Why is the Bay area more expensive than So Cal when So Cal is nicer? (San Diego: homes, tech jobs)

[roadwarrior101]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

They are different, though. LA is huge sprawl that requires a complex freeway system for getting around. SF is the antithesis of sprawl.

SF only comprises 10% of the total Bay Area population. You cannot take SF in a vacuum given the reliance it has on the rest of the Bay Area. Heck, do you see how many people take shuttle buses on a daily basis down to their jobs in the valley?

[Curmudgeon]

Snob value!

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by wecaredalot;

I will also miss a lot of the beautiful nature NorCal has to offer. LA, by contrast, just looks dried out and smoggy.

Originally Posted by roadwarrior101

SF only comprises 10% of the total Bay Area population. You cannot take SF in a vacuum given the reliance it has on the rest of the Bay Area. Heck, do you see how many people take shuttle buses on a daily basis down to their jobs in the valley?

Well, yes. I thought about that, as I was writing earlier. The image Bay area natives, or long-term residents, have of LA hasn't caught up with the newer reality of the Bay Area: the freaky traffic, mainly. The image of LA is still: smog, freeway maze, sprawl. It's like a knee-jerk reaction. People don't look deeper than that. If there are museums, they don't know about them. Great beaches? Haven't seen 'em. But the traffic in the Bay Area is really at the point of bringing the whole place down. And people keep coming. I don't know what the solution will be, because pretty soon, it's going to be all-day-long gridlock.

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Snob value!

Well I didn't mean it that way. It's a neighborly discussion.

[AnthonyJ34]

Originally Posted by LoriBee62

And what I would add to this is: Why the big obsession with what people think about where you live?

It boggles my mind that so many people lose sleep over this. I like the bay area better than LA. Why does the OP give a F--ck?

That whole mentality is so narcissistic. "I need everyone to agree that my neighborhood is the best." Gawd, if we all patronize them, pat them on the head and say, "You're right, honey," will they do us the favor and go away?

Wow…I thought the OP was just asking a basic question for the heck of it.

[AnthonyJ34]

Originally Posted by ccm123

Being a Bay Area native that has lived in SoCal for more than 20 years, before moving back to the Bay Area, SoCal has some nice attributes. The cost of living is noticeably lower and there is not the degree of competition in the housing market, that we have in the Bay Area. Homes/apartments are generally larger in size and you can buy in a very nice area, for much less than you can here in the Bay Area.

The toughest part about SoCal is that the job market is really struggling and there are noticeably fewer openings for solid middle to upper-middle income type jobs.

I love the diversity of SoCal, the beaches, great (affordable) food, the museums, etc

And most homes in So. Cal actually have front yards and back yards -- even the tiniest of homes, and the homes generally have some space between one house and the next; not quite so pancaked together like much of SF (if talking solely about SF and not other parts of the Bay). But I do love the Bay Area, mainly for the weather, as I love cooler weather; I personally think So. Cal gets too hot and stays too hot for too many months out of the year.

[pacific2]

Originally Posted by ccm123

The toughest part about SoCal is that the job market is really struggling and there are noticeably fewer openings for solid middle to upper-middle income type jobs.

Hmmm, that's not quite the situation in South (Orange) County*:

South County growing strong, new economic report says - The Orange County Register
"A region barely removed from its infancy, south Orange County has rapidly grown into its own in the past three decades, evolving from a bedroom community into an economic force that contributes $25.6 billion to the county’s economy and supports a diverse range of industries, from biotech to hospitality...

..It also has become a place that can sustain itself economically, with a balance of housing and jobs that means many residents don’t need to commute outside the region to make a living.

In many ways, the region’s economy mirrors the rest of the county, which performs better than California and the country, Teng said. The unemployment rate in South County is 3.1 percent, lower than the county as a whole. The number of jobs in the region has increased by 10 percent since 2009, boosted by real estate and health care industries."

*South County is south of Irvine: Aliso Viejo, Laguna Beach, Rancho Santa Margarita, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Dana Point and Laguna Hills.

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by pacific2

Hmmm, that's not quite the situation in South (Orange) County*:

South County growing strong, new economic report says - The Orange County Register
"A region barely removed from its infancy, south Orange County has rapidly grown into its own in the past three decades, evolving from a bedroom community into an economic force that contributes $25.6 billion to the county’s economy and supports a diverse range of industries, from biotech to hospitality...

..It also has become a place that can sustain itself economically, with a balance of housing and jobs that means many residents don’t need to commute outside the region to make a living.

In many ways, the region’s economy mirrors the rest of the county, which performs better than California and the country, Teng said. The unemployment rate in South County is 3.1 percent, lower than the county as a whole. The number of jobs in the region has increased by 10 percent since 2009, boosted by real estate and health care industries."

*South County is south of Irvine: Aliso Viejo, Laguna Beach, Rancho Santa Margarita, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Dana Point and Laguna Hills.

Shhhh. This information breaks too many stereotypes.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by AnthonyJ34

Wow…I thought the OP was just asking a basic question for the heck of it.

It's a pretty loaded question the way he phrased it. And some people are surprised he's getting little jabs, as if he asked a neutral question.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by AnthonyJ34

And most homes in So. Cal actually have front yards and back yards -- even the tiniest of homes, and the homes generally have some space between one house and the next; not quite so pancaked together like much of SF (if talking solely about SF and not other parts of the Bay). But I do love the Bay Area, mainly for the weather, as I love cooler weather; I personally think So. Cal gets too hot and stays too hot for too many months out of the year.

Dude, most homes in NorCal do, too. What are you talking about? You're comparing all of SoCal with one city in NorCal? Come on, you know better than that.