on traffic

I always knew that my time in California would be temporary. Given the nature of graduate school and academia, I knew better than to get attached to Southern California. And in many respects, this was not difficult. In a previous post, I talked about how much I missed winter and a lack of seasons. By my standards, the past 8 years have been a perpetual summer. 

I won't miss the insanely high cost of living. Last weekend, I met up with a friend, and among other things, told him to guess how much we're going to pay to rent a one bedroom apartment in Green Bay. He guessed $1500. I told him to guess lower. He dropped down to $1200 and just about fell out of his chair when I told him $495. 

Perhaps most of all, I won't miss the traffic. Prior to moving to California, one of my friends (her grandma lived in Gardena so she was familiar with the area), told me that traffic would be one of the most surprising aspects of Southern California. She said that no matter the time of day, I'd be shocked at how many people were out on the road. She was absolutely right.The first time I drove here was when I rented a car for my recruitment visit. I drove from Los Angeles to Irvine at one in the morning and when I wasn't busy being scared to death of getting into a car accident, I thought to myself "Where are all these people going? Why are there all these cars on the road?" I think I saw more traffic at 1 in the morning than I ever had in Minnesota (and did I mention that it was a 12-lane freeway? That's a lot of cars).   

Just as winter is to Minnesotans (and I'm guessing Wisconsinites), traffic is to Californians. It's just a way of life and you have to accept it. There are rush hours of course, but you can also encounter stop-and-go traffic at any hour of any day. Los Angeles is 40 miles from Irvine, but sometimes it is 45 minutes away and sometimes it is 3 hours away.    

A few years ago, my dad complained about traffic in Rochester. I laughed at him and told him to stop complaining. You have no idea, Dad, no idea. Then he and my mom came out to visit, and when coming back from visiting relatives in Oceanside, we got stuck on the 5. Oceanside is about 50 miles away, but I think the trip that night took about 3 hours. Of course, I wasn't at all shocked by this, but my dad turned to me and said "huh, I get what you mean now. The traffic in Rochester is nothing compared to this." I refrained from saying "I told you so, Dad." 

As is our routine, Drew drove us back from Oceanside a couple weekends ago, and I was in the passenger seat (I do most of the driving, but on any trip over 30 miles, I drive there and he drives back). As expected, we hit traffic on the way home and the 5 became a parking lot. I laughed it off and took some pictures, knowing that it wouldn't be long until it would no longer be a way of life.