Considering a move back to Calif.? Please help! (San Diego, Orange: sales, rental) - Orange County - California (CA) - City-Data Forum

herethereandeverywhere · 02-09-2008, 08:20 AM

It seems like most of the posts here are about people leaving and it's quite understandable to some extent. Home prices are far too high and just depending upon where you choose to live in CA., the traffic can be murder. OK, having lived there before, I will admit CA. has its share of fake, 'plastic' people but it's also true that you find what you are looking for. If you live in the South you can certainly find rednecks but that doesn't mean there are not many educated, forward thinking progressive people there. I remember CA. as a diverse state comprised of interesting people from all over the world. Having lived around the country and travelled extensively, it seems that the positives and negatives of most places tend to be greatly exaggerated. It also seems as if many people like to complain about how others are not like them and how other places suck because they are not just like their original home. Talk about narrow minded, fake and plastic!!

I'm considering moving back as I figure I can always rent. I don't really care about buying a home right now as the market is so overpriced. It might drop another 10-50% in certain areas and it could be another year or maybe even 5 more before the rebound begins. So what! There are so many great things to do and see in Calif. and again, you can find good friends if you choose them wisely.

I am trying to decide on the Southeast or coming back to a CA. city like Temecula or San Luis Obispo. (an area that has growth but nowhere near the traffic of LA, Orange Co. and San Diego and no I don't mind the heat at all. As a matter of fact, I like the fact that the inland areas don't get blanketed in as much by all the fog that coastal Ca. frequently gets) Can anyone help me out with some good reasons to move back or not to move back? Thoughts??? Has anyone moved away and come back to CA. and can you share your thoughts or experience?

Thanks to all.

JakeDog · 02-09-2008, 12:33 PM

Don't go to the Southeast unless you like bugs and humidity.

herethereandeverywhere · 02-09-2008, 02:24 PM

I'm from the East so the humidity does not bother me as much as someone from out West.

herethereandback · 02-09-2008, 02:29 PM

In 1999 I moved from So Cal to Colorado for a cleaner, more affordable, real life, with fewer crazies and less silicone. In 2001 the dot com I worked for in Colorado went under and had a BK. Scared, I went home to Cali and got a job as a contractor that was supposed to turn permanent, only that company had a hiring freeze in 2001 and was also faced with the same industry cutbacks, it just hit So Cal later. So in 2002, still without permanent employ in So Cal and realizing I left my better life in Colorado for nothing, I applied for graduate school and went back to Colorado. So I was in grad school, and the same company I worked for b4 restructured from their BK and hired me back, only for half my previous pay because wages went down, not up. Then they cancelled the tuition reimbursement program while I was in grad school and finally sent my new, lower paying job to India 9 months later.

I stuck around one more year just long enough to finish the degree and, went back to Cali to bury my terminally ill mother and look for greener pastures when the economy turned around. That was two years ago and I'm in Nor Cal, SSDD. Too many people, housing too high, wages not keeping pace because too many compete for the same jobs pushes wages down.

Moral to the story: The grass always looks greener on the other side. If I had stuck to my original reasons for leaving, I'd be better off rather than panic and try to second guess an unstable economy. Of course I did have a death in my family here. But here I am stilll unable to buy anything in Calif, making less money than I did eight years ago. Hating the plastic people and all about "ME" money-centered mentality. I miss real life and real people in Colorado who will actually stop and help you if you break down on the roadside.

At the end of the day jobs come and go, but the people you choose to bond with will be at your funeral. My advice to you is, if you left Calif for good reasons the first time, you know what they say it true: You can never go home. It's never the same because you changed. So, move forward not backwards. I say this as I pack up for the last time, headed back to Colorado and not looking back this time. People actually miss me and remember me there. Out here everyone is in such a hurry they just drive in and out their garages and shut the door.

Live where you feel accepted and supported by the people around you.

nebulous1 · 02-09-2008, 03:58 PM

Live where you feel accepted and supported by the people around you.[/quote]

Read that one with tears in my eyes.
I lost my job.
I cannot find work in my field where I am. I am not even from Indiana. I can't go back to Ohio,where my family is, no jobs in my field there either. The midwest isn't crawling with jobs where you can find something that pays a livable wage and benefits, if your field is bad.
My daughter moved to CA to live with Dad. Can't blame her. Now my son wants to go, because Dad is more financially secure.
I am kicking myself for having stayed home with them when they were young. After divorcing, it has been hard to get on my feet, even after going back to college.
I can move somewhere and find a job, but I will be alone. I am in my 50s so it is hard to start life over and not be around anyone.\
I feel I have no options.
And you're right, the people you love matter most.
But I cannot move and be by my kids in California, because I would not make enough money to get by there.

Charles · 02-10-2008, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by herethereandeverywhere

Can anyone help me out with some good reasons to move back or not to move back? Thoughts??? Has anyone moved away and come back to CA. and can you share your thoughts or experience?

Thanks to all.

You wrote about just about everything we wouldn't need to help you out. (Your profile is "Not answered" so we can't glean anything from it.)

What line of work are you in?
Where do you expect to find a job if you come back to California?
Married? Kids?
What rental budget do you have?

herethereandeverywhere · 02-10-2008, 08:03 PM

Charles,

I am married, work in sales (financial), and have no kids. I would imagine that if I came back I would find a job in OC or the Inland empire somewhere. A rental budget would be somewhere between $1,500-$1,900.

Charles · 02-10-2008, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by herethereandeverywhere

Charles,

I am married, work in sales (financial), and have no kids. I would imagine that if I came back I would find a job in OC or the Inland empire somewhere. A rental budget would be somewhere between $1,500-$1,900.

What about your spouse? One person moving and getting a new job is complicated. Two people getting jobs (I assume) is really complicated. Other things to consider are future kids, location of parents and relatives, time spent outside of workplace (hobbies, etc.).

A lot of people have speculated like you did that the the housing market will fall further, so renting is wise now (supposedly) and you'd have flexibility. Besides, if moving back to California doesn't work out, you can always move again.

Donna7 · 02-11-2008, 12:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nebulous1

Live where you feel accepted and supported by the people around you.

Read that one with tears in my eyes.
I lost my job.
I cannot find work in my field where I am. I am not even from Indiana. I can't go back to Ohio,where my family is, no jobs in my field there either. The midwest isn't crawling with jobs where you can find something that pays a livable wage and benefits, if your field is bad.
My daughter moved to CA to live with Dad. Can't blame her. Now my son wants to go, because Dad is more financially secure.
I am kicking myself for having stayed home with them when they were young. After divorcing, it has been hard to get on my feet, even after going back to college.
I can move somewhere and find a job, but I will be alone. I am in my 50s so it is hard to start life over and not be around anyone.\
I feel I have no options.
And you're right, the people you love matter most.
But I cannot move and be by my kids in California, because I would not make enough money to get by there.[/quote]

Hey there!

You DO have options, don't tell yourself that you don't because I've found that life is a self-fullfilling prophesy; whatever you believe is what's going to manifest. You can't go back in time and change things, but you did a good thing by being with your children if that's what you wanted to do as they are only young once. Don't second-guess yourself. If you don't mind, may I make a recommendation of perhaps starting a course of study (books from the library) on the law of attraction? I really believe that you are NOT limited at all even though you think you are right now. You still have many more fulfilling years to live and be with your children. They need you to be around and be happy for many more years to come. Wishing you all the best and may you be blessed with much abundance (in all forms) always.

FarewellLA · 02-11-2008, 01:00 AM

I just returned from a weekend trip to Ohio... after landing at LAX I felt the tension rise up in me, I can't wait to leave So. California, and get back to Ohio... and this says a lot particularly today since when I left there today it was 6 degrees at the airport. Yikes. So, basically, I would not advise anyone who is doing well outside of CA to move here. And btw, I'm not a CA hater at all. I'm just trying to see things in a balanced way. CA is great for people who have roots here and/or for people who make a very good living. Good luck no matter what your choice.