For those leaving California - Conservatives (Orange, Lakeside: sales, renters, car insurance)

[Woody01]

This is mean to be a discussion for conservatives about leaving Cali, but all feel free to chime in if ya want.....

If you're leaving, where are you going, and what are your main reasons for leaving, money or politics? Or both?

This is not meant as a bash CA thread, or I would have put it in the Politics section. Mods, move it if you want to....

The politics of the state are becoming intolerable for us and our friends...we lose about 3 sets of friends every year to states like Montana, Idaho, Texas, AZ, Tenn etc..... All are upper middle class, white and conservative and are selling their properties and cashing in, in much more affordable states, and even though money was not the issue, the very principle of being taxed to death was. Combine common sense gun laws and lower taxes on pretty much everything and it's almost a no-brainer for most conservatives (I cannot fathom why a conservative would stay, unless job or family was an absolute deal - breaker).

Again not bashing poor ole Cali, just saying why people like us are leaving.....We chose Prescott AZ area because of the climate...although we looked hard at Texas.....

Politics were our #1 reason for starting down this road and after doing some minimal research, money quickly jumped into a tie. Never hurts to have a little extra as you grow older...at least in AZ, where I have done the most research, the differences are great - State sales tax, property taxes, gas tax, Income tax, car/truck registration, all lower. Not to mention the generally lower prices on just about everything.

So why are you leaving? And where are ya headed?

[Mr5150]

My guess is this will quickly turn into a CA bashing thread. My brother in law lives in Prescott Valley Prescott itself is very nice, but not cheap. Yes taxes are low in AZ, but services are also low according to my BIL. Last time I visited, sections of I40 were in such bad shape I wrecked one my tires. With that said I could live in Prescott. But we are very happy in eastern CA. It’s more affordable than Prescott and more conservative.

[beb0p]

I'm also interested in people with real experience with moving to a different state.


I've looked into New Orleans, Austin, Houston, and Chicago. it's not clear cut to me that a move would save more money, in some cases can even lose money.


Take Texas - income and property prices are zero or lower, but property tax/home maintenance/home insurance/car insurance are through the roof. Salary is also significantly lower. Home appreciation is historically much less than CA (although it bucked the trend after the Great Recession). The Gulf coast states get hit with a lot of natural disasters so the insurance cost can reach shocking level (at least to a CA resident like me). Most of this also applies to Louisiana and Florida.


Other cities like Chicago, Seattle, etc. The housing is not that much cheaper, at least for the nice area. And there is no Prop 13 to protect you.


.

[Finper]

I'm a conservative relocating to Phoenix AZ next year. For me it's more about politics. I'm a native so I bought my place long ago and inherited a business so money isn't the 1 issue but it'll be very nice to have more money in my pocket at the end of the month. With the leaders of CA I have a feeling it's heading for a big fall and want to cash out before it happens. That and I'm just burned out on traffic and over population and want to start somewhere fresh. I've never lived in another state before. People either love or hate the desert and luckily I love it and it's close to Cali so I can visit here whenever I want. I'm going to AZ in a few weeks and planning on checking out Prescott. I hear it's very nice.

[Tulemutt]

I had a close friend who moved to Prescott years ago. Vietnam vet, like me. He was quite happy with the place. Then he died a few years later. Seems that happens wherever a person might go. So I decided to just stay put and die in California. Save the move.

[aslowdodge]

I left for financial reasons. Most of the politics didn’t affect me much on a daily basis but I can see that is changing now even though I’ve been only gone for almost 4 years. I still visit California for about 45 days a year every year. It’s still a lovely and exciting place to be in the Bay Area, but expensive.
I was prepared to have a lower quality of life here in metro Atlanta, but a much more financially stable one. Instead I have found that my life here is better. Being “richer” in an area that doesn’t feel much different than life back in California. All the amenities are here. I find the people friendlier and more polite.
I do miss some of my favorite drives and restaurants, but it’s not a deal breaker. Some of my friends in Ca want to leave, but their family and friends are too important to them there which I understand.
The biggest change is weather. In the summer it can get hot and humid, but not like Houston or Florida. It’s workable. The winter it’s about 10 to 15 degrees colder, sweat shirt weather, but no snow or horrible cold. Fall and spring feel like the Bay Area. So for me only summer is a bit hard. Still it’s not so bad I can’t go on evening walks or do yard work in the mornings.

Here in Marietta I have a large house, over 5000 sq ft, drive a Lexus, Ferrari, and f150, and have money to travel. I eat out on a daily basis.
All in all if I could have my same lifestyle in the Bay Area where I’m from for no more than 20% more I would come back there. But I would have to skip owning a house and high end cars, and some travel on my budget, so here I’ll stay.

[bobspez]

I left California a little more than 48 years ago. It was strictly for economic reasons. I couldn't find a decent job in L.A. even though I had a college degree. I relocated to NYC and lived and worked there for the next 36 years, then relocated and retired to southern NJ. It was a very good decision to leave L.A. In NYC I got all the things I wanted starting from scratch with just the clothes on my back (opportunities, a good job, a wife, kids, a house, and financial security). I never felt as poor as I did in L.A. surrounded by all the glitz and glamour and beautiful cars and homes. In NYC, even millionaires rode the same subway I did.

[fluffythewondercat]

Originally Posted by Woody01

Politics were our #1 reason for starting down this road and after doing some minimal research, money quickly jumped into a tie. Never hurts to have a little extra as you grow older...at least in AZ, where I have done the most research, the differences are great - State sales tax, property taxes, gas tax, Income tax, car/truck registration, all lower. Not to mention the generally lower prices on just about everything.

So why are you leaving?

I left CA. We still own a house in Silicon Valley.

I left because our Silicon Valley town is being trashed by the homeless and by the politicians who encourage them to come and stay. I and others fear they will move their decrepit sewage-leaking RVs to our neighborhood. These vehicles are never removed once parked. Crime in our once sleepy town is now rampant. People really do defecate in parking lots and on sidewalks in full view of everyone. I still belong to our CA NextDoor feed, so I can report that my neighbors are scared. Just recently there were multiple attempted break-ins of houses in the blocks surrounding ours and sheriff's deputies patrolling all night.

This never used to happen. Not like this. Not nightly car break-ins up in the hills, in the more expensive areas.

So many good and useful small businesses in our town have been eradicated because the City Council is taking kickbacks from developers, so every building in which an independent business resides is demolished to make way for housing. In turn, that drives up the rents for the remaining commercial buildings. No proposed housing project is turned down. The latest proposal greenlighted by the City is to take the town's largest shopping center, close down nearly all the stores and convert it into a 2500 unit development. I have no idea where they expect those people to shop. Target already has a homeless encampment in its parking lot, so probably not there.

The shopping center is at the busiest intersection in town. Traffic is already insane. The City Council is thoroughly corrupt. Residents' pleas fall on deaf ears. The City Council is so out of control, one year they decreed the scheduled election for city offices would not be held until the following year, so those in power could stay in power longer.

There are incidents the police won't respond to unless they can send multiple units to ensure the safety of the officers. That is how bad it is today.

Does that sound like a place you'd want to live? Me neither.

Many older renters want to leave but feel they can't. They don't have the luxury of selling their home for $1 million or more and taking that money out of the state. But they will have to do something, because rents for even the most humble dwellings are going up inexorably.

And where are ya headed?

Bought a home in beautiful Scottsdale, AZ. Haven't regretted it for a moment. It is the cleanest city I have ever lived in.

People here are for the most part fiscally conservative. When this City Council wanted to go ahead with a $68 million dollar "edutainment" complex on an open desert preserve the taxpayers had increased their own taxes five times to buy so it would never be developed -- and then would have to cough up $68 million to pay for this monstrosity that was both unneeded and unwanted -- the voters gathered the necessary signatures to put a proposition on the ballot. The proposition won, ensuring that voters would have the final say on the "edutainment" complex. The City Council backed down.

This is my kind of place. Where the people still have a voice.

[bad debt]

Originally Posted by Woody01

This is mean to be a discussion for conservatives about leaving Cali, but all feel free to chime in if ya want.....

If you're leaving, where are you going, and what are your main reasons for leaving, money or politics? Or both?

This is not meant as a bash CA thread, or I would have put it in the Politics section. Mods, move it if you want to....

The politics of the state are becoming intolerable for us and our friends...we lose about 3 sets of friends every year to states like Montana, Idaho, Texas, AZ, Tenn etc..... All are upper middle class, white and conservative and are selling their properties and cashing in, in much more affordable states, and even though money was not the issue, the very principle of being taxed to death was. Combine common sense gun laws and lower taxes on pretty much everything and it's almost a no-brainer for most conservatives (I cannot fathom why a conservative would stay, unless job or family was an absolute deal - breaker).

Again not bashing poor ole Cali, just saying why people like us are leaving.....We chose Prescott AZ area because of the climate...although we looked hard at Texas.....

Politics were our #1 reason for starting down this road and after doing some minimal research, money quickly jumped into a tie. Never hurts to have a little extra as you grow older...at least in AZ, where I have done the most research, the differences are great - State sales tax, property taxes, gas tax, Income tax, car/truck registration, all lower. Not to mention the generally lower prices on just about everything.

So why are you leaving? And where are ya headed?

I had to go look up where Lakeside CA to figure out from which rural cowtown this guy was coming from.

[ElDiabloJoe]

Originally Posted by bad debt

I had to go look up where Lakeside CA to figure out from which rural cowtown this guy was coming from.

Says the guy who is going to stick it out in L.A. and suffer the decline in lifestyle and be stuck paying the tab for all of it.

I know one guy who still owns a couple homes in South OC, but he moved to AZ.
I know another 5 (all who earned over 100K in CA and lived in Orange County) who fled to the conservative south in the last two years.