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Old 02-12-2012, 03:43 PM
 
Location: San Francisco
1,472 posts, read 3,531,114 times
Reputation: 1583

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Any state with a tax burden low enough to make a significant difference is no place I would want to live. I have a good job and my home is paid for - have not intention of leaving, even as a "just for fun" hypothetical answer to a semi-trollish thread (and its surprising to see a moderator so actively cultivating participation in it).

 
Old 02-12-2012, 03:48 PM
 
412 posts, read 1,148,888 times
Reputation: 198
Quote:
Originally Posted by nullgeo View Post
You are Deaf? First other Deaf person I have encountered on cdf . My wife is (born) profoundly deaf (Minnesota) and we are an ASL 1st language home (I have severe hearing loss from military service). Our home base is in the San Juan Islands, but live part time in Calif., and Hawaii as well.

Are you a severe or profound Deaf ASL signer -- or mainstreamed oral-deaf? You wrote previously that you were originally from the Bay area -- did you by chance attend school in Fremont? Looking to return to California to work in what field? It IS a terrific state
That's pretty cool! Yes, I graduated from California School for the Deaf in Fremont back in 1996. I'm profound deaf and ASL is my first language as well I can lipread and speak English but not as well as hearing people can do.

Yes, I plan to return back to California or Washington state in a few years from now. I hope to settle down there for a long time to come.
 
Old 02-12-2012, 03:54 PM
 
7,150 posts, read 10,833,676 times
Reputation: 3806
Quote:
Originally Posted by TrueTimbers View Post
Yep it is beautiful... Yes hearing the mournful call of the common Loon, sitting by a peaceful lake in the big woods very special..Yep fishing is great... But one can not eat many salmon out of the great lakes they are full of heavy metals and PCB's yet.. Especially children or child bearing woman need to be careful..

Wisconsin taxes are very high... and the winters are long, and summers are hot and humid. I bet if I put you on a lake Superior beach in June... Within 1/2 hour you would never complain about California taxes again... The black flies will have any exposed skin dripping with blood in no time at all, so you run to the woods to escape the black flies, to then be consumed by the Mosquitoes...

You have not seen depressed economy until you have lived in the UP (Upper Peninsula)... Oh yes it is cheap cheap cheap... Ground is frozen and often snow covered from October through May... We have had years the ice has not come off the lakes until May 24th... Then you deal with the flies and mosquitoes, and you can not wait for frost to come back in September. Which then we usually get a few decent weeks before the 300 inches of snow comes... Lake effect snow country makes the PNW seem like a sunny spot in winter... ..

If you guys in California are sick of the rat race, I strongly suggest the UP of Michigan... You can sell out in California, buy a decent place for less than $100K, and just live simple off your profits from selling out in California... Don't even need to live in a van or boat like Nullgeo.. Just be prepared to deal with cabin fever...

You have to love winter .. XC skiing, ice fishing, hockey, snowmobiles and indoor activities, like sittin in da bar.. ya hey.. Oh, yes you got ta learn da language to ya... Yooper is a language unto itself..

Lastly I feel taxes generally represent, society one wants to live in and things such as infrastructure and education which equals jobs and people with teeth that do not play banjo's.

IMO one will not be happy if they make decisions on where they live based on the tax rate... There is more to life than money...
^^^
Like I wrote: " ... would slash my wrists [before I'd go back] ... "
I have many fond memories of living in Maine ... many many ... some of my life in Minnesota ... ummmm, scraping the bottom of the barrel to find any of my years in Michigan ... let you know if I find even one ...
 
Old 02-12-2012, 04:04 PM
 
7,150 posts, read 10,833,676 times
Reputation: 3806
Quote:
Originally Posted by sequoias View Post
That's pretty cool! Yes, I graduated from California School for the Deaf in Fremont back in 1996. I'm profound deaf and ASL is my first language as well I can lipread and speak English but not as well as hearing people can do.

Yes, I plan to return back to California or Washington state in a few years from now. I hope to settle down there for a long time to come.
Well, "nice to meet you", as we sign ... your written English is excellent ... unusually so for profound. Now that you mention you are Deaf, I note just the very slightest of written 'accent', if I search diligently for it

My wife was teaching at S. Dakota School for the Deaf when we met ... she and I visited CSDF some years back as we considered her taking a teaching job there as well. Nice campus! We looked at a couple of the new condos just a walk across the street. Thought the whole neighborhood park feel was very appealing.

What kind of work do you hope to find in moving back to California?
 
Old 02-12-2012, 04:13 PM
 
Location: Declezville, CA
16,806 posts, read 39,752,846 times
Reputation: 17678
Quote:
Originally Posted by NewToCA View Post
How about doing side by side comparisons with some areas, such as:

- Myrtle Beach, South Carolina or Galveston, Texas vs Santa Cruz

- Charleston, South Carolina vs San Luis Obispo or Santa Barbara

- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania vs Oakland

- Knoxville, Tennessee vs Riverside


You'll see that the income and property taxes (for similar homes), are much higher in California.
And worth every cent to be able to not live in hot & humid, bug infested hurricane and/or tornado prone Bible Belt hellholes.
 
Old 02-12-2012, 04:15 PM
 
412 posts, read 1,148,888 times
Reputation: 198
Quote:
Originally Posted by nullgeo View Post
Well, "nice to meet you", as we sign ... your written English is excellent ... unusually so for profound. Now that you mention you are Deaf, I note just the very slightest of written 'accent', if I search diligently for it

My wife was teaching at S. Dakota School for the Deaf when we met ... she and I visited CSDF some years back as we considered her taking a teaching job there as well. Nice campus! We looked at a couple of the new condos just a walk across the street. Thought the whole neighborhood park feel was very appealing.

What kind of work do you hope to find in moving back to California?
It's nice to meet you too as well.

Small world there for sure. Yeah, Fremont is very bedroom city pretty much. I commuted on the charter bus to my home in Santa Rosa for the weekend then went back to school and stayed at the dorm for the weekdays. That's like 90 miles each way.

I have no idea what job I will land in the future. I don't have a college degree and don't have much skills. My best bet is work 2 jobs whenever I land a job there. I have gone to college before 2 times but never graduated.

Pretty much, I am aware that I have pretty good English skills but not to the level with lot of hearing people attain at. Overall, it's pretty good compared to many of the deaf people elsewhere.
 
Old 02-12-2012, 04:17 PM
 
412 posts, read 1,148,888 times
Reputation: 198
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fontucky View Post
And worth every cent to be able to not live in hot & humid, bug infested hurricane and/or tornado prone Bible Belt hellholes.
I agree with you on that one. I will pass on living in those areas.
 
Old 02-12-2012, 04:34 PM
 
Location: Sierra Nevada Land, CA
9,455 posts, read 12,465,878 times
Reputation: 16449
Taxes me out?

Have you seen what property taxes are in most other states?

I talked with one guy (I forgot which state) and he was paying $8000 a year on his 200K home. What value of a 30 year mortgage does a payment* of $500 equal? $125K.

$200K bargain plus $125K equals haveing the expense of a $325K home. BTW the median price of a home in my part of CA is $160K,


*And that is a "mortgage payment" you have for the rest of your life.
 
Old 02-12-2012, 04:57 PM
 
7,150 posts, read 10,833,676 times
Reputation: 3806
Quote:
Originally Posted by sequoias View Post
It's nice to meet you too as well.

Small world there for sure. Yeah, Fremont is very bedroom city pretty much. I commuted on the charter bus to my home in Santa Rosa for the weekend then went back to school and stayed at the dorm for the weekdays. That's like 90 miles each way.

I have no idea what job I will land in the future. I don't have a college degree and don't have much skills. My best bet is work 2 jobs whenever I land a job there. I have gone to college before 2 times but never graduated.

Pretty much, I am aware that I have pretty good English skills but not to the level with lot of hearing people attain at. Overall, it's pretty good compared to many of the deaf people elsewhere.
My wife earned a Master's degree with less written English skill than you demonstrate. She is good enough on paper. She has a very large English vocabulary and her spelling is spot on, always. But her syntax and plurals and switching of tenses give her up in a second on paper. My mother was an English teacher which rubbed off on me ... so I have become my wife's "editor" Wife, on the other hand, is widely sought after in the Deaf communities for her superb ASL expression abilities. She gives presentations, teaches drama, acts, and directs -- both Deaf productions and hearing.

College is a bit over-rated, in my opinion ... I see you are a bit of a mechanic? Car buff? That is probably a great trade anywhere. Cars just can't seem to kick the breakdown habit. I also have college degrees, including graduate -- and never used them. None of my four kids have college ... the three boys are all in construction trades and other than the recent collapse of the housing and construction markets, they have done fine with employment. One has even worked steadily through the economic downturn ... the other two on and off ... but all back on now.

Good luck!
 
Old 02-12-2012, 05:15 PM
 
483 posts, read 1,555,037 times
Reputation: 1454
I don't know where people get the idea that everything is more expensive in Calif. It's only gasoline and housing that's more. My typical heating/cooling costs are $60-100 per month. Compare that with Phoenix or Houston, where the bill averages $400-500 (and I've heard of $1000+ bills). Most places in the US have extreme climate either way, so even if you pay a little less per watt or per therm, you still end up paying much much more overall.

In some places in Texas, they pay 3% property taxes so they end up paying about the same per year as a Calif homeowner who pays 1.1%.

Because of climate, things just deteroriate faster in other places. Your A/C unit will only last several years in a place like Vegas or Houston because it's running 24/7 for 9 months each year, then it'll cost you $3500 for a new unit. A roof lasts 10-15 years in Dallas (due to hailstorms), then it'll cost you thousands for a new one. (A tile roof in Calif lasts 50 years.) Don't expect a wood fence to last more than 8 years in a humid climate; in Calif they last nearly 20 years. People pay less upfront for the house then get hit with higher repair bills later.
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