Tell Us about your State

[chloe]

What is it like to live where you live? Are Property taxes high? How about culture, music, arts? Are people friendly? Is there a dominant religion? What is the main political feel to your city? Average price for a house that isnt in the slums but not ultra rich either?

[chloe]

Utah is a Republican State, Salt Lake City is turning a little liberal. It is primarily Mormon. Houses range between $170-$400. Taxes are cheap. Utah has a huge Meth Problem in the slum areas called Kearns, West Valley City & Rose Park. Rose Park is mostly Hispanic everwhere else is white. There is no diversity here, it is about 98% white. There are alot of Companies and alot of movie people have homes in Park City. Robert Redford started the Sundance film festival here every year it takes place in Jan. Southern Utah has a lot of retirees especially close to the border of Mesquite, Nevada. Moab Utah is a mecca for Mountain Bikers. It is very beautiful scenary wise all over utah. yes we do have Polygamists My Parents are neighbors to a large Polygamist family. There is a small gay community in Sugarhouse near the College Westminster.

[crin63]

Not much to say about California that you guys don't already know. Its been completely ruined and is currently being plundered by Liberals.

[dan]

I live in South Carolina. I don't know about property tax because I don't own any property, but we have a car tax here that's a bit on the pricey side. My biggest complaint about the state is that there's not a ton of culture/arts to it, you have to really dig deep to find any sort of artistic community, and even then it's in maybe two or three cities in the state. The people are very friendly, too much so for me, honestly. Obviously, the dominant religion is Southern Baptist. The state is by far dominated by Republicans, but the town that I live in is a college town, so it leans left a bit more than the rest of the state. No clue on average prices of houses, but I'm guessing it's probably on the cheaper side of the spectrum compared to the rest of the country. My biggest complaint with this state is that we are already scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to education, as compared to the rest of the country, and they keep taking funding away from the schools. And our governor keeps refusing money the national government is offering. I understand his point, but at the same time, it's not like the government is going to use the money wisely if he refuses it, they'll just give it to some other state or something, so why not go ahead and take it? We definitely need it, as my friend the high school teacher who just lost a lot of his coworkers and will now be teaching two extra classes whose average size went from 20 kids to 35 kids, can attest to.

[April15]

California! So much promise and future. The sierra nevada is super for skiers and Yosemite is a wonder all of it's own.
Politically the state has gone bad since late 70's. I think most of it is from the influence of the so. Cal republicans.
With the 1999 repeal of banking restrictions the housing boom went crazy and is now the worst in the nation, except maybe Florida. Homes vary by millions of bucks in just a few blocks. Property taxes are .1% of appraised value. I am lucky to be exempt as I fall under prop. 13 jurisdiction.
Where I reside the people are for the most part friendly. San Francisco is very artsy, street musicians abound. Being I don't do religion all I can say is there are many places of worship if you wish to.
This state has PG&E suppling our utilities and they are very green orientated. Gas and electric average 65 a month. Water is 100 a month. Figure that one? I can't.
All in all it is one fine place to live.

[chloe]

I live in South Carolina. I don't know about property tax because I don't own any property, but we have a car tax here that's a bit on the pricey side. My biggest complaint about the state is that there's not a ton of culture/arts to it, you have to really dig deep to find any sort of artistic community, and even then it's in maybe two or three cities in the state. The people are very friendly, too much so for me, honestly. Obviously, the dominant religion is Southern Baptist. The state is by far dominated by Republicans, but the town that I live in is a college town, so it leans left a bit more than the rest of the state. No clue on average prices of houses, but I'm guessing it's probably on the cheaper side of the spectrum compared to the rest of the country. My biggest complaint with this state is that we are already scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to education, as compared to the rest of the country, and they keep taking funding away from the schools. And our governor keeps refusing money the national government is offering. I understand his point, but at the same time, it's not like the government is going to use the money wisely if he refuses it, they'll just give it to some other state or something, so why not go ahead and take it? We definitely need it, as my friend the high school teacher who just lost a lot of his coworkers and will now be teaching two extra classes whose average size went from 20 kids to 35 kids, can attest to.

Thank you this exactly what I want to know, the personal experiences & opinions of the places you live in along with a few stats ! So SC stinks on education. Is there Racial diversity? I assume there is no religious diversity. Is there a gay community? If you had to say SC's biggest drug problem which would you choose meth or heroin? Thanks !

[chloe]

California! So much promise and future. The sierra nevada is super for skiers and Yosemite is a wonder all of it's own.
Politically the state has gone bad since late 70's. I think most of it is from the influence of the so. Cal republicans.
With the 1999 repeal of banking restrictions the housing boom went crazy and is now the worst in the nation, except maybe Florida. Homes vary by millions of bucks in just a few blocks. Property taxes are .1% of appraised value. I am lucky to be exempt as I fall under prop. 13 jurisdiction.
Where I reside the people are for the most part friendly. San Francisco is very artsy, street musicians abound. Being I don't do religion all I can say is there are many places of worship if you wish to.
This state has PG&E suppling our utilities and they are very green orientated. Gas and electric average 65 a month. Water is 100 a month. Figure that one? I can't.
All in all it is one fine place to live.

Yosemite does look beautiful in the pictures Ive seen. Do all renters carry rental insurance? Does everyone have earthquake insurance? I love that it has plenty of racial diversity, and san fran is a gay mecca which is fun for all my gay friends. But its too inflated in real estate prices & taxes. If you were to say the biggest religion in your city, would you say it is Scientology? Thanks !

[chloe]

Not much to say about California that you guys don't already know. Its been completely ruined and is currently being plundered by Liberals.

What area of Cal do you live in? What state would you like to live in?

[crin63]

What area of Cal do you live in? What state would you like to live in?

I live in Los Angeles (So. Cal.). I would move to Prescott, AZ or maybe a little further north. I stay where I'm at because of my church. The weather is terrific, you can do just about anything you want to do from Disneyland, Knotts berry Farm, Magic Mountain, Universal Studios, to surfing, to skiing, to offroading, to hunting and hang gliding all within an hour of where I live.

If it weren't for the Socialistic Liberalization of California I would love it, I did when i was a kid. Now I hate it here, but someone has to stay and try to reach the heathens.

[April15]

Yosemite does look beautiful in the pictures Ive seen. Do all renters carry rental insurance? Does everyone have earthquake insurance? I love that it has plenty of racial diversity, and san fran is a gay mecca which is fun for all my gay friends. But its too inflated in real estate prices & taxes. If you were to say the biggest religion in your city, would you say it is Scientology? Thanks !

I have no idea about renters insurance and earthquake insurance would be like lightning strike insurance.
The real estate is high and so are wages, for the most part. Like I said I have a grandfathered tax rate for home but it is high for newbys. I could not even guess as to religion.

[April15]

I live in Los Angeles (So. Cal.). I would move to Prescott, AZ or maybe a little further north. I stay where I'm at because of my church. The weather is terrific, you can do just about anything you want to do from Disneyland, Knotts berry Farm, Magic Mountain, Universal Studios, to surfing, to skiing, to offroading, to hunting and hang gliding all within an hour of where I live.

If it weren't for the Socialistic Liberalization of California I would love it, I did when i was a kid. Now I hate it here, but someone has to stay and try to reach the heathens.

Seems to be So. Cal sentiment.

[Kathianne]

Illinois is flat. Flat, flat, flat. Perhaps not as flat as Indiana, but flat.
Chicago is a cultural mecca. Theater, music, museums, all top notch. The Lake is beautiful and the skyline from the Lake is even moreso. Shopping is great, but taxes are very high. Definite blue state, more so every year. Average price for suburban home around $250-300k. Property taxes are high, anywhere in the 5 country area. Mine are over $7400k per year, property worth about $220. Gas prices highest in the nation, today 87 unleaded: $2.69.

Downside, the weather, I doubt there is a city anywhere that so enjoys the few nice spring and fall days. Other than that it's freezing or hot & humid or raining and nearly always the wind is at 30 mph or higher. Today was one of those rare days, low 70's sunny, mild breeze. I met a friend, had lunch outside, went for a walk by the river. Gorgeous!

Did I mention it's flat?

[chloe]

I live in Los Angeles (So. Cal.). I would move to Prescott, AZ or maybe a little further north. I stay where I'm at because of my church. The weather is terrific, you can do just about anything you want to do from Disneyland, Knotts berry Farm, Magic Mountain, Universal Studios, to surfing, to skiing, to offroading, to hunting and hang gliding all within an hour of where I live.

If it weren't for the Socialistic Liberalization of California I would love it, I did when i was a kid. Now I hate it here, but someone has to stay and try to reach the heathens.

when I was a little girl I went to knotts berry farm, then when I got divorced the 2nd time my ex mother in law took me & my kids to disneyland & universal studios it was a lot of fun. The water was too cold for the beach but we slept in front of the beach and the ocean waves sounded beautiful. When i lived in Phoenix we used to visit family that lived in Prescott it was beautiful.

[chloe]

Illinois is flat. Flat, flat, flat. Perhaps not as flat as Indiana, but flat.
Chicago is a cultural mecca. Theater, music, museums, all top notch. The Lake is beautiful and the skyline from the Lake is even moreso. Shopping is great, but taxes are very high. Definite blue state, more so every year. Average price for suburban home around $250-300k. Property taxes are high, anywhere in the 5 country area. Mine are over $7400k per year, property worth about $220. Gas prices highest in the nation, today 87 unleaded: $2.69.

Downside, the weather, I doubt there is a city anywhere that so enjoys the few nice spring and fall days. Other than that it's freezing or hot & humid or raining and nearly always the wind is at 30 mph or higher. Today was one of those rare days, low 70's sunny, mild breeze. I met a friend, had lunch outside, went for a walk by the river. Gorgeous!

Did I mention it's flat?

When I lived in Ohio we drove through chicago on our way to utah. It was huge. I don't like chicago's weather stats but it does have all the great things you mentioned arts, music, culture, diversity. Also mafia. Do you still have a large mafia crime family that runs things behind the scenes? Is the Mafia extinct?

[chloe]

Seems to be So. Cal sentiment.

Is southern & northern california split politically, religiously ? If California were divided up what would be the most liberal & most conservative sections?