How many are thinking of leaving California? (Los Angeles, Santa Ana: real estate market, renting)

[brianguy]

Originally Posted by happ

Humanoid

You know it is not just the weather why people love California. It's a great plus for health & well-being [that we even complain at times is pathetic knowing the climates elsewhere]. Outdoor living all year\ sports opportunities.

that's true but I also have plenty of allergies here... it makes me wonder if other places would affect me nearly as much. often when I travel, I don't seem to sneeze or be affected nearly as bad.

the outdoors are good but other places have a lot of the same (perhaps a bit less sunshine, perhaps a bit more e.g. too much), and one can't enjoy them here because we are either working to pay for the high cost of living, or have to drive for an hour (or 5) to get to them in general. it would be great to just step outside and "be" in the "outdoors"

[brianguy]

Originally Posted by CAtoGA

When we have to pay $80+ for each sport that our high school freshman plays (at school) and $140/semester for the school but that he only rides half the time now because sports practices don't get done until 5, then there's all the fundraisers that the schools have to have in order to make up for all the money that has been taken away and given to the military.

huh... you lost me. especially that last part I know what the $80 is about, my family was required to pay that too when I was in school. seems kind of absurd but hey somebody's gotta pay for the equipment if they want to have decent programs, not some rag tag teams

[Humanoid]

Originally Posted by ndfmnlf

How'd you know that people rarely do this sort of thing? Can you read their minds? Are you privy to their finances? When did it become your mission to tell people to do cost benefit analysis?

I already told you how I know, its the basis of much of marketing. Not to mention the fact that the role of emotions in human decision making is well researched in psychology.... And its not my mission. I created a thread about it, if someone is not interested they ahem....don't have to read or respond.

Originally Posted by ndfmnlf

It seems to me you'd like other people to persuade you to stay in California by showing their cost benefit analysis to you, to prove you wrong so to speak. But why should people drop what they're doing just to give you the information you want?

Dude, are you serious? I created a thread to talk about the pros and cons of living in Southern California, essentially a cost benefit analysis. Now if someone doesn't want to talk about it...well then they need not reply to the thread huh? This is a waste of time though, your comments get more absurd each time.

[Humanoid]

Originally Posted by brianguy

things I can't understand, if the economy sucks here and housing continues to be unaffordable for the near (and possibly distant) future why are there constantly more and more people? how are they finding money to move here? I remember at least an outflux during the 90's when aerospace jobs went belly up and we were in a recession. but now we're in a recession and I can't get away from all the people, traffic, etc (traffic is now much worse in the last few weeks, likely because gas prices were basically halved).

Actually more people are living California than coming into the state. The only reason the population is growing is because of births. But even here its mostly from one sub-group....

[JetJockey]

Originally Posted by brianguy

this is pretty much the only reason I don't consider leaving more seriously... family is here and I wouldn't be able to see them. that and I have a pretty decent job I'm (mostly) happy with. I grew up here in the 80's and certainly in the last 5-10 years I see that the bad outweigh the good a little bit more *every* day, and everything becomes a bit less recognizable. the reason for this is, the good things (beaches, mountains, restaurants, attractions, weather, proximity to other places) were sort of always here, but the bad things (too many people, crime, gangs, graffiti, trash, crowds, traffic, pollution, not enough jobs, too many taxes) were already here too but to a lesser degree. the good stay the same but the bad generally are on the increase.

things I can't understand, if the economy sucks here and housing continues to be unaffordable for the near (and possibly distant) future why are there constantly more and more people? how are they finding money to move here? I remember at least an outflux during the 90's when aerospace jobs went belly up and we were in a recession. but now we're in a recession and I can't get away from all the people, traffic, etc (traffic is now much worse in the last few weeks, likely because gas prices were basically halved). I'd rather pay $5-10 more to fill up my tank once a week and be able to save 10-15 minutes per trip on my way to/from work or anywhere else. I did a short calculation in my head last night and I figured I'd save well over 90 minutes a week by driving if gas prices were $3 per gallon instead of $2.15. my time is easily worth more than $6.67 per hour ($10 / 1.5 hours).
maybe it sucks just as bad (or worse) everywhere else? that's all I can think of.... talk about frustrating.

I guess I'm lucky then... I only pay $250 a month for the master bedroom with a private patio in a 4 bedroom house, on the central coast (15 minutes away from San Luis Obispo). Yeah, I have roomates, but we all work different hours so there's hardly anyone in the house. I'm lucky to have found an amazing job that pays very well and I live extremely comfortably. Sure, I could move somewhere else, but I like it here and I've managed to make a really good living in a very desirable part of the state. I'm also going to school part time to earn my MBA in International Relations in my spare time and paying for my course credits in cash. CA is not all that hard to do if you make the right connections, network to the right people (that's how I found my low rent house AND my job). Would I live in TN or even TX to save a couple of bucks? No way.

[ndfmnlf]

Dude, are you serious? I created a thread to talk about the pros and cons of living in Southern California, essentially a cost benefit analysis. Now if someone doesn't want to talk about it...well then they need not reply to the thread huh? This is a waste of time though, your comments get more absurd each time.

What's absurd is your demand for people to show their cost benefit analyses to you.....as if their analyses can even be compared to yours. Every person has a different situation. Just because your analysis shows that you can't hack it in California doesn't mean everyone is in the same boat as you, and if they don't agree with you, they must be stupid.

[Hungry For Cheese]

...Mexicans. Yeah, I said it. lol

Anyways I plan to leave Cali once I finish college...and my girl does too.
So far I want to stay close to the west...so looking at Colorado. I was set on Texas, but I really want colder weather I think...and Nevada, AZ, or NM doesn't really call my name.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by JetJockey

I guess I'm lucky then......

CA is not all that hard to do if you make the right connections, network to the right people....

Or, if you are lucky. Your situation sounds unusual.

Where will you be in five years? How are you going to get there?

[happ]

Originally Posted by Humanoid

Forgot to respond to this:


Which is another way of saying its emotional garbage. If you can't enumerate the benefits in some way, then its hard to take them seriously.


No I want people to state what is worth the additional cost. So far it seems to be weather and less white people. Oddly, the strongest reason to stay hasn't really been mentioned, namely to be close to family. But how much this benefit is worth is largely a metric of how close you are to your family. But I can at least understand how someone would stay for family, everything else that has been mentioned is clearly not worth cost. Nobody would pay $1,700/ to lower the humidity during the summer if this was some how something you could pay to do. Nobody would pay hundred bucks every time they went to the beach. But this is just want they do, they just don't realize it because they aren't directly paying for it.
.

You make an excellent point & wonder why it isn't the first thing on the list [except in-laws We take for granted the huge factor of family. I come from a 5 generation Californio family - it would be lonely without them.

I have lived out-of-state [near Chicago & in NYC] as a student & worker. I loved it [even the climate because I had never experienced snow & frequent summer thunderstorm]. The pace of life & interesting people really impressed me & 2 yrs were spent living in a Brooklyn ghetto. I thought about staying in New York but after another year I returned home.

Anyway, I know the East Coast & the New York transplants living in Los Angeles [some have the Woody Allen disdain for LA] even after 20 yrs & no real plan to ever move back to NYC. I think you fit into that group

[happ]

Originally Posted by CAtoGA

Just wanted to add my 2 cents here. I am really trying to get my family out of CA. We are in the wine country, Sonoma County, a 1-1/2 income family raising two kids, 11 and 15. Sure we could stay here if I was willing to work full time outside the home and never see my family. Is it worth it? Not to me. My husband isn't as easily convinced but he is coming around.

Now, all of our family and friends are here in the north bay, with just a couple of exceptions. Will that keep me here? No. They cannot and will not pay our bills for us when things run short. And be sure that they do run short. When we have to pay $80+ for each sport that our high school freshman plays (at school) and $140/semester for the school but that he only rides half the time now because sports practices don't get done until 5, then there's all the fundraisers that the schools have to have in order to make up for all the money that has been taken away and given to the military.

Luckily we got into our home before the bubble, but it is still very expensive to live here. When I think that we can move somewhere else (specifically we are looking into Tennessee) with a mortgage that is half of what we pay now, gas that is 30-40 cents/gallon less, no fee for the school bus, flat rate for auto registration no matter what year, no smog fee, etc., I am blown away. And all this (yes we are among the lucky few) without taking a pay cut. Sure, the ocean and the mountains are wonderful to have so close. But wouldn't it be nice to only pay for those things when I want to see them instead of paying for them all the time? I've done my research. There are many, many beautiful things to see and do in Tennessee. We've been to one of the many state parks and it was just as beautiful as the ones we have here. And to think that you can reach 2/3 of the continental US within a day's drive from TN is great. Do you know how many places that opens up to us as tourists? California is great but you have to drive forever or fly and pay exhorbitant plane fairs to get anywhere else to visit. And that is on top of paying daily for the benefit of the mountains and ocean that you may only visit occasionally.

Did I mention the history on the other side of the country? I know there is a lot of history in CA, but those of us who grew up here have heard it all before. On the other hand, the history of the east coast goes back to before the Civil War! Our country began back there! How amazing would it be to take a picnic lunch and eat at the site of a great Civil War battle or visit the homes of the founding fathers? I, personally, can't wait to learn about a new area. What is life without a little adventure? Why settle for the status quo when you can have so many new experiences? I understand that many are not in a situation like we are being able to take our current income and move to a less expensive area, but those are my reasons for wanting to get out of CA. I am also getting more than a little disgusted with the politics of the state.

One more thing to think about. The infrastructure of TN is a bit stronger than CA, yet they have no state income tax, their property tax is less because the value of the homes is less, their auto registration is lower. They don't have all the restrictions that CA does on everything that you do, yet their roads are very well taken care of.

Okay, so that was a bit more than 2 cents.

CAtoGA [your name suggests Georgia]. I have traveled thru parts of the Midwest\South & Tennessee is beautiful especially during autumn. It gets cold but not nearly as much as the Midwest. You will be fine & we wish you well

California history pre-dates the Civil War by 100 yrs. In-fact, San Diego & San Francisco were founded before the Declaration of Independence. Places like Monterey\ Santa Barbara have preserved presidio & missions are up & down the coast. I especially like Mision San Juan Bautista.