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I just left Marin County, just north of SF almost 2 weeks ago now. It is an area of amazing beauty and resources. I am missing it. Yes, I am homesick, living in an older rental that barely fits us and all our boxes. We have to keep renting here until we sell the house there - that is one of the biggest problems with leaving CA - selling your house. People can't get loans. So we are "camping" - leaving things packed - hoping that our house will sell and we can find a place to buy here that we are more comfortable in. And no, there hasn't been enough time to adjust to Texas, so I am trying to be patient. Right now one of the things I find most difficult is not being able to keep the windows open. In CA, even if there is a really hot day, the nights are cool, and you can cool the house down by leaving the windows open all night. I am not used to living in "canned" air. It is hard to be out in the heat, but claustrophobic inside. I know this is just perception on my part, but I am suffering from the lack of cool breezes and fresh air.
I'm not sure it's only perception. We've been here over a year now and I still can't handle the heat. I also miss those fresh breezes and open windows. Try to think about the time when winter comes here and there will be a few days the air seems crisp and clean. There will even be a few nights you will keep the windows closed and the heat on! Winter will get here, promise. I remember last summer thinking this heat of hell would never, ever leave. It will! Hang in there!
"canned air"...that's about right. Sometimes it seems like that outside as well.
Isn't is really a question of "affording" to live in cal and buy real estate there? Honestly, if home prices were equal or better to Austin, and you could live in San Diego, the bay area, or the nicer parts of LA/Orange County, and say Santa Barbara and a few other choice areas, would you NOT be happy to stay there? I should add, if the jobs were there as well? I think this is just a real estate implosion and recession phase that is pushing some people out of the state. Those that are thriving out there are more than happy to stay, and many are prob happily strolling wherever they are, sailing, walking the beach, surfing, hiking the Sierras and Yosemite, and what have you...
Cal's middle-class are being economically pushed out of the state. The poor have no means to move, and the well-off and rich are quite happy to stay and live the life there....those leaving can't afford to live there anymore, plain and simple..there are exceptions, but it is very much the main driver, and it is PUSHING them out, its not Texas pulling them..
If cost of living was different in CA we would have stayed for ever. But we just felt like we were spinning our wheels going nowhere because of the cost. Here in Austin we can breathe again and get ahead again. Of course we are lucky in that we were able to sell our home there and bring our CA salary with us which does help a lot.
I just left Marin County, just north of SF almost 2 weeks ago now. It is an area of amazing beauty and resources. I am missing it. Yes, I am homesick, living in an older rental that barely fits us and all our boxes. We have to keep renting here until we sell the house there - that is one of the biggest problems with leaving CA - selling your house. People can't get loans. So we are "camping" - leaving things packed - hoping that our house will sell and we can find a place to buy here that we are more comfortable in. And no, there hasn't been enough time to adjust to Texas, so I am trying to be patient. Right now one of the things I find most difficult is not being able to keep the windows open. In CA, even if there is a really hot day, the nights are cool, and you can cool the house down by leaving the windows open all night. I am not used to living in "canned" air. It is hard to be out in the heat, but claustrophobic inside. I know this is just perception on my part, but I am suffering from the lack of cool breezes and fresh air.
We moved from the South Bay this past May and so I can totally relate to what you say about the open windows. I was saying just the other day to my husband that I can't wait till it cools off enough to open some windows and get some fresh air in here. While we love it here, not homesick a bit, I do miss opening my windows. It's funny the things you find you miss about home. Good luck on the sale of your house.
I just left Marin County, just north of SF almost 2 weeks ago now. It is an area of amazing beauty and resources. I am missing it. Yes, I am homesick, living in an older rental that barely fits us and all our boxes. We have to keep renting here until we sell the house there - that is one of the biggest problems with leaving CA - selling your house. People can't get loans. So we are "camping" - leaving things packed - hoping that our house will sell and we can find a place to buy here that we are more comfortable in. And no, there hasn't been enough time to adjust to Texas, so I am trying to be patient. Right now one of the things I find most difficult is not being able to keep the windows open. In CA, even if there is a really hot day, the nights are cool, and you can cool the house down by leaving the windows open all night. I am not used to living in "canned" air. It is hard to be out in the heat, but claustrophobic inside. I know this is just perception on my part, but I am suffering from the lack of cool breezes and fresh air.
I think that late may - early sep is just Austin's winter....California's coast is really a weather anomoly compared to the rest of the US...it's really perfect weather, being a Mediterranean one, much like Spain...no snow ever on the coast, and 70-ish weather even in the winters....SF would prob be the coldest of the coastal cal cities, and even IT is clement compared to most cities in the USA....most of the year it rarely ranges far from 40's -70's....so hard to compare that to anywhere, let alone a hot and humid climate such as central texas.....
Austin is best tasted and served in the spring and fall, hence most of the events fall into that timeframe....all you can really do in the 90 and 100-ish summers here is swim or stay inside....which is prob why God created barton springs!
People always say that California has the best weather, but for me it's absolutely not true. I've been here in San Francisco for 2 years now and there has been absolutely no day when I can leave my house in the morning without taking a sweater with me. It can get a little warmer during the day, but at 4pm you better have a jacket or sweater with you. So for me, that's really not the best weather and I can't leave the windows open because the breeze is too cold.
I think that if you want to move to a place, you don't really need to think that much if you would "fit" into that new city, because it will really depend on yourself, if you want to adapt or not. If you want another place to be like CA, there is no place the same, even CA is so big that going from SF to San Jose is very different. And that's the case just to any city or state. I've lived in 6 different countries and in the US in 3 different States and trust me, you will find new friends that have your same beliefs, traditions, etc. So it's up to you if you want to adapt to a new place or not.
We (my husband and I) are also considering moving from the Bay area to Austin, because of my husband's work. We lived a while in San Antonio so we know how hot it gets there, but I think that after so many moves we will be able to handle this one as well
Ohhh and to all Californians, trust me there is a world beyond California! I do love CA and it's great, I really can't complain because I like it here, but really, it's not the only great place. People here tend to think that here is no better place than CA, but in my opinion, the best place is the place you like, no matter what others say.
BTW if someone can give me some tips for moving to Austin I would appreciate it. So far a friend told me that Hill Country and Pflugerville are good areas. Anyone else any suggestion?
People always say that California has the best weather, but for me it's absolutely not true. I've been here in San Francisco for 2 years now and there has been absolutely no day when I can leave my house in the morning without taking a sweater with me. It can get a little warmer during the day, but at 4pm you better have a jacket or sweater with you. So for me, that's really not the best weather and I can't leave the windows open because the breeze is too cold.
I think that if you want to move to a place, you don't really need to think that much if you would "fit" into that new city, because it will really depend on yourself, if you want to adapt or not. If you want another place to be like CA, there is no place the same, even CA is so big that going from SF to San Jose is very different. And that's the case just to any city or state. I've lived in 6 different countries and in the US in 3 different States and trust me, you will find new friends that have your same beliefs, traditions, etc. So it's up to you if you want to adapt to a new place or not.
We (my husband and I) are also considering moving from the Bay area to Austin, because of my husband's work. We lived a while in San Antonio so we know how hot it gets there, but I think that after so many moves we will be able to handle this one as well
Ohhh and to all Californians, trust me there is a world beyond California! I do love CA and it's great, I really can't complain because I like it here, but really, it's not the only great place. People here tend to think that here is no better place than CA, but in my opinion, the best place is the place you like, no matter what others say.
BTW if someone can give me some tips for moving to Austin I would appreciate it. So far a friend told me that Hill Country and Pflugerville are good areas. Anyone else any suggestion?
Thanks so much
Come on out and see...only way to do it..its a really small metro, so pretty much like recommending an area in San Jose....Chicago's south side itself is larger than Austin....not really large enough for huge differences...the outside areas are pretty blah, and big on strip malls and big box stores, so that might not be the hippest thing if you are coming here for something different....the central is interesting, but not mindblowing. Much of it has been co-opted and buzzified, and high rise condo-ified.....the south is nice in parts, but used to be the bad half of town, so can be really seedy in parts as well....there really is no west burbs of substance, as it is too hilly for large, reambling subdivisions, but there are some of the larger homes there, because of the views..builders are amazingly crafty building on huge inclines...need to park wheels facing curb just like SF there...the north is where all the suburban growth is, for the most part, and very blah...I don't think anyone moves to Pflugerville for the cool vibe...was way off the radar till recently, just a podunk town on the outskirts, until cheap land suddenly became desireable here...now you have your choice of all the big box stores you can handle...
Just my opinion here...not trying to start any debates..this is just how I see the Austin metro...everyone will see it differently..
Ohhh and to all Californians, trust me there is a world beyond California! I do love CA and it's great, I really can't complain because I like it here, but really, it's not the only great place. People here tend to think that here is no better place than CA, but in my opinion, the best place is the place you like, no matter what others say.
Just in case you think I was suggesting it, I don't think California is the only great place to live. In fact, I have run into very few Californians who have that limited of a viewpoint. Californians tend to come from all over, and while they may really enjoy the weather, I pretty much never heard anyone running down anyplace else. I have never lived in the city of San Francisco for two reasons: I don't like living in big cities and it is just too cold all the time. It is cold because it is a pennisula jutting up into the Bay and is covered all the time by the coastal fog. So there are certainly some places in CA with not so great weather. The place I lived had great weather. But great weather isn't everything. I moved back to Texas mostly because of family. It is true that I am suffering a little right now because of the weather in central Texas, but that is exaggerated by the fact that we are not living in ideal circumstances (a not-so-great rental condo while we wait for our CA home to sell), that we moved in the middle of August, and that we haven't given it enough time yet. Eventually, I hope that we can get our own home and find our place in the community. I am sure that the time will come that we love this place. I think there is a lot to love.
@ inthecut. Thanks for your recommendations. I'll be in Austin next week to see a few areas. We prefer to live in the city, but are open to see other places as well. And since I will be looking for a new job (sigh) I think it's our best option to be in the city.
@G Grasshopper. I hope you can sell your house very fast. Have you considered renting it? We own a house in San Antonio and have rented it since we left. I do realize that most rents in northern CA won't cover the mortgage, but maybe it's an option.
People always say that California has the best weather, but for me it's absolutely not true. I've been here in San Francisco for 2 years now and there has been absolutely no day when I can leave my house in the morning without taking a sweater with me.
Anyone who says "California" has the "best weather" usually means "the part of California that I live(d)". California is a large state (though obviously not as large as TX) so there is no such thing as "California weather". As has been mentioned, you can't even compare SF to SJ and they are less than an hour apart (depending on traffic of course) let alone Eureka to Mojave or Lake Tahoe to Fresno.
DH and I came out from California last summer from Citrus Heights, Ca, right outside of Sacramento. Other than the miserable summer (which has not been bad this year) Austin is a pretty great place to live and raise your family.
I am horribly homesick but I'm working on that part. I would look into it if I were you. First though, I would secure a job. Then the move will be tax deductible.
We came to Texas because early last spring, we came to the devastating conclusion that California has become ungovernable and thus is not fixable unless there are serious governmental changes. By that, I mean not changing from Dem or Republican or electing A over B. I think real change and recovery will only come after the State Constitution has been scrapped and re-written. We left the state with extremely heavy hearts. My husband had a good job and I was muddling along just enough.
Anyway, don't let the other posters on this thread alarm you by saying Austin is liberal. In Austin, liberal is much akin to California conservative.
Oh, and FYI, I just renewed the registration on our little truck and it was $56. Also, there is no state income tax so count on getting a 5-10% net payraise if you find a job paying you the same salary you earn in California.
Actually, technically a 65 percent pay raise, when you factor in the cost of living (I moved from L.A.)..if you compare what you need to earn in CA vs. here for same standard of living, or what a salary there would be the equivalent of here.
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