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Hi, wife and I are falling in love with California. However, COL is high. It's not terribly high compared to current State living in. Also you a seem to get more bang for your buck and pay matches high COL.
We enjoy SoCal area. Love the sun being out most of the time. Enjoy the days being warm and nights being cool. Outside of occasional storms and wildfires weather seems to be somewhat stable. Enjoy the change in climate from desert to almost a Mediterranean climate closer to the coast.
Enjoy the open spaces. Feels that a lot of California people are packed in like sardines, but open areas are well preserved.
We also enjoy how young the infrastructure is mostly out here and how developed infrastructure is. Really helps alleviate traffic.
The State seems like health nuts can exercise 24/7.
Is there any other States that are similar to California?
No other US state has the combination of natural features that CA does, let alone its mix of manmade attributes.
Coastal CA is indeed dubbed a Mediterranean climate. Sometimes people call parts of western WA Mediterranean but they are only like that for a very short time in summer, and not as warm, either. And you won't have even a fraction of the outdoor recreation lovers out and about--not by a long shot! If you want the option to play OR work outdoors 24/7, southern CA can't be beat.
Southern CA is paradise in many ways, hell in some if you don't like crowds or traffic or cost.
I love visiting CA, don't think I could live there longterm. But it is nice to read a post from someone who sees what is good and bad about it. So many CA posts just bash it.
Closest match, weatherwise, that I know of is the southwesternmost part of OR (immediately bordering NW CA). It is not a match in other ways, though, especially jobs. And its weather still isn't like southern CA's.
There are other states with open areas that are well preserved. There are other states with health nuts that exercise. The pay really doesn't match the high cost of living...find a COL calculator, that compares cities all over the country with what you need to earn to have the same standard of living, and you'll find that the pay does not compensate for that. The sun shines in every state, but watch out for too much sun, as skin cancer is rampant. The weather in California beats most other states, and there is a lot of beauty along the coast. Other states also have beauty, it's just different. One doesn't, necessarily, trump another..that's subjective. So, that's my answer...
If you're looking for an alternative that has nice natural environment, nice weather and low COL, I suggest Florida. No other state is going to be like California though. However, there also isn't another state like Florida, nor another state like New York, nor another state like Ohio.
I would say Colorado is probably the next closest, as witnessed by the number of CA transplants.
There are tons of NY transplants in FL but that doesn't mean that FL is the state most comparable to NY. Both CA and CO are western states with similarities, but the lack of a coast in CO is a very, very significant difference.
Want good coastal weather at a more reasonable cost? Try the Oregon and Washington coast.
Want sun? Try Arizona or New Mexico.
Want a good tech job market? Try Dallas or Austin
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