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My husband and I have taken a gander at many other places for possible relocation. We've been all over Washington, Oregon, Idaho, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Texas, North Carolina, Colorado, New York, Michigan, and a few other states as well.
After our visits, we always come home, look around, and decide that we like where we are just fine. Don't get me wrong - those other places are all beautiful in their own rights, but just not beautiful enough to make us start packing our bags and start all over.
In our case, we have a good set up here in inland San Diego County, with acreage, a house that's been tailored to our preferences over the years, no close neighbors, yet shopping and doctors just down the road. We bought out here because it was less expensive than the rest of San Diego (it still is) but we still had to stretch quite a bit at the time to make it work. Things got easier financially for us as we advanced in our careers. But, we never felt the need to acquire a "bigger, better, flashier" house.
Our family is close by (our oldest just bought a house near us) and so are our friends -- and our entire lives.
Maybe we just haven't found the right "miracle" place yet, but we haven't found an area where we could recreate what we have right now - in Southern California - and come out with enough cash to make starting over in an entirely different place a "must do" for us.
We're far from wealthy. But we have always lived very thriftily and saved for retirement using California as our baseline, so we're not in any desperate need of lowering our cost of living. We'll be fine here for the duration.
So, this is probably where they'll plant me, and I'm good with that. I love it here. A lot.This is my home.
But, every person and family has to make their own decisions in life. And, really, it is silly to live somewhere if you are miserable there. We live in a great big WONDERFUL Country, where there is a place for everyone. So, I don't feel any need to belittle other people who have made choices different than mine.
Do what's best for you and your family. I wish everyone a happy life --like I've found-- whereever you end up living.
True I've never been to Wa. I'd like to visit but I need a lot of sun in my life so couldn't live there. I have heard people there are cold. That would be a double negative for me
The people are cold. And self-serving, hypocritical, & frequently bigoted. And very overt about it. And ignore Tulemutt.
Last edited by MarciaMarshaMarcia; 01-31-2018 at 07:14 PM..
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I've spent a lot of time in Oz, but not NZ. I could definitely live happily in a variety of places in Australia. Will have to add NZ and Pitcairn to the list.
I think whether California is the best place to live is highly subjective, as others have stated. I moved back to the Bay Area from Arizona, where I went to grad school, even though I had job offers in both locations (Bay Area job paid 20% more). Here was my perspective at the time:
-I knew coming here that I would not be able to buy a house right away, as I would've in Arizona
-Long term, I felt there would be much better career opportunities. This was very important to me as I was looking to grow/develop in a new career.
-Weather was somewhat of a factor, but not the be all end all. Summers were much easier for me to tolerate in SF vs Phoenix (although colder than I'd like), but for the rest of the year, I thought Phoenix had SF beat. Wasn't the driving factor for me.
-All the cool things to do living in SF and all the choices for weekend getaways (Napa, Sonoma, Tahoe, Yosemite, Monterey, etc.) highly outweighed what was nearby in Phoenix (maybe Sedona?)
-Lots of family nearby and lots of my friends from grad school moved here.
Here is what changed in the 12-13 years since that time:
-I got married and had kids. I'm no longer interested in city life and a night out for my wife and I to a good restaurant and wine bar does it for us (this can be done in any major metropolitan area)
-Most of my friends from grad school moved away to start a family. Some of my family has also moved away and others are considering it.
-We moved to the suburbs for a good school district. Again, this can be found in any major metropolitan area
-My commute is very long. Probably would be lessened in most other cities, due to lower COL. This makes a big difference in quality of life, in my opinion.
-We really don't get to do the weekend getaways very much any more with all of our work/family commitments. Most major cities do have some fun things to do nearby and if not, the Bay Area is always a plane ride away (we'd probably do these things at about the same frequency as before).
-We are both much more established in our careers. We live fairly comfortably here and would likely be much more comfortable elsewhere. As long as we're in a major city with a lot of job opportunities, we'd be more than fine.
-Weather seems even less of a factor than before. I've traveled a lot for work and believe I can handle the heat, thunderstorms and some cold. I'm still a little hesitant about moving to a frigid climate (e.g., upper Midwest). Aside from that, I think I could be flexible.
-Traffic and day to day pressures (cost of living, crowds) have gotten far worse than when I moved here. It was always impacted, but its just so much worse here with no signs of relenting. That has a major impact on quality of life.
So, my wife and I are seriously considering relocating when the right job opportunity comes around. I think its a misnomer to say that anyone who wants to move cannot hack it here. Everyone has their own unique situation and shouldn't be bashed if their views on the Bay Area / California are not the same as yours.
Good post. Bay Area is a bad place to be white, a commuter, single, middle class, or a single income family. And of course, non-progressive.
New Zealand is having a housing crunch...super expensive to live in. My doctor could afford to move there when he retired, and he had the advantage of living with his son, who is a scientist & therefore has a profession making him useful to NZ, and therefore able to emigrate.
I've spent a lot of time in Oz, but not NZ. I could definitely live happily in a variety of places in Australia. Will have to add NZ and Pitcairn to the list.
if you can enjoy living with 50 people on a 2 square mile rock with no beaches in the most remote part of the Pacific ocean from any other land, served 4 times a year by a supply ship - you go for it. Send us post cards when the ship comes by each quarter!
Quote:
Originally Posted by phantompilot
Why are you laughing, that was a valid comment.
No. It wasn't. He said
Quote:
The truth is unless you're net worth is above $5 million, you're probably struggling and sacrificing to stay in California.
Now, there are about 38 million people in California ... and contrary to the kvetching on this forum, the majority of them are getting by and happy to be here ...
Quote:
California has 832,849 millionaire households
so that's just slightly over 2% of the population who have even 20% or more than CaliRestoration's estimate for “getting by comfortably”.
Derek, I myself am befuddled that you're considering leaving CA once again.
I see that you've been eyeing Vancouver, WA (among other places?).
What exactly is the draw in leaving vs staying? If your kids are getting ready for college, what good will good schools do if they're going to be out of them? Is this an affordability issue, is your housing situation not what you wish it to be?
You seem/seemed happy to be back in CA, I'd hate for another move to be like your CO experience, where the housing situation was better, but the lifestyle wasn't (at least that's how it seemed to me).
Hi David,
There are many factors we've been considering for a while. After leaving CO over a decade ago and selling our home, we could not afford to buy in Monterey. That was ok in large part because we leased a beautiful place right next to the beach and have an incredible owner/landlord. He's never raised the rent because he likes us and he's always fixing the place up! Just today he was over starting a new remodel of our bathrooms, in fact. So in a way it has been like golden handcuffs while here - too good to leave! We moved here with little kids and are now in a different life stage.
We would like to own a home again at some point. Yes, in some ways these reasons are similar to moving to CO which we don't regret, BTW. It simply wasn't a good long term fit for us. In fact, we almost moved to the PNW from CO instead of Monterey. But when the right job came along we decided it would be a great place to experience and it really has been. During that time we've continued to take trips to the PNW. We realize now, much more so than then, there is no perfect place. Rather its a matter of living with one set of pros/cons over another. In the nicer parts of coastal CA the biggest trade off is extremely high housing prices.
Not having an ocean within reasonable driving distance was the deal breaker for me in CO. I may have been able to live the snow and cold if there was at least that. By contrast, we love the rugged PNW coastline. Vancouver in particular has relatively easy access to the OR coast. In addition, there is the Sound with natural waterways spanning out for miles. The Columbia River Gorge is incredible with year round hiking opportunities and dozens of waterfalls in your backyard. When it does snow it is more rare and does not freeze over the Sound, rivers, lakes and trails, etc... Add to all of that Mt. Rainer NP, Olympic NP, Northern Cascades NP, Mt. Hood, Mt. Baker and there is really a lot there for those who enjoy year round outdoor activities.
In some ways Monterey will always have better aspects like milder winters and the Big Sur coast which really is awesome. While in others the PNW shines brighter with incredibly lush green rain forests, valleys, wildflowers, abundant rivers, lakes, streams, waterfalls, etc... Its a nature photographer's dream location in many ways. Lastly, I look at life as an adventure. So get and explore, try something new. That's why I don't regret CO and don't think of that experience as something 'to avoid' but rather embrace.
Derek
Last edited by MtnSurfer; 01-31-2018 at 08:08 PM..
if you can enjoy living with 50 people on a 2 square mile rock with no beaches in the most remote part of the Pacific ocean from any other land, served 4 times a year by a supply ship - you go for it. Send us post cards when the ship comes by each quarter!
No. It wasn't. He said
Now, there are about 38 million people in California ... and contrary to the kvetching on this forum, the majority of them are getting by and happy to be here ...
so that's just slightly over 2% of the population who have even 20% or more than CaliRestoration's estimate for “getting by comfortably”.
No sir, I'm not buying it. $5 mil my tookus ...
Oh, that's THAT place. I knew it sounded familiar. They're all inbreds too. Yah, no thanks. I'd rather just live in Sydney.
Where are you getting 2% from? A household is like, basically 3 people so its closer to 6% of the population.
And in any case, a lot of those have WAY more than 1M.
That metric, by the way is based on investable assets only, and excludes primary residence. So there are ton more people that aren't money-millionaires and who don't show up in that count, like people that own property in high-cost metros, and a lot of even those people are basically living paycheck-to-paycheck as well.
I lived in ca all my life and never considered leaving until recently. I always believed it was just a huge let down to live anywhere else and believe me I'd be the first to wave the "California is always a better place to be" flag.
But honestly it was ignorance on my part because I had never really explored what it was like in other states. Once I did I wrote out many scenarios of my life staying or leaving.
I didn't announce it on cd that I was moving, I just did it.
Ca is a great place to live, but expensive so it really depends on what you want in life.
For me the advantages of living in California no longer outweighed the advantages of living elsewhere.
I now live in a 5000 sq ft dream house that I couldn't afford to buy in the Bay Area. My cost to live in it is about 1/5th the monthly piti that I would pay in the Bay Area. With the lower col I was also able to quit working and live a very comfortable life with plenty of money to travel or do whatever. In California I would probably still have to work. While the Bay Area is a better place to live imho, it is only maybe 10 to 15 percent better to than where I am now, and that is purely subjective. I have pretty much every amenity to make me happy.
Btw mtn surfer, nice pics!
Thanks for this post. I think your reasons for moving made perfect sense and worked out very well for you. How many get to retire early, travel and live comfortably? In this case your overall quality of life went up. Of course there were trades offs as you mention. CA is a wonderful place to live which is one of the reasons its the most populous state in the nation... and growing!
I see valid reasons for staying or going depending on what one is looking for. Heck, the owner of our home lives in two states - here in Monterey and Tahoe (Nevada side). There are benefits in living here 'part of the year' as well.
Oh, that's THAT place. I knew it sounded familiar. They're all inbreds too. Yah, no thanks. I'd rather just live in Sydney.
Where are you getting 2% from? A household is like, basically 3 people so its closer to 6% of the population.
And in any case, a lot of those have WAY more than 1M.
That metric, by the way is based on investable assets only, and excludes primary residence. So there are ton more people that aren't money-millionaires and who don't show up in that count, like people that own property in high-cost metros, and a lot of even those people are basically living paycheck-to-paycheck as well.
Yep. “THAT” place. And no thanks for me either.
You are right to correct my hasty, top-of-head math ... the correct % is 7.5% of California households are millionaire status. I don't find any breakout for $5 mil +, so suffice to say it is far less at that level which was proposed by our esteemed colleague CaliRestoration as as floor level for “getting by” in California. Which is laughable.
As for the rest of your qualification - that lots more have homes worth over a million - um, sure. But that makes no difference in considering the ridiculousness of CR's suggestion. How many of those homes are paid off + other assets totaling $5 million? He said “net worth: $5 million. Any way you'd care to frame the numbers you won't get even 10% of California “getting by” in CR's claim.
I repeat: in spite of all the kvetching on this forum by dozens and dozens of unhappy people out of 38 million, 90% aren't even remotely failing to survive and enjoy life here.
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