Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Yes, the cost of living is expensive, but it is because a lot of people like or want to live there and there is limited space, so prices have to soar. And conservative areas (except the big cities) tend to be less expensive but you are trading them away for bad minimum wages, less worker protections, and less environmental friendly laws to keep you from inhaling more junk produced from oil and coal companies! And more poor people in those states. California has its share, but politicians at least discuss how to help them other than the conservative: "They are poor because of God!"
That is the worst justification for a cost of living I have heard of. I live in NM and I won't consider visiting a lot of CA because my $$ mean so much less there (that is it is damn expensive).
I think California is the best... AND the worst... in the nation. And I'm originally from there.
It's my favorite for scenery and scape - much more varied than a lot of people realize - and the weather in most of the state is most to my liking, but I like sun and heat. So many different things to do there most of the year, and the agriculture is incredible.
I despise it's politics, cost of living, over-crowdedness, illegal mass of people, taxes, ****-poor management, and it is currently governed by a madman (yes, I do think Moonbean is literally crazy).
I would love to move back for the pros, but I don't think I can adapt to the cons. Too much of it.
A lot of the Western states have beautiful scenery that probably rivals anything you can see in CA.
I only know NM politics, not CA politics so I can't comment.
San Diego is a few hours from Los Angeles,
Orange County not too far at all
Anahiem ( Disneyland ) 30 minutes from the city
Highest quality of life in the country easily.
California, Texas and Florida are by far the best states so it's a reason those places have alot pride.
When you say "best", I think what you mean "highest growth rate". I don't want to live in CA of FL. In fact I know another person that would live anywhere except FL.
Also, when you say "highest quality of life" you probably mean "highest cost of living".
California has tremendous assets. But is it the best State in the US? No.
It is not accessible to those with moderate means, unless you want to live in the agricultural centers.
The taxes are high and the cost of living is high outside of the Central Valley. Far Northern California could be the exception, but if you want to live there, you could probably do better in Oregon or Washington.
If making over $200K, Socal is a great spot anywhere from Ventura down to San Diego.
If making over $300K, Santa Barbara
If making over $500K, Bay area is nice.
If between $100K to $200K Phoenix and Tucson
If in the $200K range, Denver is another good spot
If under $100K, Tennessee, Arkansas or Florida
This is what is somewhat amazing to me: the median income for the US is $52K per year. There are many areas in the US where if you are making 6 figures, you are doing very well off. Your random pick of TN, AR, and FL just seems strange to me. Also the AZ cities don't have a high cost of living.
State lines are pretty arbitrary IMO. Outside of a few things like politics and taxes, I don't think State borders really matter as much as people on here make it seem. They're pretty much just imaginary lines in most cases (excluding Hawaii). I live in NYC and places like Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Albany, etc. are a completely different world to me and it doesn't really matter to me at all that I live in the State with those places since they are so far away and they mean nothing to me. Being in the same State as those places has zero effect on my life at all (again: politics aside).
I'm much more familiar and likely to identify with most places in NJ and even Connecticut before anywhere else in New York State. I think I'd have more in common with people from Jersey City than I would with somebody from Plattsburgh, NY. I'm a New Yorker (the city) first and a New Yorker (the State) second.
LA and San Francisco for example are well over 300 miles apart. I'm pretty sure the distance between NYC and Montreal in Canada is closer than that (but comparable). Same thing can be said about parts of Texas since it's even larger than CA.
It probably depends on where you live though. I think cities that are located directly on State borders and/or have metros that pass multiple State lines like NYC, DC, and Philly probably care less about State lines. Out West people seem to care about States a lot more. The biggest examples being California and Texas.
Really arbitrary, except politics and taxes! You also forgot laws. States have their own laws which matter.
Politics, Taxes, and laws, three very important things. So yeah state lines ARE important.
Take away politics and cost of living,California would be by far the most desirable state.
Even with the cost of living,we're still damn near 40 million deep in the Golden state.
If you can make it here,than you can for sure make it anywhere. Most advanced state by far !
Take away the massive overcrowdedness as well. Even celebs and tech zillionaires can't escape the awful traffic.
It's the best state for a lot of people, but it doesn't crack the top 10 for me. Been there, done that, never again. I only visit for family anymore. I'd take Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Maine, Vermont, Michigan, Minnesota, Maryland, DC, and New York first.
Take away politics and cost of living,California would be by far the most desirable state.
Even with the cost of living,we're still damn near 40 million deep in the Golden state.
If you can make it here,than you can for sure make it anywhere. Most advanced state by far !
Well, with such a high cost of living, I would not even consider it. That means my hard-earned dollars don't mean as much.
I like how you just brush aside politics, as if that is irrelevant.
Most advanced---REALLY!
Really arbitrary, except politics and taxes! You also forgot laws. States have their own laws which matter.
Politics, Taxes, and laws, three very important things. So yeah state lines ARE important.
...which falls under politics.
I think you're misunderstanding my point. Right, State lines are important when it comes to law/politics and taxes, which I didn't forget. Actually I specifically stated that, and you even quoted me
Where it's arbitrary is if I live in NYC for example, and I say that I love living in NY State because we have Niagara Falls or something like that. That's 400 miles away! Same thing can be said about LA and SF, or Reno to Las Vegas.
OTOH, let's say I want to go hiking in New Jersey Palisades. It's in another State, but directly across the bridge from NYC. You can walk there from Manhattan.
Most of NJ, CT, and even part of PA have more to do with where I live than the majority of NY State.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
