OH vs CA : A Totally Scientific Comparison

It's impossible to move 2,413 miles across the country (I just mapped it) and not compare your new home with the old one. So, based on extensive research my opinion, here are a few notes of comparison:

WEATHER:

CA

Well, duh. We've only been here 2 weeks but ohmygod it is amazing. 10 stars for the bay area.

OH
Sweltering, humid summer. Buckets of rain. Six months (November-April) of freezing hell. Gray skies. And let's not forget biblical plagues of mosquitoes.  Maybe 2 stars for a few hard earned nice days in the spring and fall.

this is how we feel about cold winters

HOUSE:

CA
Better here: backyard, floors, kitchen, kitchen storage, fridge, stove, quiet street, space for toys, 2 full baths, all one level.
We don't have a garage, but it's not needed. I love our house here! The space is perfect for us... minus the tiiiiiiny master closet. Tiny closet, you make me sad.
Walking distance to: nice park, Walgreens, sushi, pizza, daycare, library, Starbucks, a Korean place, a sandwich place, a donut place. The parks here are spectacular.
Biking distance to work for Rich. The location is awesome!!

OH
Better here: carpets upstairs, basement for storage, bathroom storage, closet space... really can't overstate how nice it was to have enough closet space now that we don't have it. Basically, though, our house in OH was bigger, and that's really all it has going for it.
Walking distance to too many things to list! Location was also awesome.  Although we did not have a nice park within walking distance.

COST OF LIVING:

CA
Here we are poor. We can't afford to buy a house and certainly not a house with as much space as we would like to have, in a decent location. Real estate is BANANAS. The price of a decent gym membership nearly made me spit my cheerios across the room. And holy babysitting and daycare! (!) Let's just say I better find a job soon.

OH

Sweet, sweet Ohio! Where we can comfortably afford a house of our dreams, belong to a nice gym and a good daycare, and basically roll around in dollar bills in between luxury vacations.*

*Possible slight exaggeration.

WASTE MANAGEMENT:

CA
How obsessed am I with the pervasive recycling and amazing curbside service here?!?! They recycle EVERYTHING and they compost everything else. Practically all our trash is diapers. If you know how I feel about waste and recycling, you know I FREAKING LOVE IT SO MANY EXCLAMATION POINTS.

OH
Boo. Hiss. So much extra effort to recycle everything.

FOOD:

CA

The farmer's markets here blow the Ohio markets out of the water. The quality and variety of fresh produce and fresh made products is mind-blowing. The peaches! The strawberries! The tomatoes! The apples! The lemons and limes! The avocados! The wine! The beer! I could go on forever.

We haven't gotten to try many restaurants yet, but the ones we have have been excellent. The best mimosa sampler at Local Union 271, sushi at Fuki Sushi, several good sandwich delis, and who knew, Greek food is super hot here. There are tons of fancy and casual Greek places we haven't tried yet, but we got to try Oren's Hummus Shop and nearly died of deliciousness. The soft pitas! The creamy hummus! The sabich pita with eggplant and tons of other stuff was absolutely to die for. And there are sooo many more things I can't wait to try! It's a vegetarian's dream - and Rich loved it too.

The cookie sandwiches at CREAM were fun and super cheap, although they mostly inspired me to try making my own at home. Clearly I could go on for pages about the food here. Everything grows here and it is heaven. I can't wait for some weekend trips to Napa and Sonoma!!!

The mimosa sampler at Local Union = everything

Acai bowls at BARE bowls

ice cream cookie sandwiches at CREAM

our trip to Sonoma in 2013 - cannot wait to go back!!

our trip to Bi-Rite in 2013 - again, cannot wait to go back!!

strawberries from Half Moon Bay

Palo Alto farmer's market haul

salmon salad heaven

OH
Cincinnati shouldn't feel too bad though. There are so many restaurants I love there and I miss already. Boca, Sotto, Table, Orchids, Metropole, Barresi's, Mazunte, Wildflower Cafe, Red Feather, Maribelle's, Holtman's, Nada, Via Vite, Bakersfield, everything popping up in OTR, and there are even some juice bars opening around the area! I love the food and drink scene in my hometown and you can't beat some of the prices!!

Holtman's

Boca scallops

Orchids

PROXIMITY TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS:

CA
We are very lucky to have a few friends and connections here already and hope to meet more in the coming months! The hardest adjustment for me so far has been the drastically reduced social calendar.

OH

We are missing everyone so much already!!! Poor Valerie doesn't understand how far away all her favorite people (besides Mom and Dad) are, but this is definitely for the best. She still wants to go to Nana's house and Carter's house, play with her friends and cousins and see Grandpa, but luckily "they'll come visit us" and "we'll see them at Thanksgiving" are acceptable responses when she's missing people, along with Facetime. Can't award OH enough stars in this category.


In conclusion.... both places have a lot going for them and could hardly be more different. We've only been here about 2.5 weeks so far, so it will be interesting to look back on this list and see how my perspective changes over the coming year.

In further conclusion, I just need all of our family and friends to move out to the bay area and to win the MegaMillions jackpot, and then everything will be perfect! Got that guys? Come on out here, please and thank you!!  xoxo