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Comment by danboarder | Hacker News Reader

The author is so focused on lamenting California's demise that he's missing what is still here.

I fixed up an old '73 VW westy bus and we've been doing all the things he said can't be done anymore. The cali dream is alive and well, I was out surfing today. El Nino is predicted this year and may spell the end of the drought. Things are looking up, and the solution to the sense of loss he's taking about is to be creative. Go to Kings Canyon or Anza Borrego instead of tourist-trap Yosemite. Its not that hard.

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Only those aren't well versed in the regional history portend a single rainy season will end this drought. Bring some pleasant relief, which will only help to slacken regulation/thinking/policy.

However after a year the drought will still be - unmoderated and with even worse water policies.

But, if you can afford the water, Cali is still the same - although it's harder to see through the haze of selfie sticks and REI gear.

What about a second rainy season? New extremes are surpassed all the time.

Nope, shouldn't be within years of rainy seasons of being enough.

I think he understands that -- for example, "Confusing one’s own youth with the youth of the world is a common human affliction...", "I have also noticed the friendly crowds jostling my elbows at every surf break and on the shockingly long lines below Yosemite rock climbs. These people have as much fun as I ever did, loving the only version of California available to them.", and the last paragraph. His first impression is dark, but he basically concludes it's not that bad, and that his negative perception versus his nostalgia is part of a cycle that every generation experiences.

He kind of mixes the natural issues (drought) with the human ones (increasing population, re-development). I'm not so sure the two categories will work out equally fine in the end, but I don't live there so I don't really have any skin in the game or knowledge of it.

I get that, but I don't agree with his premise. There are so many un-surfed breaks along the coast -- it's just that people tend to all go to the same spots (Huntington Beach or San Clemente down here in socal), instead of getting creative and finding new surf breaks. So while I am probably his age (in my 40s) I don't share his jaded perspective. I like finding new places, learning new things. My wife Mel goes with me often and we really enjoy California the way it is right now! That's coming from someone who travels a lot - I visited 17 countries in the last year over several months and while I've enjoyed many places I always look forward to coming back and camping on BLM land where we can drive offroad, launch model rockets and just enjoy open spaces.

see http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/maps.html

We're still a long way off from drought relief, but more concerning is how long away we are from decent public schools or relief in insane housing prices in the Bay Area. Until the whole region builds a lot more housing it's only going to get worse sadly.

Anza Borrego is it's own unique place. I spent many weekends poking around the various parts with my dad in a old 2-door toyota pickup truck. Many fond memories.

Did you finish the article? In the end it seems like the author decides that every generation perceives California that way as they grow old.

He only says the dream is dead for him. Not the new generations.

Yes I did. I'm probably his age (in my 40s), so not the 20 somethings he thinks are the next generation of California natives that are still stoked. Some of us don't get jaded in older age like he describes but rather keep the dream alive by taking a slightly different path less traveled; that was my reaction to his article -- a bit of creativity and planning can take one to amazing places rarely visited in this state. There are many vacant beaches below cliffs, trails to discover, mountain peaks to camp on, pools below waterfalls and cliffs to jump from, many volcanic hot spring pools to soak in, just requiring a few miles of hiking...

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