moving to cali

[20005spd]

a friend and i are thinking of moving to california this year. since alot of you are from cali i figured you could give me some good info on where there is good 4wheeling around the state and where good places to live are. someplace centrally located near trails, beaches, and away from the city and gangs :D. thanks

[4x4mike]

Gangs everywhere, well compared to Rhode Island (I think). What kind of trails do you like? There are beaches, dunes, forests, desert, etc.

[BruceTS]

Best thing to do is visit first, then decide where you'd like to live. Another thing you have to consider is the type of job your looking for and which area has the most opportunities.

[YotaGirl]

Best thing to do is visit first, then decide where you'd like to live. Another thing you have to consider is the type of job your looking for and which area has the most opportunities.


X2

Edit: If you need a place to stay while you are out visiting, our home is always open (and we're very near a ton of trails, oh and we have an extra crawler we can loan out).

[Seanz0rz]

Best thing to do is visit first, then decide where you'd like to live. Another thing you have to consider is the type of job your looking for and which area has the most opportunities.


X2

Edit: If you need a place to stay while you are out visiting, our home is always open (and we're very near a ton of trails, oh and we have an extra crawler we can loan out).


you are just far too kind jenn!

we'd all love for you to visit! out here in the inland empire, the gangs are here, but generally not bad if you pick a decent place to live. minutes away from big bear, close to calico, and not all that far from the wheelin paradise that is san diego. not that far from the beach, but away from the madness of greater LA.

[slosurfer]

Stay away from the Central Coast, gangs everywhere, beaches suck, super crowded, bad traffic, absolutely horrid place to live. :hillbill:

[20005spd]

wow i never thought id be offered places to stay. thanks so much for the hospitality Jnj, show this young east coast guy how cali does it :D. so ya my plan is to take a week soon and go out there with my friend to hang out with his brother and meet some people, they live near disney. later on in the summer we planned to go out there find jobs and a place to live, then haul all our stuff there. ive always wanted to do this and since me and the girl who didnt wanna come with me are no longer together i think its time i try this. i work at a dealership now, im not happy. all i want to do is work at one of the custom 4x4 shops doing anything to get my foot in the door. im no proffesional fabricator but have done alot of stuff to my own and friends vehicles trying to get as much experience as possible. sasing, total chaos, kits blah blah blah. i figure if i bring my large tool box, my truck, and a resume with all my certs on it showing a willingness to work and learn i can get a job at one of these places.

i have some family in yorbolinda and marino valley that i visite once but was to young to see anything cool.

the types of trails im looking for are mostly rock crawling or just nice scenery. some of the pics you guys post up just call my name to that side of the country so its time i try it out.

[4runnerchevy]

Gangs are everywhere, North, South, and Central. I have lived in Santa Cruz most of my life, never a problem. I am 45 minutes from Hollister Hills SVRA and 4 hrs to the Rubicon. The beaches are nice, although crowded on the weekends. If you end up near Santa Cruz PM me I have great resources for a Mechanic/Fabricator, I could get you a job at Toyota of Santa Cruz, Subaru of Santa Cruz, or possibly where I work (mechanic / fab).



Stay away from the Central Coast, gangs everywhere, beaches suck, super crowded, bad traffic, absolutely horrid place to live. :hillbill:


Simply not true!



Best thing to do is visit first, then decide where you'd like to live. Another thing you have to consider is the type of job your looking for and which area has the most opportunities.


x4

[20005spd]

i really dont want to work at another dealership. im so sick of flat rate pay times and warranty. i just want to work at a shop as mechanic fabricator, would love to just work on 4x4 trucks all day, prefferably toyotas but will do anything. not like ill go to the beach all the time but i would like it to be an option :D

[4runnerchevy]

It looks like you have a lot of resources here. Good luck :thumbup:

[slosurfer]

Stay away from the Central Coast, gangs everywhere, beaches suck, super crowded, bad traffic, absolutely horrid place to live. :hillbill:


Simply not true!



I was hoping that the sarcasm was evident in my statement. :flipoff:

[20005spd]

i didnt catch the sarcasm at first. i imagine it is like here, there are certain ghetto parts of ri and mass that arent nice and people stare at the white boy(me) as he drives by. but we avoid those areas and stay out of trouble.

[Seanz0rz]

...there are certain ghetto parts of ri and mass that arent nice...


ROFL... absolutely no offense or anything, but i have a REALLY hard time believing that.... hahahahahahahaha.

some neighborhoods out here look like demilitarized zones. others look like active theaters of combat (and are). the vast majority of even "bad" neighborhoods are really not that horrible anymore. even where i live in redlands, there is a bad side and a good side, we try not to cross the tracks or freeway unless we have to, just watch out for gang members and leave yourself enough room in front of your car to evade if necessary.

also, once you have a particular place in mind, it helps to go to businesses and private residences and ask about the area. when we moved to our house, its on a pretty busy street. we asked some people (not our neighbors, but one block down) how bad the traffic was. they were unconcerned, so it eased our minds on the decision.

[20005spd]

hey there are still shootings and stabbings in ri and mass just not as much as california. i figure if i can stay away from it here i can dodge it there.

[4runnerchevy]

Its not hard to dodge it, I just don't get involved, or put myself in harms way. Sometimes I think the SoCal contingent is a gang :flipoff:




:)

[reggie 00]

the types of trails I'm looking for are mostly rock crawling or just nice scenery. some of the pics you guys post up just call my name to that side of the country so its time i try it out.


Don't count out the Northern part.

I live 1.5hr from the Rubicon
2hrs from the Sierras
2.5hrs from Monterey
the list goes on......

Not sure on the idea of going strictly custom shop. My buddies uncle owned a custom boat shop and the mechanics their didn't get paid to much better than dealer guys.
If you want to make the big money and call your shots come out and get smog certified. These guys make pretty good money and generally shy away form general mechanic work.

[Tankota]

So-Cal rocks but its already full... Most of the time I love it, but at times I cant wait to get out.

[RobG]

What everyone says is good advice. Saying you are moving to cali is like saying you are moving to the East Coast. We have everything from FL to NH and more. A week is not really enough to see it all in any depth.

I would suggest you get a copy of the Wells trail books for Norcal and Socal. That will give you some idea of where the wheeling is and what it is like.

With the way our economy is headed you might want to focus on securing some type of employment up front.

Good Luck. I sure don't regret moving out here, not sure I could ever go back.

[slosurfer]

What everyone says is good advice. Saying you are moving to cali is like saying you are moving to the East Coast. We have everything from FL to NH and more. A week is not really enough to see it all in any depth.




LOL, no kidding. When I was stationed at Camp Pendleton, some of the east coast guys couldn't wrap their brains around how long it took to get to the Oregon border. They also thought all of CA was like L.A. or S.D. :shake: They were so used to driving and being in another state in an hour or so.

[Ric]

If your driving, your welcome to crash at my place here in the Denver area, on your way through, and if time allows, we can hot a trail or two. :thumbup:

[Robinhood4x4]

What is with all this talk about gangs?!?! It's not like there are thugs on every corner waiting to shoot you. I think maybe you guys have lived in the city too long! You're going to give the guy the wrong impression.

The exception might be LA. LA sucks. Smog, idiots, crime, idiots, traffic, and idiots.

SD, LA and SF have 1 good thing going for them, you can go surfing, skiing, and off roading in 1 day if you really wanted to. The central coast, like Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo (like where slosurfer lives) is really nice.

[expatoz]

This is pretty useless info but it depends upon how desperate you become...

I met a guy last week who is looking to rent my old house on the Ventura/LA county line (no gangstas here!). He is moving from San Fran and is a fabricator in his own business. He builds rock crawlers in the main, but also lowrider trucks when business is quiet. He's done some research to establish there's very few fab shops for offroaders this side of LA but there is a lot of money out here (apparently).

Anyhow, he is supposed to be looking for a shop location currently out this way. If you were a go-getter you might be able to strike up some business deal (partnership) to make the business work???

Unfortunately I don't remember his company name but I gave him a forum business card and asked him to post up when he's set up his shop. I saw photos of his current setup and he has some serious equipment and some great trucks he's built. I can post to here, if he ever makes it.

If you need soemwhere to crash out this way (1hr from LA and SLO, and a couple hours from SD) I've got a room for a few days and some beers in the fridge.

Sorry the info is so vague. I'll check with my buddy who was there when I met the guy. He might remember the guys business name and you can chase it up.

Cheers
Mark

[20005spd]

thanks for all the info. im really not so focused on making tons of money right now. i just want to be able to make enough to survive and have some fun but try out a new type of occupation. im not financially ready to move out there for a few months so i probably wouldnt be able to work out something with your friend expatoz.

i wont be moving out there unless i have a job secured, im not that crazy :D
its time for some new experiences in my life, new places, new people, new wheeling/scenery, new job. everyone including me back at school, New England Tech, was always saying how they wanted to do "custom" stuff even though most were all honda fags. after getting some experience and tools and certs i think its time to try out that little dream. plus im so sick of the weather here, i need more sun, more warmth.