Why people leave California (Los Angeles, Sacramento: sale, renting, new home)

[nslander]

Originally Posted by slo1318

I am talking to a friends daughter who is contemplating a move to Dallas today at 5p to help her decide.

Sounds like an intervention.

[Ceece]

I'm 3rd gen Californian but even I know people suck everywhere.

The only thing that would really get me or my family out of here is the cost. We've been lucky since we have been here a long time and have roots established, and houses paid for. My kids will have to rely on that family money, make really good salaries, or transplant elsewhere. I have no idea how it will all play out.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Question: Why Do People Leave California?

My Answer: Who cares?

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

Question: Why Do People Leave California?

My Answer: Who cares?

The people who leave, the people who want to and can't.

Those who want to stay should at least care if the reasons are something they can change to help people stay, by removing some reasons for leaving. Unless they don't care about their neighbors.

Some reasons can't be changed and then wish them well in their new home.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by expatCA

The people who leave, the people who want to and can't.

Those who want to stay should at least care if the reasons are something they can change to help people stay, by removing some reasons for leaving. Unless they don't care about their neighbors.

Some reasons can't be changed and then wish them well in their new home.

Mmmm. I understand your sentiment. And it's nicely so. On the other hand, why should we assume it's so important for people to stay? Change can be as good as bad. Life's an adventure. An exploration. Humans have always followed opportunities and dreams. Why should we assume California is the end of the road?

[mateo45]

IMHO leaving would actually be a good 'education' for a lot of folks who still live here, yet chronically complain about this state (albeit with the dubious excuse of '"improving it for others"…lol!). But it's just human nature to take for granted whatever we've already got, and sometimes the only way to really appreciate things, is to lose 'em!

BTW, as a sometime amateur astrologer, it always cracks me up how much this state resembles its "Sun Sign" Virgo, which is traditionally associated with the quest for "perfection"!

[ashpelham]

Well, I've read through this entire thread now. All of the responses, and the counter-responses. It is of great interest to me, as are a handful of other threads on this topic.

I am currently in the Birmingham, AL area. I've imagined living elsewhere my whole life, honestly, and did move away for a few years to the Charlotte, NC area. I did like Charlotte, though it's not all that different from Birmingham. That's probably expected, as the two are only about 6 hours apart.

But I still long for sunny skies year round. I suffer from seasonal affective, and treat it medically, and that helps a good bit. My wife and I both love the coast, and spend a lot of time visiting the beach nearest to us in the warmer months. Unfortunately, we are in dead winter now. For those of you who have never visited Alabama in winter, it's not snowy, but always cold, and always, always wet. today is the 2nd sunny day we have in 2015.

Back on topic, so many of you California residents and former residents have such a negative opinion of CA. Reading this forum simply reinforces the idea that CA is prohibitively expensive for everyone except the most well-off. Otherwise, it is assumed someone would be better off moving to a lower cost place or staying away.

Regretfully, it seems that my dream of living in the sunny, drier climate of Southern California is simply a pipe dream. I have no job prospects in the region, nor do I have family. I make just enough in Birmingham, of all places, to live a modest middle class lifestyle. I can only assume that I won't make more money in Southern California, and the cost of a home, being so much greater, will make owning my own home, or even renting a modest home, an impossibility.

So, I guess a "thank you" is in order to everyone who provided their insights. You will forgive me if I'm a bit disappointed, but tis better to know ahead of time than to sell my home in AL, move my family cross-country, and find that we all suffer in Low income housing in some forgotten part of the magical land of Southern California.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by ashpelham

Back on topic, so many of you California residents and former residents have such a negative opinion of CA. Reading this forum simply reinforces the idea that CA is prohibitively expensive for everyone except the most well-off. Otherwise, it is assumed someone would be better off moving to a lower cost place or staying away.

Regretfully, it seems that my dream of living in the sunny, drier climate of Southern California is simply a pipe dream. I have no job prospects in the region, nor do I have family. I make just enough in Birmingham, of all places, to live a modest middle class lifestyle. I can only assume that I won't make more money in Southern California, and the cost of a home, being so much greater, will make owning my own home, or even renting a modest home, an impossibility.

Far be it for me to encourage anyone else to move to California, but, in the spirit of honesty:

1) the few dozen people posting on this forum do not hardly represent the 38 million population. Most of whom are happy to exist here, even if they struggle to do so. And, frankly, the majority aren't struggling here any more than the majority do elsewhere.

2) forums tend to invite the disenchanted to kvetch - with some offsetting by people more balanced.

3) if you carefully review a variety of threads on the forum you'll find that California does not have to be "prohibitively expensive" at all. What is a major challenge is trying to conform to the dream lifestyle in the most populated areas. As one regular poster here points out repeatedly: those heavily populated coastal areas represent about 3% or 5% or so of California's vastness. There are more inexpensive places to live in the state than expensive.

4) concluding: you can have the sunshine and beauty and variety of California of your "pipe dream" if you take the "pipe dream" away from the coastal cities.

Good luck to you.

[ashpelham]

thank you, Tulemutt. That post by you was a little bit of a light from a really dark thread.

[goolsbyjazz]

Originally Posted by EclecticEars

Having moved to California from the outside, then moving away for a few months before moving back to California has shined some light on why people either move to or depart California.

As another poster on this forum said, each individual's reasons are valid.

For me, as an unattached/unmarried dude, if you're just looking to date, not get into a serious relationship, and open to advancement and high income earning potential in my field, then California is one of the best places in the world to be.

However, when it comes time to raise a family, whenever/if ever that will be, I would definitely not want to raise a family in California. These are my reasons:

(1) Women/relationships/family: I've lived throughout the world and quite honestly, California women are at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to personality, whether north or south. Neurotic, arrogant, and usually lacking in manners... Unfortunately, the mothers do a very good job of passing this trait on to their daughters. This means if you're a guy that you have to be semi-aggressive and play "the game" to get "the girl," or be a total hipster/male feminist if you're in that circle, or you just somehow find a way to get the milk and not the whole cow... (At least in Europe, while the traits of third wave feminism have taken hold there more strongly than even in California, at least women manage to still be relatively more courteous and even direct, and less catty. I enjoyed that more.) I notice that natives often date other natives, and non-natives often end up dating non-natives--not much crossing over. There may be a reason for this.

Oh, and even though "Valley Girl" was very 1980s, its legacy lives on very strongly today, especially all over Southern California. The accent is, how does one politely put this...awful!

Furthermore, the divorce laws are just downright onerous toward men should they find themselves in that predicament. In the long-term, this isn't healthy for the social climate of California and its residents, and certainly not conducive for raising emotionally and psychologically healthy families.

(2) How government regards economic issues: Unless you're in a select few industries, such as the one I'm in, then the job market can really be difficult here. The Democratic powers that be frankly understand this and don't give a damn. Oh sure, sure, Sacramento now offers Hollywood tax credits (I don't work in entertainment, but this is just an example). Doesn't anyone find that embarrassing, that the state which gave the modern entertainment industry its props (pun intended) now sees the need to offer tax incentives?

Furthermore, even though tech is now still booming and successful in the Bay Area and even increasingly Los Angeles, Texas is now stepping up its game, not only in tech, but also in STEM jobs. Especially Austin and Houston: Looking for a tech job? There are better places than California - CNET Just something for California to keep in mind going forward for the next 15-20 years...

Where's a Californian Rand Paul when you need him?

(3) Public schools--ties back into family: I can move back to the South and find public school systems in the suburbs around Louisville, Nashville, Birmingham, Raleigh-Durham, etc. that rival the very best public school systems here in California, and for significantly less in property taxes to fund them. In fact, the highest ranked public high school in the U.S. a few years ago was a public school, the Gatton Academy in Bowling Green, KY.

In closing: So, yes, California's great if you're single. If you want to raise a family, I suppose you can raise a family on the Central Coast, Gold Country, the Sierras, or the North Coast. Those are all very beautiful places where even I might consider raising a family if I could have a job that paid excellently (while still being non-wealthy)...but then there's that whole social climate thing again. So I'll probably end up staying back here 5-10 years, then moving on.

I will, however, still enjoy the heck out of California's most awesome traits: multiculturalism, great universities, scenery, more scenery, microclimates, real climates, nature preserves, and honestly some of the best cuisine on the planet. And I will also contend that we need a Republican governor in this state (well, starting in 2019) to provide some sanity in a sea of Gavin, Kamala, Leland Yee, Steinberg, etc. and their ilk. Not a Schwarzenegger Republican, but like a Pete Wilson or a Rand Paul. Raising taxes on "the rich" usually translates into taxes being raised on the middle class and small business owners, which prices them out to places like Arizona, Texas, and Utah. Yes, it's true, whether you want to admit it or not.

One caveat: If you're truly wealthy and can afford to live in Newport Beach or Atherton, however, this doesn't impact you very much since, well, you can already afford it. I could stay in California and raise a family if I got to that point, simply because I could put my children in the best schools, travel the world, and still live comfortably. Money doesn't buy subjective measures in life (happiness, peace, etc.), but it sure is a heck of an insurance policy.

The bolded sentence!