the nation, and nearly 20% of my property taxes (which are close to $500/mo.) is allocated for education. Our students have among the lowest academic scores in the country, and our teacher's salaries will not even qualify them for a mortgage on a home.

We have swarms of illegal immigrants pouring in to our state, and California is the third highest security threat risk in the nation, yet receives less money from our government for national security than the State of Wyoming! (See Time Magazine's March 29 issue).

Hospitals in California (majority in So. Cal) are going bankrupt. How in the world can a hospital go bankrupt when they charge $1.59 for every band-aid they put on a patient? Well, it is because of the massive influx of illegal immigrants and uninsured patients that cannot pay for their medical care, while the vast majority of insured Californian's pay among the highest premiums in the country.

People are NOT required to speak English when they take their driver's license exam, so the State Government DMV spends millions of dollars to print the tests in 7 different languages... and now they are wanting to allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses as well. This is only one example of the case of mis-prioritized values in our state.

We have a mayor that basically gave the finger to the State Law that was recently passed on gay marriage, and blatantly took it upon himself to simply make up his own. It has nothing to do with gays being able to marry, it has to do with a total disregard for the law! What if every city's Mayor did this for laws they happen to personally disagree with?

In the San Francisco Bay area, the median cost of a 1400 sq./ft. 3-bedroom, single family home is about a half million dollars, with an approximate property tax of 3% of that each year. We are currently paying an average of $2.39 per gallon of gas, and the refineries are right here in the East Bay! Our utility bills are among the highest in the country, and our state tax is over 8%. Why is this government broke?

If we cannot obey the laws, speak the same language, keep track of our budget, educate our children, and be concerned about our own state's security, I believe this will be a contributing factor of the errosion of American society as a whole.

In the San Francisco Bay area, the median cost of a 1400 sq./ft. 3-bedroom, single family home is about a half million dollars, with an approximate property tax of 3% of that each year. We are currently paying an average of $2.39 per gallon of gas, and the refineries are right here in the East Bay! Our utility bills are among the highest in the country, and our state tax is over 8%. Why is this government broke?

OMG! I *knew* there was a reason I didn't live in California....I think you've just helped me put my finger on it!

In all seriousness, I do sympathize with your issues. I was living in Denver during its huge influx of people (mostly from California and Texas, along with plenty of illegal aliens), and watched it battle many of the same issues. Unfortunately, I don't think the metro area won. That's why I left. (Yes, I'm guilty of escapism.)

"Our utility bills are among the highest in the country, and our state tax is over 8%. Why is this government broke?"

A valid question! The answer? No government, on any level, throughout the history of the world, has EVER taxed itself into prosperity! As taxes rise, more and more businesses and people leave, lowering the tax base income by income. Eventually, you a complete Service State with no left of the dole to actually pay the bills! See the former Soviet Union as an example...


Oh, and Terese, the same phenomenon is happening here int he Ozarks, I fear. Thanks to Branson's national exposure in recent years, there are more and more people moving here than ever before. I long for the days when you could drive to Silver Dollar City and only pass a few cars along the way until you got right to the entrance gate. THOSE days are gone forever, though!

No government, on any level, throughout the history of the world, has EVER taxed itself into prosperity!

Very true!!! California's State Government may not be propserous, but I'm beginning to think some of it's legislators are!

Really it is a simple case of mathematics. We've raised the standard of living for the worlds poor (just jump the border and your life is better) by such a degree not only through the higher wages earned here (the wages that are earned under the table are so extremely low that regular citizens won't work that cheap but are still dramatically higher than the south american countries) but also the excessive social programs (LA county just opened an office specifically to assist undocumented (political correctness for illegal) workers to sign up for financial aid). This HUGE influx of bodies (who cares where they came from or their legal status) is overwhelming the infrastructure of the state. Less than 1% of the state budget goes towards road construction yet I live in the country (Riverside County) and it takes 1 1/2 hours to drive the 30 miles from our shop to my home due to the traffic and poor condition/size of the road systems. Just too many people in too small a place. And the politicians fail to see that the legitimate wage earners (the ones that have to pay the taxes) are the ones that are leaving the state, thereby compounding the problem.

Everything that you mentioned in regards to California can be applied to Florida as well!

Government is horrible.
Our schools are at the bottom nationally.
The influx of non english speaking individuals has sky rocketed in the last twenty years.
We have a horrible economy because of all the immigrants taking the jobs from working class people as well as part timers.

The funny thing is I was in Northern Cal. a ways north of Sacramento for two weeks and I fell in love with the area. Absolutely beautiful place! We went through Chico and Orville as well as a couple of other small towns. I was already to move there, but the wife is not interested. I guess that worked out to be a good thing... All I know is I want out of Florida!

I went to Stanford, and one of the things you learn about that area very quickly is that if you do not have 'money' your life style choices are quite limited.

My family owned a beautiful stone summer house in Linville Falls North Carolina. The area is over run now, sad to say. It will happen every where...nothing to be done.

You're not alone Terese. I sold my duplexes about eight years ago when the boom fell upon Denver and ran for cover.
There are times when I wish where I lived had more malls or closer shopping. Had more diversity. Then I read this thread and again come back to earth and realize that with growth comes a whole new kettle of worms.
I think tomorrow I will just take the day off, go out on the hammock and watch the budding trees.