[connkid]

I couldn't help but nod with approval as I read the comments of both JViello and Skytrekker regarding the merits of living in CT v. Florida or the southeast!

I grew-up in the Hartford area (Manchester and Windsor), and left in 1974, a year after graduating from Windsor High School, as my father took a job in Palo Alto, CA, the San Francisco Bay area.

Let me share with you my insights, for what their worth, on moving to CA, more particularly the San Francisco Bay area. Although not as congested as the Los Angeles basin or Orange county, the Bay Area has continued to grow (just over seven and one-half (7.5) million) souls populate the nine (9) counties that are known as the Bay area. People out here think nothing of commuting to work driving 65, 75, up-to 100-plus mile treks to work on a daily basis. To many, it's the chance to have a piece of the 'California Dream'! The California Dream may have been here in the 1950's and 1960's, but as with many other things, the CA Dream is now a distant memory.

One does not live in CA, but merely exists. As mentioned above, the reason that so many people are driving the great distances they do from their homes to employment centres, is the fact that CA home prices are out-of-reach for so many. With developers constrained by many no-or-slow growth policies in many of the communities in the SF area, it produces a very wide schism of the well-off, to the less fortunate. The less fortunate are the ones who pay their dues with the long commutes.

The only positive item, and that is a highly debatable item, is the fact that due to the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978 in CA which literally 'froze' the taxation of real property. Property taxes are calculated, on an average 1.25 per cent of the assessed valuation of the homes' value through-out the state. Property taxes are capped and can't be raised more than two (2) per cent-per year. The debatable part: Schools in CA rank in the high fortieth (40th) percentiles when it comes to education and test scores, because of the growing population (36.5 million residents estimated in 2007) there are not enough schools to handle the growth. Unless you are fortunate enough to live in an affluent community, or you place them in private school, chances are your children will otherwise be functional illiterates.

Attitude: Yes there is certainly one to be had here! People in CA, by and large, don't see beyond the states boundries, and are woefully ignorant when it come to the eastern seaboard! There is a shallow-side to these folks as they are running about trying to find true happiness (remember what I stated earlier about living v. existing here?) and peace of mind. To the brie eating and wine swilling mob in this area, they truly believe that the Bay area is Nirvana!

How many of them have ever spent an Autumn in CT, or New England, with the granduer of the brilliant leaves turning dazzling orange or red? Not many I fear, as they're rising at 4.30am to make the trek to work!

As much as people are want to complain about almost anything, the thing I will never complain about is having the chance, -more correctly- the privilege to have grown-up and lived, really lived, a normal existence in Connecticut.

So I say to all those who may want to head west in search of the California Dream: look before you leap, as with so many things here, things are seen through a variety of rose-coloured glasses! If you're from Connecticut, never forget your roots and the stabilty of having grown-up in the land of steady habits, as life in CA is anything but steady!

[skytrekker]

Thank you Connkid

many see the other side of the road with visions of paradise- 'The California' dream was just that- from the 1950's to about 20 years ago - but its no dream now.

I lived in CA ago a short time- and was enamored with the state for a long time. 'The California way of life' far superior to us in CT.
But when I began to see that things where not what I hoped they would be and I left. I have been back many times since- and enjoy vacationing in the state- but living there is another matter, unless you have at least 1 million dollars, have a $200,000 a year household income- and can put up with the rather weird people and esoteric culture. The weather is wonderful- and the outdoors have many recreational possibilities- but beyond that it is a thin veneer.

I feel the quality of life in California has decline rapidly because of the stratospheric housing prices, crowding, crime, gangs,traffic, poor schools, and crumbling infrastructure. To be sure if one has the means- you can still live a wonderful life- but the days of the Beach Boy's 1960's California are gone forever.