This is becoming somewhat of a problem for me. As my wife keeps wanting me to take her to California. Is it really that dangerous like I keep hearing? She wants to go to Cambria.
Cambria is a nice place to vacation, and a short drive to Paso Robles...the temperatures can be 30-40 degrees different (100 degrees in Paso and 60 degrees in Cambria) but it is pretty...Hearst Castle is also nearby.
Oh for Pete’s sake, it’s like any other area of the country.There are dangerous areas and nice areas.I don’t feel particulary unsafe.By all means bring your wife out here. Use common sense and stay out of ghettos and run down places. Stay in family oriented and nicer neighborhoods. Yes there are plenty of them - no matter what you hear on the internet. The same things apply everywhere lock your doors, stay out of unlit places at night etc.I grew up in Texas and have lived at different times in the Pacific Northwest, Wyoming, New York and now just outside Fresno. There are nice people and crazy people everywhere. Not everybody out here is a liberal.The San Joaquin Valley btw is pretty conservative politically, just like Orange County.
RE: “This is becoming somewhat of a problem for me. As my wife keeps wanting me to take her to California. Is it really that dangerous like I keep hearing? She wants to go to Cambria.”
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I have been in L.A. since the early fifties and traveled most of the state over the decades. Is it all different in CA since the good old days, yes, and in mostly “not so good” ways.
But... there’s a lot left to like, still. You would be visiting, not moving — so go ahead and take your wife to Cambria — a charming little town and area north of San Luis Obispo —
While you are at it, drive north on Highway 1 past Hearst Castle (you could take a tour!), see the incredible beauty of Big Sur, Carmel and Monterey. Do not miss that Monterey Peninsula. Have a burger at Nepenthe in Big Sur and gaze out over the Pacific.
Are the coastal areas leftist bastions? Yes! But it’s not dangerous to visit, for heaven’s sake.
If you want a slightly more conservative experience, head south from L.A. into Orange County, tour around Newport Beach, then go south thru Carlsbad and into La Jolla, San Diego, etc. Hey, tour the Midway ship in S.D.! Lots of military people around SD County and don’t miss the Del Coronado Hotel on isle of Coronado — lots of retired military living there — gorgeous. Have lunch at the Del.
Mountains? Try a trip from L.A. up thru the Owens Valley, first passing thru Red Rock Canyon into charming Lone Pine (take a peek at Mt. Whitney), Bishop and up to Mammoth — Owens Valley/Inyo/Mono counties fall into the red-state style and I got into a great conversation with the guy who owns the fishing boat rental business at Lake Mary, the largest of the Mammoth Lakes. He informed me that the area is, aside from some of the rich leftists who own homes in Mammoth, decidedly ‘on the right.’
I like CA — always have — to this day am happy to return to Ca/L.A., as bad as it can be at its worst, when coming back from a trip elsewhere.
Again, bring your wife to CA, visit Cambria and everything else that appeals — you’ll be fine.