13 Reasons why I hate and love to drive in Southern California

Today’s Thursday Thirteen features the top thirteen things I love or hate about driving in Southern California:

1. Dislike – Traffic

2. Like – The sunsets along Pacific Coast Highway

3. Dislike – Traffic jams – On the East Coast, when traffic slowed or stopped, there was a reason, such as an accident, broken-down car, or perhaps road construction.

In Southern CA, the traffic stops for no apparent good reason.

For example, you could be driving along and all of a sudden the traffic screeches to a dead halt, remains stopped, for varying amounts of times, and then just as suddenly as it stopped, it blazes back to full-speed ahead.

I haven’t discovered a reason for this, but if you have any ideas, please leave a comment.

In fact, I don’t think anybody here knows that answer either!

4. Like – Speed – Yes, it’s true, Southern CA drivers drive fast--very fast. But if you’re driving at 75 mph in the flow of traffic, and other drivers constantly have you in their rear view mirror, and are constantly passing you by, then it’s probably time to slow down.

5. Dislike – Billboards – As a previous East Coast resident, billboards were very uncommon, but here, they are everywhere and all-pervading.

They’re all over the place, and they can be very tacky to say the least. I’ll call it like I see it--they’re an eye-sore. Even a splitting headache, sometimes.

6. Like – Listening to 93.1 Jack FM – Yes, I’m an old fashioned radio girl.

7. Dislike – Did I mention Traffic?

8. Like – Car-pool lanes

9. Dislike – Other Drivers!

10. Like – Enjoying the Southern California weather while driving in a convertible.

11. Dislike – Garbage on the streets and the freeway sides.

12. Like – The fact that the 5 is a FREEway instead of a TOLL turnpike

13. Dislike – Oh, don’t forget the traffic

Hopefully today’s Thursday Thirteen edition gave you a “flavor” of what it’s like to drive in Southern CA.

I’m glad I’m back to riding the bus today, because,

After all, it’s about a healthy lifestyle!

Photo courtesy of jslander

Tags: beach, driving, southern_california, traffic

Comment by Metroknow on July 25, 2008 at 11:28am: When I lived in Pasadena, my office was in Santa Monica, so I sat in two hours of traffic each way (3-4 hrs a day) for several years. . .So I feel your pain. Ultimately though, it was an argument for working from home - and it worked. So much so that I was able to eventually move up to Oregon after having proven for a couple of years that I could work remotely from anywhere. I've since quit that job, but traffic actually facilitated, well, a healthier lifestyle! :)