California has earthquakes, so why is California still so popular? (San Diego: income, income tax)

[nc17]

If you experience one really high magnitude earthquake and survive it, you barely notice the smaller or moderate ones.

There's a funny video of a local TV news team, where the man freaks out over an earthquake, and the woman reluctantly ducks for safety. You can tell which one was a transplant and which one lived in California for a while.

[nightbird47]

Originally Posted by nmnita

OP, there are just a few holes in your reasoning: 1-for you they may be the scariest thing imaginable but for most this isn't the case. The reason, severe earthquakes are very rare. I grew up in So Calif and lived there over 40 years. I can only remember 2 really horrible ones: the one in about 1953 and the disaster one in 1971. There have been a couple since but we left in 1981.
2-hurricanes can do a heck of a lot of damage as well and so can tornados. Living in an area where we have tonados near by they can be every bit as bad. We had severe damage from the winds in about 2010 or 11 here from the Joplin tornado and Joplin is about 40 or so miles north of us.

you mention no warning, that is why most of us living in CA don't worry. They just hit and are gone. I don't mean to minimize them. God only knows how much damage they do, but you there is no place that doesn't have disasters. Mother nature doesn't spare any place. You mention Fl or Texas: Have you ever lived through a hurricane or seen the damage they do? Of do you know anyone that has been hit by a tornado or even living in areas that flood easy? Texas has both hurricanes in some areas and tornados in others.

When the 71 quake hit, I lived in Huntington Beach, right next to the Edison power station. There were always odd noises and sometimes alarming ones coming out of the old building. But we lost power for some time. The worse worry was about the plant, since they were just beginning its series of upgrades and repairs.


What was worse was the big thing behind the plant we all thought was just for drainage or left over from the farming time the area had been shortly there after was revealed as the second worse toxic waste dump in the country, known to leak into soil and air. The number of those with especially auto immune illness within a mile was highly likely within a half mile. We lived a quarter mile from it. When I'd gotten sick the doctor was clueless. The company had known for some time but wary of all the law suits they anticipated, they had never publicized the tests. When there was plans to build and they found their nasty surprise. Residents in the are had already done so.


I always wonder what deeply hidden secrets any area has now. But sometimes the nice beach and close walk to the sand you find so desirable might get less attention than it should be given, especially if its been an industrial area before. But I still think my parents should have sued them....

[pandaundercover]

It's simple: they're crazy. But I say the same thing about ANYONE living in tornado alley, Baton Rogue and Florida. Baton Rogue gets me the most b/c they get their hurricane destruction level floods almost every couple decades (honestly seems like every year though), and they STILL just spend govt funding and insurance money to rebuild the same area when they KNOW another hurricane is definitely going to hit again. At least the next CA earthquake is unpredictable, but the flooding in the south and the tornadoes, are not. They are in fact, just getting worse every year.

So I dunno, I'm just going to say people are crazy.

[Kevroqs]

Originally Posted by Mr5150

I think it’s too bad that people don’t look at facts. Do it please. Way more people have died in North America in the last 10 years from tornados and hurricanes than died from earthquakes in the last 200 years. Why don’t people look at facts?

Strong, powerful earthquakes happen on the San Andreas fault every few hundred years. The last major quake, on the southern part of the fault happened maybe 200-300 years ago. Back then, there was a small amount of people living in Southern California. Now there are 20 million people living there, and the San Andreas fault (in the southern portion of California) is overdue for a large earthquake. If that happens, there would be lots of damage and destruction

[Kevroqs]

Originally Posted by LoriBee62

Face the facts, the income producing states in the US are all blue states. And for the most part, it's the blue states supporting the red states which have little industry other than corn and oil.

Yet people living in blue states can't afford to buy a home and are living paycheck to paycheck. Then they move to states such as Texas or Florida so they can buy a home, and their money goes further.

Just look at the Bay Area. People making 100k have to live an hour or so away so they can buy a home instead of living in a dangerous, run-down area.

[payutenyodagimas]

Originally Posted by Kevroqs

Yet people living in blue states can't afford to buy a home and are living paycheck to paycheck. Then they move to states such as Texas or Florida so they can buy a home, and their money goes further.

Just look at the Bay Area. People making 100k have to live an hour or so away so they can buy a home instead of living in a dangerous, run-down area.

thats why income tax should be based on cost of living or value of the dollar in a state. right now, $100 is equivalent only to $88 in CA. and if you live in Kentucky, your $100 is equivalent to $107.00

if we follow that system, the red states would be subsidizing the blue states

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by Kevroqs

Yet people living in blue states can't afford to buy a home and are living paycheck to paycheck. Then they move to states such as Texas or Florida so they can buy a home, and their money goes further.

Just look at the Bay Area. People making 100k have to live an hour or so away so they can buy a home instead of living in a dangerous, run-down area.

You're talking about individual worth vs state worth - very different! And if nobody could afford to buy homes here, the prices wouldn't remain so high. Supply and demand.

[SFBayBoomer]

Originally Posted by Kevroqs

Yet people living in blue states can't afford to buy a home and are living paycheck to paycheck. Then they move to states such as Texas or Florida so they can buy a home, and their money goes further.

Just look at the Bay Area. People making 100k have to live an hour or so away so they can buy a home instead of living in a dangerous, run-down area.

People earning $100,000 can afford to rent in the Bay Area. It is only if they want to purchase a house and don't have good assets that they need to seek further out. So many young people like to go out and dine and drink and spend on clothes, gadgets, etc., living paycheck to paycheck, and you can't do that and expect to live in the inner Bay Area, unless you have significant financial help.

There aren't many run-down, dangerous areas in the SF Bay Area.

[MrJester]

Originally Posted by SFBayBoomer

People earning $100,000 can afford to rent in the Bay Area. It is only if they want to purchase a house and don't have good assets that they need to seek further out. So many young people like to go out and dine and drink and spend on clothes, gadgets, etc., living paycheck to paycheck, and you can't do that and expect to live in the inner Bay Area, unless you have significant financial help.

There aren't many run-down, dangerous areas in the SF Bay Area.

Oakland's not in the Bay Area? Richmond's not in the Bay Area?

[moshywilly]

You sound exactly like me! I live in NJ and I can't understand why most of America's population resides in the eastern half of this country. Growing up here, I really hated the nor'easters and the dumping of snow. I could never understand why people want to live in a place where the climate sucks most of the year. Most of NJ lost power and I could never understand why people would want to live. A lot of NJ lovers on this website and NJ lovers in real life will berate if you don't like the state. They will label me as "lazy", because I don't like snow. Also, we get rare summer hurricanes in NJ and that has knocked our power too.



Btw, The weather in the Southeast is only considered "nice" if you don't mind humid weather. The Midwest gets their own blizzards and their winter weather sucks too.


Also, most buildings in the West are designed to withstand earthquakes. I don't think a city like NYC could survive a flood or an earthquake. Flooding in the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast never really happens like it would in the Southeast. If most earthquakes in the West don't damage many buildings, then I guess people won't be turned off from living here. My survived the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake when she lived in the Bay Area in her parents' house. She was studying in her room and she suddenly felt shaking. The only damaged her parents' property has is a crack in the patio surface, but no house damage. My mom still loves California to death up to now. If she didn't meet my father and didn't marry him in the first place, she'd still be living in California.