“Better weather” I can’t help but laugh. One of five Mediterranean climates worldwide, built on apricot orchards, formerly home to one of the most diverse animal and again ecosystems before the arrival of whites. It’s really hard to beat the weather in Silicon Valley. It’s almost non seasonal, anything grows. The diversity currently of this area is very high, it’s the home of top universities, between the two cross pollination of ideas happens non stop. As a “tech person” who lived in 10 years, and just moved away in March, well, it’s nice to move away, but damn, miss the weather.
I think California has created this myth that constant sunshine = perfect weather. I personally like things like summer thunderstorms, snowy winters, mild cloudy days, and rain. It's definitely not bad weather, but the lack of variety and endless dry smoggy summer months can get pretty old.
The myth is from people that moved to California from other states. I moved from the the midwest to Southern California. I can't see myself going back to harsh winters and extreme summers. My overall well being has increased and the sunny days helpf with consistent mood levels. This is coming from someone who loved the four seasons and claimed they were required. I realized that humans populate most climates in the world and there isn't one size fits all.
Same here. I like the "idea" of four seasons. But after living in socal, I discovered I really only need a few days a year of the cold wintery weather. And then I'm over it. I get that from travel. Not to mention how summers are so much hotter in the Midwest and south.
Mid 70s and sunny is hard to beat. It's like an eternal spring.
Yeah, definitely agree there, my enjoyment of winter lasts all of about a few weeks.
There's no perfect climate, and if you do winter sports or something more power to you, but after the beautiful snow, when you have to deal with slush and road salt, I could do with skipping from like, Jan 1 to Apr 1.
I think that's a personal thing; I found eternal spring pretty boring. It's not objectionable, certainly. It's just kinda meh. Don't get me wrong, you can get far far worse but I'd rather have seasons.
There is a place where you can have seasons, yet they are mild. And there is a reasonable cost of living, if you so choose. And it has public transportation, which is not ideal but better that many other US cities. And it has a huge number of software jobs, an educated populace, and culture. Washington, DC
What surprised me the most about SV's weather is how it affected my perception of time. Without the slow rhythm of the changing seasons, ten years passed in an uncertain blur. I find it very hard to place memories in any given time.
Maybe that's just an effect of getting older. I just moved away to a place with four seasons again, so we'll see!
Snowy winters is a nice idea when you can sip a warm drink cozied up inside and play winter sports.
When you have to shovel the drive way twice a day and five minutes later the city snow plow throws half frozen slush on your drive way, you start to crave a warmer climate.
If you're shoveling twice a day, you should consider doing as they do in Alaska and simply stop shoveling it. Drive on the snow if it's snowing so much that you have to shovel twice a day.
I thought I wanted four seasons when I first moved here, but after a few years I found a short trip to Tahoe quenched my entire desire for winter in a week or less, and I was glad to come back to no snow to shovel. I can't imagine going back to the northeast, and I would melt in the south.
I definitely agree with you. I don’t like the Bay Area’s weather and much prefer that of the Midwest and Northeast where you fully experience all four seasons. I like hot summers and winters full of snow. Even within CA I’d prefer the weather of LA over that of the Bay Area. SF in particular had very depressing and disappointing weather for me — uniformly chilly and overcast most of the time.
I guess that may depend a lot on where you started from. I've lived in Hong Kong and then grew up in Florida, went to school in New England, and then lived in Texas for a while before moving to the Bay Area. The Bay Area weather is insanely good by comparison. The general trends are so stable and predictable. It's nice temperate and dry most of the year. I used to be a pretty avid runner. I went to visit my buddy in Houston and we went running. I had to stop after 3 miles (I normally run 5 to 10 miles in the morning) because it was so hot and humid. It made me really respect people who exercise in areas where the weather isn't so amendable to outdoor activities.
(Updated: I just read all the sibling comments. We are nearly all from other states and have now all become huge weather weaklings from living in CA!)
It's a not a myth if you're in the SF Bay Area. Other parts of CA are terrible. As you've pointed out it's both smoggy and hot. Coming from FL where there are only two seasons, I call Bay Area's weather "air conditioning" weather. It feels like you're in a really nice climate controlled building, but outside with sun. That said, it's not going to last with climate change. Air quality is already taking a beating with all the forest fires, and it's getting hotter and hotter. Pretty soon, it'll be no different from what people think of today as SoCal weather.
I moved to SoCal from New England, and I miss the weather there so much! I don't hate 70s and sunny, but I genuinely miss thunderstorms, clouds giving way to downpours, the quiet after fresh snowfall, the shock of stepping outside on a winter's day, the glee and madness of watching hail suddenly fall on a spring day.
Comparing that to not being able to work outside because the state is on fire and the air quality has been before recommended levels for a week is not my favorite tradeoff.
Yeah, that one didn't make sense to me either. Lived in Oregon for the last... oh, wow, times flies... 30 years and I'd never consider moving back to the Bay Area. Except, if suddenly there were about 1/2 the people there and housing prices somehow went to reasonable levels. The weather is generally so pleasant there.
> anything grows
I'm a gardener. Wherever I go I grow a garden. When I lived in the South Bay the soil in our backyard was AMAZING. Never seen soil like that anywhere else. You didn't have to do much of anything to grow stuff. It was easy to dig. It was like it was loam all the way down. So yes, the climate plays a big part of that 'anything grows', but so does the soil there which is exceptional.
"Better"'s subjective - some people prefer extreme seasons (Midwest), 4 distinct seasons (East coast), 50s year-round (Northwest/SF), or sunny/70s most of the year (Miami? LA? Texas? Not a lot of experience personally).
Not sure about Texas[0], but LA is definitely way less humid than South Florida. Don't know too many people who actively like humidity at high temps. Some may not mind it. But those who hate it, like myself, just can't stand it.
I generally hate most warm climates because they tend to be humid. LA was very nice. The nicest climate I've experienced so far. Haven't been to Northern California though (I imagine it's roughly the same but cooler, so may like it more).
[0] seems like the problem there is it gets much cooler at night, more intraday variation.
At least in Austin and North of there, you start seeing 90s in April but average temperature of 90F+ is Jun-September.
https://weatherspark.com/y/8004/Average-Weather-in-Austin-Te...
I can't speak for South Texas as I am unfamiliar with the climate beyond some occasional visits.
Perhaps you're talking about the east or south bay, but SF proper has awful weather. Moved there from NYC expecting the climate you describe only to find rugged and overcast weather year around. Moved to Los Angeles after a year and can say with 100% conviction that the weather here is categorically better.
I don't mind the SF weather for the most part. (I've never lived there but have spent a lot of time.) But it can definitely have "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco" thing go on.
I've had months and months of continuous rain in the Bay, something I never witnessed when living down South. It's cheaper too. Much much much MUCH more diverse. And food's better as is the landscape.
Only to visit. So, no. I moved away years ago. Couldn't stand the place. Nothing but work work work. And living in between nothing but office parks loses it's allure after a few years.
But I've had my fair share of multi-month El Ninos.
Isn't this very subjective? One person's "hard to beat weather" is another person's hell on earth. I personally hate heat and sun so I want to live somewhere where it is cool and cloudy the majority of the year. That is my idea of hard to beat weather. For other people that probably sounds terrible.
You've just described why I don't like Silicon Valley weather, though indeed the easy and plentiful agriculture is a nice aspect aside from the scarcity of water which often ends up prioritizing farmers of things like almonds over actual residents. Where I live now, I get to enjoy all four seasons and don't have to consider water as a locally scarce resource.
A lot of people mistakenly drive North and don't realize how dreadful Oregon and Washington are. It's 10 times worse than anyone thinks on your actual mood. Reading a number of sunny days per year on city data doesn't do it justice. I recommend people move either to Arizona or tornado alley (if you're not worried about them).
Ya, imagine if someone like, accused the American voting system of being totally corrupt, without evidence and then specifically called out 3-4 of the largest majority Black population cities as being the root of corruption. And specifically called out all the poll workers (most of which are Black) in those cities as being corrupt cheaters.
Just imagine the uproar. No one in their right mind would stand behind someone like that, right?
Of course not. But America's sad history of accusing Black people of crimes or actions they didn't commit means we must be extra careful when making accusations.
In this particular case, the surrounding white suburbs actually voted in larger percentages for Biden vs last time. The primarily Black urban areas voted similarly as they did last election and the one before.
But those white suburbs are not being accused of cheating.
