Who's really considering moving out of California (Los Angeles, Davis: sex offenders, organic)

[AKgirlinCA]

I decided to chime in my 2 cents on the topic. I have been in SoCal a little over two years now. I am from Anchorage, Alaska. Since moving here, I have lived in San Clemente, Trabuco Canyon, and now Mission Viejo. My Mom has been living here for almost 10 years, and I had visited her on numerous occasions. Upon arriving here, I was completely overwhelmed by all the people, the massive freeways and how the megalopolis doesn't end. Everyone insisted I give it two years and I "will never want to live anywhere else blah blah blah." I was also overwhelmed by the cost of living, which I shoud have further considered before moving here. Well, I have given it time and I can honestly say that I can not imagine raising my future children in SoCal. Another issue is the insane fast pace and the fact that home ownership is just not a possibility. While I do enjoy the sunshine, I miss the rain. I would also like to have the occasional lightning/thunder storm. My husband and I will be relocating to the Dallas suburbs after I complete school. I feel I owe it to my future kids to raise them in a place where they stand a chance.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Cali BassMan

except battle the Old Ozark Boy....

That might turn out to be fun. Even worse, I might learn a thing or two from him.

Originally Posted by NewToCA

Tsk, tsk, so defensive.

What I'm suggesting is that doing a search on an area such as the stuff around Clearlake provides a more accurate baseline of homes that comp with the Ozarks. Unlike your earlier posting, they don't base at hundreds of $ per square foot.

I'm really not, didn't mean to come across that way and I knew what you meant. Suprisingly there are homes to be had in Clearlake at comparable prices but they lack the land and amenities we will have in the Ozarks. Lakefront homes as large and as nicely appointed do run into the $200-300+ per square foot realm.

Beyond that, we would still be in California and subject to its taxes and consummer prices. I think we'd rather not!

[AKgirlinCA]

There will ALWAYS be millions of people justifying all the negatives of living in CA, thus the negatives will continue to get worse because millions will continue to put up with it etc.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by AKgirlinCA

There will ALWAYS be millions of people justifying all the negatives of living in CA, thus the negatives will continue to get worse because millions will continue to put up with it etc.

Yeah lots of people will rationalize their decision to stay here no matter what. I started at thread a while ago asking what it would take to get people to leave and got lots of "I'll never leave, no matter what" responses. If there were suddenly bands of murders roaming the state randomly shooting people with machine guns, I'm sure someone would say "Well, they don't shoot people on Sundays so it's not that bad and California is still the greatest place on Earth."

[JetJockey]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

Yeah lots of people will rationalize their decision to stay here no matter what. I started at thread a while ago asking what it would take to get people to leave and got lots of "I'll never leave, no matter what" responses. If there were suddenly bands of murders roaming the state randomly shooting people with machine guns, I'm sure someone would say "Well, they don't shoot people on Sundays so it's not that bad and California is still the greatest place on Earth."

I like California. Simple. I live in a beautiful area near the ocean (I can hear the waves from my house), I have a very manageable cost of living and have zero desire to have the newest SUV, the largest tv or a 5 bedroom house. Me and my soon to be husband don't want children and we like living the 'green organic' life, and that's what we find here. It's not for everyone, but some people will never be happy no matter where they live.

[bayarea-girl]

I moved out of CA to GA and the experience lasted 6-7 months. My reasons for moving was because I was tired of the go-go-go mentality, providing a better lifestyle for the kids, and the cost of living standards. We loved GA but moved at a bad time. The economy went downhill fast and the move was a disaster. I wouldn't suggest anyone leave a job or make a major move at this time as things are too unpredictable.

It was irritating hearing people tell us when we moved that we will hate it and move back especially when they never even visited where we moved to, but I guess everyone was an expert and comments people made always revolved around the weather and or not enough to do like there is in CA. The weather comments often made me laugh because where we live in CA the weather isn't perfect and you can't take the weather to the bank. Weather is overrated to me. We were actually sad that we left GA.

No place is perfect. But CA just like any other place has several opportunities and advantages to it. The primary reason we came back is because we knew that we could find a job doing just about anything with out having to have a lot of connections. CA is more advanced than a lot of places and it is so noticeable when you are in another part of the country. When I got back I realized how much I really like this place. Yes it is expensive and yes life can be hectic but one can always reinvent themselves here and there are so many opportunities. We will be staying put for some time.

[SAI126]

Originally Posted by FormerCaliforniaGirl

I left San Diego primarly because the illegals turned my once quite little middle-class neighborhood into a 3rd-world slum.

No city is perfect, but for me, anywhere where the illegals aren't has to be better.

Good luck finding one. There are fewer and fewer of them with each passing year. The immigration battle has been decidedly lost, as is the case with many other issues too. There are better places to live than the California of today but the overall trends are bad everywhere.

[BayDude]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

Yeah lots of people will rationalize their decision to stay here no matter what. I started at thread a while ago asking what it would take to get people to leave and got lots of "I'll never leave, no matter what" responses. If there were suddenly bands of murders roaming the state randomly shooting people with machine guns, I'm sure someone would say "Well, they don't shoot people on Sundays so it's not that bad and California is still the greatest place on Earth."

Hilarious and so true. +Rep.

[Ludachris]

After reading nearly all the posts in this thread I figured why not chime in....

Some of the regulars already know my story. My wife and I moved from San Jose to the Denver metro area after having lived in NorCal for about 30 years (I was born and raised). Why did we leave? Simple - the high cost of living prevented us from living in the areas where we wanted to raise a family. We did a lot of research and ended up here in south Denver, with a bigger house in a great area.

Do we regret our move? Not at all. We've found this area to be one of the best places we could have ever chosen to raise a family and we really don't want to leave. But the truth is, we just might go back to NorCal to be closer to family. Are we worried it might be a bad decision? Sure. But we feel we can deal with all the negatives so long as we take advantage of the reasons we'll be moving back. If we had the choice, we'd probably rather see all of our family move out here. But we have a nice list of things we're looking forward to when we go back.

As for the major problems the state is facing... it's easy to point the finger. I blame the government, but I also place an equal amount of blame on the voters. I don't see it as liberal vs. conservative, I see it being far more simple than that - it's just irresponsible. And we all know both political parties can be guilty of that - as recent history has shown. If it was a matter of partisanship, things would have probably changed a while ago. But the voters haven't changed their ways, and rarely do you see people voting for the best candidate these days.

And even with the major government shortcomings, I think we'll be alright - maybe not immune to the negative aspects, but we'll be able to be happy. You can't have it all. You can only strive to be happy.

[TXperson]

Already got my cheap home waiting for me back in Texas. I'm ready to pull out of California if things go sour.