Are you "living" or "struggling" here in Socal and why do you remain? (Santa Ana: mortgage)

[dbboy]

This is my first post and i'm glad to be here! I've been living here (Santa Ana) for 4 years now and have been renting ever since. I'm originally from Canada and my wife from Chicago and we have 2 boys (2 and 4). Only one source of income in the household since i'm back in school (career switch from marketing to RN). Anyways, our plan was just to stay for 1 year and then head back to Chicago but we're still here. We are set on staying here and our goal like everyone else is to have a home.

I would like to know with all curiosity and sincerity;

Are you "living" or "struggling" here in Socal and why do you remain?

[Greenmon]

Hello and Welcome, This site is fantastic and you can meet nice people. Now , I am a Native Californian, that moved in '03 knowing from past experience what was happening again, BUST. My Wife and i were sick of paying 2000 a Mo. in rent for a House in Culver city and yes Struggling- NOT WORTH IT! Take your family to a safer place, ( i know santa ana very well), go where there is - clean , air, water, doe some research, there are many great places for Families. We moved to No Arkansas , which is great for Families and Outdoors, and JObs too, and good schools, . IF you dont like Humidity, then Look at New Mexico, yes the land of enchantment- our next move, no we arent rich, just will use equity here to buy there- and its cheaper than CA by far, with Land so your kids can really run and play. So many other places- sorry but We hopefully will never move back, even though we have Family there, and they practically beg us too, But Noooo Way, I never liked the Politics, the Hypocritical decisions the state, school boards make, Emission is bull and inefficient as well. Only the Power Developers and Corps still run Calif, not the place for individual or small business to thrive, keeping up the the stupid Joneses. I am 55 and saw a lot of growth in CA. which the sprawl breaks your heart.
NUF said, Best WIshes, and consider what i wrote for your family's sake , they will thank you and respect you for it more. Good Luck in ALL.

[sheri257]

We're "living" because, after making some big mistakes in our earlier years ... we figured we better learn from those mistakes and make better financial choices because we're middle aged and wanted to retire some day.

Four years ago I had a choice between going into real estate and going to RN school and, luckily, I chose RN school because I figured the housing boom was going to bust. If I had chosen real estate then we'd really be struggling right now but, since I'm an RN and making good money, we're fine.

While I was in nursing school ... we also lived within our means, buying a cheap house out in the desert so ... we don't have monster mortgage payments like other people do. We made sure we got a fixed rate (which was not the norm at the time) and only pay $1,200 a month including insurance and taxes. We never borrowed on our house during the boom either.

I won't ever leave California unless I retire because this the best state for nurses. California, for example, is the only state with a ratio law that limits patient loads for nurses. In other states they really overload you with patients.

We both have good jobs with good retirement benefits so ... that's also why we're staying.

[Livewire]

Many people feel the same way, whether its Calif or anywhere else. A lot of times people who are struggling to move into or out of someplace is because they cant afford to go somewhere else, at least some of them. Other times there are things holding them back, maybe family who live there or the spouse doesnt want to relocate. There are many reasons.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by dbboy

Are you "living" or "struggling" here in Socal and why do you remain?

I think you'll see pros and cons, examples of living and struggling, if you check out these threads:

What Keeps U In La!

My fellow Californians..Are you struggling with the possibility of leaving?

want to move to LA on a budget

Want to move to CA (lived there before), but see people leaving

LA is not the worst place as some claim

Appropriate reasons to leave California

Leaving California - but to where?

[cynwldkat]

We were "living" in SoCal during the 80's. Good years for us. When the recession came along things went downhill and never seemed to come back up---at least for us. Prices kept going up on just about everything. Places changed and not for the better..at least in our opinion. I won't speak for everyone, I can't. My family still lives in CA and love it. I too loved it but not towards the end. We were struggling. We were going to retire and CA was to expensive and to many changes....so we moved. There will always be things I love about CA but things I don't much care for now. Living again in NC!!!

[Angel Bear]

I think it really depends on if you have kids or not. Hubby and I don't have kids and don't plan on it, so it's easier to move emotionally and well, financially

[eekwine]

California is just so huge. There are expensive places & inexpensive places to live. Once you are through with school & have your Nursing Degree you will be a lot more flexible in deciding where you want to live, based on whatever job offers you receive. Great career choice.

When you look at job options, if it were me, I'd move somewhere more small town to raise my kids.

[zenjenn]

In all honesty, we CAN afford to live here without struggling, and have been. But we're moving elsewhere to live a little more the way we'd like to. We have 2 kids, and would maybe like a third - not something we can do in our comfort zone in California if we live where my husband can get a job and continue to have me be a stay-at-home-parent. We've done quite adequately financially, but my husband works too hard and too many hours with skills that are way too in demand for me to be entirely thrilled with living as we are.