Yeah, theyre better if they have snow, but with ther current cycle, only 1/3 years do those mountains even open everything up. Yeah, they have insane snowmaking to ease the pain of snow-less winters, but there's a reason so many people roll 6 hours up to June and Mammoth, and it's not just because Mammoth is miles ahead in size and resort status, it's because it has insanely consistant snowfall - something that can't be said for Bear or Baldy or Mt. Waterman or whatever else is claimable down there.
UCLA is cheaper to attend on TUITION, perhaps (although, each year that tuition is getting raised like thermometer in sun in San Bernardino in August)... but the cost of living in Pasadena is surely MUCH higher than it is in Minnesota. Oh, and lets not even go into how hard it is to get into that school, or how unaffordable it is for one paying out of state tuition. I left California for school, and because I payed less than half of the living costs of California, the out of state cost of school wasn't so hard to swallow.
The traffic is fucking retarded. I have never been in LA and not seen a traffic jam. My dad lived in Ontario when I was growing up, and I flew down there on the reg. I got a taste of LA traffic and grew to hate it with a passion - only to find the same traffic back home in the East Bay Area - prompting me to grow some homely contempt. I will say however - LA drivers are a bit less derp-out than drivers in East coast cities - mainly because the infrastructure isn't from horsebuggy days...
As you know, much of the LA area is sprawling suburbs that go for miles on end. There's so many freeways there that connect everything, sure, but god damn it gets old trying to get around trying to figure out which "Santa" you're in.. lol.
I understand that you want to defend Socal, as I'd defend my beloved northern california to the end all the same... but you must realize there's a lot of people who cannot stand the place. I'll assert this much - LA's better than Vegas or Phoenix... or oh god... Houston.
