San Francisco.....*Proper* (apartment, homes, taxation)

[westcoastbabe]

Ok..so Im in Charlotte, NC and I just had lunch with a colleague of mine who happens to be from San Francisco....born and bred. He has since relocated to the Tampa, FL area, but comes back to visit from time to time. Well any way, I tell how Im interested in relocating out west and how I thought about considering CA or AZ. He tells me to consider AZ but to reconsider CA....I guess im just dumbfounded because everyone that I know here in Charlotte or the east coast for that matter seems to think CA/west coast in the place to be, while he was telling me in his opinion.the east coast is the better coast....I guess its just personal preference....I guess. My feelings toward CA is, why do native californians leave....I mean you don't know how good you have it....Great weather, palm trees, culture,plethora of things to do. Personally I wouldnt give that up for nobody...LIke I said, i guess its just your personal preference.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by westcoastbabe

Ok..so Im in Charlotte, NC and I just had lunch with a colleague of mine who happens to be from San Francisco....born and bred. He has since relocated to the Tampa, FL area, but comes back to visit from time to time. Well any way, I tell how Im interested in relocating out west and how I thought about considering CA or AZ. He tells me to consider AZ but to reconsider CA....I guess im just dumbfounded because everyone that I know here in Charlotte or the east coast for that matter seems to think CA/west coast in the place to be, while he was telling me in his opinion.the east coast is the better coast....I guess its just personal preference....I guess. My feelings toward CA is, why do native californians leave....I mean you know how good you have it....Great weather, palm trees, culture,plethora of things to do. Personally I would give that up for nobody...LIke I said, i guess its just your personal preference.

Two words: Lousy governance.

[sonarrat]

Tampa, FL has a 31% child poverty rate.. hard for me to understand his perspective if Florida is his picture of perfection. It's a beautiful place with much worse "everyday" issues than in California, where the biggest problem is that some people make too much money.

[NJudah]

And he's from the city of San Francisco itself? It's unusual a native would prefer Tampa but anything's possible. If he's from the Bay Area generally it's not as surprising.

It sounds like you have an unrealistic vision of San Francisco if the first thing that pops into your head is palm trees.

One reason not to like San Francisco is the cost.

[alliance]

Government and the anti-business environment. I'm not sure how long I'll be able to take running a business here. Great place to live, the worst place in the country to own a small business.

Oh, and liberalism is killing me.

[ccm123]

1/ High cost of living
2/ Poor business climate
3/ Poor taxation policies
4/ Crime
5/ Can be crowded
6/ Homeless population

[john3232]

Originally Posted by NJudah

...One reason not to like San Francisco is the cost.

30 years ago I lived in a small apartment not far from Tarvel and 19th for $350 a month. I was also earning $12.50 an hour working temp downtown. Homes were in the $200,000 range and a two flat went for under $500,000.


Now my old apartment is about $2000.

Similar office work I did back in the early 1980's is still around $12.00 an hour.

Homes in the Sunset are going for at least $700,000.

Either you're a hot shot in the high tech/business world, work for the City or life can be quite demanding.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

Tampa, FL has a 31% child poverty rate.. hard for me to understand his perspective if Florida is his picture of perfection. It's a beautiful place with much worse "everyday" issues than in California, where the biggest problem is that some people make too much money.

If you adjusted for CA's higher cost of living our child poverty rate would probably be around the same.

As of 2010, California's was 23.2%, but that is not adjusted for our higher cost of living.

Child Poverty in California (PPIC Publication)

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by john3232

30 years ago I lived in a small apartment not far from Tarvel and 19th for $350 a month. I was also earning $12.50 an hour working temp downtown. Homes were in the $200,000 range and a two flat went for under $500,000.


Now my old apartment is about $2000.

Similar office work I did back in the early 1980's is still around $12.00 an hour.

Homes in the Sunset are going for at least $700,000.

Either you're a hot shot in the high tech/business world, work for the City or life can be quite demanding.

^^^This pretty much sums it up for most of the popular parts of California.

I have a public sector job. If I lose it, I'm outta here. There's no chance I'll get an equivalent paying job with the same benefits in the private sector.

[zitsky]

I disagree 200% with the OP's friend. I lived 12 years in the San Francisco area, but not in SF. I was in Silicon Valley. I now live in Raleigh, NC and have been here for 3 years. It's OK but I am ready and eager to move back to California.

You couldn't get me to move to AZ even if my life depended on it. It's hot, desert, and extremely conservative. The folks in Arizona won't be happy until all Latinos (not just illegals) are shipped out of state. California may not be perfect but we're more accepting of diversity than Arizona is.