Survey: 27% of Americans Would Live in California If They Could; LA #1 City of Choice (Los Angeles: house, buying)

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by 04kL4nD

I won't lie: I still love California, but I'm very glad we moved/bought elsewhere when we did. Buying a house in the Bay Area is such a nightmarish and frustrating ordeal, especially if you're a first time homeowner without a huge chunk of cash to help out with a 20% downpayment.

I completely agree. Those in our kids' generation are pretty much priced out (unless they bought around 2012-13). The days of a first time buyer finding a fixer in a so-so neighborhood are gone.

[ben young]

Originally Posted by blameyourself

Uh huh. And 75% would rather live somewhere other than Florida. 78% would rather live somewhere other than Hawaii. 81% would rather live somewhere other than New York. 83% would rather live somewhere other than Colorado. Should we continue?

Subject was California .You sound angry,too much sun and fun ?

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by ben young

Subject was California .You sound angry,too much sun and fun ?

He doesn’t sound at all angry to me. He sounds like balanced observations. All the comps referred to were referenced in the post he responded to. You have a bone to pick perhaps yourself?

[04kL4nD]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

I completely agree. Those in our kids' generation are pretty much priced out (unless they bought around 2012-13). The days of a first time buyer finding a fixer in a so-so neighborhood are gone.

It was a big leap for me moving from NC to CA in my early 20s, but I had a soft landing spot in SD before I made my way up to the Bay since I had family to help me get started. I have no clue how anyone will be able to do it unless they have no sense of fear, or wherever they're coming from is so much worse that they will be able to see past the insane COL and all the stress that comes with it (refugees, trans folks, disabled vets, etc...).

If that sounds negative/pessimistic/sour grapes/whatever, I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer. I don't regret my time in CA one bit. I was able to finish college and grad school and even got married, which was my version of the "California Dream". I got a decent education for the price, all things considered, but I wouldn't necessarily encourage people from out of state to head straight to college from their home state now, unless they are incredibly mature and have a supportive network around them at all times. Educational standards have become a complete joke and students are the ones getting short-changed, and this is coming from someone who's been working in public higher ED in CA for well over a decade. Out of state and international students have been robbed blind for as long as I can remember, and I'm not seeing any major changes to the paradigm on the horizon. Hopefully I'm wrong and things rapidly improve.

Overall, I still think it's a worthwhile experience for those with a sense of adventure, or those who know how to make their own breaks to take a leap if they're dead set on California like I was; nevertheless, I think the overall QOL state-wide has gone downhill so fast since the pandemic that it seems like a pretty bad time to give it a shot when other states are cheaper, less crowded, and less chaotic. Maybe in a few years things will be more "friendly" to young and ambitious transplants, but I kinda doubt it. Ditto for retirees. I guess we will all have to wait and see, but it takes a certain type of spirit to be successful in California, and that often means throwing caution to the wind and ignoring all the red flags, and that's just life in general.

In the meantime, I genuinely wish those who are in CA all the best, and I'll still be here to chime in every now and then because the state truly is a fascinating, beautiful, and special place.

[blameyourself]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

He doesn’t sound at all angry to me. He sounds like balanced observations. All the comps referred to were referenced in the post he responded to. You have a bone to pick perhaps yourself?

Yep, what a strange response. This seems to be a common theme. A poster puts up a critical comment. He gets a completely logical response to it (void of emotion), can't refute it, so he goes into deflection technique by claiming the respondent is defensive, takes things personally, and is angry. None of which is the case, but it prevents him from having to address the comment.

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

Of course this is true.

Americans are still dreaming about moving to California more than other states. Here are the top states where Americans wish to move:

California — 27%
Florida — 25%
Hawaii — 22%
New York — 19%
Colorado — 17%

https://homebay.com/moving-trends/

Originally Posted by ben young

And 73 % would rather live somewhere else.

Originally Posted by blameyourself

Uh huh. And 75% would rather live somewhere other than Florida. 78% would rather live somewhere other than Hawaii. 81% would rather live somewhere other than New York. 83% would rather live somewhere other than Colorado. Should we continue?

Feel free to explain exactly what is out of line on the comment?

[04kL4nD]

Some people will always hate California, no matter what. It's fine, honestly.

[JGC97]

And there are those who will always hate something, someone or some place and will need to share it with the world. There's good and bad in California, like there is in every state. It's a personal choice whether one is willing to live with it or leave it and try something else. And thus ends the lesson for today.

[njbiodude]

Originally Posted by 04kL4nD

I guess we will all have to wait and see, but it takes a certain type of spirit to be successful in California, and that often means throwing caution to the wind and ignoring all the red flags, and that's just life in general.

It often means working at companies with questionable ethics to pay the excessive costs. That’s how you afford the housing.

I’ve worked at various companies here and the amount of financial fraud and questionable cherry picking of scientific data I see validating their products going on in seemingly all of them is staggering (not things I can control). Companies brazenly bribing government officials etc. Outside of CA this seems to be less of a problem. Friends working in big tech also note ethical issues particularly at Google and Facebook as they use blatantly illegal means to crush competition and do other questionably ethical things like sell users’ data. If you can sell your soul you can make a lot of money and pay a mortgage on an overpriced home. Then you can retire more easily later or sell your overpriced home and pay cash for a new home in some new location.

[04kL4nD]

Originally Posted by njbiodude

It often means working at companies with questionable ethics to pay the excessive costs. That’s how you afford the housing.

I’ve worked at various companies here and the amount of financial fraud and questionable cherry picking of scientific data I see validating their products going on in seemingly all of them is staggering (not things I can control). Companies brazenly bribing government officials etc. Outside of CA this seems to be less of a problem. Friends working in big tech also note ethical issues particularly at Google and Facebook as they use blatantly illegal means to crush competition and do other questionably ethical things like sell users’ data. If you can sell your soul you can make a lot of money and pay a mortgage on an overpriced home. Then you can retire more easily later or sell your overpriced home and pay cash for a new home in some new location.

I don't think it's a California specific issue-- the same type of thing happens in NYC/DC/Chicago/Miami/etc just in different 'flavors' and it's often industry-specific. Corporations throughout the entire country wield far too much power and political influence and unless society starts holding them accountable the corruption will continue indefinitely. But that's a whole different conversation for another day

As far as politics go in California, I left the state scratching my head wondering if any of my local politicians actually delivered on anything promised or got much accomplished that wasn't just a common sense approach to fixing an easily solvable issue. I lived through the Arnold, Jerry Brown, and Newsom governorships and of the three, I felt like the late Brown years were a lot better than before and after he was termed out. I laugh when I think about Oakland and its mayors since they've all been terrible and incompetent. It's weird being up in the Seattle area and trying to figure out if I'm a progressive, liberal, moderate, or even slightly conservative by WA's standards, since I haven't really paid much attention to the political landscape up here.

[VikingsToValhalla]

Originally Posted by Thekdog

Where in WA are you moving? I'm seeing a log l lot of jobs in the Seattle-TAC metro area

Sammamish -- it's on the east side of the Seattle metro area.
About 25 mins to Bellevue, 30 mins to Seattle.
It's definitely more of an affluent area, the average home price is something like $1.5 million.
The area is jaw droppingly beautiful imho, a forest of lush green vegetation nearly everywhere, lakes & rivers close by, and you can see the hills & mountains to the east and south.