snarling wolverine

December 27th, 2014 at 12:40 PM ^

She's right.  Look at what Jim's just gone through at San Francisco.  Three excellent seasons out of four, and management doesn't care.  In the pros you're always expendable.  At U-M he can write his legacy.

 

 

Joined: 12/14/2011

MGoPoints: 98333

True Blue Grit

December 27th, 2014 at 12:46 PM ^

are not loved by anyone but their families (usually).   As long as they win, that's all that matters in today's day and age.  Pretty much all NFL teams are revolving doors for coaches and players.  At Michigan, JH is already loved by those many fans who saw him play here.  And as time goes on, he has his players and ex-players who love him, plus a new generation of fans who love him as coach.   

Joined: 01/21/2011

MGoPoints: 32363

Greeks for Harbaugh

December 27th, 2014 at 12:43 PM ^

In all honesty, Michigan is a much better place to raise kids than California. Jim learned all of his good traits from the Midwest, and honestly California turns kids into little materialistic brats at way too early of an age. 

Joined: 12/26/2014

MGoPoints: -78

Greeks for Harbaugh

December 27th, 2014 at 12:58 PM ^

Jim lives in Atherton CA, which I believe is the richest community in the entire nation. The average home is something like $1.5M there, and the average income is $300k(especially right now with all of the money flooding Silicon Valley). The schools are top notch, but from everything I've seen Jim is raising his kids to be wholesome. That just doesn't exist in an area like Atherton.

Joined: 12/26/2014

MGoPoints: -78

xtramelanin

December 27th, 2014 at 1:07 PM ^

bluto (greeks for hauraugh) is right.  crazy, but right.  

having lived and raised children in both places, i can tell you without question that michigan is a far superior place to raise children.   i would cite much different reasoning than greeks for harbaugh, but his conclusion is correct. 

Joined: 12/09/2014

MGoPoints: 15439

xtramelanin

December 27th, 2014 at 1:37 PM ^

off-blog, or better yet, over a couple of beers.   short version is that in my old life i ran a gang task force in your neck of the woods.  i had a Lt, 2 Sgts, and 20 investigators and all we did was hunt down, capture, and occasionally shoot some really bad people.   california is beautiful but has about 30 million too many people.  the cynical version is 'what season is it out there, monsoon, quake, riot, mudslide, flood or fire?'  but it goes a lot deeper than that. 

i am grateful for my time in cal and i miss my buddies, but i don't miss cal for a nano-second. 

Joined: 12/09/2014

MGoPoints: 15439

xtramelanin

December 27th, 2014 at 1:44 PM ^

love your signature line.

and one thing i forgot to mention, obvious as it may be, is that there are jerks everywhere (including me), but i'd say cal has cornered the market more than most places in our country. 

Joined: 12/09/2014

MGoPoints: 15439

EGD

December 27th, 2014 at 2:10 PM ^

I love California. But I had an opportunity to move to the Bay Area this past spring and ultimately decided to turn it down. Even coming from Seattle, which is hella expensive in its own right, we just wouldn't have been able to make it work with the cost of living down there. For me, the whole point of living in a place like SF is having access to all the great restaurants, music venues, museums, etc., as well as living in a walkable neighborhood with a true feeling of community. I have all that in Seattle; for a comparable situation in the Bay Area we'd be looking at probably $5K+ per month in rent (with dim prospects of actually being able to buy). With those kinds of economics, you are going to get a weird mix of people with a huge level of stress thrown in. But I still love CA!

Joined: 09/16/2009

MGoPoints: 35199

WolvinLA2

December 27th, 2014 at 2:17 PM ^

I get what you're saying - but not everyone in the Bay Area lives SF and not everyone in SoCal lives in West LA. Sure, some areas are crazy expensive. But not every suburb is like that. You can find lots of nice areas to raise kids without paying out your ass for real estate.

Joined: 11/13/2009

MGoPoints: 58191

Magnum P.I.

December 27th, 2014 at 3:10 PM ^

As someone who just relocated from Southern California to the Midwest, I have to chime in: It is very difficult to find a house in L.A. and Orange County for less than $500,000 that is in a safe neighborhood with decent schools and that is within a 30 minute drive to anything other than box stores/chain restaurants or attractive outdoor space. The cost of living--especially if you're buying now--is absurd. Couple that with how crowded and poorly planned the area is, and it's a really tough place to live unless you're absolutely raking and live near the beach.

If you have kids, make less than $150,000 per year (and are financially responsible), and value outdoor space and local businesses, Southern California is not the place for you.

Joined: 07/16/2009

MGoPoints: 30660

EGD

December 28th, 2014 at 1:32 AM ^

I totally get what you're both saying, but I just wasn't interested in living out in some exurrb or having a long commute from the Eastbay. It's worth it for some people, but not for me. Plus, i suppose it's all relative; if I didn't already have such a good thing going on in Seattle, I'd likely have been much more willing to make sacrifices. I don't know if I could ever live in SoCal at all. I love visiting there, but the drive times really are brutal.

Joined: 09/16/2009

MGoPoints: 35199

WolvinLA2

December 27th, 2014 at 2:02 PM ^

It sounds like you worked in some pretty bad areas, that no doubt exist. But just like you can't judge all of Michigan by inner-city Detroit, you can't judge all of CA by South Central. There isn't any gang activity where most of us are raising our kids. CA is far from perfect. But there are plenty of areas that are great for raising kids - just like every other state in the country. So I'm not sure I buy your argument. You'll have to do better than "the cops find lots of bad guys there." It's not like Michigan is crime-free.

Joined: 11/13/2009

MGoPoints: 58191