Would you do this relocation? NC to CA (Huntington Beach, Irvine: townhouse, teaching jobs)

[Lablitz]

I am very surprise by all the comments. I moved from East coast to Socal with a salary similar to the OP. What OP is describing is very doable.

family salary of atleast $150k+ to live in OC sounds crazy. I know plenty of families that make less.

Go for it OP, you won't regret it. Also you may want to post a similar question in the Orange Country forum section of city-data.com. The options over there may be different.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by IonRedline08

Me! My wife and I love it here.. We are DINK's, though. Our QOL is vastly better than the last two places we lived (Florence SC and San Antonio, TX)

I think California these days works best for high income DINKs. You can live in a crappy school district with great amenities. For families it sucks. School districts are expensive, day care is a zillion dollars and good schools are high stress for the kids.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by Lablitz

I am very surprise by all the comments. I moved from East coast to Socal with a salary similar to the OP. What OP is describing is very doable.

family salary of atleast $150k+ to live in OC sounds crazy. I know plenty of families that make less.

Go for it OP, you won't regret it. Also you may want to post a similar question in the Orange Country forum section of city-data.com. The options over there may be different.

When do you move? It was do able a few years ago. But in the last 3 years? Not really.

[SFBayBoomer]

Originally Posted by cyberfx1024

The people I know that don't complain about their QOL or COL are they ones that grew up here and either bought a house decades ago or got willed a house. The rest of us complain about traffic, gas prices, QOL.

The Quality of Life in California (except for some hot, dry, inland areas like Bakersfield, as one example) is very high; however traffic can be bad if one lives far from their place of work and does not have an alternative to clogged freeways. That can be miserable.

The key is to live closer to work. If the OP can find a a place to live within 40-50 minutes of work, preferably a commute that is not all slow traffic, I think the move is worth it. The OP has a unique opportunity to try out a desirable part of the country for himself and his family, a move paid for by his company. Not many people are handed this chance, and at a young age. I say Go for it!

[architect77]

On the surface it looks like you're moving up...

From unpretentious, middle-class, work-in-progress NC, full of real people doing some real living....

To picture-perfect, sophisticated Orange County which is America's most polished suburban region.

It's always sunny and 70 degrees, nary a cloud in the sky, and the world's best dining, shopping & amenities are at your fingertips.

All of the streets are free of power lines and are beautifully landscaped. I remember seeing workers in cherry pickers windex-ing the traffic signal bulbs in Aliso Viejo. Can you see that occurring on the sloppy East coast dilapidated roadways?

Orange County, CA is too perfect.

Monotonous lack of seasons, traffic that makes going to the beach for the day 1-2 hours each way.

Somehow all up in the superlatives that is SoCal, you'll find yourself not enjoying as much real living as you had back in NC.

And SoCal which is a marine desert, doesn't have the tall scale of trees like NC does and it takes some getting used to.

And unlike on the East Coast where you can drive to NYC, Florida, & Washington in a few hours,

SoCal is many, many hundreds of miles from any other city.

I say go out there and experience America's most perfect, automobile-oriented region for a few years. It's a great life experience

[architect77]

I say rent an apartment that's middle-aged in a good area for 1-2 years.

Tons of complexes are around $2,000 a month near the swanky mall in Costa Mesa (South Coast Plaza).

Also, think outside the box.... Why not rent a place in downtown Huntington Beach near the pier?

Or how about somewhere in Long Beach?

How about the complex "Club Laguna" in Laguna Beach?

How about "The Beach House" where I used to live in Newport Beach right at PCH? No air conditioning and a murphy bed pops out of the wall! It was $775 a month in 1998, month to month.

[Tall Traveler]

Originally Posted by pjnugget

We currently live in the RTP area with 2 kids. I work for a good small company and make decent wage. My wife and I own a house with 2 kids. I am being recruited by a bigger company that is a good step for my career but it's in Orange County CA. I will potentially be making over 50% more than what I'm making now but that will need to be adjusted based on COL. We originally moved from the Northeast to NC so we don't have family in NC to tie us down. While we like NC and our life here, our original choice when we were moving was CA>NC.

We know that the our lifestyle will need to change and we will probably have to rent before we buy in CA but we are definitely torn on what to do. One thing to note is that my wife is due back to work from maternity but if we move in CA she will probably be a SAHM for a couple of years. So taking the new salary and allowing her to be a SAHM is also a factor to consider.

We definitely need to create a pros/cons list between the places like COL, salary, traffic, weather, lifestyle, etc.

If you were in my situation, what would you do?

I did a COL comparison between Raleigh and Irvine based on renting and the COL in Irvine is 30% higher so a 50% higher wage is going to more than compensate the COL. (for those that say housing is more than 30% higher, yes that is correct but the overall COL is only 30% higher)

The best thing about OC to me is that fantastic climate they have so they win the climate battle hand down although Raleigh is about as good as you get on the eastern half of the US.

Crime rate in OC is lower so they win that as well.

Lifestyle, I think the vibe is much friendlier in Raleigh so I think Raleigh wins that one.

If it were me, I would say go for it because you should have a higher standard of living and you are in a very desirable place to live.

[Scooby Snacks]

I wouldn't OP. My wife and I are going to move to NC or SC from TX due to a comparable cost of living, among other factors. I lived in California for years, and although there are many things to love about California, it is very expensive to live there. The cost of living is ridiculous, so high in fact, that government officials are attempting to address a "housing crisis" caused by housing being so expensive that people who work decent jobs can't afford to even rent an apartment, much less purchase a home. They are living in their cars or homeless. Of course, this probably wouldn't happen to you, but what would happen if you lost your job? Financial pressures are extremely stressful on a family. Whatever you choose, please investigate thoroughly and consider all variables before deciding. Good luck!

[peta2013]

Moved East to West 10 years ago or so. The cost of living just falls into the background once you're here and working. Pay is generally higher and there are lot of opportunities in the metro areas (LA, SF, SD, etc). Unless you're doing entry level hourly work you'll make it here given the right attitude and hard work. Wouldn't trade the weather, food and sheer amount of things to do for anywhere else (pre retirement that is).

All of that said, I'm envious of people buying $200k houses and eating $8 omelettes when i visit back east.

[WMak70]

We did exactly the move you are thinking about years ago......moved from Winston Salem to Rancho Cucamonga Ca. I wanted to live in Ca all my life, and got the chance at a much bigger pay rate.


We lived there a year and couldn't get out fast enough. The cost of living was horrible, my wife made good money and so did I, and we were just making it. Life was a rat race, and it took me an hour and a half each way to get to work. My kids hated it, and so did we, so we fled after a year.


That is just our experience, but I thought I would mention it.