A few words regarding cost of living and housing in San Francisco (Sacramento: insurance, crime)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
You are making a lot of assumptions here. Telling people to take their blinders off you are 'suggesting' that everyone living here is making a huge mistake.
Yes, I agree that comment was out of line... just because we are content here, that doesn't mean we're "blind." I could say the same about people living in Tennessee, since to ME that sounds like hell! I've been to the south many times, and while it can be nice to visit, you honestly couldn't pay me enough to live there. Heat, oppressive humidity, gigantic bugs, conservative values, Christian dominated (I'm Jewish), racial tension, closeted gay communities, poverty, and I could go on. But unlike you (sliverbox), I'd never tell somebody they were blind or crazy for living there, because we all have different preferences & priorities. More power to you if TN is the ideal place, but some people have another definition of ideal... sorry you aren't happy here anymore, but please stop trying to drag everyone down with you. I've already seen much of the world, experienced living in numerous other places, and something still brought me back to SF - can't argue with what my heart tells me, and it would be silly to try.
Besides, my rent has been easily paid in full every month, I'm never late on bills, and just opened a savings account... and I'm not even making an entry-level salary right now, so my finances will quickly & greatly improve soon (next week, in fact!). In the meantime I live in a world-class city, have great & diverse friends, nearby family, endless activities to keep me busy, perfect weather all year-round, and a choice of ocean or mountains within a short drive - not to mention legal medical marijuana, which I actually need, and I'm surrounded by people with similar social/political values to my own. What exactly am I not seeing???
I think people moving out is eventually what will happen. You can go anywhere in the NW, SE, midwest in America and there are California transplants looking for a better life. I like it here but it would not be affordable for me if I had a family. As a former Philly/Jersey resident, I can say that SF is a really yuppie, not that diverse city these days. The Bay Area as a whole is quite diverse, but any nice neighborhood in Sf is going to be mostly white/asian.
I'm originally from philly. I live in south florida and graduating next month from nursing school. The hospitals in south florida dont pay anywhere near what Cali is offering. Housing is ridiculous in South Fla but I think its worse out in Cali. Some of the nursing job offers I have seen in Cali(Sanfran, San jose, San Bernardino, etc) are blowing my mind. What is the catch? Seriously! Are people friendly? South Fla is not a friendly place but i've adjusted. As long as Cali is not worse I think it can work. I hope someone can give me feedback. Thanks
Gizmo, Congratulations on the new job! Also, because of the feedback and information that you and others shared with me, I move to San Francisco in approx. 2 weeks!
The salaries are higher out here in the Bay Area but housing and cost of living are pretty high. If you get a job offer in San Francisco I would take it; it's a great city. I wouldn't be so thrilled with San Jose, though.
Gizmo, Congratulations on the new job! Also, because of the feedback and information that you and others shared with me, I move to San Francisco in approx. 2 weeks!
I found your posting very interesting to say the least. You must be very old to be so wise. I wish I would have read it years ago. I would have saved myself alot of aggravation. You are right on!!!
I've been to the south many times, and while it can be nice to visit, youyou honestly couldn't pay me enough to live there. Heat, oppressive humidity, gigantic bugs, conservative values, Christian dominated (I'm Jewish), racial tension, closeted gay communities, poverty, and I could go on. But unlike you (sliverbox), I'd never tell somebody they were blind or crazy for living there, because we all have different preferences & priorities.
No offense, but your 'observations' sound ignorant and poorly informed.Have you actually LIVED THERE? The weather, well I might buy that. Yes, it does get humid in 'da-South'. But the rest is utter nonsense, and I apologize for saying so.For starters, TN, NC, GA, and all the other cities within are no different than any other city across the country. They tend to be more liberal than their rural counterparts. I have buddies in Ukiah, California. If you want to see "conservative values" then take a trip out there- a short 2 hours from SF. Ohhhh ya- you'll get a heapin' helpin' of it for sure, and remember- this is in California.
I have an Aunt who lives in Memphis. Two of her best friends are black lesbians. In fact, she has quite a few gay friends. Nobody really cares either- not even their friends who happen to be more conservative. The same is true with my Brother's two friends who came out of the closet more recently. One guy's father is a former marine and drives Harleys. Guess what? he and all my brother's friends were just fine with it.
Nashville is about as a progressive a city as you'll find anywhere. One of their city council members is from San Francisco believe it or not. The city is planning smart growth communities and a new commuter train system well in advance in what they expect to be future growth.That's something SF has never done, but instead limits growth which prices out it's inhabitants.The city has been heavily democratic and liberal for the better part of 100 years. Longer than SF has been.
Secondly, the whole religious thing... Give it a freakin' break. So the fact that there's loads of Christians there bothers you? well guess what- I lived in a VERY traditionally Jewish community in Boston. There were loads of synagogues, Jewish bakeries, people walking around in Jewish garb saying " god bless you" to me whenever we had a discussion, and so on. I was there for two years. Did it bother me that I was the minority semi-Christian person there? NO, and as a matter of fact, I actually enjoyed it quite a bit, getting to learn about another religion, culture, and value structure. I made lots of friends. Perhaps we didn't believe in the same things, but we learned from one another. Perhaps the problem isn't the Christians, but maybe you not being capable of experiencing different religions or cultures. I did it, and so can you.
Poverty? LOL!! Listen- there's some of the poorest neighborhoods in the Bay Area that Ive ever seen. what's worse is that even people making good salaries in this area can't even buy a house. Exactly Why do you think that the single biggest issue on this forum is the cost of living here? Gosh- do you think it has to do with the fact that people don't have enough money to live here? Hmmm.. if you look at the pictures I placed here, those are for my squarely middle class parents who make less than half of what I do and yet live fairly well. The Southeast has a fairly healthy middle class. Translation: the overall economy, housing market, and cost of living are more stable there than in California which has the highest foreclosure rates in the country. So don't talk to me about poverty because California wins that contest by a huge margin.
SO yes- I agree, perhaps I was stepping out of line with saying that people should take the blinders off.For that I apologize. But I also think people that make absurd comments about a region they know nothing about should view things with a more objective stance.
I'm originally from philly. I live in south florida and graduating next month from nursing school. The hospitals in south florida dont pay anywhere near what Cali is offering. Housing is ridiculous in South Fla but I think its worse out in Cali. Some of the nursing job offers I have seen in Cali(Sanfran, San jose, San Bernardino, etc) are blowing my mind. What is the catch? Seriously! Are people friendly? South Fla is not a friendly place but i've adjusted. As long as Cali is not worse I think it can work. I hope someone can give me feedback. Thanks
Being a Nurse gives you a tremendous advantage to try a place for 4 to 6 months as a Traveling Nurse...
We always have a few here as floor Nurses... many have never been to CA and everyone was glad for the opportunity... a few have stayed... but, most return back to family and friends or when they want to settle down.
The wages for RN's are real... I've posted before that SF General starts RN's at 100k... the work is demanding and many of the patients are very ill.
The farther away from SF, the lower the wages... I have friends in Fresno and up North that still make at least 70K
It's easy, you get past it. Adapt. Live differently. Is that so difficult? The entire post is on exactly how to do that. There's a certain basic minimum income to live in a place. In SF that's around 35k. If you can't hack that in SF you can't hack it here and need to try another city. End of story.
May I ask - what do you do for a living? Wonderful post..I for one have to have my own place to call home - too transient for me but to each his own...your city is worth the compromise..Paris too.
I think that perhaps sometimes pictures are worth a thousand words. So let's make some comparisons. I have a few pics from my home state. The first is a picture of Nashville. To me, it's perhaps one of the prettiest cities in the country. Secondly, a picture of the house I grew up in on 17 acres. The property has an in-ground heated pool, greenhouse, a trail up the side of a ridge, a large workshop, a garden, and a bamboo area. The value today is $180,000, or approximately 1/4th the cost of a small house in SF, or 3 times less than the cost of a house in Oakland, or slightly twice as cheap as a small 1 room loft. The contrast is severe. A piece of land like this, anywhere in CA would be millions of dollars.
The last is a picture of Big South Fork National park, one of the largest in the country, but also the least visited. Imagine having beauty like this completely to yourself versus being overrun with hordes of tourists.
Bottom line- it isn't just the raw price that is overinflated in SF, but the lack of value inherent for what you get as well as the overall quality of life that is lacking.
Is SF really all that more beautiful and dynamic to make 1 million dollars for a house worth it?
I've been both places - no offense but Nashville is light years away from ever being a SF...maybe LA not never SF...Nashville reminded me of LA and that's not good...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $53,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
