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TX forums are not as exciting, no huge budget crisis, housing still pretty stable, gas prices low. No need to convince me of the right move. If I was in CA I would not have time to post on CD. I would be working 12 hour days, six days a week. That is if I still had a job.
The answer is obvious though. When you have spent most of your life in an area it is easier to talk about. I have no clue about the TX housing market and it is pretty mundane, a little up and little down. The same goes for the job market. In addition I still have friends and family in CA so I am still interested in what happens in CA.
Couldn't have said it better myself...I'm still planning on TX ( or MT, if I can actually find work there ) after school. Wish it was tomorrow quite honestly. Pretty p'oed about the whole IOU thing along w/ a multitude of other things. I still think the quality of life for the middle class is beyond awful here. I personally can't wait for my exit of Mexifornia.
If I did move back it would be to south Orange County: If housing continues to plummet and I get a relo package from the man for a position not north of Long Beach and I am convinced the employment situation is stable. We're talking several years from now. With the exception of weather, Huntsville is much better for me now.
My wife and I occasionally look at Redfin and are shocked at what we're seeing with sales prices in OC today and two years ago. Homes in the finer OC neighborhoods: Ladera Ranch, Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel, San Clemente, etc that were going for $1.1M are now being offered for high $700K-$800s. That is really depressing that people are in that situation.
We're watching a historical event.
I'm surprised to see this Charles. Don't you think raising your 4 girls outside of this materialistic culture will be better for them? I know you are very intelligent and after reading so many of your posts about how much better quality of life is elsewhere for families, why would you consider coming back? I know your parents are here, but personally, this isn't a place I will be raising my family. Don't want my future daughter asking for a boob job at 16, demanding to have Uggs, crying for a cell phone with unlimited text pkg etc.....NO WAY! Want my kids to be camping, fishing, and playing sports rather than being worried about make-up and what the other teenie boppers in SoCal are doing.
I'm surprised to see this Charles. Don't you think raising your 4 girls outside of this materialistic culture will be better for them? I know you are very intelligent and after reading so many of your posts about how much better quality of life is elsewhere for families, why would you consider coming back? I know your parents are here, but personally, this isn't a place I will be raising my family. Don't want my future daughter asking for a boob job at 16, demanding to have Uggs, crying for a cell phone with unlimited text pkg etc.....NO WAY! Want my kids to be camping, fishing, and playing sports rather than being worried about make-up and what the other teenie boppers in SoCal are doing.
Thank you for the compliments.
We didn't move to Colorado and Huntsville because we were concerned of the culture of California - probably because my wife and I grew up in CA - so we are the culture. We moved purely for economic reasons. Also, because it was fun and sort of an adventure. And I think Huntsville is better for families - because of economics. I can afford things like camp, gymnastics, swim and lacrosse leagues, because it is easier for a six person family to live well on one income here.
All that materialistic stuff is happening now. My oldest is nine and is hounding my wife and me daily for a cell phone. It's a constant war at our house because "so-and-so in my class got one". (City-Data is a big stress reliever for me.)
I think those materialistic things are more characteristic of a socioeconomic level than a region. If you go to any part of a city where there is money you will see this sort of culture. The whole country has homogenized. Kids, especially around the same economic level, are trendy on the same things.
Let's just pick a number, say median incomes over $100K. Orange County just has a lot of people that make that kind of money per square mile. But if you go to the Williamsville section of Buffalo, NY, the New Albany section of Columbus, OH - towns you wouldn't associate with wealth, boob jobs, shiny Escalades - you'd see the OC culture there too. I'm sure this is going to be in the wealthier sections of Dallas and any American city - anywhere there is money.
We just got a Wii. Every other kid has one, now we got one. I wasn't totally happy, it was like $250 - not cheap. What am I going to do?
And besides, a lot of that tension is simply the generation gap. My parents hated my long hair and the Black Sabbath/Pink Floyd/Led Zeppelin culture I was part of in the 1970s.
We didn't move to Colorado and Huntsville because we were concerned of the culture of California - probably because my wife and I grew up in CA - so we are the culture. We moved purely for economic reasons. Also, because it was fun and sort of an adventure. And I think Huntsville is better for families - because of economics. I can afford things like camp, gymnastics, swim and lacrosse leagues, because it is easier for a six person family to live well on one income here.
All that materialistic stuff is happening now. My oldest is nine and is hounding my wife and me daily for a cell phone. It's a constant war at our house because "so-and-so in my class got one". (City-Data is a big stress reliever for me.)
I think those materialistic things are more characteristic of a socioeconomic level than a region. If you go to any part of a city where there is money you will see this sort of culture. The whole country has homogenized. Kids, especially around the same economic level, are trendy on the same things.
Let's just pick a number, say median incomes over $100K. Orange County just has a lot of people that make that kind of money per square mile. But if you go to the Williamsville section of Buffalo, OH, the New Albany section of Columbus, OH - towns you wouldn't associate with wealth, boob jobs, shiny Escalades - you'd see the OC culture there too. I'm sure this is going to be in the wealthier sections of Dallas and any American city - anywhere there is money.
We just got a Wii. Every other kid has one, now we got one. I wasn't totally happy, it was like $250 - not cheap. What am I going to do?
And besides, a lot of that tension is simply the generation gap. My parents hated my long hair and the Black Sabbath/Pink Floyd/Led Zeppelin culture I was part of in the 1970s.
Well said! I couldn't agree more. Born and raised in CA myself, I'm looking to relocate to Denver for purely economic reasons.
I second the poster who mentioned the IE as a place to find a home in that price range. The prices are now "affordable" but the location is not ideal. Temecula, where I live, is quite a lovely little town. Good schools, pretty topography, etc. Unfortunately, not that close to the coast, no four year university, long commutes to major job centers, no hip/urban options (if you're into that sort of thing )and quite toasty warm in the summer. If someone needs to live in SoCal, this is the place to find affordable housing in a family friendly environment, but you'll have to give up on all the stuff I mentioned. If you look closer to the coast/jobs/universities, the home prices will probably never be affordable when compared to the majority of the rest of the U.S.
Temecula! My Mom has an old friend there who lives in a seniors only mobile home park kinda in the desert. At this point I would settle for ANYTHING in CA. Right now it is negative 17 degrees
We didn't move to Colorado and Huntsville because we were concerned of the culture of California - probably because my wife and I grew up in CA - so we are the culture. We moved purely for economic reasons. Also, because it was fun and sort of an adventure. And I think Huntsville is better for families - because of economics. I can afford things like camp, gymnastics, swim and lacrosse leagues, because it is easier for a six person family to live well on one income here.
All that materialistic stuff is happening now. My oldest is nine and is hounding my wife and me daily for a cell phone. It's a constant war at our house because "so-and-so in my class got one". (City-Data is a big stress reliever for me.)
I think those materialistic things are more characteristic of a socioeconomic level than a region. If you go to any part of a city where there is money you will see this sort of culture. The whole country has homogenized. Kids, especially around the same economic level, are trendy on the same things.
Let's just pick a number, say median incomes over $100K. Orange County just has a lot of people that make that kind of money per square mile. But if you go to the Williamsville section of Buffalo, OH, the New Albany section of Columbus, OH - towns you wouldn't associate with wealth, boob jobs, shiny Escalades - you'd see the OC culture there too. I'm sure this is going to be in the wealthier sections of Dallas and any American city - anywhere there is money.
We just got a Wii. Every other kid has one, now we got one. I wasn't totally happy, it was like $250 - not cheap. What am I going to do?
And besides, a lot of that tension is simply the generation gap. My parents hated my long hair and the Black Sabbath/Pink Floyd/Led Zeppelin culture I was part of in the 1970s.
I agree. Kids are the same wherever you go. I have a teenager and when we moved from CA to TX all the TX kids were like the CA kids. Same clothing styles, same gadgets and gizmos, same concerns. It's just a kid thing - not a regional thing. We had a lot ofwide open areas in TX for the kid to go bike riding, hiking, sports, whatever. But he prefers to be indoors on his computer in his free time. Here in CA (we moved back to CA after 9 months) my son has the same opportunities to get out and participate in sports or hiking or biking or whatever he wants to do. What does he do? The same things he's always done. However - he is an honor student and will be attending Stanford.
Temecula! My Mom has an old friend there who lives in a seniors only mobile home park kinda in the desert. At this point I would settle for ANYTHING in CA. Right now it is negative 17 degrees
It's been in the 80's and 90's here in the Coachella Valley this week. At night it's in the 70's. You can't beat that!
We didn't move to Colorado and Huntsville because we were concerned of the culture of California - probably because my wife and I grew up in CA - so we are the culture. We moved purely for economic reasons. Also, because it was fun and sort of an adventure. And I think Huntsville is better for families - because of economics. I can afford things like camp, gymnastics, swim and lacrosse leagues, because it is easier for a six person family to live well on one income here.
All that materialistic stuff is happening now. My oldest is nine and is hounding my wife and me daily for a cell phone. It's a constant war at our house because "so-and-so in my class got one". (City-Data is a big stress reliever for me.)
I think those materialistic things are more characteristic of a socioeconomic level than a region. If you go to any part of a city where there is money you will see this sort of culture. The whole country has homogenized. Kids, especially around the same economic level, are trendy on the same things.
Let's just pick a number, say median incomes over $100K. Orange County just has a lot of people that make that kind of money per square mile. But if you go to the Williamsville section of Buffalo, NY, the New Albany section of Columbus, OH - towns you wouldn't associate with wealth, boob jobs, shiny Escalades - you'd see the OC culture there too. I'm sure this is going to be in the wealthier sections of Dallas and any American city - anywhere there is money.
We just got a Wii. Every other kid has one, now we got one. I wasn't totally happy, it was like $250 - not cheap. What am I going to do?
And besides, a lot of that tension is simply the generation gap. My parents hated my long hair and the Black Sabbath/Pink Floyd/Led Zeppelin culture I was part of in the 1970s.
Charles, if i may ask, what income does a family of six require in Huntsville to sustain a reasonable standard of living?
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)and quite toasty warm in the summer. If someone needs to live in SoCal, this is the place to find affordable housing in a family friendly environment, but you'll have to give up on all the stuff I mentioned. If you look closer to the coast/jobs/universities, the home prices will probably never be affordable when compared to the majority of the rest of the U.S.
