Leaving California (San Diego, Long Beach: appointed, home builder, unemployment)

[Cali4life80]

Very well said CaliBoy I coudn't agree more. Those four months living in Idaho really made me appreciate where I came from. I admire your adventurous side and I myself will probably never leave Cali again. lol

[i.learn]

You said it! One can not juggle, struggle and wriggle in life between too many things all the time (watching school ratings, crime ratings, income, career, I did not mention office politics yet!).

I am an IT professional and I have traveled the length and breadth of USA and no doubt NC is america's best kept secret.

I have seen many "family-type" people have moved to NC from many different places.

I hope you settled back in NC or CO and doing well!

[Mvn2nc]

Originally Posted by i.learn

You said it! One can not juggle, struggle and wriggle in life between too many things all the time (watching school ratings, crime ratings, income, career, I did not mention office politics yet!).

I am an IT professional and I have traveled the length and breadth of USA and no doubt NC is america's best kept secret.

I have seen many "family-type" people have moved to NC from many different places.

I hope you settled back in NC or CO and doing well!

Where did you settle down in N.C??

[Charles]

Baby boomers, Latinos leaving California - Inside Bay Area

[Niners fan]

Originally Posted by Charles

Baby boomers, Latinos leaving California - Inside Bay Area

Interesting but not surprising.

I wonder why the reporter decided to mention the 2000 presidential election:

"Since the Bush v. Gore election of 2000, whites have lost their status as a majority of the voting-age population in California, with their share of the 18 and over population slipping from 51.9 percent in 2000 to about 47 percent in 2007."

I can't figure out what point he was trying to make versus just saying "Since 2000..."

[jaynetarzana]

Originally Posted by G4inMO

My family moved from CA and landed in SW Missouri in Aug. 2005. We moved for quality of life with the family. Tired of driving on the freeways for hours at a time each day. We love the change of seasons. This last winter with the ice storms was hectic, but we made it through.

We are considering a move from the Palm Desert area to Chicago. I hear this "made it through the winter" stuff all of the time from people who live in the Midwest. I wonder to myself whether I want to feel like I am making it through my life? We grew up in Michigan so I understand the winters all too well. I was miserable in the cold. The thunderstorms in the summer were great, but the humidity was awful and the bugs weren't fun either. But we have two little ones now, so we are thinking about going back for my husbands career (his company's main office is in Chicago), better schools, less rampant materialism, better air quality and to be within a 5 hour drive of family. Like I said though, I'm just not sure that I want to make it through every winter. It can start snowing and getting cold in October and not stop until May sometimes! That is quite a winter. My feeling is that we are going to move all the way to Chicago and come running back to California - AGAIN! We tried to move back once because we couldn't afford a house here. We bought a fixer, remodeled it ourselves and sold it quick so we could get back to where it was warm.

[jaynetarzana]

Originally Posted by PinkPoppy

We moved away from SF/Marin County in 2003. I grew up in San Jose, CA and always wanted to move from the Bay Area. Now, in Seattle, and I can't stand the winter weather. I'd like to move back home but can't see how we can afford it. I've started dreaming about Hawaii, Mexico, California. I'm really cold up here all the time. Too many clouds, too much rain.

We moved because we wanted to buy a house and we got one just as prices were going up and up. Everything is good except the weather, the 7 months of crappy, cold, wet, miserable weather.

This is exactly what I fear about moving. We just moved to the Palm Desert area from Santa Cruz less than 3 months ago. We thought we were over Santa Cruz completely after living with the fog for 3 years, but I miss it already. I'm just not feeling the desert for my girls. I just don't know that Chicago is the answer.

[jaynetarzana]

Originally Posted by graffixjones

Living where it snows actually sounds kind of romantic, until you have to start shoveling it. .

Well said! I think about how nice the holidays would be with snow, but when the holidays are over, I'd like the winter to be over as well. Too bad it doesn't work that way and instead sticks around for another 4-5 months!

[nanannie]

Originally Posted by jaynetarzana

We are considering a move from the Palm Desert area to Chicago. I hear this "made it through the winter" stuff all of the time from people who live in the Midwest. I wonder to myself whether I want to feel like I am making it through my life? We grew up in Michigan so I understand the winters all too well. I was miserable in the cold. The thunderstorms in the summer were great, but the humidity was awful and the bugs weren't fun either. But we have two little ones now, so we are thinking about going back for my husbands career (his company's main office is in Chicago), better schools, less rampant materialism, better air quality and to be within a 5 hour drive of family. Like I said though, I'm just not sure that I want to make it through every winter. It can start snowing and getting cold in October and not stop until May sometimes! That is quite a winter. My feeling is that we are going to move all the way to Chicago and come running back to California - AGAIN! We tried to move back once because we couldn't afford a house here. We bought a fixer, remodeled it ourselves and sold it quick so we could get back to where it was warm.

In all my years living in the Chicago area (moved from Oregon almost 20 years ago), I dont recall every having a snow season oct to may. There are definite seasons with some changes to the norm on occasion.The huge snows are few and far in between and loved by kids young and old( you get plenty of notice to plan for it) I learned to love the seasons, and the lovely homes , hoods, towns, schools, family life we could provide for the kids.

[GregJ]

I live in Long Beach. Over my career, I've been lucky enough to live in Santa Barbara, Napa Valley, and even the SF Bay Area. Not a rich boy, just Joe Middle Class who worked for the government.

I keep hearing how miserable SoCal is so I went back to work with the fed's and moved to Northern Virginia to see if life was better. After a year, I'm glad to be back in Long Beach. Great weather, nice city, near the beach, and best of all: back rubbing elbows with my fellow Southern Californians (fortunately, not all at the same time on the 405). I found so much envy from the people I worked with on the east coast for me because I was a California boy, and jealousy when I they found out I was headed back home. I really enjoyed living there TEMPORARILY but believe me, not for good.

SoCal really is a special place although I wish we weren't loving it to death. How many more millions can the place take before it sinks? In the last week, I talked to two people who retired and moved out of state and are now coming back home. Yeah, we're a little too "culturally diverse" but the good out weighs the bad for me.

Word of caution to those of you thinking of leaving: leave the door open so you can come back. Don't fall for the BS you get from realtors and the chamber of commerce in some "desert oasis" in a neighboring state or "agricultural" paradise in the midwest. There's a reason they don't have 38million people living there.