Where is the custom car & hot rod life the strongest???

SoCal is still the center of the Car Universe!

 

Fritz,
I went to Lawrence, Kansas, (population of 80,000 - 60 miles west of Kansas City) for a rod run over Memorial Day...motel cost was $54.99 a nite (and a damned nice motel)...gas was $1.87 a gallon for UL regular ($2.10 in Denver)...housing prices ranged from $79,000 for a decent 2 bedroom late-50's built home (with a nice yard) to a $289,000 really nice "mansion" on a hill overlooking the river (AVERAGE home price in Denver- $302,000...ain't no $79,000 homes around here anymore) and there were quite a few with "for sale" signs in the yards of Lawrence....went to the grocery store for snacks, every item in the place was an average of 30-40% cheaper than Denver's prices (my gauge)...

The Midwest is still the cheapest place to live...and the small towns even cheaper...IF you can support yourself.

Now, Cali guys, even tho "Cali is the center of the car universe", it costs a ton of money to live there, so let's hear you chime in with some of your prices...I'd bet it's a hell of a lot more expensive than even Denver!!!

R-

 

What tha..? Where are all my Texas brothers? Oh yeah, kickin' back, grillin',chillin', enjoying the lovely weather and ladies in some of the finest rides in the US.
What was the question again?

 

I think the Dallas FT.Worth area has a large amount of shows , cruise ins , swap meets etc... . The scene seems to have grown in the last few years , alot of muscle cars , 55- 72 trucks, 55-57 Chevs ,Model A'S etc.. .. As far as the traditional rods, I don't really know ,I hope to keep more in tune with it as it grows in this area.

 

NOT in Roanoke VA, I promise

 

There was a question? I must have missed something. I been a chilln' and a grillin' and cruisin' in the T. (And a pickin' and a grinnin' and a wrenchin' and a cussin' and a grindin' and a polishin' and a cleanin' and a paintin' and enjoyin' the lovely ladies!)

pigpen

 

if you DONT say "SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA",,then youve NEVER been there...

..PERIOD.

(visiting for a WEEK doesnt count)

 

it must be california, take note on how many people from other states braggin about the good ol sunshine state. the rumor is texas is comin up fast.

u got march meets, hot rod reunion, antique nationals, primer nationals, ratfink reunion, fathers day L.A. roadster show, paso, just to name a few.

 

i forgot one of the best shows i've ever been to, BILLET PROOF!!! the show i remember most was the flammin shoebox. we were sellin t'shirts and the beer bungie was right in front of us.

 

Hey Jeepers, I pimped Tejas earlier in the thread.

Hot rods aside, deciding on a good place to live is entirely a different matter. I wouldn't recommend California to anybody. No sour grapes here, I love California and almost moved there in '97. But right now the housing/wage ratio is utterly insane and completely unsustainable. I read recently that in the Bay area only 12% of households have enough income to afford the median price house. More than half the mortgages in California are interest-only, which is a formula for disaster.

In my home town of Sioux City, Iowa (pop. 85,000), the same $500k-$600k that will buy you a roach-infested Daly City crackhouse will easily buy you one of the biggest mansions in town. Or if you prefer, a nice house on 10 or 20 acres, plus a decent size commercial/industrial space, plus a couple of nice rod projects. It's true that the weather is seasonaly shitty and that wages are probably lower than on the west coast, but it's more than compensated by the low cost of living.

 

Southern Arizona, not so shabby, all the east coasters and mid westers who cant hack the fricking winter seem to be out west here, given theres alot of desert between cars, but were finding ways to meet, we did the first HAMB Arizona primer run to the "town to tough to die"... (Tombstone) today, not a bad turn out. Where ever theres a couple rods turning heads, and killing the jap cars is ok in my book, Boise is pretty cool, and Seattle was the greatest Ive seen.