Why did you leave California? (San Jose, Sunnyvale: to rent, headhunters, employment)

[tilz]

Interesting read, when we moved here (san Jose) we thought we would be up in San Francisco every weekend etc. Reality is I agree with bobby_guz_man that we can do most of what we want down here and with San Pedro sq. area really picking up I think you can have a great night out there. With Santana and the malls here I think shopping is just as good too.

As for the people well I can honestly say the 'majority' of people we meet aren't Californians anyway, most of the Californians I have met were laid back and pretty easy to get on with its the 'others' who seem to be the wine expert foodies.
In fact a lot of long term bay area people always tell me how it used to all be orchards and fields and that they just love the outdoor life , must have been hard for them to see all the fields etc turn into Silicon Valley ( I am sure people here saw that too).

Any hoos just my 5 cents , enjoy the east coast :-)

[marcopolo666]

Originally Posted by easybay

M-P 666 - I will add you to the list of posters I will miss CORRECTING me.

As for moving sooner - it made sense to put in our time, make a couple of $$, own our home long enough not to have to pay capital gains, and then find the right gig - which we did.

I hope you laughed when you read the post - 95% of it was supposed to be a joke (everything except about dogs not being allowed in parks).

Well, also, that I honestly wish you the best and that you enjoy your new living space(s).

[easybay]

M-P 666 - yup I laughed. I really do like the lively discussions on these threads.

Where were you 2 years ago when I was asking about dog friendly walks, hikes, beaches, and off leash areas? I simply gave up looking.

[marcopolo666]

I joined 2 years ago and I must not have seen it.

All of the rules/maps/facilities/activities for the Mideninsula OSPs can be found at : OPENSPACE | Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District and the dog info is at : Openspace.org - Great Activities - Ideas for Dog Owners .

For San Jose city parks : San Jose, CA - Official Website - Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Services

For county parks : Welcome to all 28 wild and wonderful parks of Santa Clara County! - Parks and Recreation - County of Santa Clara

[otterprods]

Originally Posted by easybay

...asking about dog friendly walks, hikes, beaches, and off leash areas? I simply gave up looking.

Bay Area Hiker: Home page
Everything you need to know about virtually every hike in the Bay Area. (see the rules sections of each hike for dog info). I wasn't here 2 years ago, sorry.

[marcopolo666]

Oh, and there's this great resource for finding stuff on the internet. I've linked it here :

https://www.google.com/

[Grizzly Addams]

Nancy Pelosi. Just kidding I have never lived there. But if I did, she would make me leave.

[PhoenixSomeday]

I've lived in California for my entire life. I was born in Sacramento and was there until I was about 2. Then in Fresno until about 6, and have been here in Santa Clara since then, and I am now 32. Brief stint in Rancho Cordova when I was 8-9, and was in Northridge for college.

I'm still here, but my girlfriend and I plan on leaving in the next few years, as soon as one or the other of us can get a real actual career that's easily movable to another area. We prefer Phoenix, but Roseville (CA) is similarly priced and I have family there. Although with only a 2 year degree in Systems Programming from De Anza (4 year degree is not an option right now, finance wise), it's not easy. There are opportunities, given that it's Silicon Valley, but there aren't many and they seem to be enormously competitive (I'm tired of reading how computer jobs are falling out of the sky here the last couple of years, but then being told there are hundreds of applicants every time a position opens up). The lower-experience positions are severely overshadowed by seemingly 75% of listings having "Senior" in the title. What gives?

Anyway, I love living here and would prefer to stay here, but the housing prices are just killer. I think the real estate business isn't realizing most of the workers here are probably in some sector or another of the service or retail industries. Not everyone is a dotcom CEO here, contrary to popular belief. For us, there is nothing here worth triple or quadruple the home prices of something identical or better elsewhere. Weather? No. I've been other places, and while it's nice here, it's absolutely not $400+/sq.ft. nice. Every parcel doesn't come with gold laced in the dirt, so it's not that either. Easy beach access? Unless you want to drive a couple of hours south, it's like others have said - the beaches around here are cold and dreary. ALWAYS. Even in the summer. One time a few years back it was 100° here in Santa Clara. So my buddy was like hey let's go to Capitola. I said sure, let's go. When we got there....it was 60°. Ok, hit Pizza My Heart, visit that sword/weapons/armor shop, then head back home...too damn cold here at the "beach". "Things to do"? Not my scene. My girlfriend and I are down for simple outdoor stuff like parks, zoos, gardens, and similar things. But even if we were into all of the "things to do" in CA and the bay area, again, it's definitely not worth 3-4x the price.

$16.50 would be a great wage most other places, but that's not common here for the service/retail jobs that most people have and it's definitely poverty-level wages if you want to live on your own and not rent a room in some dude's house (like I do now; $500). $1200 for 355 sq.ft.? Are you kidding me?

And is it just me, or have the driving manners seriously plummeted the last 5 years or so? I remember in the early 2000s it was pretty laid back. Since around 2007-2008 however, it's gotten worse and worse each year. Whenever we get heavily tailgated (already going 10+ over the limit), which is often, or cut off, or had someone tear a** out of a driveway in front of us, or seen someone driving through a parking lot doing 25 in the aisles, or seen someone bobbing and weaving in freeway traffic going 15-20 faster than everyone else....it's been someone middle aged. More than 5-6 years ago it would have been kids, as you'd expect. But the last 5 or 6 years? It's been grown a** people more and more. Funnily enough, that's right around when the economy tanked. It's like everyone has been P.O.ed since then that they're heavily underwater on the house they bought a couple years before. I don't know. We've visited a lot of other places the last few years (including out of state), and it's just night and day.

So it's a myriad of things. It's mostly housing prices. But then there's the horrid traffic, the really bad manners, the incomprehensible level of entitlement and privilege people have lately, the lack of decent paying jobs, the this-should-be-illegal ratio of minimum wage vs cost of living. Even if we did get well paying jobs, we're finding it harder and harder to swallow the thought of dropping $900k-$1M+ on a decent place in a decent area of the south bay to start a family and raise kids in (especially for something more than a measly 5k sq.ft. lot).

We're liking Phoenix. Vegas seems similar, but I don't know. Somewhere in Washington or Oregon might be nice with all that greenery and nature, but I'd probably kill myself with it being cloudy everyday and raining all the time. I need [uncovered] sun and [blue] sky.

[tilz]

Good read PhoenixSomeday and although I have only been here 2 years a lot of your comments hit home. The thoughts of just hitting the beach at weekends really is not simple either the weather is bad as you say or the prospect of sitting in traffic on 17 and then fighting to park is not that much fun. We have found our beach days tend to be Oct to March haha

I am lucky that I only have to commute occasionally (South San Jose to Sunnyvale) and this is 25 mins on a great day but normally 45mins to 1 hour for a 22 mile journey, I honestly dont know how people do it everyday. I live right by a VTA station and that would still take over an hour door to door !

My dream moving over was to buy a nice house after a year or so with a garden and over 2000 sq ft, needless to say we are still renting lol

I am not sure I could live in Phoenix or Vegas though, I like them a lot but jeeezzz they are hot in Summer, last time I was in Phoenix they said it was called the valley of the sun and our taxi driver said it should be called the surface of the sun ! lol

[otterprods]

Some of it may be a little strongly worded, but I can empathize with most of what Phoenix said above. Especially...

Originally Posted by PhoenixSomeday

down for simple outdoor stuff like parks, zoos, gardens, and similar things. But even if we were into all of the "things to do" in CA and the bay area, again, it's definitely not worth 3-4x the price... the beaches around here are cold and dreary... $1200 for 355 sq.ft.? Are you kidding me?... horrid traffic, the really bad manners...

We loved the simple things too like hiking and paddling, but it was always a stress just to get there and then you have places like Rancho San Antonio that are more crowded than the costco parking lot. I won't even go into the housing or traffic things, because those have been beaten to death already.

The only other thing I would say is be sure you make at least one or two extended trips to Phoenix or Vegas IN JULY before you move there. It may be easy to say, 'I like the heat' on a mild day at home, but it's really very hot in those places... I mean like absurdly, stiflingly, hellishly, fry-your-eyebrows off HOT. It's often over 100° IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT there in the summertime. I literally had to leave Phoenix after three days in June, and I won't even go to Vegas past April or before October. They also have some really bad air quality and traffic problems there due to the heat and the overcrowding. But you can buy a house for cheap, if that's your main goal.