Well, Bye, Kansas City...

[TinyEvel]

Those of you who know me and my story know I am a Southern California born and raised native but picked Chiefs as my NFL team in 1994 after the Montana win in Houston in the AFC divisional playoffs. Stayed a loyal and true Chiefs fan through the years and after finding CP in 2005 began coming out to KC once a year (thanks NZoner) for games.

2015 -- through random happenstance, I had an opportunity to come out here for a job. I did it. I made great progress in this firm, hiring and relocating new talent to KC, championing the boomtown that it is.

A few months ago, through some reorganization, I find myself leaving this firm. Not much opportunity for me any more in KC, so I relocated my family back to the West Coast last week. I must say as a born and raised Californian, the weather and the fitness here in CA, I have to pinch myself that I am lucky to be back here.

I still love KC and will be back for games, but here are a few things I observed after living in an entirely new region for the first time in my life.

1) The people are nice. Like, genuinely nice. It would take me three minutes to get through the grocery checkout just because the cashier would ask how I am doing and make small talk.

2) No traffic. I mean, the Plaza at Christmastime is basically any road in any city in California year-round. Getting from A to B in KC was always a breeze.

3) Season Tickets at Arrowhead are a dream come true. Being able to get to the stadium at 7 am every home game, and feel the rush of the crowd every week...now when I watch the games on TV it will be different. I'll surely miss being there, and the waft of BBQ smoke will be forever emblazoned in my mind.

4) It's a good life if you have very young kids. You can buy a three bedroom home for $150K with great schools. If you have teenage kids, moving here is more tough because most local kids have already bonded with friends.

5) Lots of people are overweight. Not to make a body issue statement but it's unhealthy. I hated myself for judging people there.

6) BUT.... Lots of people are active. I was surprised at how many people are running and playing tennis, etc. The workout here seems to be more for heart health than to be good looking fit, so, glad to see so many people getting out there and getting their heart rate up.

7) Produce goes bad too fast. Buy an avocado, better eat it that day. Same with lettuce. And Citrus. I was shocked how fast those fresh produce go bad.

8) Free parking in KC is a blessing. We just went to a museum in San Francisco, Parking was $24. That was focked. Ludicrous.

9) Fast healthy food is hard to come by in KC. We just ate fresh Mex burritos for lunch and in KC it seems all the fast options are Wendy's or Arby's or Burger King etc. It was an effort to eat fast/cheap/healthy there in KC.

10) The weather. Probably the most significant difference. I didn't mind the winters (many said the past two were mild) but the summers and the sticky heat, that was the worst. Three days here and it's 70 degrees and a cool breeze, that's a million dollar climate, and it cost that much.

11) KC is a boomtown. Look at all the development, there's a ton of opportunity there right now.

12) Body modification: People in KC seem to have a higher level of "fck what other people think" in terms of what they do to their hair/face/skin. As a result you get a lot of questionable tattoos and piercings and haircuts, etc. On one hand, i was appreciative of the diversity, on the other hand, it felt like the human modification version of the bad Charles Jersey I ordered online from China.

13) who the fock am I to say what KC is like or any other place. You be you, Kansas City, that's what makes you special. I'm gonna do me out here. I'll be back to visit and sing your praises in my social media feeds. All day long. Just hide the fat people.

TinyEvel out.

[redfan]

Powers Booth says:

"Have a nice life in Cali, TinyEvel."

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Traffic is already insane. Some days, it'll take 20 minutes to get to our preschool, which is 1.4 miles from our home. Many of the new towers are being constructed on former parking lots, which were $10-$15 dollars per, so parking will be even worse, if non-existent, to non-tenants.

It's almost to the point where I won't drive, other than to Costco, Ralphs and to the schools now, so I'd imagine that I'll start using Instacart and Costco delivery more often and Uber nearly everywhere because it'll be cheaper to Uber than drive and park.

I had an event at the Director's Guild last year in which parking was $30 dollars per day and sold out when I arrived at 8am. Parking at Trader Joe's was $40 dollars for the day so instead of parking, I drove back home and requested an Uber.

It cost $8 dollars round trip, with zero frustration.

And this is why I don't go anywhere near San Francisco.

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by GloryDayz

I was teaching at Mare Island naval base. It was pretty awesome, especially going from SoCal to NorCal was very cool.

Ever do any work on Point Mugu?

[TinyEvel]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Traffic is already insane. Some days, it'll take 20 minutes to get to our preschool, which is 1.4 miles from our home. Many of the new towers are being constructed on former parking lots, which were $10-$15 dollars per, so parking will be even worse, if non-existent, to non-tenants.

It's almost to the point where I won't drive, other than to Costco, Ralphs and to the schools now, so I'd imagine that I'll start using Instacart and Costco delivery more often and Uber nearly everywhere because it'll be cheaper to Uber than drive and park.

I had an event at the Director's Guild last year in which parking was $30 dollars per day and sold out when I arrived at 8am. Parking at Trader Joe's was $40 dollars for the day so instead of parking, I drove back home and requested an Uber.

It cost $8 dollars round trip, with zero frustration.

My new commute situation I'll drive across the Golden Gate bridge each day ($6.50) and parking will be $17 each day. That's 23.50 a day, times 20 days a month: that's $470 a month just to drive to the city.

[Dayze]

holy shit....

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by TinyEvel

My new commute situation I'll drive across the Golden Gate bridge each day ($6.50) and parking will be $17 each day. That's 23.50 a day, times 20 days a month: that's $470 a month just to drive to the city.

Holy Shit Balls Batman (rip Adam west)


How much do you have to make a month to live in San Fran Cisco ?

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by TinyEvel

My new commute situation I'll drive across the Golden Gate bridge each day ($6.50) and parking will be $17 each day. That's 23.50 a day, times 20 days a month: that's $470 a month just to drive to the city.

Ride your bike. You can get paid to exercise!

[tooge]

So, as we see, KC and Cali both have some pretty good and bad things about them. I've lived in both. I've lived in So Cal and Nor Cal. Most of my life has been living in KC with a couple years in the Chicago area as well.
I really liked living in Cal. North more so than south. I wasn't a big fan of the So Cal vibe, but to each their own. Plus, I liked the outdoors and it seemed like the Nor Cal outdoor scene for things I like (fly fishing, hiking, mountain biking, camping) were better than in So Cal, unless you drove quite a bit.

As far as KC is concerned, I live on 23 acres. I'm 15 minutes to downtown KC. I've got a pond and woods that I fish and hunt in/on. I own another farm that I use as a rec property that is about two hours away. It's 60 wooded acres. I've got some nice restaurants within 10 minutes of me. I can be at Arrowhead or Sprint center for arts/events/concerts/games in avbout 20 minutes. No way I could have anything close to all of that if I lived in Cal. The traffic is so nice here, that I get pissed if it takes me more than an hour to drive the normal 45 minute drive to visit friends all the way down in Olathe, heh.
I'm willing to put up with crappy heat for 12 weeks in the summer, and crappy cold for 12 weeks in the winter in order to have the cost of living so low that I can have all the other things I mentioned. I get that some people aren't willing to. Again, to each his own.
If I get too tired of the heat, I'll take the fam to Minnisota in the summer for a week or two, and when I get too tired of the cold we head to florida for a week or two. I can afford that too with how cheap it is living in KC. I do miss spending time in Cal however.

[Ming the Merciless]

Originally Posted by tooge

So, as we see, KC and Cali both have some pretty good and bad things about them. I've lived in both. I've lived in So Cal and Nor Cal. Most of my life has been living in KC with a couple years in the Chicago area as well.
I really liked living in Cal. North more so than south. I wasn't a big fan of the So Cal vibe, but to each their own. Plus, I liked the outdoors and it seemed like the Nor Cal outdoor scene for things I like (fly fishing, hiking, mountain biking, camping) were better than in So Cal, unless you drove quite a bit.

As far as KC is concerned, I live on 23 acres. I'm 15 minutes to downtown KC. I've got a pond and woods that I fish and hunt in/on. I own another farm that I use as a rec property that is about two hours away. It's 60 wooded acres. I've got some nice restaurants within 10 minutes of me. I can be at Arrowhead or Sprint center for arts/events/concerts/games in avbout 20 minutes. No way I could have anything close to all of that if I lived in Cal. The traffic is so nice here, that I get pissed if it takes me more than an hour to drive the normal 45 minute drive to visit friends all the way down in Olathe, heh.
I'm willing to put up with crappy heat for 12 weeks in the summer, and crappy cold for 12 weeks in the winter in order to have the cost of living so low that I can have all the other things I mentioned. I get that some people aren't willing to. Again, to each his own.
If I get too tired of the heat, I'll take the fam to Minnisota in the summer for a week or two, and when I get too tired of the cold we head to florida for a week or two. I can afford that too with how cheap it is living in KC. I do miss spending time in Cal however.

winner

[sd4chiefs]

Originally Posted by TinyEvel

My new commute situation I'll drive across the Golden Gate bridge each day ($6.50) and parking will be $17 each day. That's 23.50 a day, times 20 days a month: that's $470 a month just to drive to the city.

My son has a friend that works and lives in downtown SF. His 600 sq ft apartment is $3500 a month.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by tooge

So, as we see, KC and Cali both have some pretty good and bad things about them. I've lived in both. I've lived in So Cal and Nor Cal. Most of my life has been living in KC with a couple years in the Chicago area as well.
I really liked living in Cal. North more so than south. I wasn't a big fan of the So Cal vibe, but to each their own.

If I had my druthers, we'd live in Marin as opposed to the heart of Hollywood but all of the studios and production companies are located here.

My children are also planning to be in the entertainment business as well, so it would make it much harder for them if we moved 400 miles north, when Disney, Uni and Warner Brothers are 12 minutes away.

[Ming the Merciless]

Originally Posted by sd4chiefs

My son has a friend that works and lives in downtown SF. His 600 sq ft apartment is $3500 a month.

thats actually not a bad deal...LOL

(studios i think are averaging about 4g right now, 2bdr are about 6000)

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by TinyEvel

My new commute situation I'll drive across the Golden Gate bridge each day ($6.50) and parking will be $17 each day. That's 23.50 a day, times 20 days a month: that's $470 a month just to drive to the city.

Well, at least it'll be tax deductible...

[DaneMcCloud]

In another riff on Hollywood, I joined 24 Hour Fitness in 2004 because it was new (Arclight) and close to my home. It was $750 for 3 years, then $20 a year for life after the initial period ended.

At the time, parking was $1.50, which was no big deal, even going 5-6 days a week. But 13 years later, it's $5 dollars for 2 hours, so if I were to go 5-6 days a week (or 20 times a month), it would cost $100 dollars or more, per month, or $1,200 a year, just to park! Yet my membership dues are only $20 per year.

Instead, I ride at Lake Hollywood 5 days a week and park for free. Not nearly as many hotties but I can't justify $1,200 per year in parking fees.

[Ming the Merciless]

I'm sure youre already on it but fast track saves you at least a dollar per trip so it gets down to 5.50

https://www.bayareafastrak.org/en/gu...idgeToll.shtml