leaving wisconsin survey (Green Bay, Oshkosh, Baraboo: job market, to buy, good schools)

[suecen]

FCG: I think you have the right idea. There is no perfect place. I've lived here all my life but have been in many other states and have not found the "perfect" one to relocate so I'm still here. I complain about the cold/snow - hate it - but then in the summer when it's so hot and humid I hate that!

[FormerCaliforniaGirl]

Originally Posted by suecen

FCG: I think you have the right idea. There is no perfect place. I've lived here all my life but have been in many other states and have not found the "perfect" one to relocate so I'm still here. I complain about the cold/snow - hate it - but then in the summer when it's so hot and humid I hate that!

Ha! I was just speaking with my sister this morning (she lives in San Diego), and she was complaining about the heat. They're having another Santa Ana condition (hot dry winds that blow in from the desert), and it's expected to get into the high 80's this week. My sister said: "I'm so sick of this heat!"

I had to laugh. I mean, are we EVER happy? I'm sick of the snow already (and it isn't even Christmas yet) and I envy the Santa Ana conditions in San Diego. My sister envies me, and would love to be here in the cold.

People are so whacked (and I mean that in a good way).

[suecen]

We're only human and NO I don't think we are ever happy. I mean if we didn't have something to complain about....... my brother's coming in from CA for X-mas (he hates it here but then he's always complaining about CA and all the problems they have). Go figure! (He tried getting out of coming because he said he didn't have any "winter" clothes. I told him that's okay I'm sure we'll find some around the house for him - LOL!

[gold*dust1]

Originally Posted by FormerCaliforniaGirl

Ha! I was just speaking with my sister this morning (she lives in San Diego), and she was complaining about the heat. They're having another Santa Ana condition (hot dry winds that blow in from the desert), and it's expected to get into the high 80's this week. My sister said: "I'm so sick of this heat!"

I had to laugh. I mean, are we EVER happy? I'm sick of the snow already (and it isn't even Christmas yet) and I envy the Santa Ana conditions in San Diego. My sister envies me, and would love to be here in the cold.

People are so whacked (and I mean that in a good way).

Your sister is just probably trying to make you feel better. I can't imagine choosing WI over CA especially if you're from there. The only reason I can come up with is for cheaper housing but I would just pay the piper. CA has its flaws but you can't beat the Ocean, mountains, great parks etc.
Give it a few more years, I predict you'lll be moving back

Regarding this thread depressing you, the OP started it to encourage people to vent if they so desired.

[EastSideMKE]

Originally Posted by gold*dust1

Your sister is just probably trying to make you feel better. I can't imagine choosing WI over CA especially if you're from there. The only reason I can come up with is for cheaper housing but I would just pay the piper. CA has its flaws but you can't beat the Ocean, mountains, great parks etc.
Give it a few more years, I predict you'lll be moving back

Regarding this thread depressing you, the OP started it to encourage people to vent if they so desired.

Way to be a hater. You're not venting because you didn't say anything constructive. You should want what you say on this forum to be useful to someone who's reading it as an outsider.

WI actually has more coastline than CA. Waterfront property is way, way cheaper here than pretty much any other state. That's why so many people from Chicago and the Twin Cities have vacation properties in WI. Our state isn't perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than most. Until you experience living in at least one other state, you're opinions are pretty much meaningless.

[JoshB]

Originally Posted by jjacobeclark

Way to be a hater. You're not venting because you didn't say anything constructive. You should want what you say on this forum to be useful to someone who's reading it as an outsider.

WI actually has more coastline than CA. Waterfront property is way, way cheaper here than pretty much any other state. That's why so many people from Chicago and the Twin Cities have vacation properties in WI. Our state isn't perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than most. Until you experience living in at least one other state, you're opinions are pretty much meaningless.

I totally spaced that out, WI does have more waterfront than California.

[gold*dust1]

Originally Posted by jjacobeclark

Way to be a hater. You're not venting because you didn't say anything constructive. You should want what you say on this forum to be useful to someone who's reading it as an outsider.

WI actually has more coastline than CA. Waterfront property is way, way cheaper here than pretty much any other state. That's why so many people from Chicago and the Twin Cities have vacation properties in WI. Our state isn't perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than most. Until you experience living in at least one other state, you're opinions are pretty much meaningless.

Actually I think you're being a "hater" and much too sensitive. I didn't say anything that was hateful! This thread was open for thoughts on why you left or would like to leave, stay etc....I merely stated an opinion, which I am certainly entitled to being from WI and having lived a substantial period of time in CA. To each his or her own. My point didn't have anything to do with which state has more actual waterfront or disputing the fact that people buy waterfront property in WI LOL! I prefer the waterfront CA has to offer, sorry that is offensive to you.

[FormerCaliforniaGirl]

Originally Posted by gold*dust1

Your sister is just probably trying to make you feel better. I can't imagine choosing WI over CA especially if you're from there. The only reason I can come up with is for cheaper housing but I would just pay the piper. CA has its flaws but you can't beat the Ocean, mountains, great parks etc.
Give it a few more years, I predict you'lll be moving back

Regarding this thread depressing you, the OP started it to encourage people to vent if they so desired.

Oh my gosh...this COMPLETELY proves my point that no two people are exactly alike, that where we prefer to live is completely subjective, and that no city/state is perfect.

I know this is hard for you to believe golddust, but other than the mild weather, I do not miss San Diego. And I seriously doubt I'll ever go back. I lived my entire life there, and I know every inch of that city. And I could give you a laundry list of things about San Diego that I intensely dislike.

1. The beaches are polluted and smell like sewage....especially the beaches in the southern part of the county (near the Mexican border). Whenever it rains in San Diego/Tijuana, raw sewage from the Tijuana River spills into the oceans in San Diego. Often the beaches are so contaminated that they have to be closed for long periods of time.

2. The beaches are overcrowded, and it's impossible to find parking on a sunny day. That is, when there IS a sunny day. The marine layer that comes in from the coast and settles along the coastlines of San Diego makes everything gray, cold and dismal. San Diegan's call it "Gray May" and "June Gloom" because this is most pervasive in those months. However, it occurs all year long. Even the tour books are now warning potential visitors to not come to San Diego between the months of April and July.

3. San Diego has some beautiful tourist areas and lovely upper-middle-class and wealthy neighborhoods. But that encompasses about 1/4 of San Diego County. The other 3/4 is, in some areas, a cesspool. Especially in southeastern San Diego, where many of the neighborhoods resemble 3rd-world countries. And yet the cost of a decaying house, in a cesspool of a neighborhood, can be close to $500,000.

4. Sales taxes in S.D. are 8% (or were, they might be higher now). The Governator (Arnold) has run that state into a multi-billion dollar deficit, and now he is sticking it to the taxpayers to dig him out.

5. San Diego is a favorite destination of illegal immigrants from Mexico. Not only have they left millions of pounds of trash and debris in San Diego's once beautiful deserts, but they also have formed many tent camps in San Diego's canyons, creating more trash.

6. I used to commute 26 miles to work every day. It took me 90 minutes to get to work, and 90 minutes to get home. And that was on a good day. Traffic in San Diego is a nightmare. San Diegan's plan their entire lives around the traffic.

7. Wildfires have been ravaging San Diego over the past decade. Most of the trees and wildlife in the Laguna and Cuyamaca Mtns. were burned. It will be upwards of 100 years before those trees grow back to their former glory.

8. There is a saying in San Diego: "If you build it, somebody will tag it." Meaning, if you build a fence or retaining wall, somebody will grafitti it. They grafitti cars, buildings, bridges...EVERYTHING. San Diego is one big gang-fested grafitti collage.

9. Try going to the DMV or the Social Security office. Hmmmph! You'll spend most of your day there. Or try calling these places...that's worse. You'll never get a human voice. Most government offices in San Diego are completely unable to handle the load of citizens needing their services.

10. Salaries are low in San Diego, especially when compared to the cost-of-living.

11. Smog, air pollution....yuck.

12. Noise. The freeway noise never stops. Miramar Naval Air base flies constantly (even after midnight). Oh, and did I mention that one just crashed near my old neighborhood...killing 2 children, their mother and grandmother??

13. MS-13 Hispanic gangs. Enough said.

14. Drugs. Meth labs are everywhere in San Diego. Being on the Mexican border, the drugs are abundant and constant.

You can have San Diego. And PLEASE keep telling people how much better San Diego is than Wisconsin. This way I can be assured that they won't move here, and Wisconsin will stay the beautiful, quiet, clean, city that it is.

I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but I'm so tired of everybody looking at me as if I'm crazy for moving from San Diego to Wisconsin. And I just wanted to give my opinion on the city.

[gold*dust1]

^^^^ Well now we know my feelings wern't out of the norm of what you've been getting. My ex was from CA and very loyal. He barely knew another state existed lol! I loved feeling like I was having a mini vacation and only having to drive a short distance to find it. If I was from there I would have never left, but I would probably find a quieter, cheaper place out of the frenzy.

[FormerCaliforniaGirl]

Originally Posted by gold*dust1

^^^^ Well now we know my feelings wern't out of the norm of what you've been getting. My ex was from CA and very loyal. He barely knew another state existed lol! I loved feeling like I was having a mini vacation and only having to drive a short distance to find it. If I was from there I would have never left, but I would probably find a quieter, cheaper place out of the frenzy.

LOL! No such place exists in San Diego. That's the problem.

San Diego is a really great place to visit and to be a tourist because, as a visitor, you can stay in the really nice tourist areas, and enjoy all the "bling" of San Diego. But for all except the wealthy, San Diego is a tough way to eke out a living. Yes, the weather's fabulous, but again, if you're making under 6 figures, the great weather won't compensate for the miserable living conditions.

Okay, I'll stop bashing San Diego now. I feel kind of bad doing this, because I'm sure there are people who really love the city.