Why would you buy a home here in Ca? (Los Angeles: housing, condos)

[CBaillo]

Originally Posted by TrojanDLA

Places like Ithaca and most other parts of New England, as well as Great Lakes states like Wisconsin and Minnesota, have consistently ranked high on annual "Best Places to Live" lists for good reason - but unless you're White, those areas are not appealing options to minorities. As a minority, I am limited to where I can raise my family without concern for prejudice and stereotypes that would make growing up difficult for my kids. Areas most favorable for minority families are California, Texas, Florida, NYC, Atlanta and maybe Chicago.

excuse me? lol where do you get that info from? yes its very white, but ithaca is home to cornell university, which attracts students of all races around the country and world.. Ithaca is a very progressive open, and accepting city, as are the areas around it. There are no "minorities" in this area, just "people". Lesbians and homosexuals walk down the street hand in hand not fearing hatred or prejudice...mixed couples walk down the street as well w/ no one so much as batting an eye..

and heres a newsflash..I'm filipino, and my wife is irish, and we of course have a 4 year old MIXED child...all we've gotten is warm friendliness and small town kindness.

You're not helping the problem w/ diversity if you are segregating yourself.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by TrojanDLA

I would be gravely disappointed if SC did not win the NC this year - if there was a team that had all the players, this would be it.

Again, thank you for the excellent response.

I think the same could be said for last year's team too - and the year before....I grew up watching the great USC teams with Ricky Bell, Marcus Allen, Anthony Davis, Charles White...the list goes on. Every year it was Michigan vs Ohio State and USC vs UCLA for the Rose Bowl.

For fun, you might check out two threads I started "Worst LA Sports Losses" and "Greatest LA sports victories" (maybe the titles are slightly different). The Rose Bowl loss to Texas (Vince Young) was painful for me for six months. Also, If USC could have beaten lowly UCLA last year, they blew it. Bummer.

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by Californialeavin

I am leaving California for good, and before I am off I would really like a good laugh, so I am asking people to give me a good reason why anyone in their right mind would buy a 500k "junker"? California is nice, but not that nice.

It just kills me when people that are "hoping" to someday own a home here use the " I can go to the beach and mountains, in the same day excuse". Yes you can, if you have any money left from your 3000 dollar morgage payment.

SO, I am asking people like me that have lived here well over 15 years- is being broke, but having the "ability" to do things really that important to people here?? We are moving to TN, we did some reasearch and not only can I probably make more there,but for 500k I can get a 4000 + square foot mansion. Not that I would do that, but knowing that I can get a similar home that would cost 600k here for 180k there- why would I stay? Oh yes, probably for the traffic, smog, or maybe the promise that I might go bankrupt someday. And for those of you that say "there might be a big tornado in TN" , when is that last time we had a "big" earthquake here?? I predict California will be bankrupt in 10 years- face the facts and get out NOW while you still have a chance to make a good life for yourself, and your family...

I think you make a lot of valid points ... especially about disposable income. Afterall ... what good is it to live in a great area if you can't even afford to go out to dinner because your mortgage payment is too high?

And, let's face it ... everyone is going to be biased regarding their choices, whether they stay or leave. Afterall ... nobody wants to admit they made a mistake (myself included.)

But I have to take issue with some of your claims. For instance ... Tennessee salaries. You say you'll "probably" make more. And I'm sure it depends on which profession you're in but if you look at the BLS wage data ... it is one of the lowest paying states across the board. It's probably why housing prices are so cheap.

That's the tricky part of the cheaper cost of living in some states. Cheaper COL is only going to get you so far if wages are stagnant. Now, if you can find a cheap area with lots of growth potential then, it will probably be a different story.

On the other hand, growth doesn't always do the trick either. Just for illustration purposes ... one of the reasons why I decided to stay in California is because I'm an RN. And RN's here make the highest wages in the country. Nurses travel here from all over country and, even the world, because the pay is so much better.

But it's not because the hospitals want to pay more ... no industry wants to go out of their way to pay its employees more. The simple fact is, nurses make more here because California is a union state. Not that I'm trying to get into a union debate but, the fact is, they do a lot to increase wages. When you go to right to work states, wages drop like a rock in comparison. You're lucky if the wages barely keep up with the inflation.

That's why I decided to trade living on the coast and all of those amenities for a cheaper house in the California desert. I wanted a cheaper cost of living but with the higher wages that I could only get in California. Yes, I don't have the same lifestyle amenities like beaches, etc. but, on the other hand, I bank much more money which enhances my lifestyle in other ways.

So, all I'm suggesting is that if people are doing research on new places to live, they may want to thoroughly research wage history as much as anything else. Because, just based on my own experience ... cheap can easily mean stagnant wages if you're not careful about the area you choose to live.

[JackSparrow]

Originally Posted by sheri257

So, all I'm suggesting is that if people are doing research on new places to live, they may want to thoroughly research wage history as much as anything else. Because, just based on my own experience ... cheap can easily mean stagnant wages if you're not careful about the area you choose to live.

Why? When they can just complain about everything else without thinking at all.

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by JackSparrow

Why? When they can just complain about everything else without thinking at all.

LOL!

It's funny because my husband is a California native and he's been hearing the same thing for decades now ...

The state sucks, everybody's leaving or should leave, doom and gloom, etc. etc. etc.

He's still waiting for people to leave. Somehow, the population just keeps growing anyway.

[TrojanDLA]

Originally Posted by CBaillo

excuse me? lol where do you get that info from? yes its very white, but ithaca is home to cornell university, which attracts students of all races around the country and world.. Ithaca is a very progressive open, and accepting city, as are the areas around it. There are no "minorities" in this area, just "people". Lesbians and homosexuals walk down the street hand in hand not fearing hatred or prejudice...mixed couples walk down the street as well w/ no one so much as batting an eye..

and heres a newsflash..I'm filipino, and my wife is irish, and we of course have a 4 year old MIXED child...all we've gotten is warm friendliness and small town kindness.

You're not helping the problem w/ diversity if you are segregating yourself.

My bad for implying that Ithaca is intolerant - didn't mean to. As far as segregating myself, I would love to assimilate whenever the opportunity presents itself. The areas I prefer are not segregated cities, but ones where there is a great deal of diversity and tolerance. California is home to many such cities, which are why I would buy a home in California.

[ness]

Originally Posted by TrojanDLA

My bad for implying that Ithaca is intolerant - didn't mean to. As far as segregating myself, I would love to assimilate whenever the opportunity presents itself. The areas I prefer are not segregated cities, but ones where there is a great deal of diversity and tolerance. California is home to many such cities, which are why I would buy a home in California.

Hate to be bearer of bad news, but California is pretty segregated too. Blank blank area is considered Mexican, blank area is conidered Asian, etc.

[CBaillo]

lol exactly. I was born and raised in Long Beach, which at the time was all black. When I was 7 we moved to Norwalk, and we were (and to this day its still the same, if not worse) the only non hispanic family in our whole area, in a city that was majority hispanic. I moved to the valley wiht my wife (then fiance) and same thing as norwalk. We then moved to Simi Valley when we could afford to be in our own home. Simi valley was majority white.

Here in Ithaca, and the surrounding areas, there are no black/colored/hispanic parts of town. there are shadier parts of town sure, but not race related. It's pretty diversified and everyone lives together. So I still don't get your point. If you love CA fine, love CA, that's your viewpoint...but don't comment on places you've never been, just based on your preconceived notions. That's closed minded in its own sense.

[Floridagirl08]

LA is a big city. Don't most of these problems occur in most big cites: crime, overcrowding, the high cost of living?

[JerZ]

Originally Posted by Floridagirl08

LA is a big city. Don't most of these problems occur in most big cites: crime, overcrowding, the high cost of living?

Yeah, they definitely do, and for that matter, L.A. isn't even really all that high up there in crime per capita as compared to other cities. But, I think the point is about why one would go overboard on housing costs when they're not even getting safety or armspace in return. The thing is that as an above poster noted in another thread, L.A. isn't just AN expensive city, it is THE most expensive city to live in overall in the U.S. based on housing and cost of living v. income. So that's the "why"? part. If it were the least affordable place in the nation BUT what you got in return was something above and beyond the average city--say, to take one example, safety in those expensive areas--then it would probably be worth it to more people.

Now, of course L.A. does offer great things. It's hard to generalize, L.A. being so huge and varied, but it offers culture, events, night life, diversity, access to stores, all that "city" stuff that's great. But frankly, most other major U.S. cities do, too. The single outstanding feature that could make L.A. more worth it might be the weather, for people who like year-round warm weather, and scenic beaches. I believe those are the top features that make people at least try out L.A. (non-wealthy people).

ETA: How could I forget this? The weather isn't the only thing...it also has to do with people who were born and raised here. Their families are here, and familiarity is here, and that's probably another answer to "why?".