My fellow Californians..Are you struggling with the possibility of leaving? (Los Angeles: environment, student loans)

[dogmom]

The grass is NOT always greener somewhere else. Hubby and I are native, i.e. born in SoCal, Californians and almost 3 years ago we sold our property in Newcastle (east of Sac) on 3 acres to move to southern Utah. Thought it would be cheaper to live here...wrong! We should have at least rented before we purchased a home..boneheads! This place is at least 20 years behind California in everything...the drivers are horrendous (open book test), weather is freakin hot in the summer (yes worse than Sac, does not cool at night, no delta breeze here) and freaking cold in the winter. It's dry, dry, dry, I don't think my skin will ever recover, everything is brown or red, very little green, stick trees in our area since it is newer. Not to mention the culture!

House is for sale, not sure yet what we are going to do, we can't afford to buy what we sold, but we could sure afford to buy in Lincoln, Roseville or Rocklin. Our son is in Lincoln. We are retired so don't need a huge place, and want to be close to shopping and activities. But I miss the Sierras and the relatively short drive to Tahoe, or the other way to the Bay area or even north coast.

Just have to sell....aarrghh!

Be careful what you wish for...

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by gypsy77

Now granted, I will probably be making $10/hr because the jobs there don't pay squat, but all the other cost of living expenses are much, much less than CA.

And for the people who were asking why all of a sudden we are saying we can't afford CA, is not because we are overspending. It's because of the gradual increase in everything, mainly cost of living/housing. And the wages for blue collar jobs not increasing.

I definitely see your point but ... wages for blue collar jobs aren't increasing anywhere, really. This is happening nationwide. Maybe you can come out more ahead in cheaper states but, the pay is going to less also so ... there are no guarantees.

It's just hard to make a living anywhere without a college education in a high skilled, in demand profession these days. This is why I finally bit the bullet and went back to school in my '40s.

I had already lived in those cheaper states and, my financial situation didn't change much because I wasn't making as much money either. Also ... while some things were cheaper, other things that I didn't anticipate were more expensive. Of course, I didn't find out about that until after I moved.

I guess people can keep moving around searching for cheaper places to live but, IMO ... it still comes back to job skills and the labor market. If you're in a line of work where somebody else can easily take your job and work for less ... you're not going to make much money and you're gonna be chasing cheap forever.

I finally gave up on it and went back to school so I could afford to live where I wanted to live.

[dogmom]

Be careful with property taxes, some states are really high..the housing might be cheaper, but the taxes unreal. The roads are not maintained as well here in Utah, and everytime I go under the interstate bridge here I cringe. It's definitely NOT earthquake safe as far as I can tell, very skinny supports, I am used to the retrofitted overpasses...it's things like that. And yes we are in earthquake country here. Building codes are not as strict. There is a huge difference.

Oh did I mention the state taxes FOOD...all food....so some things are less money, other things more. It's a wash so you might as well be where you are happy, if that's California, so be it. Just be sure of what you are looking for. RENT FIRST.

[gypsy77]

I definitely see your point but ... wages for blue collar jobs aren't increasing anywhere, really. This is happening nationwide. Maybe you can come out more ahead in cheaper states but, the pay is going to less also so ... there are no guarantees.

It's just hard to make a living anywhere without a college education in a high skilled, in demand profession these days. This is why I finally bit the bullet and went back to school in my '40s.

I had already lived in those cheaper states and, my financial situation didn't change much because I wasn't making as much money either. Also ... while some things were cheaper, other things that I didn't anticipate were more expensive. Of course, I didn't find out about that until after I moved.

I guess people can keep moving around searching for cheaper places to live but, IMO ... it still comes back to job skills and the labor market. If you're in a line of work where somebody else can easily take your job and work for less ... you're not going to make much money and you're gonna be chasing cheap forever.

I finally gave up on it and went back to school so I could afford to live where I wanted to live.

Totally agree with you. It's the skills and career choice that makes me broke, not necessarily the place. I keep flip flopping back and forth between staying in CA where I'm from, or moving to the midwest where my husband is from. I myself would much rather stay in CA. As long as I can afford it! I agree that going back to school is the ticket. I have been looking into tech schools that are only a year or two. I have a baby so going to school fulltime or night classes for 4 years isn't going to work. But I can go to a short tech program a few days a week. I can just struggle through it, because in the long run, it will be my best be to get ahead. And yes, to whoever said be careful what you wish for...I know that well. I did live in the midwest for awhile, long enough to find out I don't like it. They are like 20 years behind everywhere else. Which seems nice and quaint at first, but after awhile it gets old. The people I was around seemed so sad and depressed in those small towns. And when I would laugh or crack a joke, they just looked at me and didn't smile or anything. Hmm. I don't know what was going on, I guess their sense of humor is different. Not sure. But to me, it seemed a lot of those folks were nice yes, but not an ounce of bubbly personality. That's for sure. So my point is, just because we move somewhere "cheaper" doesn't mean we will fit in there. There is so much more to "quality of living" than just cost.

[kingsfan4ever]

Wow... I would never have thought about reading the Forum for my own area! I've been on the Raleigh Forum for about 3 years now, since that's where we're thinking about moving to. For some reason, today I looked at the Sacramento Forum and found this thread. I've read every response (I know, I must be crazy!). So many pros and so many cons to leaving this beautiful state.

Being born & raised in Sacramento (currently living in Roseville), I always assumed I'd be here 'til the day I die! But about 3 years ago, the hubby & I started having thoughts of what it might be like to live somewhere else. After answering a multitude of questions on Best Places to Live: Compare the Best Cities & Small Towns for You! (a fabulously fun website, by the way!), one of the top areas that our answers seemed to match was North Carolina. So after a couple of months of researching the Raleigh area, we and another family made a trip out there in July '05. WE LOVED IT. Since that time, we've awaited a job opportunity for the hubby (I'm self-employed so can work anywhere), and now have one. We have made a total of 4 trips to the Raleigh area, and are making another one mid-June. The friends we traveled with in July '05 made the move last Summer.

Do I consider California (specifically, Sacramento) to be my home? Yes, I suppose I do. And maybe I always will. But so much has changed here over the years. This is not the California I once knew. People are not as friendly. Schools are not top-notch. The economy is sliding (and not just because of our housing market). Yes, we have lovely weather (unless it's 115 degrees in July or August!). Yes, there is a certain specialness (is that a word? ) about living here. Yes, we have the Sacramento Kings (!!!). But when I look back on my childhood here, it seems like a different lifetime. I feel sad about that.

We realize that any move is not permanent unless we choose it to be. After nearly 50 years of being "safe," I think we may just become risk-takers and make the move to the Raleigh area. Who knows... maybe we can model to our kids that change can be fun and exciting, and doesn't have to be something to fear. And if after a year or two we simply hate it in North Carolina and just don't acclamate, we can always move back (or somewhere else!). I don't think our housing market is going anywhere for awhile (except maybe a little further down!).

All of your comments are appreciated. I wish all of you the best in your decisions about whether to stay in California!

[JenniferLynn]

Count my husband and I with the people who are moving back to CA. We recently moved to very rural NE PA and I told my husband I have to go back. He would have prefered to stay in PA, but is moving back for my sake, bless his heart.

The big reason is family. I found living far away from them is just intolerable (plus I hate to fly). I also discovered that at 53 I am too young to retire. I miss my old job and am trying to get it back (pretty good chance of that happening). I miss that sense of independence that working gave me.

Too much of a culture shock. Although this PA area is beautiful and the people are very nice, I lived in a large N CA metro area for the past 26 years and miss all the amenities and lively bustle that you don't get in a rural setting. It's just too darn quiet here for me! And too much driving to get anywhere.

Yes, the cost of living is higher in CA than where we are now, but as many posters have already stated, what is that compared to one's happiness?

[whitebutterfly]

Originally Posted by AuburnJack

Not all of West Sacramento is bad.

Interestingly enough, I see this attitude most by people who have lived in the area for a long time, often equating all of West Sac with Broderick (being redeveloped) and W. Capitol Ave. (being redeveloped), and giving me a blank, confused stare when I mention Southport.

Hey, that's cool. In the era of $4 gas, I will gladly "risk" living in a new neighborhood that is blocks from a nice new Target, Nugget Market, and some very good hole-in-the-wall taquerias, which also happens to be ten minutes from downtown Sacramento.

I agree, West Sac has changed a lot of the past few years, new development, Raleys Field, new downtown, new housing, better police force, etc. The street corners are clear, at least in the day time. The sleezy motels are going away, one by one. I work near there, have for 15 years. Have seen lots of change. They are even putting in high rise.

[whitebutterfly]

I feel like we have to leave, because when I retire (in 3 years), there just won't be enough money to go around. No one plans for double the money. I just hope I can sell my house without losing money. I love my place, but it just won't work. Taxes too high, registrations too high, food too high, gas too high. Yikes!

[whitebutterfly]

Originally Posted by bblondee

I wrote about a month ago, that my husband and I were thinking of relocating to North West Arkansas. He had just retired. All of our friends and family are in the Sacramento area. We live in El Dorado Hills and my husband and I have lived in California all our lives. We just can not afford to stay here. Our $1700.00 house payment, alone is tough to swallow after you retire. We are paying over a $100. a month for water and sewer and our PG&E bill was $265.00 this month. Two weeks ago we flew to NW Arkansas and found a home in Bella VIsta. It is 2600 sq ft and we were able to almost pay cash for it. It is a brand new home and sits on 1/2 acre. We are very excited. The draw back, is of course, it's NOT California. California, with it's beautiful weather and so many places to go and see. I will surly miss it, with all my heart!!!! Our lives will be much easier to live financially speaking. We will be able to come back to California and visit often. We met so many wonderful people in Arkansas the week we were there. What I noticed the most is that the grocery stores don't have the beautiful produce that we get here. We are certainly spoiled in that area. There is also probably not that many places to go and I recently found out that the nearest Costco is 3 hours away. All that said, I'm sure we will do fine back there and we are looking forward to our new adventure. I'll keep in touch on this site to let you all know how we are doing in our new enviornment.

Bblondee

Have you moved yet? Let me know! We are looking at Mid-West Arkansas as a retirement option. We are planning on a visit this August 2008.

[TONORAD]

We used to live in the East Bay in a beautiful home in the Hayward Hills. Because of crazy legislators, high prices, traffic, and crime, we moved to my wife's native Grand Rapids, Michigan, area.

We HATE it here. Backwards, cold six plus months of the year, hardly any culture, and a crappy economy.

So, now we are looking to move to the greater Sacramento area, but have some of the same concerns re: pleasure-police type legislation, high prices, and excessive summer heat.

But, for those of you considering leaving California, think very long and hard. Rent first if you can and keep your California home until you are damned sure you want to leave.