Considering Moving Back to Sac (Sacramento, Orange: fit in, to rent, how much)
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I have been posting in the Sac forum here and there because I am considering moving my family back. We moved from Sac to Idaho 4 years ago right before the housing crash because personally I wanted to stay home with my girls while they were young, and it just wasn't possible in our situation then. They are school-aged now and I am considering a move...either back to the Sacramento area or to Northern Texas/Dallas area.
When I compare the 2 on paper, Texas makes the most "sense", but my heart tells me Sac for many reasons. Number one, I grew up there so I just feel at home there. Number 2, all of my family is still there (but only a 12 hour drive away, we visit often, been there 3 times in the last year). Number 3, I LOVE Northern California and my husband and I always took advantage of all it had to offer by driving EVERYWHERE within it! On the other hand, in argument for Texas, the schools are better, the state is in better shape overall, and it would likely be better for my girls overall. They are still young enough to become "Texans" if I raise them there, and they might grow to have an affection to the state like I have for California.
Am I crazy for considering moving back to such a "mess" over a more stable situation? Although, one could argue that the US as a whole is a "mess" but I have zero plans of ever moving out of the United States, because I am an American and probably part of the problem, lol! For better or for worse.....I know not the whole California thing is a mess, but aren't I being selfish? I like to think I am being considerate of my children by keeping them close to family and friends (we would then be 25 driving hours away from family, we would have to fly and that is expensive to do too often), and sharing with them all that California has to offer. It's hard because the whole "family" thing has a lot of weight, and that can be very difficult to weigh.
Living in Idaho is "nice", and that is what I hear much about Texas. I fear "nice", because I am a Cali girl, and I like and crave ENERGY! I love the energy of Northern California. I visited Dallas briefly about a year ago, and it was "nice".....didn't give me too much to get excited about. But every time I go back to Sac to visit friends and family it's like I never left, except for the positive changes I see like the growth of the trees that used to be small, and all the wonderful changes in places like Citrus Heights (which is where I lived). Despite the recession I still see beauty, people thriving, and flowers blooming!
Don't you think that if we move to Texas I will still want to move back to Cali one day? I feel like if that is the case I should just do it now (well, in about a year or 2). What do you think??? Anyone move out of Sac and regret it? We certainly don't regret moving out when we did, but moving back was always a possibility. Braving the recession here in Idaho was a great decision on our part (yea, I know it's not over!), and a lot of great things happened in our lives while we lived here. But I'm ready to move on now.
Am I crazy for considering moving back to such a "mess" over a more stable situation? Although, one could argue that the US as a whole is a "mess"
If you've been away for 4 years, California is more of a mess than you may realize. I'm actually moving out of the state tomorrow and one of the factors for me, after living here since 1985, is that the state has become practically dysfunctional. People here vote in unfunded mandates and projects without thinking where the money will come from. Then the government is required to provide services or build projects that have no revenue source.
Quite a few businesses in the Sacramento area have been badly hurt by the government worker furloughs of the last year. One of the sandwich shops some of my co-workers used to frequent closed because losing those two days' business, combined with more people brown-bagging it, finally pushed them into the red. Now the governor is trying to pay a couple hundred thousand state workers minimum wage. More people will lose their homes, fewer will be buying new cars, more sandwich shops and restaurants will close, etc.
I think Austin is the only place in Texas I would fit in, but I have to say, when I was in Texas for a conference last year, I was really impressed with the condition of the infrastructure there. I'm so unused to good roads that I actually noticed how smooth and well-maintained they are there.
However, family ties and nostalgia may be the trump card for you. I grew up in the Maryland suburbs of DC and I disliked the place when I lived there and thank my lucky stars I left every time I go back to visit family, so for me, those factors wouldn't come into play. But for others, they can mitigate a lot of other negatives.
Move to Texas. I do think you might be happier in Austin than Dallas, though. You're always going to love your original home. The bottom line is, this place is not what you remember it being. It's a mess, and it's not going to get better for years. Texas is the country's best kept "secret"... but it's no secret now. That's why thousands of Californians have been moving there the last few years Not just because it's more affordable, but there is a quality of life there, and the infrastructure is nowhere near the shambles that CA is in.
Corporate moved us from Austin to Sac 4 years ago. I was raised in Dallas. I love northern CA very much, but at this point in time I do wish we were back in Austin (or Dallas). There are elements I like about northern CA that Texas doesn't have, but at the end of the day when you add it all up, Texas wins. The hill country is gorgeous, Tx people are fantastic too, and there's great camping memories to be made, tubing down rivers, farmers markets, etc. Texas schools are outstanding, and you will be living in a house you love. The same house here in Sac has you chained to your mortgage, and it appears that you're lucky if your kids are in a decent school. Texas is an excellent place to raise kids. It's wholesome. Neighbors care about each other. I loved growing up in Dallas, and would choose to raise my kids there if given the chance. The energy and lifestyle you're looking for is there, you just need to know your areas. Dallas & surrounding "metroplex" is huge. If you start missing northern CA and want to go skiing, take a family road trip to Colorado or a short one to NM. Trust me. My sister is on the East coast and we both wish we were back in Dallas (or Austin) raising kids next door to each other!
We moved from Texas (DFW area) to El Dorado Hills 2 years ago. Yes, it is more expensive here. Yes, there is a budget crisis here. So there is in Texas also. I would not move back. You get what you pay for. 90 minutes from here is Lake Tahoe. 90 minutes from DFW is Waco. Hmmm.
In Texas it is hot AND humid and hot ALL NIGHT LONG. You have to run your AC 24-hours a day from May until November. Then you get a week of fall and it starts getting rainy and cold for the winter until your week of Spring and then it's HOT again. Camping is hard because it is too hot at night to sleep. CA has great parks and recreational facilities compared with Texas. I lived in a suburb of 7,000 houses and there was 1 park. Just 1. EDH has 2 major parks, and neighborhood parks around every corner.
The thing I like the least about Texas is the pious, judgmental attitude that many (but not all) people have there, especially in the suburbs. You must go to church every sunday. You must not live an alternative lifestyle. You can volunteer to help or donate to people of another race, but don't bring 'em home with you. Hide your liquor before your churchgoing friends/family come over (I have a friend that really does that!). Be prepared to drive 15 miles to a liquor store since many of the areas are dry, or only sell wine and beer. OK - so maybe that's a little strong, but flavors of this exist there.
Really, the thing I love about being in this area is the ability to spend a lot of time outdoors. Both the weather and the terrain. Texas just doesn't have the same things to offer.
I have never lived in Dallas, I have no idea what Dallas is like compared to Sacramento. What I can tell you is that the Sacramento forum is filled with people who choose to stay in Sacramento instead of moving to some place like Dallas with a lower unemployment rate. It might be worthwhile to cross post this post to the Dallas forum to here feedback from the people who thought moving out of N. California to Dallas was worth it.
Proximity to family and the local climate is hard thing for others to quantify. Because different people weigh different imputs differently. There is a host of other intangibles to consider. Dallas is much bigger population area, that offers more things to do. If you are a sports nut, having access to seeing the Cowboys, the Mavs, the Stars and Rangers might be a real plus. If you are not, you might not care about these things at all. Dallas also has a deeper labor market, with a lot of different types of employment. The Sacramento region is still mostly a government town whose fortune tends to ebb and flow with the state budget.
Hi, Well, as with everything, you have to really measure both the pros and the cons. The BIG con right now is the Budget issues and the fact that the Governor, State workers and the legislature are fighting about the budget and getting it passed, furloughs, or minimum wage, etc. Do not know what line of work either you or your spource are in but the job market here is not the greatest.
I really appreciate all the input! Honestly, I love Northern California and will likely move back there someday (when I have more money to live in areas I really want to live in), but for right now cost of living and what I need for my kids is likely going to be in Texas, as drab as some of it sounds. I know there are some decent schools in the Sacramento surrounding areas...you have to fight for them, but they are there, but I get the impression that Texas has a better school system and my girls are just starting school. I would like to give them the best foundation I can without putting them in private school (which isn't always "better"). I loved the schools I went to in the Sacramento area (Fair Oaks specifically), and got a really great education through the public school system, but I still have family and friends there who have kids there now, and the general consensus is that they are getting worse by the minute with budget cuts.
We are going to rent first for a while to learn a bit about the areas because I want to live around easy-going people (which is what I love about Sac!), and although I love Jesus and go to church, I don't like uptight, rigid fake types of people and have no interest in playing the "game" of suburban life! So I will have to make sure we live in a neighborhood where we fit in.....I guess where people bbq, drink beer, have tattoos, integrity, AND go to church and have jobs? haha anyone know where I can find that in DFW? lol
I guess it all boils down to...it's not always about what you want and where your heart is, but where you are in life. I have completely changed the way I look at my budget and how I spend (ahem....and now SAVE!) my money ! I have 2 kids, and I want to be comfortable enough to take vacations, pay for summer camps, and get dental sealants for their teeth. If you asked me a few years ago how much I should be paying for housing, the number would have been completely different than today. I want to have money leftover, and even be able to pay cash for large purchases like vacations, rec vehicles, and cars, and maybe even own my home sooner.
I have looked in the Sacramento area, and honestly, in order to get the size house in the area I want it (Fair Oaks, Orangevale, Folsom, Placerville, Auburn, El Dorado Hills) will def be around $300k which is just out of my "new" budget. I am a professional artist and need a really good chunk of my square footage to be used as a studio and storage (no way around it!), in addition to 3 bedrooms and a decent yard for 2 large dogs and my 2 young girls. My husband is also a "tinker" and a locksmith, and would love some more garage space (3 car) and even some extra outdoor space. So, although I could technically find a basic 3bd, 2 ba, 1500 sq ft house in Lincoln for around $175-200k, it doesn't fit the bill for our family like it used to. Anything we really want is just out of our budget as we try to raise our girls and build our businesses.
We moved from Texas (DFW area) to El Dorado Hills 2 years ago. Yes, it is more expensive here. Yes, there is a budget crisis here. So there is in Texas also. I would not move back. You get what you pay for. 90 minutes from here is Lake Tahoe. 90 minutes from DFW is Waco. Hmmm.
In Texas it is hot AND humid and hot ALL NIGHT LONG. You have to run your AC 24-hours a day from May until November. Then you get a week of fall and it starts getting rainy and cold for the winter until your week of Spring and then it's HOT again. Camping is hard because it is too hot at night to sleep. CA has great parks and recreational facilities compared with Texas. I lived in a suburb of 7,000 houses and there was 1 park. Just 1. EDH has 2 major parks, and neighborhood parks around every corner.
The thing I like the least about Texas is the pious, judgmental attitude that many (but not all) people have there, especially in the suburbs. You must go to church every sunday. You must not live an alternative lifestyle. You can volunteer to help or donate to people of another race, but don't bring 'em home with you. Hide your liquor before your churchgoing friends/family come over (I have a friend that really does that!). Be prepared to drive 15 miles to a liquor store since many of the areas are dry, or only sell wine and beer. OK - so maybe that's a little strong, but flavors of this exist there.
Really, the thing I love about being in this area is the ability to spend a lot of time outdoors. Both the weather and the terrain. Texas just doesn't have the same things to offer.
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You got that right. We are two women and can't just move anywhere like Texas because we don't want crosses burned on our lawns, or to be attacked or have our neighbors ostracize us, etc.
Most of this country is inhabited by right wing authoritarians who do not like to be near anyone who does not think and live EXACTLY the way they do.
Scary stuff.
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Not just because it's more affordable, but there is a quality of life there, and the infrastructure is nowhere near the shambles that CA is in.
