Why do people still want to live in California? (Santa Monica: to relocate, best place to live)

[blameyourself]

Originally Posted by njbiodude

I never claimed that I said much of the state has a crappy climate that’s either cold or damp on the coast north of Santa Barbara or cooking hot and ugly inland with average highs over 100 in many locales. The coastal areas of the Bay Area like SF, Daly City, parts of Marin, Pacifica, HMB have cold summer months that frequently average highs in the 60s. Parts of East Bay and Silicon Valley have very nice weather. You’re free to dispute that of course but claiming Palo Alto represents the average weather and scenery of the state is ridiculous. Personally I think San Bruno with an average high of 72 on the hottest month with frequent wind is too cold for me—I prefer San Jose. I actually lived in SF for a bit and needing a sweatshirt in August made me want to gtfo fast.

Anyone can read what you said. You can only dance so long

[njbiodude]

Originally Posted by blameyourself

Anyone can read what you said. You can only dance so long

So outside of the Silicon Valley/east bay and Santa Barbara/Ventura/LA/OC/SD counties do you think most of the state has good weather? Merced? Bakersfield? Monterey? You sound so fixated on dividing fog lines in the Bay Area.

You said most of CA has a nice climate. Most beg to differ, there’s a reason most the population lives in a small area.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by njbiodude

So outside of the Silicon Valley/east bay and Santa Barbara/Ventura/LA/OC/SD counties do you think most of the state has good weather? Merced? Bakersfield? Monterey? You sound so fixated on dividing fog lines in the Bay Area it almost sounds like you haven’t left the Bay Area your whole life.

I agree many of those areas don’t have “good weather” in comparison but are they really any worse than the rest of the US?

[done working]

Originally Posted by blameyourself

Yawn....pot meet kettle.

And here we have yet another one-sided disingenuous argument that simply pigeonholes a particular segment of the population (not surprising).

Only 12% of the population are aged 65 or older in the Austin metroplex so to try and steer the conversation only to that is wholly disingenuous.

The short answer is "it depends".

If you buy a modest home that comes close to replicating a house in California, you should not be paying as much in property tax "initially" (and that last word is key). The majority of residents will get a homestead exemption beyond the first year and few will get the senior exemption so the focus will be on basic exemption that everyone is entitled to. That exemption limits property tax increases to 10% per year on assessed value (a big step up from Prop 13). It is certainly not "frozen". So even though initially it won't slap you too bad, you can imagine what your tax might look like in 10 years assuming the property value stays up. And that's only if you didn't recently buy. If you bought in the last couple of years, you got totally hosed on property tax in the year that didn't have the exemption. After that, the limit is 10% of the previous assessed value. Keep in mind that some of the homes around here practically doubled in value over the last 3 years (ours being one of them).

If one had a home that assessed at $300k and jumped $100k, the year without the exemption at a 2.5% property tax rate would involve an instant increase of $2500. After that, because of current appreciation, you're looking at a 10% jump from that assessed value per year.

So going forward....

$440k x 2.5% = $11,000

$484k x 2.5% = $12,100

$532k x 2.5% = $13,300

$585k x 2.5% = $14,625

So in just the first 5 years, one would be looking at an initial increase of $2500 and another $3625 over the next 4 years. Over $6100 in 5 years.

This is exactly why Prop 13 is so much more equitable and doesn't force people out of their communities.

And of course you won't hear about other intangibles.

One is clearly the weather. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, the Austin metroplex almost broke the record for 100 degree days this last summer. Most of those days, due to humidity had a "feels like" temperature of between 106 to 109 degrees. Now this poster has made claims in the past that people get "used to it" which obviously is complete hogwash. In reality, summer's here would remind one of the shelter-in-place order during the pandemic because the majority of people are indeed staying inside the entire summer (do any of you think you'd be running around outside in that heat?)

This was followed by a deep freeze in the winter with temperatures in the teens and a "feels like" temperature of -4 degrees (but yeah, "you get used to it" )

As far as scenery, there's not much.

I'm convinced this poster lives in Georgetown, Tx. They have a town square that is quite charming and minorities love it when they see that huge statute of the Confederate soldier that smacks you right in the face in the heart of that charming town square.

Often times people will explain how friendly folks are here, but do something they don't like and that charm wears off quick and those charming, church going people will become uncivil at the flip of a switch and start throwing daggers. I was reminded of that in a recent HOA meeting when there was going to be a change in the parking in the subdivision we live in. I'm never seen a bigger group of adult behaving badly.

How about those electricity costs? I recall during the summer reading so many posts in the Texas forum of people having bills upwards of $300 (we were smart enough to get an energy efficient home so we don't deal with that). Then there's all that watering on those nice lawns that are non-existent on many of those smaller homes in CA (probably looking at a water bill of $200+ a month).

And how about those gas prices? Hmmm? I just did a comparison of the Costco that I buy gas from here vs the one back in the Bay Area.

Regular $2.76 vs $3.99
Premium $3.27 vs $4.29

If I drive 12k miles a year and get 30 miles per gallon, that puts me at 400 gallons. So the difference in regular is $492 and premium $408. Oooh boy...that's gonna break the bank. Admittedly, if I looked at the type of cars people drive in both locales, there's probably less of a difference since you gotta have that "Big Truck" here in Texas (smh).

How about income level? Yeah, in all likelihood you'll take a haircut if you're moving from the SF Bay Area to Austin. According to Bankrate's COL calculator, the average salary in Austin is $59,497 and in the SF Bay Area it's $88,243 (32% drop in salary). Now according to Bankrate, you should only need $47,406 to live a similar lifestyle so on the surface it definitely looks like a win to move if you're OK with the lack of scenery, oppressively hot summer, and frigid winters. But admittedly, if you're already an established resident in CA with a low property tax base and the advantage of Prop 13, that might not necessarily be so and any tax savings on retirement funds could very easily be negated by the fact that you were able to save up more with the additional income.

So again, it depends.

Yes it does and like so many of us who have moved here we are 65 or close and have substantial savings that in fact thats saves hundreds of thousand of dollars in state income taxes. And the facts are when you are 65 the school tax is frozen and only city or community college or county taxes go up which are a very small part of our tax bill. Our elec rate is 1/3 that of calif too @.121 kw with all the fees. And i like the scenery and love the fact there is only a stop sign in my town but yet i can be at a world class hospital in 20 minutes. I would rather have the heat than sit in traffic for hours everyday or go to a beach with thousands of others. But i do miss good Chinese food. Oh yea and i dont have to sit on computer to try to win a space to park the rv for vacation 6 months in advance and if i do win.

[blameyourself]

Originally Posted by Finper

You posted 10 plus paragraphs bashing Austin and I’m posting sensationalistic gibberish? I hope you don’t insult your grandkids like you do many posters on here ( which I thought was against terms). I get it though I’d be grumpy if I had to live in a state I detested too

Oh my. Finper telling others that they insult. That's rich.

Explaining the way property tax works in an area that I live in is not bashing. Correcting erroneous claims that people get "used to" extreme weather is not bashing. Correcting claims that people are friendlier is not bashing. You seem to be quite confused on this.

[blameyourself]

Originally Posted by done working

Yes it does and like so many of us who have moved here we are 65 or close and have substantial savings that in fact thats saves hundreds of thousand of dollars in state income taxes. And the facts are when you are 65 the school tax is frozen and only city or community college or county taxes go up which are a very small part of our tax bill. Our elec rate is 1/3 that of calif too @.121 kw with all the fees. And i like the scenery and love the fact there is only a stop sign in my town but yet i can be at a world class hospital in 20 minutes. I would rather have the heat than sit in traffic for hours everyday or go to a beach with thousands of others. But i do miss good Chinese food. Oh yea and i dont have to sit on computer to try to win a space to park the rv for vacation 6 months in advance and if i do win.

Lol, "so many" = 12%. I can repeat it again if it'll help. 88% = not 65

Maybe you should be honest about how the property tax works in our area.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by done working

I would rather have the heat than sit in traffic for hours everyday

Very few people residents of California "sit in traffic for hours every day."

About 12.2% of commuters in the state have one-way travel times exceeding one hour...
https://www.thecentersquare.com/cali...1dd2825c0.html

[done working]

commuters are not the only ones that use the freeways. Since i lived there for 60 years drove them daily not only commuting but doing business with customers, vendors and visiting employees on sites i know firsthand that there millions that sit in traffic for hours every week. You can pick and choose what you want but i know first hand how long it takes to commute on the 10 from the west side or the 91 east from oc. Even saturday mornings on the 10 are tough. Go ahead and tell me its does not happen and i know first how its ***** to drive in

califhttps://trafficpredict.com/traffic/la/reports/day-traffic-blank-23-01-05-05.gif

look at all the red right now - lol

[njbiodude]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

Very few people residents of California "sit in traffic for hours every day."

About 12.2% of commuters in the state have one-way travel times exceeding one hour...
https://www.thecentersquare.com/cali...1dd2825c0.html

I’ve rearranged my schedule so I never see my spouse for dinner during the week so I don’t sit in my car 1.5-2 hours a day. Considering most the highways are packed (and I still sometime hit traffic at 9 pm in the Bay Area) it’s clear I’m probably not the only one. A lot of people I know work flex hours and construction now works the graveyard shift in some places. So you get stuck in traffic then.

And when so want to go to Yosemite, the beach on the weekend etc I hit egregious traffic every time with everyone else. Recently I drove 20 miles to SF at 3 pm and it still took an hour and a half probably due to flex commuters.

That said traffic is hardly unique to CA. It’s somewhat worse in the Bay Area and LA than the rest of the US but it’s not like people in most major US metros don’t sit in their car idling either.

[MKTwet]

I wouldn't live in CA unless I have a lot of wealth that is tax protected. Otherwise it's not the best place to live and work for a living.