Californians are moving to Colorado in droves again (Denver, Colorado Springs: established neighborhood, tenants)

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

So long as people keep moving here in hordes, there is no doubt that it will . . .

I wouldn't worry about the too much. The mere mention of snow or temps below 50 degrees makes most Californians sick to their stomaches. Colorado doesn't have Hollywood working overtime promoting it like California does either. The typical California forum post goes something like "I'm 19, have no education, no money, no job skills, and have never been to California but I know I have to live there." I don't see too much of that in the Colorado forum.

[Bideshi]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

The typical California forum post goes something like "I'm 19, have no education, no money, no job skills, and have never been to California but I know I have to live there." I don't see too much of that in the Colorado forum.

Unfortunately I see quite a lot of it. Many people think that they can run away somewhere to escape what they consider a humdrum life, ie, having to work at a low paying job to survive and not being able to afford the lifestyle that they imagine they deserve. "I have to live like this, so this place sucks!". They blame the place rather than their own lack of qualifications, education, dedication, and willingness to work many years to achieve reasonable goals. They want it all and they want it now and wherever they are currently living is not giving it to them. So, they head for California, Colorado, or Katmandu, or wherever they imagine their personal Shangri La to be. Life will be a great disappointment for most of them. Bummer.

[vbuck]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

The people most fed up with California are the small business class. Those are the type of people most likely to contribute to their new state's tax and employment base.

That is so true. California is taxing the heck out of small businesses, like us, and it just keeps getting worse. Then they wonder why we're all moving out. Those of us with small businesses will be helping Colorado's economy, not hurting it.

[Justin S.]

You are all wrong about this subject.... it's all MY fault, and I'm sorry

Seriously though, there are some good points being made. I myself am in CA and getting ready to move to (back to) CO.

I grew up in Northern New Mexico, but was shuffled off to California when I joined the Navy. I spent two years in Long Beach and two years in San Diego. The day that my enlistment was over, I packed up my jeep and headed to Colorado for school. I swore never to return to California (and this was in 96 mind you). I went back to California for a wedding and, go figure, met my wife. She was in med school so I moved back to California while she finished. That was almost 10 years ago! The plan was always to move back to Colorado, but her roots are deep here. She is one of those native Californians that likes it just fine in Cali.

Well anyway, I am getting my family out of this mess in SoCal before the roots get deeper and the kids get too old to break away from their friends. I remember living in Greeley (1996-98) and thinking that Denver was just way too crowded and big for me. Ha! Little did I know I would end up back in CA.

The issues with taxes, housing, suburban sprawl, government, etc... they exist everywhere to some degree or another. The population of the planet is growing as we speak:

population clock

Anyway, just thought I would share yet another story of a CA family moving to CO. Just know that I am not moving because I hate California, but instead because I love Colorado. I promise to do my part to keep it nice

[jazzlover]

I have to disagree about the types of people who are moving to Colorado from California. The "disgruntled small business people" make up a pretty small percentage of the transplants from what I have seen. A lot more common (but diminishing with the dying economy) are the trustifarians and equity locusts who come to Colorado with a bunch of money and plan to sit on their tails and live off of income from somewhere else. On its surface, that would seem OK, but these people are also the same ones who complain incessantly about Colorado taxes (especially on their property--ignoring the fact that Colorado has one of the lowest effective tax rates on residential property in the US--in fact, the taxes collected don't even pay for the services that the average residential property consumes), who constantly demand more government services (road maintenance, recreation centers, etc.--all the stuff they miss about California), who pine for more chain stores and restaurants like they had at home (that would be the ones that put locally-owned stores out of business), and who quite often think that they know better about everything--that people who have spent their whole lives in this region are a bunch of know-nothing sweaty rednecks that need those transplants' "enlightened leadership" (that would be the kind of "leadership" that has made California such a "wonderful" place such that these folks are begging to leave).

By no means are all of the Californians who are moving to Colorado the type that I have just described above. There are hard-working, honest folks who will contribute positively to Colorado. But I'm not sure they are even the majority of the transplants moving here. There are a lot of ne'er do wells in the mix, too.

[formercalifornian]

Jazz, I'll say it again: my neighborhood is filled with former Californians and all of us continue to work in the same sorts of 9-5 jobs we held in California. We are engineers, dentists, physicians, IT workers, sales reps, teachers, retail clerks, restaurant workers, government employees, and, yes, small business owners, etc. We are not living off trusts, we are living off our salaries, which, fortunately, go a bit further here. I have no doubt that you've run into a few, maybe even more than a few, of the types you've described above, but by no means do they represent the majority of people who have moved to Colorado after living in California.

[vegaspilgrim]

Originally Posted by formercalifornian

Jazz, I'll say it again: my neighborhood is filled with former Californians and all of us continue to work in the same sorts of 9-5 jobs we held in California. We are engineers, dentists, physicians, IT workers, sales reps, etc. We are not living off trusts, we are living off our salaries, which, fortunately, go a bit further here. I have no doubt that you've run into a few, maybe even more than a few, of the types you've described above, but by no means do they represent the majority of people who have moved after living in California. Please stop the generalizing.

He says that because he lives on the west slope, so the rich people who don't work are the type of Californians he sees on a day to day basis. He doesn't live in Denver, where normal people from all walks of life live.

[Scott5280]

It's intersting to hear people's views on this----My family goes way back here in the state--Great great grandfather was mayor of Breckenridge--family owned some of the original merchantiles on the western slope-as well as Aspen, Breckenridge..strong ties to ranching, agriculture..Some of the first people to attend DU.. and Colorado State which was then Colorado A&M...My point is I grew up here very much a native and so did many of my friends..more than a few of us moved to California and worked, played ect. in the Golden State..I of course have returned..however I still own property in Newport and enjoy being there for several weeks here and there..I pay California property taxes as well ...I have met many people here from this state that have moved out there or just spend winters there ect..You would be amazed at the number of Colorado trustafarians that call Cali.. home...do nothing but surf and party all day on daddy's money from Denver/Boulder ect.. so it's not entirely unique that the Californian's coming to Colorado are the only culprits...Actually I did a deed search on a few coastal OC. zips..a lot of Coloradian's own property there..a very large number of property owners there are from Tex,NYC,NJ,NEV.COL. I agree that we are currently being invaded by Californian's though..and because that state is so huge--the numbers are greater coming here than visa vera ..Let's not forget that California is a playground for Colorado as well...We should however wake up and legislate some firm development restrictions , and plan smarter growth now or we will be very, very sorry...I like others there have watched parts of California turn into a more hostile, third world like place, where the problems of local and state government remain apathetic, and incompetent..Educational system is failing..uneducated population is moving in..physical,financial, infrastucture is collapsing...and the Governator like Nero once did is playing the fiddle while Rome slowly burns..not pretty at the moment..Any way back on topic: I have actually witnessed more of the substantially educated sect of Californian's moving here..more productive people than the ones typically sticking behind..So what we need to do now like it or not is start brain washing people here..start working hard now on "what not to do, and learn from the Golden States great mistakes." or we could all leave this place for the newcomers and slowly start colonizing Idaho,Wyoming, and Alaska...Than we would be the invaders...

[formercalifornian]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

The mere mention of snow or temps below 50 degrees makes most Californians sick to their stomachs.

Believe it or not, there is an entire state north of Los Angeles with quite a few people living there. Some of us had even experienced snow before we moved to Colorado, and not just on the slopes.

[CosmicWizard]

Bideshi wrote:

They want it all and they want it now and wherever they are currently living is not giving it to them. So, they head for California, Colorado, or Katmandu, or wherever they imagine their personal Shangri La to be. Life will be a great disappointment for most of them. Bummer.

Yeah, but some of them WILL find their shangri-la, and the poor security addictees who were afraid to take a risk have NO chance of finding their shangri-la. While it's not my personal style, I really don't blame anyone for wanting it all. Since I'm an incredibly patient son of a gun, I do take issue with the wanting it now part, but who am I to judge. If someone can plainly see that they will never have the kind of lifestyle they aspire to live, where they are currently living, it makes sense to move on. Why stay in a place that does not match your preferences, wether it is a Colorado perceived as being overrun with suburbia, developers, and trustafarians, or a rust belt city in appalachia with an unemployment rate of 20% during the good times. IMO, those who have the COURAGE to look for greener pastures, no matter how ignorantly and foolsihly they may approach it, demonstrate more personal integrity than someone who constantly complains about the changes they don't approve of. These are usually the same people who stay put right where they are, and expect newcomers to live according to THEIR preferences because they were there first.