Vote A or B: Residents view on SoCal future (Los Angeles: real estate, house)

[rgb123]

Originally Posted by armourereric

Even though I am super conservative, I will go with A as well. I have been in SD for 17 years and have been quite successful at skirting the COL issue. For example, I had a studio apartment in Ramona immediately behind the Dominos, I lived there from 1996-2009 on a month to month lease $250 a month, utilities included. Had a small yard and off street parking, if my first LL had not passed at 104 while surfing in Hawaii and the new owner defaulting on the mortgage within 18 months, I would probably still be there. Then I did a 6 month span where I lived in my store until that LL defaulted on his mortgage as well on late 2009, Again a commercial store in Wynola that I rented in 2003 for $200 a month plus a $45/month utility contribution. Since then, I've been a ranch hand on an East County farm, living since late 2009 in a super nice 1 BR for free in exchange for feeding the chickens in the morning. So hence, there are ways to skirt the COL.

wow, how did you find these arrangements?

[PatanjaliTwist]

Most certainly, A. We had to move away for 1-yr for the SO's work & are returning soon. If he ever has to move inland again, I told him I'd marry him on Monday so I could divorce him on Tuesday. I'm packing like a lunatic, beginning with dragging clothes off his back to pack now... hey, why can't he live for 6-wks with only 2 shirts, 1 pair of jeans & a toothbrush? The hearty, old world cowboys did.

The main question for me is always quality of life. If you feel you'd like to stay for 5-yrs in SD for the experience, then move away to a less costly state, nothing wrong in that. I've lived in 23+ different places & don't regret all that traveling & relocating.

Re: COL, if everyone moved to OH, WV, PA or Detroit, we could live outstandingly inexpensively & get far more house for the $$. My 23-yr old niece just bought a several bedroom fixer-upper (not a dump, just an older home) in NEPA for $25K... her 26-yr old cousin just bought one for $30K in the same area. That price is very common in that particular area. But, imho, there's absolutely nothing to do there & nowhere to go within a 2-3 hour drive. At that COL, we could stop working today & not work again. But, I like city life & we'd never be happy living landlocked long-term... we're lifelong beach dwellers... if waves don't lap outside my window, I'm very out of sorts.

As far as never saying never... the SO has lived in HI & loves it. He'd be happy if once retired, way down the road, we could return. I prefer SoCal... but, moving to HI wouldn't be as distressing to me as it was to have to move to Denver. On the drive away from SD, I had a meltdown & got out of the car in the middle of some desert to pull a bleedin' argy bargy at unknown entities for 15-min (complete with fist shaking at the sky, rolling on the ground & screeching in tongues)... you might have seen me on CNN. Seriously, I've counted the days we'd return the moment we arrived & I don't plan on being away from the ocean again.

[NYSD1995]

I would say my view is somewhere inbetween. I want A, but am worried that B might be the reality. Especially given that I have kids.

[Encinitan]

A. Born here, raised here, making enough to live well (knock on wood that continues!), raising our two kids here. We're never leaving.

[shmoov_groovzsd]

I cant speak for the future, but we have lived here for almost a decade and did a buy a house a couple of years ago for the long term. While we may eventually move to another part of the County years from now, we would still be looking here to live, no question.

Hypothetical situation, but for us, we dont have kids and this really is the wildcard. There are some aspects to living anywhere, that regardless of how much money is on the table, the area may simply never provide. If it so happens we have a kid that is exceptionally talented in the arts and needs a higher level of training outside of SD, then so be it.

But I never say never, but just keep on a path that makes us happy. Living in SD this long (seeing so many move out) and looking to many years ahead here is nice

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by bloom

'Never say never 100% of the time', adapted from Ronald Reagan (or Yogi Berra) I believe

Sure, I guess no one should say 100% certainty. However, I know in my situation, I've already turned down multiple job offers over the years for very high salaries in other cities, we already have our dream house purchased and renovated how we want it, made some really wonderful friends, family completely loves the area we are in.

I just can't see us ever leaving.

[Think4Yourself]

A all the way.

[Pedro2000]

I honestly never thought I'd live in Seattle or San Diego or Orange County or Miami and so on. Sometimes life just has a way of making things happen. And it depends on your situation and willingness to sacrifice. If you and your family all live within an hour of San Diego, it would probably be hard to leave.

But if you have family and friends who live thousands of miles away, you start to lose that sense of 'family' so to speak. And with kids, it gets expensive really fast to travel across the country. And the aspect of traveling with young kids on a plane for 5+ hours with no layovers creates another barrier. Even well behaved kids get antsy and bored. And hell I've traveled for work about 300+ days per year for years and got tired of sitting on an airplane.

So seeing family, kids seeing grandparents, etc become a once in a while thing. And if your SO's family lives in one place, yours in another, more compromises. Or one person keeps their mouth shut and is just pissed. And that is the big tradeoff. Kids don't see their grandparents, you dont' see family and friends, and you don't have that support. But who knows.

Some people have a different perspective on life. I've seen people at parks and beaches who let their kids run wild. Their 6 and 7 year old kids run free. Hell, I've seen this at grocery stores and it's kind of annoying. So they go about their business, the kids go about theirs, and they just hope nothing happens. There was one moment at the park where a mother asked her 9 year old daughter where her sister was and the girl just shrugged her shoulders and told her mom, 'No clue.' Luckily the younger sister was just playing someplace else, but I've seen this often enough. Maybe I'm too overprotective of my kids, but I'm not going to let my young kids run all over the place by themselves. Oh well if that means a trip to the beach or park becomes about them and not me. That's the sacrifices you need to make. Some people don't like that and don't do that. And then crap happens or their kid destroys something at a store and it's supposed to be somebody elses fault.

Anyway that's off the topic, but the reality is, it all depends. Jobs, life, love, kids, etc. I' ve pretty much been a vagabond most of my life and filling out background checks and apps is a pain in the neck for me, but as much as I love San Diego and Southern California, who knows if I'd live here forever. It is expensive and it's not all peaches and cream and glory thats for sure. And the schools pretty much suck unless you're willing to pay a hell of a lot of money for private or to live in places like CV. So again, that goes back to how much are you willing to sacrifice your own life, for somebody elses. A lot of people don't, and in the long run, maybe they get lucky and their kids prosper. Or maybe letting your kids run free without even noticing where they run off to winds up on the news.

[docmcstuffin]

A. Wasn't born here but was raised here. Went to college here. Got great jobs here. My kids were born here and are being raised here. Am never leaving.

[loveautumn]

B is the reality for me. Can't afford to retire here. Keep in mind the gap between the wealthy and everybody else grows wider every day.