West Coast is the Best Coast: The Seven Reasons Everyone Wants to Live Here

 

Progress

Since the days of the Oregon Trail the Wild West has always been a symbol of adventure, progress, and opportunity. Sustainability, marriage equality, moves to end the marijuana prohibition, and constant technological innovations are just a few areas where the West pushes the status quo.

Companies like Apple, Microsoft, Nike, Google, YouTube, Ebay, Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon and are all great examples of life changing businesses planted in the West. How many 35-year-old (or younger) self-made multi-billionaires can you name from the east coast? Probably not many.

And there’s no end in sight! If you want to see for yourself just stop by one of Cali’s many world-renowned startup and innovation conventions.

 

Swag

We’ve got swag. We just do.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a hipster’s mustache in Portland, some skater’s skinny jeans in LA, or a snowboarder’s thugged-out get-up at any one of our countless amazing resorts. Unlike our eastern counterpart, West Coast culture doesn’t differentiate “cool” style by the price tag. Creativity, unique personality, and resourcefulness are what define us. Just ask Macklemore!

Fact is, so many people here have swag that you can pretty much assume if your from the West Coast, you’re reppin it with style.

 

Slang

For those of you from the eastern part of the country I should probably explain what swag means.

Swag is a shortened version of “swagger” and refers to the steeze with which one carries themselves. Don’t know steeze either? Well you’re just going to have to google that one.

Other terms you’ll hear thrown around are sick, gnarly, dope, ill, hella, bomb, clutch, and dank, just to name a few. Truthfully, if you can make it sound cool no one will judge you for saying it and it very well may catch on.

It’s like a whole new kind of freedom of speech!

 

Entertainment

You can’t argue with the fact that California is the world’s entertainment epicenter; Hollywood is the home of nearly every large-scale production company. And we don’t stop with movies! Some of the world’s most amazing musicians call the West Coast home. Hendrix, The Doors, The Grateful Dead, The Beach Boys, Snoop, Nirvana, and Tupac all hail from the Left Coast. In fact, our music game is so strong that musicians from all over the world (including the East Coast) come here in search of success.

And you can bet that in the coming years we won’t stop pumping out the classics.

 

Weather

 

Blue skies and relatively constant sunshine give us beautiful beaches, breathtaking state parks, and happier, healthier people. Even cities like Portland and Seattle that are known for rainy winters have incredible summer weather. The never-ending deep green foliage is just an added bonus!

There’s a reason why many movie stars and celebrities live and work on the west coast. Just think of how many songs are written about California’s beauty alone!

 

Recreation

 We’re all about the outdoors. If you’re a surfer we’ve got California and Oregon coast (and Hawaii is also just a short flight away). If snowboarding or skiing is your thing there’s Vail, Telluride, and Aspen CO, Park City UT, Jackson Hole WY, Sun Valley ID, Mammoth CA, Mt. Bachelor OR,  and hundreds of others (yes, literally hundreds)! We have rock-climbing, mountain biking, kayaking, sailing, skateboarding, and the list could go on forever!

Simply put, the West Coast is home of world-class recreation areas for nearly any adventure you could imagine.

 

Space

 As far back as Lewis and Clark, people have been traveling west to stake their claim. 200 years later after hundreds of thousands of people have settled the area, we’ve still got space. Lots of it!

Even while hosting the countries second most highly populated city, Los Angeles, the West is still associated with mountains, forests, lakes, and parks galore. Some of the effects of this are cleaner air, ease of travel, and cities that are consistently rated as the happiest and healthiest in the country.

 

While there are many reasons we love it here, these are just a few that make the West Coast the Best Coast. To those of you from the east, you don’t have to just be jealous. Pack up and come on over! People have been doing it for hundreds of years, and these days you don’t even have to worry about cholera or diphtheria.

Just don’t come all at once… we like things the way they are.