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Old 07-13-2006, 05:52 PM
 
436 posts, read 677,920 times
Reputation: 243

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It's not just this forum that I hear people discussing Greenville in the context of increased migration from other states. I think we're all honest enough to admit that it doesn't take too much of an influx to create a problem. We've all seen those "best of" & "great places to relocate" towns (Elijay, GA & Prescott, AZ anyone?) become overgrown. How long before Greenville's bloom is off the rose, and it's another sprawlsville? Hope not, but like they say in investing - 1) past performance is no guarantee of future rewards, and 2) by the time you've heard about a hot place/investment, you are already late to the party.

Last edited by brian_2; 07-13-2006 at 06:04 PM..
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Old 07-13-2006, 06:46 PM
 
4,657 posts, read 8,691,640 times
Reputation: 1363
Brian,
I'm not buying in Greenville for investment, that's what my house in Florda is for. I'm moving to Greenville to raise a family. Great family values, absolutely beautiful scenery, lots of jobs and cheap homes with property. Great restaurants too. I plan on being their long term. God willing.
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Old 07-13-2006, 08:48 PM
 
Location: San Francisco, ca
186 posts, read 834,182 times
Reputation: 158
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonrise
Trader Joes isn't a health food store it's an independant grocery chain...
I have been around TJ for years, so it is the same ole same ole. I went to the first one in south pasadena WAY back. I have been to about 15 total. They are all over. I like trader joes, but for me, it is an everyday store. It isnt that I dont like it, but in-n-out and trader joes are to me what safeway and mcdonalds are to middle America (sorta). I have always been around them so they are nothing special, although good in their own right. They are WAY better than albertsons and mcdonalds, but I wouldnt say that those are the best things CA has to offer. Not even close!

If you go to places in San Francisco and even LA you will know what I mean. If you go to the russian stores, indian stores, asian stores, italian stores, or awesome specialty stores in SF and sausalito(not sure about LA), you will know what I mean. Any international item in the world, any spice, root, cheese, whatever, you can practically get in a place like san francisco (probably LA). Again, trader joes isnt bad at all, but it definitely shouldnt be the highlight of someones stay in CA. Beyond trader joes, there are places like the nugget, the co-op, organic foods, and tons of other chains all over CA, so like I said, they are good, but not that big a deal.

Also, about other states chaning my perpsective, they dont. It is no secret that CA is expensive. It always has been, always will be. In 1990, a home in SF cost 300K while a home in mississippi cost around 70K. Sure, SF was more than 4 times more expensive than mississippi, but who cared then? very few people would leave SF for mississippi or most southern states. CA has always been way more expensive, it is just that now that housing has exploding nationwide, it has effected CA the most, and that is the problem. My uncle lives in dallas, and has a 2700 sq ft. home for 180K. His home is beautiful, but the only problem with buying a home in texas is that you have to live there. I would be SHOCKED if a home in greensville cost more than 275K, so the 209K figure you gave me was around my expectations.

For me, I dont need 3000 sq. ft. I only need enough to fit my family, and 1800-2200sq ft. would do just fine.

Anyhow. When are you planning on moving? Have you found a place yet?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonrise
Btw, how can they be nothing like you wanted? They were your answers. lol...
It was definitely wrong. I really should make my own site, or update theirs, but alas I dont have time to. Anyhow, thanks for the site, at least if gives me cities?!?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonrise
That's funny, over the 4th of July my bro in law had a party and everyone did the quiz...
That is REALLY awesome. Despite our "disagreements" I think it is REALLY cool that you found what you are looking for. Really cool.

Last edited by Marka; 07-14-2006 at 01:33 AM..
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Old 07-14-2006, 01:55 PM
 
Location: Working on relocating
800 posts, read 4,289,959 times
Reputation: 508
Heee heee! When I did the quiz a while back on pick your spot bit, I had El Paso too! I think I could only live in Austin, TX though...LOL.

Sonrise--not really 'well off,' just wise with our money Thanks for the kind words, btw. P.S. I live in Metro-Detroit...You can get a killer house here really cheap right now 'cause it's a buyer's market LOL...but not near an ocean...lots of lakes and 3 Trader Joe's Totally wild today...I saw 2 bedroom condos (new ones mind you) for $59,900 down the street for me...I was thinking about how the same one would cost $400-600K in L.A. area...hee hee!

It's really not bad here...'cept the weather...and some people not understanding my interests and focus on health, spirituality, etc. (ever feel like an outcast? LOL). Everyone freaks out here too, thinking the automotive companies drive our economy, which is partially true, but hard nonetheless.

I'll be visiting So. Cal. this fall, but this time with hubby Yep, we'll be looking at condos and hey, maybe even 'manufactured' homes some place in the hills LOL For our second starter home Ha ha ha
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Old 07-14-2006, 04:23 PM
 
34 posts, read 148,392 times
Reputation: 117
Actually, the best weather in the country is in San Diego followed by Honolulu, but that's neither here nor there.
While it can be cool to split a $2500 rent and hang out at all the hip places and work at a job where you make lotsa $, your priorities do change as you mature. California has always been my home. My family has owned real estate in SoCal since the 1960s. Our "grand" lifestyle is easily affordable only because we are lucky (blessed) to have little or no mortgages and higher-end paying careers. Being able to travel this country and the world allows you opportunity to view things from a broader perspective... this is why I stated that California is not "all that". There are hundreds of affordable, lovely places to live in the U.S. I am at the point where I travel 3-5 months out of the year. Coming home to "California" is like being on vacation now. A visit to Disneyland can still be new and refreshing. Even so, when I "retire" I will put down roots elsewhere. The point I wanted to make is that one should not compromise a good quality of life in exchange for so-called sunny days (or a double double; Trader Joe's is a gourmet grocery - it's clone existing many places). If you cannot afford beyond a ghetto-like exisitence here, your dollars may stretch much nicer elsewhere. Your home should be your sanctuary.
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Old 07-14-2006, 07:23 PM
 
Location: San Francisco, ca
186 posts, read 834,182 times
Reputation: 158
Quote:
Originally Posted by TriciaK57
Actually, the best weather in the country is in San Diego followed by Honolulu, but that's neither here nor there.

I would contest that redondo, hermosa, and manhattan in LA county are better than or equal to San Diego depending on what you like. San Diego doesnt get super warm (like mid-high 80's) on the beach (lajolla), while the beach cities occassionally reach mid-high 80's so you can lay on the beach or take a swim even if there is an ocean breeze. I think San Diego is exactly the same as the beach cities but maybe 3 degrees cooler on average year round. I personally like 70 degrees year round with the chance of a really warm day to take a swim or walk on the bech. Of course the "beach cities" are not technically LA .
Quote:
Originally Posted by TriciaK57
Being able to travel this country and the world allows you opportunity to view things from a broader perspective... this is why I stated that California is not "all that".
Hmmm. I have to been to france, england, japan, and australia. Of course I have been to hawaii, philly, miami, new york, chicago, most of Arizona and Texas, as well. Although I LOVE sydney, tokyo, and paris, I still think CA is "all that". CA, NYC, and chicago are as close as you are going to get to the other world cities. There are other world class cities like Geneva, oslo, etc., but there is a bigger problem there than here. Not only do houses cost 1 million euro, but there are very few jobs compared to LA, so the wonderful places in europe are less affordable than the cities in CA. Actually the economic plight of france and expensive housing has caused rioting over the years.

That being said, CA has almost EVERYTHING in the world in a 2-3 hour radius in north or south ca. you want big national forests/parks? you got it. You want 15 downtown/oldtowns(LA,glendale,burbank,santa monica, culver, manhattan, redondo, long beach, claremont, pomona, brea, pasadena, anaheim, newport, blah blah blah)? you got it. You want to ski, take a 3 hour drive. You want to go to another world class metro, take the train to SD. You want wine country, just take a 2 hour drive. You want 20 beaches (from dume beach north of malibu to lajolla SD), you got it. You want moutains to hike up? Just pick one of the most likely 50 trails to hike. You want to go to a beautiful place, malibu, santa barbara are an easy weekend trip. You want a small town, go to monrovia or claremont. you want authentic russian, japanese, thai, italian food? you got it. You want to make your own russian, japanese, thai, italian food? you got it. You want a large house on a hill, a luxury downtown loft, a beach house, or other waterfront property? take your pick. The ensemble of california has just as many things to see and do as 10 smaller states combined. Add to that the pleasant weather that lets you hike, bike, walk, and enjoy the outdoors year round. Yes, CA is all that.

LA has crime, traffic, smog and is very expensive, but lets be honest here. Every museum, store, restaruant, night club, music spot, performing arts, beach, park, mountain, or special organization you could ever want is within a 2 hour radius. No one can deny that. And no you cannot find that in a small town in mississippi. What you can find in that small town is an affordable house with less crime, traffic, and smog compared to "LA center". One couldnt say a small town is more beautfiul than the ensemble of Socal and keep a straight face. If you can find a town that looks better than santa barbara, laguna beach, newport beach hills, crystal cove, la jolla, claremont, and other small towns surrounding the LA area, then you really have found a world secret.

I think if any of us could work and live comfortably in claremont, manhattan beach, laguna beach, calabassas, newport, or santa barbara and occasionally visit LA for the positive things a world-class city has to offer, there would be no discussion about greenville SC, or towns in Idaho.

So, to summarize, if one can afford everything CA has to offer, you better believe CA is "all that" and much more!
[/quote]
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Old 07-15-2006, 02:17 PM
 
4,657 posts, read 8,691,640 times
Reputation: 1363
Jlrobe,
To each his own, but I feel that I have to make 1 thing clear. I'm not leaving Cali just because the housing market is expensive. We make a very good salary, but not for SoCal. That being said, weighing the pros and cons, staying here is not something I look foward to.

I want to leave SoCal for many reasons:

1) Too expensive. All financial publications and analysts say that California is 35% overpriced. Home prices, taxes, fees. No thanks, I choose not to be a sucker.

2) Illegals are over running the state. Again, by all accounts illegals cost the taxpayer 3 billion a year in services. I'm the son of an immigrant and married to an immigrant. Difference is they both are legal and were proud to be American, learning the language and trying to assimilate. When the march of criminals took place in downtown a few months ago, it became official. We live in bizarro world. How dare anyone who is here illegally demand anything? What part of ILLEGAL do people not understand? Thing is, apparently my opinion is in the minority here and that boggles my mind. In most every other state my view is the common one, but not here in the Peoples Republic of California.

3) Seriously, the weather isn't "all that". It's 100 degreees out as I'm writing this and we won't have any rain for the next 6 months. Besides when a gray/brown film is hovering over the sky for 5 out of 7 days, how great is that? I can smell the smoke from the fires going on right now and this has become a yearly occurance. This is after all really a dirty brown desert with some fake greenery thrown in. Not as bad as Phoenix or Vegas though. How about a little variety?

4) Believe it or not, LA doesn't have the market cornered on ethnic foods and restaurants. Even in Greenville a mid sized city by all accounts you can find many Japanese/sushi, thai, chinese, indian, middle eastern, greek, italian, vietnamese,mexican, etc. restaurants. This isn't the 70's the country is pretty multi-ethnic.

5) Traffic. As I've stated in a previous post, I live in Burbank. For 8 months I was working in Culver City/Marina Del Rey. It would take me almost an hour and a half, each way to go about 24 miles. There was an article in the Times about a year ago about people in the valley, i.e 818ers whowouldn't date anyone over the hill, and vise versa, beacause the commute was just too much to bear. My inlaws live in Valencia and sometimes it takes us so long to get up there, just a straight shot up the 5 but the traffic both ways is nuts. Ona saturday, btw. My bro in law has to get up at 4 am to get to work on the west side by 6. What kind of quality of life is that?

6) Quality of life. I'm 34 and thinking of starting a family. How can I raise kids here when, unless we're millionaires my wife would have to work and our kids would be in daycare all day. Not to mention we have the most amount of pedophiles per capita in the country, I believe. Check out familywatchdog.us for more details. When we visited Nashville and Greenville kids were playing in the neighborhood and backyards with one another and parents weren't gripped with fear that some perv may snatch them at any moment. Also, as we drove through neighborhoods people waveed and smiled at us. I felt like we were on a movie set. lol i'm used to stares and middle fingers by strangers not polite greetings. Oh and guess what, you actually get a backyard bigger than a picnic table with the homes.

So no, even if the homes were more affordable here, I wouldn't want to stay. You would. To each his own. Peace.
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Old 07-15-2006, 08:09 PM
 
436 posts, read 677,920 times
Reputation: 243
Default Do you know the way?

So Cali, so crowded, so Cali, so blue - always reinventing, but never coming out new.

Traffic worse? (yes), frustration increasing? (tap that fat home equity for something new & shiny (or go to that new restaurant/bar where every waitress is under 5' 2' and you walk on a plexiglass floor where you can watch the fishies) - might soothe the naysayer beast within), border crossings? - onward ever onward regardless of Sacramento and DC hot air (say ola to the twenty or so guys hanging out on the corner near you). Still there? Good. Do you know the way to San Jose? No? Ever really listen to the lyrics of that song? (washing any cars, waiting any tables) - not yet? Good, glad to hear it. LA/Valley's fastest growing business (still) - XXX (whatever pays the bills) film production. Oh joy. How many sad, pathetic middle-aged + guys are glued to web**** in their offices at work and home? "Hi honey, I'm home" (with a hard on again). F-L-A-S-H.. and today's business meeting discussion - same as every business day discussion, "What time can we cut out of here to dodge the heaviest traffic." Gawd, what a life. Pray you've got a good inheritance coming down the pike you poor Angelinos - you're probably going to need one, you don't want to wind up like Bukowski (or do you?!). Well, that's the Brian 2 report 4 today - bye bye till later. And smile dammit, smile, you're living in SoCal - right? Got to look the part.

Last edited by brian_2; 07-15-2006 at 08:58 PM..
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Old 07-15-2006, 10:23 PM
 
10 posts, read 64,616 times
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Thanks to Jlrobe's words. I am thinking about live in CA: LA, San Diego.... Did you mention about some area that you hang out, such as:Manhattan, santa monica, venice, malibu, west hollywood, beverly hills, west LA?

I would like to visit some of the cities (areas) first, maybe San Diego, LA. Because I have no idea about CA, even no idea about how far from San Diego to LA? I have heard of malibu, west hollywood. Are they very expensive to live too.
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Old 07-16-2006, 03:03 AM
 
Location: San Francisco, ca
186 posts, read 834,182 times
Reputation: 158
Quote:
Originally Posted by nameone
Thanks to Jlrobe's words. I am thinking about live in CA: LA, San Diego.... Did you mention about some area that you hang out, such as:Manhattan, santa monica, venice, malibu, west hollywood, beverly hills, west LA?

I would like to visit some of the cities (areas) first, maybe San Diego, LA. Because I have no idea about CA, even no idea about how far from San Diego to LA? I have heard of malibu, west hollywood. Are they very expensive to live too.
I am flattered that you want to move solely based on my word, but I will elaborate.

Are there tons of jazz houses, interesting districts, cities, downtown areas, wine galleries, festivals, breweries, beach's, clubs, lounges, bar's, poetry readings, art events, unique one of a kind venues, underground music scene, shopping, restaruants, ethnic stores, etc.? Yes. No one will refute that LA county and Orange county have just about anything and everything and lots of it. But that isnt the end-all-be-all

with any big city, you get more crime with higher population. LA is also very expensive. In addition to that you will be driving about 1.5 hours round trip to get to and from your distant locations on the weekends (dont think about driving far on week days). Traffic is bad, smog is bad, and it is crowded here. You will meet really cool creative hip fun people here, but you WILL also run into yuppies, wannabes, and just down right nasty people. I grew up in a large city, so big city vices dont bother me as much. You need to prepare yourself for the negatives that you will experience.

I have hung out all over LA over the years, and I have seen or have been to many other areas. All of the places you mentioned I have been to. I consider myself an explorer. I try anything and everything and try to get to know my city and surrounding area as much as I possibly can. My philosophy is why travel the world when I havent even explored my backyard? Every area you mentioned is quite fun and quite nice.

Malibu and west hollywood are quite expensive. YOu cant rent an apartment in Malibu but you can sublease a person's beach house. Usually it is about 1400/room (assuming 3 roomates sharing one place), and 5000/house for rent. WeHo is as cheap or expensive as you like. If you want trendy upscale urban living you can spend 1800/month for a 1 bedroom luxury loft. If you want thrift, you can find a one bedrrom for maybe 1100, or share a 3 bedroom for 800 a piece.

San Diego is about 2.5 hours from LA due to traffic. You can take a 3 hour train if you dont want to drive. Geographically LA and San Diego are maybe 120 miles apart, or under 2 hours, but you will never get to SD in that kind of time.

If you find good friends easily, like to party, enjoy doing lots of different cultural things, and dont mind inconveniences here and there, then you would most likely like CA. If you are more quiet town type that doenst really care for the scene or having access to all the good things LA has to offer, then you will probably get tired of LA fast.

do your research. Find all the fun places to see, and come down to CA and visit. Dont just hit the dance clubs up. Hit up some of the outdoor activits like the vistas or the beaches. Hit up the underground music scene and some of the comedy clubs. Go to some intimate jazz houses. Basically, when you come here, mix up what you do so you can sample the whole scene and get a sampling of different crowds to see if you can see yourself fitting in here.

DO NOT MOVE HERE unless you have visited the area and have a realistic idea of the cost of living. Lastly, I will say that people find the cost of living and the transportation system to be LA's biggest downfalls.
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