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Very true. That's what I was thinking about California when I read your sentence which I quoted, especially the affordability part. Everybody thinks California is horrendously expensive, and certain parts of it are, such as the San Francisco Bay area and parts of the Los Angeles area. Anyplace right near the ocean is likely to be expensive too because of supply and demand; that's where a lot of people would like to live. But if you get away from the city centers housing becomes much more reasonable. Lots of California is rural.
That's true as well. Although in CA you are stuck with the state income tax over the whole state, and I'm not aware of any housing in the state that I would call "economical" - there is some beautiful country there, but for my tastes there are just better choices overall.
Eastern WA is more like Northern CA than most east coast people realize.
In San Francisco you can and Bay Area has good transportation.
Why do you want to live carless anyway?
It's good for my health, my pocketbook, as I get older it's probably going to be good for those in the other cars just trying to get to work or get their errands run on their day off, and the environment
Depending on exactly what you mean by "very low cost of living", the answer may be "none". However, the Inland Empire (around San Bernadino), and the desert areas (say, Indio) and the more rural inland areas in central and northern California have realtively low housing costs. As previously stated by another poster, the Calif. income tax applies statewide, but Calif. does not tax Social Security benefits. So if you live on mostly Soc. Sec. with small amounts of other income, then the admittedly high Calif. state income tax is irrelevant.
I would like to live in the Bay Area of California but it would cost me, at least, $3K more than Arizona costs me. I can afford it but find myself unwilling to. Until then Sierra Vista AZ is quite comfortable for me.
If you lived in the Bay area without a car, using public transportation, you could afford to live there, easily saving the difference of $3K per year.
There are cheaper places in CA though, just don't live in the city.
No, contrarily, do live in the city--without a car. Living where you have to get on the highway to get a loaf of bread requires a car. I bet many of us could afford the Bay Area if we didn't have a car and didn't have to pay winter heating bills.
I was just at a bike shop and they have these electric hub motors built right into the wheels. They use Lithium Polymer batteries which are light and expensive, but cheap compared to a car. I test drove several of them and loved them! They'll go up to twenty miles on a charge and speeds up to twenty miles an hour, even up steep hills. You can peddle with or with out electric assist and when you brake or go down hill, the batteries charge up some.
There's an on-board com****r on the handlebars with speed, distance, charge, electric motor on/ off/ passive, etc. You just remove the battery and take it with you when you park. The batteries are light and compact. These are normal looking bikes and don't require a license to operate. You can get baskets or carts to pull behind to haul your groceries. Just google electric bikes and you'll see what I'm talking about.
No, contrarily, do live in the city--without a car. Living where you have to get on the highway to get a loaf of bread requires a car. I bet many of us could afford the Bay Area if we didn't have a car and didn't have to pay winter heating bills.
I don't believe you realize how absurdly high real estate prices are in the San Francisco Bay area. Having a modest car and paying winter heating bills are chicken feed by comparison.
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Carless? Try an electric bicycle!
