Want to move back to California (San Diego, Riverside: apartments, neighborhoods, theatre)

[31st State]

Think about Temecula - clean air (it gets a great late afternoon breeze each day), lots to do, close to Romoland and SD. It is safe, family oriented, tons of churches.

[rory_velaz]

I moved to Southern Indiana (just about 45 min from louisville).I was born and lived all my life in San Diego. Now after living here for 2 years I'm looking forward to moving closer to home. We thought since rent was cheaper here that we could make it financially. WRONG!!!!! Our utilitys are around $700 in winter. Plus car insurance is triple of what we paid in San Diego. Less real jobs. Mostly Wal-mart and Lowes (which is the only job my husband can get here) Food is beyond expensive. I paid $3 for a single tomato. quality of life is aweful here too. I have friends everywhere back home but have yet to make any here and since I dont work its not easy to make any. So I am home all day with 3 kids. Plus we have gone through 5 cars in the last year because the weather here takes a toll on my clunkers. All in all it is costing us more here than in California by far. I hope to everyone wanting to move back that they do. Life is to short. Live where you love. I LOVE CALI!!!!

[mfromphilly1]

I was born and raised in Riverside, Ca. I joined the Navy and left, living all over the country. I find that I don't really miss CA at all. I lived in TN (Millington) TX (Corpus Christi) Philadelphia, Norfolk and a few other cities. I liked Philly the best and would much rather live there than in CA. I find I don't agree with the mindset of the Pelosi's and CA's budget problems. Right now I live in Dallas and don't find it that great, but not unbearable. CA will never be home to me again, it's changed too much

[31st State]

Hey Philly,

I hear you and can relate to the budget problem and our politics. I am also truly happy you have enjoyed some other areas. But I find that although California politics is upsetting there are still many reasons to love it. The weather, the people (lots of diversity), the great mexican food (I have three athentic tacos shops within five miles of my house), the scenery (I see snow-capped mountains half the year), the beaches, and tons of entertainment (I just went to see the Los Angeles Galaxy destroy the Houstin Dynamo 4-1 with my daughter).

I'm glad you found a place you love (Philly) as I hope all Americans find the right state for them.

[31st State]

Oops, excuse the bad spelling - I need to slow down a bit. athentic should be authentic and, of course, Houstin should be Houston.

[nightbird47]

Originally Posted by BlueyedCat

We were in Riverside. My husband worked out of Laguna. And I worked at a respected Medical Clinic there. We were still in California when our boys flew the nest. One is in the Army. He just got back from Iraq and is now on his second tour in South Korea. The other one is a Fireman in Louisiana. The one in the Army loves California too. He will reside there when he's out of the service.
We are looking at going to the same area but all options are open. There is so much to choose from now especially with the affordable housing now. It's nice to have options. We don't have that now. Yes; California is heaven to us after being here for 2 years.

It's interesting that you want to go back to Riverside. I was overjoyed to leave. I think how you feel about you move has everything to do with the specifics of why you moved I couldn't stand the traffic, the smog, and the way its changed so much from when I first moved there almost twenty years before. There are things I liked in Riverside, but got to where I didn't want to go anymore because of the air and traffic.

I came to Oklahoma since the people are friendly, there is so much open space, and its so much slower a pace. It really suits me. I do miss family in California, but when I was there out visiting it did not seem like the same place at all anymore, as if there was a barrier between me and the memories, even the good ones, of the place.

One shouldn't move for financial reasons. It is advantageous to me but that is a plus. What is great is the light years of difference between here and socal, and how much I appreciate them. Will I always be a californian? To a large degree sure. Would I move back? No way.

I'm a third generation California native. It's just not the place I grew up anymore. Finding a *new* pasture is good sometimes.

[JohnSoCal]

I have lived in the US, Canada, Mexico, and Venezuela. In the US, I have lived in California, Florida, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, and have visited most states from coast to coast. In California, I have lived for 35 years in San Diego, San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles, and the Inland Empire ( Murrieta ). I like all of California, except for the high desert area, and parts of Los Angeles. I have been living in Murrieta for 8 years now moving here from San Diego and the SF Bay area. After doing a lot of research and putting all my preferences on a spread sheet, I chose this area to retire to. I am fairly well off so could have chosen just about anywhere.

Unlike some, I think of Murrieta and Temecula as basically one city as they are very much alike and are joined together. They both have the same population ( ~102,000 each ), same demographics, friendly people, housing, etc. I love living here, and would not consider living any other place. I do like the hotter drier weather than at the coast but it is not brutally hot like the Palm Springs area. There are good Medical facilities, schools, shopping, restaurants, entertainment.

[SeptemberRays]

I left California for a year and lived in AZ then I returned.
When I leave in a few months I don't see myself returning anytime soon-
if ever. I will always love California but I've noticed that around the 8-9
month I get used to wherever I'm living and adapt.

[isabella20]

Every time we move away from California we regret it. Now we're "stuck" in Hawaii. Moving from here back to California is a major hassle. We have a house to sell and will need to take a loss to leave here anytime soon. Houses here are taking on average almost a year to sell. So, we know this is going to be a long process. Trying to get a job long distance is another hurdle and shipping our stuff will be very expensive. It's about $1000 to ship a vehicle. Anyway, we've been here over five years and it just isn't home. The parts of California we have lived before and want to return to are very expensive, so we know we have some challenges ahead of us.

Everything others have mentioned is what we miss, too. What I don't like here is the hot weather (it zaps my energy), the bugs (the mosquitoes are so bad that I stay inside most of the time, my house is overrun with tiny ants that bite), the high cost of just about everything, and the lack of stuff. It's really remote and hard to get things. Also, there's not much to do compared to California.

I enjoyed reading this thread because I could relate to all of the people who want to go home to California. I miss the food. I'd love some real Mexican food, or a doughnut (you can't get a decent doughnut here--only Malasadas and they just aren't the same). Anyway, can't wait to get back. I love the place warts and all.

[MtnSurfer]

We left for Colorado and enjoyed living there for a time. But eventually we realized that there was no place like home. Living landlocked in the middle of the US away from the coast was the hardest. But there were many things we missed as well. And living in the snow and cold does get old especially when it can snow from Sept thru May. Anyway upon return we decided to move to the central part of the state along the coast. So now we find we have the best of both worlds - wide open spaces, the coast, multicultural experiences/foods, and proximity to the larger cities (LA, SF, SJ) when we want to visit them.

Derek