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Location: Winter nightime low 60,summer daytime high 85, sunny 300 days/year, no hablamos ingles aquÃ
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Rentals in Portland are approaching the same prices as here in southern California but Portland doesn't have anywhere near the nice weather we do here or amenities. Hopefully they don't price themselves out of the market.
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Tired of the rat race, the dirt, and the graffiti of southern California living. I had to take my young daughter to the ER after she tore her ear open falling down. It was then I realized that I can't live here anymore. While I have deep ties to SoCal (mostly family), I've realized that we have become a third world nation in terms of healthcare, education, and in general. A five hour wait because the people in front of you have the sniffles and no health insurance was a reawakening.
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As a California native and transplant here.....(Austin)
California was the most glorious of states, beautiful, enlightened, live and let live, and we had perfect weather and great roads on top of it. Housing was reasonable and schools were great. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say, DITTO. What happened to California is it was so great people from Oklahoma, and texas, especially during your dust bowl days, from Alabama and Florida and Asia and Russia and Mexico and on and on and on moved in. Spurred on by developers paying off politicians to let them build more and more and more.......I feel your pain, we Californians were squeezed out of our home and had to find places that allowed us the breathing room we missed so badly.
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I lived there (California) for 30 years ...Growing up on the beaches were fun. The last time I was there you couldn't find a spot to sit on the beach.
There are 40+ (impossible to count) million people in California. The mexicans who just arrived there through the holes in the fence find it a paradise. Most everyone else realizes California already is, or soon to become, a hellish place to live. The only ones who may still like it are millionaires in gated communities. Everybody else thinks of escaping.
Those who like the sunshine escape to Texas or Las Vegas. Those who don't mind the rain, escape to Seattle or Portland.
This trend will continue in the foreseeable future. Seattle and Portland (and Texas, and Nevada, and Arizona etc.) will continue to be profoundly affected.
Last edited by skiffrace; 11-03-2013 at 12:09 PM..
You also have to look at the positives from this too. The huge booms in TX and Vegas where their economies shot way up and brought in a TON of jobs (especially in construction) was mostly due to businesses leaving CA and moving to TX and NV. It's not like millions of people just started moving there for no reason. TX and NV owe a lot to CA transplants who brought their businesses, job opportunities and money to those states.
You also have to look at the positives from this too. The huge booms in TX and Vegas where their economies shot way up and brought in a TON of jobs (especially in construction) was mostly due to businesses leaving CA and moving to TX and NV. It's not like millions of people just started moving there for no reason. TX and NV owe a lot to CA transplants who brought their businesses, job opportunities and money to those states.
Time Magazine did a cover story on this last week. It was interesting to see how popular Texas has become. I imagine that Californians can still afford Portland while those coming from the Midwest can't.
Time Magazine did a cover story on this last week. It was interesting to see how popular Texas has become. I imagine that Californians can still afford Portland while those coming from the Midwest can't.
That depends, the cost of living in Chicago is on par with the cost of living in Portland.
There are 40+ (impossible to count) million people in California. The mexicans who just arrived there through the holes in the fence find it a paradise. Most everyone else realizes California already is, or soon to become, a hellish place to live. The only ones who may still like it are millionaires in gated communities. Everybody else thinks of escaping.
Those who like the sunshine escape to Texas or Las Vegas. Those who don't mind the rain, escape to Seattle or Portland.
This trend will continue in the foreseeable future. Seattle and Portland (and Texas, and Nevada, and Arizona etc.) will continue to be profoundly affected.
California is a huge state. There's a huge difference between places in far Northern California and places in the LA area just as there's big differences between places in the Sierra foothills and Central Valley vs the Central Coast and the Bay Area. You clearly know little about it though if you think everyone who lives there besides illegal immigrants hates it there and is looking to move out. Plenty of people succeed in living there and wouldn't live anywhere else--and despite the very high prices in the Bay Area, plenty of people manage to live there who aren't millionaires--and are willing to because of economy and amenities.
Americans in general move around a lot, but places that have the highest populations are obviously going to have the most people moving to neighboring states. California could use to lose some more people as it's fairly overpopulated in parts--mostly the Southern California metros(especially the Inland Empire), but at the same time this is the same thing that's happened to other regions over time--the population redistributes into outlying states. I'm sure plenty of people in 1920s California were disappointed with all the Midwesterners moving there. Same thing that's happened in the last 50 years as a good chunk of the Midwest and Northeast population has shifted to the South and Sunbelt.s a
Location: Winter nightime low 60,summer daytime high 85, sunny 300 days/year, no hablamos ingles aquÃ
700 posts, read 1,499,357 times
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You clearly know little about it though if you think everyone who lives there besides illegal immigrants hates it there and is looking to move out...Plenty of people succeed in living there and wouldn't live anywhere else
Perhaps not "everyone ", but my main thesis holds: California is a bad place to live compared with virtually ANY neighboring state.
People who "like it there" usually do so because they have no comparison, and no idea how badly they are doing. Often it takes one visit to Austin, Seattle, Portland etc. for that realization to occur. Only those who never travel outside the California "wouldn't live anywhere else".
Sure, CA is a large state, but most people live in ultra-expensive and crime-ridden SoCal and Bay area.
What else is there? Depressed and crime-ridden Sacramento, Redding, and a bunch of depressed and run-down little towns in the middle of nowhere (ex. Eureka).
Oh, I forgot Central Valley - chocking on diesel particle pollution, and soon to re-integrate with the Mexico motherland.
You clearly know little about it though if you think everyone who lives there besides illegal immigrants hates it there and is looking to move out. Plenty of people succeed in living there and wouldn't live anywhere else--and despite the very high prices in the Bay Area, plenty of people manage to live there who aren't millionaires--and are willing to because of economy and amenities.
Well I know something about it--I left CA because I couldn't stand it anymore. 4th generation. Most of my friends I've met here are also originally from CA. I was born in LA, grew up in SF. Tons of my old friends have left CA--gone to Austin, NY, Oregon, WA, etc. Many more would like to. Of course CA is all different regions but each region has their own issues too. Crime is usually pretty high in the cheaper places (i.e. San Bernardino) and most people who live in other areas have a lower quality of life than the rest of us who have left (unless their income is very high). When you talk about amenities, it just depends on your interests. Pretty much everything I did in SF I'm able to do here.
I would never move back. I miss San Francisco and friends who still live there but unless I strike it rich I will never be able to have the quality of life there that I have here. And it's not that difficult to visit (especially with a free place to stay).
Perhaps not "everyone ", but my main thesis holds: California is a bad place to live compared with virtually ANY neighboring state.
People who "like it there" usually do so because they have no comparison, and no idea how badly they are doing. Often it takes one visit to Austin, Seattle, Portland etc. for that realization to occur. Only those who never travel outside the California "wouldn't live anywhere else".
Sure, CA is a large state, but most people live in ultra-expensive and crime-ridden SoCal and Bay area.
What else is there? Depressed and crime-ridden Sacramento, Redding, and a bunch of depressed and run-down little towns in the middle of nowhere (ex. Eureka).
Oh, I forgot Central Valley - chocking on diesel particle pollution, and soon to re-integrate with the Mexico motherland.
As much as I can't wait to get out of CA, thats a HUGE generalization, and a bad one at that. There are PLENTY of great areas to live in "SoCal" that are not ultra expensive or crime ridden. Anywhere from Irvine down south to San Clemente and most of San Diego is great. Then you have areas like Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Monterey further to the north. You clearly don't know the state.
Perhaps not "everyone ", but my main thesis holds: California is a bad place to live compared with virtually ANY neighboring state.
Well and then there's Nevada...
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People who "like it there" usually do so because they have no comparison, and no idea how badly they are doing. Often it takes one visit to Austin, Seattle, Portland etc. for that realization to occur. Only those who never travel outside the California "wouldn't live anywhere else".
Most of my family has travelled plenty around the US(and around the world) and still aren't interested in leaving Northern California. My parents looked at retiring to Washington State, and just weren't interested after they looked at what most of the small towns and spent a week up there--they'll probably retire to Plumas County in the Northern Sierra(a place that's free of crime and stop-lights). I've had other friends and family look at moving to the Northwest and they thought about it, but they just figured they'd eventually get bored up here and even with the cheaper cost of living, they'd be making less money in a weaker economy.
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Sure, CA is a large state, but most people live in ultra-expensive and crime-ridden SoCal and Bay area.
What else is there? Depressed and crime-ridden Sacramento, Redding, and a bunch of depressed and run-down little towns in the middle of nowhere (ex. Eureka).
Oh, I forgot Central Valley - chocking on diesel particle pollution, and soon to re-integrate with the Mexico motherland.
Most of Northern California north of Sacramento is just like Oregon just over the border. It's fairly economically depressed and full of grumpy white people and okay for living if you like the woods and fishing and being near the hills. Sacramento's not really that bad, it's nicer than a place like Reno or Phoenix. Eureka and Arcata and most of the northern California Coast are as nice as most of the Oregon coastal towns(which tend to be fairly dumpy). The mid-sized college towns of California are mostly pretty nice(SLO, Chico, Davis) and the Central Coast and Sierra Nevada still has some beautiful spots if you can afford it(scenic places all over the country tend to be expensive though). I'd be happy to move to the Bay if the right job came up, but I've got a job here for the time being.
I've spent about a month total in my life in Southern California and I've spent 15 years total in Oregon though, so I'm not a good judge of what goes on down in LA or San Diego however...
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Originally Posted by oldtintype
Well I know something about it--I left CA because I couldn't stand it anymore. 4th generation. Most of my friends I've met here are also originally from CA. I was born in LA, grew up in SF. Tons of my old friends have left CA--gone to Austin, NY, Oregon, WA, etc. Many more would like to. Of course CA is all different regions but each region has their own issues too. Crime is usually pretty high in the cheaper places (i.e. San Bernardino) and most people who live in other areas have a lower quality of life than the rest of us who have left (unless their income is very high). When you talk about amenities, it just depends on your interests. Pretty much everything I did in SF I'm able to do here.
I would never move back. I miss San Francisco and friends who still live there but unless I strike it rich I will never be able to have the quality of life there that I have here. And it's not that difficult to visit (especially with a free place to stay).
Plenty of people do leave California, though plenty of people grow up in Oregon and leave never to return as well. The Golden State does have it's issues(plenty of them) and there has been plenty of people who joined an exodus to other states, however people act like the whole state is on the verge of some Mad Max scenario and it's the only state that has to deal with crime or illegal immigration or budget problems. There's still plenty of people who feel the trade-off for more amenities and better weather is worth it. A lot of the have-nots are fleeing the state because it's just too expensive. As far as quality of life goes--it's different for everyone, but plenty of people show up in Oregon and leave after a year or two of fruitlessly looking for work, while other people work every pay check to just afford rent in the Bay Area. So it's a tradeoff either way for some...
That depends, the cost of living in Chicago is on par with the cost of living in Portland.
That would depend upon where one lives in Chicago and the surrounding areas. But I had the smaller cities and towns in the midwest in mind.
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