Southern California has something for everyone. A temperate climate year-round is a boon to agriculture, industry and tourism. Mountains and deserts beckon hikers, while beaches lure surfers and sunbathers. Farms and citrus groves employ underpaid migrant workers from Mexico. Tourists head south, seeking adventure in the streets of Tijuana, Tecate and Mexicali. The Hollywood dream factory devours wannabe stars. Money leaves a trail of stench on Rodeo Drive.

The darker side, of course, is unmentioned in the guidebooks and brochures. As always, crime goes hand-in-hand with affluence. Drugs flow across the border. Prostitutes work the streets near the studios of Disney and Universal. Runaways sleep in culverts, alleyways, or in seedy crash pads such as Hollywood’s notorious “Hotel Hell.” Street gangs and dealers transform streets into shooting galleries.

There are also the predators –- aside from the ones in gold chains in limousines.

Southern California is Psycho Central. The region has earned its grim reputation the hard way, producing a full ten percent of the world’s identified serial killers between 1950 and 2000. Predictably, the killers are now celebrities, with nicknames tailor-made for the tabloids, and their inferior cousin, television.

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I didn't know that,its a little scary....Oh another thing that sucks about Cali:


Lots of kids get lost in the foster care system,seems like nobody care from my point of view.But its probably like that in other places too.

Foster care systems are a joke no matter where you are unfortunately.. quite a shame... as for California.. glad I planned to never go back once was enough for me I'll stick to Vancouver

HAH, Vancouver is nice if you have money. If you don't than its a gyp, North Vancouver is one of my favorite places in the world but soon as you cross the line back into Vancouver "its a mess".

True but I grew up in vancouver on Davies St. always loved it there even the east end has some great sights to it so long as you can stand the pan-handlers, winos, and addicts lol

Despite how close I am to Vancouver, I only go there maybe once every 2 years. And every time I do, I see some really messed up stuff.

lol yes it's quite easy to see some crazy stuff in that town i see a crack head run into on coming traffic jump on top of some womans car and announce that he was Jesus Christ and he needed to use the bathroom.... eh just another day lol

There are alot of thing I dont like about Cali,but I dont think I can ever leave for good.I just "belong" here I guess

I spent 18 years of my life in California.
California always has strange crimes. Here in Louisiana they just shoot or stab people.
In California, they have people murder their whole families in the basement and serial killers and whatnot.
And the Hippies......the hippies run rampid in California.
Yuck.

But overall I love California, I miss the beaches and surfing and scuba diving and the mountains and Mexican food

I don't see why I should have to put up with that crap.

Hey! Whats wrong with the hippies!?

..im not much of a hippy fan myself peace and love is a beautiful thing ... but showers and haircuts and clean clothes would be a nice change lol

I would have thought Wisconson produced more....quite a few from there...and why do serial killers always have 3 names?

Hey Hooligan,

Baton Rouge here...

Did you happen to be around with Derrick Todd Lee was killing all those attractive women near the LSU lakes? That guy made it hard for a single man at the time such as myself to get dates lmao.

I've heard that about California so many times. Theres a song called 'Killa Kali' even by Kottonmouth Kings, it sort of references that. One like is like, "California, the place were the killers go' or grow or something like that...

Vancouver is funny, I lived in Burnaby revently for 10 months and visited Vancouver often. Hastings street is a nuthouse. All the loons from Riverview got chucked out and are living on the streets drinking battery acid. Some experiences I've had are: Some bum was having a sock puppet show while sitting at the light crossing all talking to himself and stuff, another guy was walking around saying he was Jesus and that no one believed him, I seen someone get murdered there when some people stomped him to death, people piss on the sidewalk, masturbate at the light crossings, hoot and crawl like gorillas etc.

However it is said that Prince George, BC of 80,000 people is the top crime/murder center per amount of people, and that there may be like 4 or more serial killers active there at any time.

it makes me angry that both those men where in custody serveal time, never served the time they where sentenced for, both relased constantly, and this is what it lead to. Its sickening. It makes me wonder what our criminal justice system really is like.
I have no respect or remorse for men or women like that, its utterly disgusting. and if you cant comprihend what ive just said, TRY to imagine if it where you or your parents , or your child or your partner that fell prey to one of those murderours.

And nevermind that while So. Cal is notoriously messed up... Seattle/Vancouver have probably produced some of the worlds best known and most prolific serial killers. Egads, we make 'em crazy up here. It's the lack of natural sunlight I'm sure of it. Haha.

I've never been to California,but I know how crazy Vancouver can be.Have any of my fellow BC residents been down at Main and Hastings at 9:00 AM on welfare day,(or "Mardi Gras" as it's known)? I saw it once when I got out of rehab,(just a little rest) and I couldn't get out of there fast enough!It was absolutely nuts,people were already passed out,shooting up,puking on the street,beating each other up,ripping each other off, and the paddy wagons were already doing a booming business!I don't know if anyone was killed or not,but i'm sure there was a lot of od's.I've never seen such a zoo.And believe me,once was enough.Just thought i'd throw this in for your enjoyment.

So much for the ultra liberal west coast of North America. Absolute anarchy passed off as absolute freedom leading to a breakdown of civilization.

I love California, but I'm really cautious since moving here a few years ago with my Domestic partner. I had to be cautious growing up in Vermont for the same reasons, smaller state, same crazy killers. That is why I use the buddy system. I had a code word as a child, but never had to use it. When I walked alone, I knew the area well and was quickly on my way.

Pretty freaky...I used to want to go to Seattle