![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Prof. Flakey hasn't recently launched a campaign to convince me to move to some out of state schools and broaden my horizons. I'm wary of this. Southern California has become my comfort zone, and while I don't like everything here, I'm used to living here and accustomed to what life is like.
She doesn't think this is a very good reason to stay here when I can have some great options elsewhere.
I know very little about the rest of the country. I do know I have no interest in living in Utah again and even less interest in living Northern California again.
So, tell me about where you live. What's the weather like? Extreme heat and extreme cold are intolerable to me. Remember in [B]Misery[/B] when Paul Sheldom ruminates that he couldn't write with a slight hangover, but when his life is on the line, he manages to turn out a whole novel? Well, I'm not sure how I'd fare without a thumb and missing a foot, but I do know I can't write when it's too hot or too cold. I like temperatures between 50 and 80.
How religious is the area? In southern California I'm quite comfortable being an atheist because [I]nobody cares[/I]. Do you live in an area where people are snoopy, or do they most keep to themselves?
What's the general political climate? I am a liberal, pretty left-leaning, and I know I'm not going to feel very comfortable in an ultra-conservative environment. However, I was raised in Utah, so I know how deal with a conservative environment, as long as people leave me alone for the most part.
What is the cost of living? Right now my (cheap) rent is $800 and gas is $2.25 a gallon. We survive on about $20,000 a year, but certainly not comfortably. I probably won't be buying a home anytime in the future, but what's rent like in general? How much is gas?
Urban or rural? Despite my current situation, I do not like big cities. I'm fine in Upland and La Verne, but I would never want to live in Pasadena or Los Angeles. A good sized community is fine, a large city would probably freak me the fuck out.
Now obviously, the quality of the local Universities and how much money they throw my way will be pretty heavily favored, but I'd hate to waste time looking at school if it's in an area I'd never live. And it may seem to early to start worrying about these things, but you're talking to the person who started looking at Universities as a freshman in high school.
She doesn't think this is a very good reason to stay here when I can have some great options elsewhere.
I know very little about the rest of the country. I do know I have no interest in living in Utah again and even less interest in living Northern California again.
So, tell me about where you live. What's the weather like? Extreme heat and extreme cold are intolerable to me. Remember in [B]Misery[/B] when Paul Sheldom ruminates that he couldn't write with a slight hangover, but when his life is on the line, he manages to turn out a whole novel? Well, I'm not sure how I'd fare without a thumb and missing a foot, but I do know I can't write when it's too hot or too cold. I like temperatures between 50 and 80.
How religious is the area? In southern California I'm quite comfortable being an atheist because [I]nobody cares[/I]. Do you live in an area where people are snoopy, or do they most keep to themselves?
What's the general political climate? I am a liberal, pretty left-leaning, and I know I'm not going to feel very comfortable in an ultra-conservative environment. However, I was raised in Utah, so I know how deal with a conservative environment, as long as people leave me alone for the most part.
What is the cost of living? Right now my (cheap) rent is $800 and gas is $2.25 a gallon. We survive on about $20,000 a year, but certainly not comfortably. I probably won't be buying a home anytime in the future, but what's rent like in general? How much is gas?
Urban or rural? Despite my current situation, I do not like big cities. I'm fine in Upland and La Verne, but I would never want to live in Pasadena or Los Angeles. A good sized community is fine, a large city would probably freak me the fuck out.
Now obviously, the quality of the local Universities and how much money they throw my way will be pretty heavily favored, but I'd hate to waste time looking at school if it's in an area I'd never live. And it may seem to early to start worrying about these things, but you're talking to the person who started looking at Universities as a freshman in high school.