Enhancing Your Quality of Life Elsewhere (San Jose, San Francisco: real estate, how much, house)

[nmguy]

If you wanted to improve your quality of life --real estate. leisure time, stress level-- where would you go? Why would you go there? Or, all things considered, would you prefer to stay where you are?

[bigdumbgod]

Um, New Mexico?

[zitsky]

Yes. I'm not sure why this question is in the San Jose forum. At the very least, it should be in the main California forum if you are asking whether people like living here. It seems a bit like the OP is trying to get folks riled up??

[nmguy]

Originally Posted by zitsky

Yes. I'm not sure why this question is in the San Jose forum. At the very least, it should be in the main California forum if you are asking whether people like living here. It seems a bit like the OP is trying to get folks riled up??

Thanks for your posts, Zitsky and Bigdumbgod. As you say, this is a poorly-worded post. Sorry for that.

After leaving the Bay Area six years ago, I'm trying to justify returning there. Guess I was looking for folks to contribute the names of towns near San Francisco that appeal to them.

Saludos,
nmguy

[zitsky]

Originally Posted by nmguy

Thanks for your posts, Zitsky and Bigdumbgod. As you say, this is a poorly-worded post. Sorry for that.

After leaving the Bay Area six years ago, I'm trying to justify returning there. Guess I was looking for folks to contribute the names of towns near San Francisco that appeal to them.

Saludos,
nmguy

Thank you for clarifying that, nmguy. If I were you, I'd consider Mountain View, Campbell, San Carlos, Belmont.

Here's my situation: I lived in Mountain View for about 12 years. Then I moved to Oregon, thinking I might find a tech job there, and instead ended up getting a graduate degree. I moved back after that was done but stayed only a year or so before relocating again to North Carolina, also to find a job. That hasn't worked out the way I wanted so my partner and I are already thinking to move back to California. I think it's not just about jobs. It's also about what we miss in the Bay Area. In NC we have lots of places to hike, but the summer weather gets to us after a while. We haven't gone to the beach as much as we used to in CA. I miss having good coffee, and believe me I've tried 95% of the coffee places out here. I miss all the trips I used to take up and down the west coast, for wine tasting, or just to enjoy the beauty.

What's making you consider moving back?

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by nmguy

Thanks for your posts, Zitsky and Bigdumbgod. As you say, this is a poorly-worded post. Sorry for that.

After leaving the Bay Area six years ago, I'm trying to justify returning there. Guess I was looking for folks to contribute the names of towns near San Francisco that appeal to them.

Saludos,
nmguy

Well I think you already know this...but the Bay Area is great if you have the money to live the lifestyle you want. Unfortunately, money doesn't go far for people at the area's median income, so life for many here is a rat race, especially for those raising kids.

Assuming money is not a major obstacle, you must consider the state's chronic financial and governance problems. I think a lot of the well off folks here think their money will insulate them from those issues....but unless you're Larry Ellison or Bill Gates, money only goes so far.

I personally worry about California being hit by a major earthquake. I don't think we're as prepared as we could be. And even the best preparation has limits. Next on the list is water management issues.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Just a few days ago we were walking in Downtown SJ. Many places have folded - Spiedo, Tied House, others we never went to. There are almost as many homeless people as there were 25 years ago. Many office spaces vacant. Further afield entire office parks are falling into ruin. They say that economic conditions underpin quality of life. Witness Detroit as an extreme example. Hard to say where it will all end up but the current vibe says, do not return here.

[nmguy]

Originally Posted by zitsky

Thank you for clarifying that, nmguy.
What's making you consider moving back?

Thanks, Zitsky.

In a few words, and in prioritized order, here are my reasons for considering returning to the Bay Area: friends, fresh seafood, genuine Asian food, the 49ers, the Giants, and the weather.

I'm able to live well within my retired means here in New Mexico, and it would be more difficult to do this in the Bay Area.

OTH, life is a series of tradeoffs.

[zitsky]

Originally Posted by nmguy

Thanks, Zitsky.

In a few words, and in prioritized order, here are my reasons for considering returning to the Bay Area: friends, fresh seafood, genuine Asian food, the 49ers, the Giants, and the weather.

I'm able to live well within my retired means here in New Mexico, and it would be more difficult to do this in the Bay Area.

OTH, life is a series of tradeoffs.

The last two posts were rather interesting. No disrespect to anyone but it's not as if San Jose or San Francisco will just crumble or vanish into a sink hole. Yes, earthquakes are a definite risk in California. It's why the previous owners of my house in Mountain View re-did the foundation to make it more earthquake safe.

I guess each of us has to run the numbers. I've always believed that if you're willing to be creative, you can live anywhere. There are people in San Jose, Mountain View, etc who make minimum wage, but still manage to live in those cities. If they can do it, then the rest of us can.

[SickOfCalifornia]

Don't discount the effects of a major earthquake originating in the San Andreas or Hayward faults. We haven't seen a big one from the big faults in our lifetime, and when it happens, the devastation will be severe (not to mention the inevitable bungled federal response).

I recently moved to Austin, TX. I'm not going to try and list all the good things about it, because there are a million-and-one articles about "best places to live" and Austin's p.r. team almost always gets the city onto those lists. But the main point I want to make is that California is not the end-all-be-all of locations. I was born and raised here, and was initially very resistant to moving. I was drinking the California koolaid with the best of them. But there ARE other fantastic places in the US, almost all of which are more affordable than the Bay Area in a number of ways. Your comment about "real seafood" is a good example. Like so many of you, I was snobby enough about my environment to assume that a place like Austin could never have the quality sushi I am used to getting out here. Wrong! As a sushi snob, I am pleased to report that even deep in the heart of Texas, you can find good seafood. Maybe that's because so many other Californians have moved here ahead of me and demanded it, or maybe my original thinking was too narrow. Either way, a lot of the things that I had pegged California as tops for are just as good elsewhere.

In a way, my heart will always be stuck in SF (cue music), but I have also learned how much more is out there that I didn't factor in because of my snobbish California-is-tops attitude. I guess at the end of the day, I just got tired of making a huge salary but finding it so difficult to save. I know so many people making big money who should be rich, but instead are just fighting to keep things going in this state that sucks so much disposable income from you.

California is awesome, and has a lot to offer... but it also has a lot of things that in 2010 you can get elsewhere. And when you factor in the very real difference in cost of living in non-Cali locations, you really can improve your life in other ways that more than makes up for it.