Should we move back?

[treedonkey]

Originally Posted by greenmtn

The job he has now is part time, so he has lots of time for our family, he walks the quarter mile to work, and, in addition, the job is extremely stable...he would probably never lose it.

ARE YOU READING YOUR OWN WORDS? Do you know how hard it is to work out a sweet deal like that? By all means stay there, boring job or not.

[RockhetHD]

Originally Posted by greenmtn

My husband and I grew up in the South Bay, but we moved away 12 years ago because we felt it was no longer a good place to raise kids. We now live in rural New England where we have a beautiful farm house and land, fabulous schools, clean air and water, and a tight-knit community. We all love it here, except for me in the winter. (I love it eight months of the year.)

We often consider moving back for financial and career reasons and because all of our family is on the West Coast. (Our five children are beginning to approach college age and our aging parents have many health concerns.)

What are things like in "Silicon Valley" these days? Can a 50-year old firmware engineer who has been working part-time jobs out of his field for six years find a job? Is the California University system (of which my husband and I are both products) still alive and well or not? Are there any decent public schools? Would we be able to go back to that frenzied lifestyle after a decade of laid-back country life, where people here actually stop in the road to let you make a left turn in front of them?

Any thoughts or input are appreciated!

NO please don't move back to NEW DETROIT ( The bay area )
Really the job market is bad, I would choose DC or Texas or North Carolina as they have much stronger job markets.
The recession + anti-business tax structures on companies in California have really driven out lots of jobs and these jobs are NOT coming back.

[silicagulcher]

Now that is a difficult one to answer.

Your life sounds wonderful indeed in New England.

There is no question that Cal Berkeley, UCSF and Stanford are some of the best schools in the US if not the world.

At what price is the question. Certainly a degree in any one of those institutions will open many a door.

Out-sourcing has taken its toll in the Silicon Valley fairy tale miracle. There are still opportunities down here. However they are far and few between since those Halcyon days.
Not impossible, but not easy.

An equal estate in Los Altos, Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay could cost you triple or more than your New England paradise and futher down the road to San Martin - Morgan Hill will cost you a dreadful drain in commute hours unless you take the train to work in Palo Alto/Sunnyvale area.
Equally bad commutes between Fremont/Milpitas to Palo Alto I'm afraid.

The best I can say is make inquiries as to the job market and take a few days to drive around and scout-out the areas first hand after some internet reconnoitering.

Hope you find what you seek. Good Luck.

[treedonkey]

Originally Posted by silicagulcher

There is no question that Cal Berkeley, UCSF and Stanford are some of the best schools in the US if not the world.

'Best' is a term that is highly abused and bastardized when it comes to describing schools of all levels. Quality education really depends on a) which courses you take b) what teachers you happen to get and, above all, c) how much you apply yourself. Beyond that, going to the 'best' schools is really only of importance for those planning on going into career fields where people actually care about such things... like law and politics. Neither of which is worth the effort, IMO.

[cl723]

Due to taxes,high cost of living, so many people, etc we would never move back again. We did what you are thinking of and totaly regreted it. We finally were able to leave Cal(again). I like you was envisioning it back in the early days even though we had been back to visit several times. It`s a completely different place than it use to be.

[misplaced1]

Could you talk your parents into moving closer to you? I'm about to move 1600+ miles out of California. Both of my parents live here and my oldest son will be staying because his girlfriend is here. I'm having a hard time with the worry aspect of it but I can't stay here where we don't have the quality of life we could elsewhere just to take care of everyone else.

We moved out of California for 2 years and I was really happy with the area we moved to. My husband developed selective memory and missed it here. Well a family health issue came to be and we did move back here to Ca. We aren't any more happy here than we were before and we will be moving out again in June. I just feel a bit mad because I had to sell the property I had and loved to move back here.

[kwalk65]

Originally Posted by cl723

Due to taxes,high cost of living, so many people, etc we would never move back again. We did what you are thinking of and totaly regreted it. We finally were able to leave Cal(again). I like you was envisioning it back in the early days even though we had been back to visit several times. It`s a completely different place than it use to be.

I lived in Santa Cruz California for 37 years. I haven't been back since leaving 6 years ago. I think the best part of California for me now is the 37 years of great memories I have while living there then. To go back now I feel certain that I would be disappointed.

[RockhetHD]

The Business Relocation Coach: Updated: California's Hostile Business Climate -- 114 'Moving-Out-of-State' Events (http://thebusinessrelocationcoach.blogspot.com/2010/03/updated-californias-hostile-business.html - broken link)

Read this!

[silicagulcher]

Originally Posted by treedonkey

'Best' is a term that is highly abused and bastardized when it comes to describing schools of all levels. Quality education really depends on a) which courses you take b) what teachers you happen to get and, above all, c) how much you apply yourself. Beyond that, going to the 'best' schools is really only of importance for those planning on going into career fields where people actually care about such things... like law and politics. Neither of which is worth the effort, IMO.

What I meant in terms of "Best" is what has been genearlly accepted when there are surveys of top college/universities.

The quality of the teachers, the material available, the programs. Certainly when it comes to medical, engineering, law and business UC Berkeley and Stanford are right up there and medical also UCSF.
Santa Clara , from what I remember also had a very respectable law school.

You will find it difficult to match UC Berkeley and Stanford with regards to science and engineering.

Of course it all depends on the effort of the student to reap the benefits offered.
No free lunch. These schools are competitive. Hard work for even the most talented of students.

[DMenscha]

Perhaps the South Bay isn't worth it, but perhaps someplace in the Sierra Foothills would be worth considering. Only a couple of hours away and probably much more like what you've experienced in NE.