For those leaving California - Conservatives (Sacramento, Highland: lawyers, shop, moving)

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by expatCA

More leave for other States than move in from other States.

Growth is birth and foreign immigration, both legal and illegal.

Originally Posted by expatCA

The point is only about Americans not moving to CA causing growth, as more move out, but birth, which keeps occurring, foreign immigration and that includes illegals

NOT TRUE. Why do you continue to state this?

California's birth rate is at a historical low.

California had its slowest recorded growth rate in its history last year as the country's most populous state was hit by a slowdown in immigration and a sharp decline of births:
https://www.kpbs.org/news/2019/may/0...th-rate-calif/

https://www.sacbee.com/news/californ...211330979.html

After decades of rapid growth, the number of immigrants has leveled off
https://www.ppic.org/publication/imm...in-california/

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

You keep saying this .... over and over and over ... The fact is: the population is growing. Not just by births (which are down). People. From wherever. Keep. Coming. In spite of the COL. Period.

Oh and, no, the growth from immigration is not by illegals. Illegal immigration numbers are in decline.

Exactly.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by Reziac

Here it is already conveniently calculated... cost of living, Los Angeles vs Phoenix:

Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site

Comparison Highlights
- Overall, Los Angeles, California is 72.0% more expensive than Phoenix, Arizona
- Median Home Cost is the biggest factor in the cost of living difference.
- Median Home Cost is 192% more expensive in Los Angeles.

Enter your Before and After cities for hours of fun!

Interesting except that I'm not sure why you would compare Phoenix to Los Angeles? Two can play this game...Phoenix is not even close to being the most expensive place to live in Arizona and it's not the most popular place to live in the state. For instance:

Los Angeles, California is 45.3% cheaper than Paradise Valley, Arizona

Sacramento, California is 14.3% cheaper than Scottsdale, Arizona

Sacramento, California is 34.6% cheaper than Los Angeles, California

Sacramento, California is 12.4% more expensive than Phoenix, Arizona

[RMESMH]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

This is getting silly but ok, I'll play along for a bit.

Bakersfield, CA median home price $244,000 https://www.zillow.com/bakersfield-ca/home-values/

Susanville, CA median home price $179,400 https://www.zillow.com/susanville-ca/home-values/

Fresno, Ca median home price $243,500 https://www.zillow.com/fresno-ca/home-values/

San Bernardino Ca median home price $293,400 https://www.zillow.com/san-bernardino-ca/home-values/

You've got a decent point with San Berdoo, re cost and location. It's not that far from L.A. amenities, and the route is fairy flat, albeit congested. But I've never looked at the crime nor school stats there.

I don't think Susanville belongs with the others. It's way too isolated (I spent about a third of one summer when I was a kid at Eagle Lake, which is outside of Susanville). One could pick some equally isolated place in Texas with lower home values.

Fresno has Clovis, etc., and access to skiing at China Peak, but it's too far away from amenities in the Bay Area and L.A. (sports teams and particular museums, to name two).

Some parts of SW Bakersfield are okay, and some people think Bakersfield is close enough to L.A., but I don't. In the southern parts of the SJ Valley, you're also dealing with the poor air quality there, and non stressful access (avoiding the passes in inclement weather) to Vegas and L.A. isn't year round.

Two things I didn't bring up in the other post (to avoid getting too much into the weeds, and I haven't saved the data together) are that I've noticed over the years that it's easier to find lower cost properties in Texas that fit a low crime profile, and are zoned for good schools than it is in California.

I have some friends who live in the Anderson Mill neighborhood in Austin, which is zoned to some of the best public schools in Texas. Yes, the most expensive properties there can be over $1 million (large houses on 1+ acre lots), but you can also buy a small condo there for $135k that is zoned to the same schools, and has the same parks nearby. Right now the drive from where my friends live to Houston isn't bad, but there is so much development going on on Hwy 290 between Austin and Houston that I think...eventually...that trip might be as big of a PITA as driving from Fresno to SF is.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

Interesting except that I'm not sure why you would compare Phoenix to Los Angeles?

It was the first biggest-city here-and-there comparison I came to. As noted you can have hours of fun on that site, comparing every hither and yon your heart desires, which may or may not be relevant depending on your needs and goals.

[RMESMH]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

California has a higher cost of living than Bangladesh.

Know why?


Personally, I think it’s great that conservatives can find “better” places to live than California.

I only hope liberals can too.

Everyone go on ahead without me.

I’ll stay behind and sweep up.

I'm glad that I made it my business to explore pretty much every area of California (all over) that I've wanted to...before it became as much of a PITA as it as now (re so many more people) .

[Woody01]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

So what? You keep saying this .... over and over and over ... The fact is: the population is growing. Not just by births (which are down). People. From wherever. Keep. Coming. In spite of the COL. Period.

Oh and, no, the growth from immigration is not by illegals. Illegal immigration numbers are in decline.

Not true, read some of the earlier posts that have that info. There is a large Net Loss every year. And it is understandable (once again, as I've said before there are plenty of people that enjoy a progressive political climate and who have tech jobs that pay well enough to afford them the luxury....
That's fine and as it should be.......

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by Reziac

It was the first biggest-city here-and-there comparison I came to. As noted you can have hours of fun on that site, comparing every hither and yon your heart desires, which may or may not be relevant depending on your needs and goals.

I understand that, but they aren't really very similar, not even in size. The GDP per capita for Los Angeles metro in 2017 was $67,763; for Phoenix metro for the same year - $44,534

[Woody01]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

I get that, I understand what you wrote:
But offhand the only thing that I know of that is substantially cheaper in Arizona is dairy products. And to the best of my knowledge a pair of levi's, or pretty much any other clothing item costs the same no matter where you buy it so I just can't fathom how you could save that much money. Restaurants are probably cheaper in AZ because of the difference in the minimum wage. I can't make your math work, but sincerely for your sake I hope you're right

Thank you, I appreciate your good thoughts...
I've found a few calculators that measure everything from toothpaste to coffee to bullets....and it all seems to be about 20% less on average. Plus I have a couple sets of friends who have provided input that says the same thing. But you're right, it's way to difficult to know how much less the COL will be until you actually do it. So we will see :-)

But regardless, even if the COL was identical, the move is inevitable. Being able to pull so much $$ out of our current house, plus the bonus of living in a 'Free-er' state is too much of a no-brainer.....

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by RMESMH

You've got a decent point with San Berdoo, re cost and location. It's not that far from L.A. amenities, and the route is fairy flat, albeit congested. But I've never looked at the crime nor school stats there.

Not great, although it appears to be improving. http://www.city-data.com/forum/san-b...ble-place.html

[aslowdodge]

Just to add a few tidbits about costs.

The cost to register one of my cars in California is over $700 per year. So over 5 years that's about $3500. In the Atlanta Area it's $20 per year so over 5 years it $100. So it's $3400 less.
My other car in California is over $250 per year. So over 5 years that's about $1250. In the Atlanta Area it's $20 per year again so over 5 years it $100. So it's $1150 less.

So over $4500 less in registration fees.

Smog checks are about $45 in Pleasanton Ca, $15 here in Georgia.

Based on my driving of 20K miles a year, gas here is about $1.22 less than California at respective Costco's so that is about $1627 less per year in Georgia.
So in my case over 5 years it's over $6,0000 less in Georgia.
As far as insurance I think it's about the same, no savings.

I checked on a house I used to own in the houston metro area that was worth about $215K today. Taxes were very high at about $5900 a year (one of the highest rates in Texas) Schools are highly rated.

Another friend of mine has a similar house about 10% bigger in my old home town of Pleasanton, Ca. Thanks to Prop 13 he bought in 2003 for $600K he pays about $8k a year in taxes, still higher than Texas. But his value is 1.3 million today so the new buyer will pay closer to $16K a year in taxes.

I don't do a lot of grocery shopping, but I don't see much difference in costs there. Eating out Ca might be about 10 to 15% higher in the type of place I frequent.