Left CA, but plan to return or did return? (San Francisco: real estate, 2015)

[MtnSurfer]

With all the threads about ppl leaving and where they plan to go, I was wondering about ppl who left and are planning to return or did already.

We are one of those who left and then eventually returned. We left CA after the birth of our third child to greener pastures in CO. After living in CA all our lives we were ready for a change and different way of life, away from the concrete jungle of SoCal, the high cost of living, traffic, smog, etc...

After visiting family who made the migration to CO we decided to give it a go. And it was fun for the first couple of years. But even during that time I began to sense that something wasn't quite right. Even though we got the nice, newer, affordable home with a beautiful view of the Rockies from every floor, stable work, close proximity to nature, wide open spaces, less traffic, polution, crime, etc... something was still missing. It later became evident that while we enjoyed our adventure, CO wasn't for us longer term. The West Coast was calling us home.

So we returned to a quieter part of the state along the Central Coast with wide open spaces of it's own, but still having that distinct CA feel. In looking back we don't regret the move as it was a fun experience. But we are definately happy to be home. And we have a renewed appreciation for our Golden State including it's diversity of land, culture, city sizes, etc... Many of the things we left SoCal for we have found right here in a different part of the state.

Derek

[Snort]

Remember to match feminine adjectives to feminine nouns and you'll be ahead of the game. Nice try though!

Left CA and came back. I'm a coastal animal that likes the sun.

[BacktoBlue]

It's Google's fault! haha

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by Footballfreak

El sur de California es maravilloso. No se odia. Personalmente creo que la costa central es hermoso pero le falta el estilo de vida divertido volver previsto llegar en el sur de California y para mí la Costa Central es aburrido. No me importa si tiene un lugar más verde asures o lo que sea que les guste, pero bueno todos tenemos diferentes gustos supongo ..

"English is the only language to be used this board, use translation software if needed."

//www.city-data.com/forum/faq/9...rum-rules.html

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by Footballfreak

It's Google's fault! haha

LOL, I thought it was proximity to the border.

I admit I had to enter it into a translator. It's been a while since spanish in college. But yeah I know, some ppl love the SoCal experience and can't imagine living anywhere else. It does depend upon the things one enjoys more - City vs. outdoors, wide open spaces vs. millions of ppl, Sea World vs. High Sierras, etc... We just got back from a family party down in SoCal and are very glad to be home. We took Hwy 1 through Big Sur back and it was definately the highlight of the trip.





Derek

[Fontucky]

I left for a few years and came back. This is where I belong. I tried that 4 seasons **** people talk about. It's overrated. So is snow.

[Charles]

Derek and I became friends while in CA before we both moved to CO. He and I were both looking for jobs to get us out there. Eventually we both got good jobs there. I remember how excited he and I were after we moved there and we visited each other as we lived about ten miles from each other in the Colorado Springs area. Back then in 2006, the disparity between Socal and CO housing prices was at it's peak so the drive to move to CO was really high. Eventually the cold weather got to us (and the neighborhood we lived in lacked kids) so we moved to Huntsville and found the winters there to be too cold, rainy, cloudy, dreary, depressing too. By 2010 the housing prices in CA dropped quite a bit and rates hit rock bottom, so I scored a job in SoCal and we moved back and found we could swing a house - not as nice as CO or AL, but good enough.

So, it depends on your circumstances - I have 89 and 87 year old parents in CA and I am an only child and my kids are their only grand kids so there was big family pressure for us to move back.

[BacktoBlue]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

I left for a few years and came back. This is where I belong. I tried that 4 seasons **** people talk about. It's overrated. So is snow.

I totally agree. I don't get why people are so obsessed with snow and leaves changing and ****. I have many other things to keep me interested where I am. Hills, mountains, beaches, hot women, school...I don't care about snow or leaves changing or any of that type stuff. I hate being cold anyway. I think it depends where you grew up. I talked to a tourist who came from New York and she said she would love to move here but the weather would "kill her". I wanted to laugh since the weather here is much more tolerable than in New York but if you grew up with snow and cold then I guess you wouldn't want to leave it. I grew up with sunshine and warm weather so that is what I like.

Snow is fun to play in but I would never want to live in it. Shoveling snow, plowing roads, scraping windows, covering frozen pipes, getting dressed into 3 layers of clothes everyday is ridiculous.

[nullgeo]

Originally Posted by Snort

... Left CA and came back. I'm a coastal animal that likes the sun.

And there I was, certain you were Mayor of Arvin! ... well, my bad

Originally Posted by Fontucky

I left for a few years and came back. This is where I belong. I tried that 4 seasons **** people talk about. It's overrated. So is snow.

With Maine, Michigan, and Minnesota all in my distant past, I confirm your findings -- there is charm, and I miss aspects of it all -- enough so that I nearly returned to Maine a few years back -- but it's just too hard to endure the chattering teeth

That said, this is an interesting thread question from Mtnsurfer. I think California has an intoxication factor; addictive. I came to California in the military when I was 17 ... so long ago I'm not sure if the La Brea Tar Pits were yet at full occupancy ... took an extended vacation overseas courtesy of Uncle Sam ... came back and spent hospital time in the Bay (Oak Knoll Naval Hospital) ... then some time at Treasure Island, and ultimately medically discharged but decided to stay on longer in San Francisco. Met my first (now late) wife in Haight-Ashbury at the height of Haight and we had our first of four kids there. What a brilliant return to civilian life -- from the war to San Franciso's Summer of Love! Heh. Well, we didn't stay too much longer but California certainly stayed with us. We ended up moving all the way back east coast, then Minnesota again, and finally to Puget Sound WA, where we put down permanent roots. And yet, during all, we always reserved a return slot for our love of the Bay and Central Coast. In later years, wife passed on, I remarried and new wife also fell in love with the Bay and we put a boat in for a part time residence foothold. I also keep a simple boat in Hawaii. Not sure which place I will go ultimately to die -- but it won't be up here, much as I love my island hideaway north. Too cold and damp too much of the year. I suspect that Hawaii will be too hot and far from family when I am really too old to be willing to travel anymore. I pretty well expect to sail out into the middle of S.F. Bay and set my boat on fire there for my final warm up. Watch for the flaming spectacle ...

[jeffredo]

I went to college in Iowa my last two years (bad college-hopper) before I graduated in the mid-80s. Took a job with one of the big insurance companies in Des Moines. I really have an appreciation for that part of the Midwest. Nice people, calm and peaceful countryside and pretty in an understated way. Des Moines is a great smaller city - amazing downtown for a place with only 200,000 people. Still, I was getting antsy for home. The weather just sucked much of the year. Sticky summers and brutally cold winters. Plus all my family was in Northern California (my parents were heading into their senior years - wanted to be closer to them). I don't care how many issues or problems California has, its still home. I'm concerned of course, even enraged about changes I feel have been for the worse in my lifetime, but I don't want to live anywhere else. The entire time I was in Iowa I terribly missed the coast, the national parks and of course, my hometown of San Francisco. My family has mostly moved to Butte County over the years and its enjoyable to drive up there (only takes three hours) and see a totally different lifestyle and scene. If you don't like LA or the Bay Area there are quiet, rural parts of the state that are affordable options now that the real estate prices have dropped so much.