Who's really considering moving out of California (Stockton, Richmond: houses, find a job)

[4beanie]

I am interested in those of us who are seriously considering leaving Ca and your reasons and where are you considering going. Spouse and I are in the thinking stage and we are disgusted with Ca. We were both born in So Ca but live in No Ca now. That helped for a while but we just can't see Ca digging itself out of this mess. We went to Texas last month and found a piece of property we liked. We like that state, just a little scared about the weather. I think we might go stay there thru the summer before we make any final decisions. Again love to hear your reasons and where you want to go.

[Charles]

The pull to leave Southern California isn't as great now as it was three years ago, from a purely housing economic standpoint.
If your family is still in SC, then there could be emotional things to deal with including guilt.
As bad as things are in SC, it is still a huge economic engine, you can almost always find a job. And, with the exception of some key, but large industries (finance, construction), things might not be as bad as things sound. Engineering and health care aren't doing bad at all.

Now, the good things about leaving. If you have a good job in many other cities, then you will be able to live for about half as much (or twice as nice a home).
Other costs aren't going to be that much different (heating or cooling may be the biggest things)
I don't think the weather in most parts of the country is that bad as long as it isn't totally extreme (Alaska, North Dakota, Tucson). I lived in Colorado Springs and now Huntsville and I liked both places' weather. Still, I'd rather have California weather.

If you are used to the culture and diversity of SC, then you probably want to make sure you are near a bigger city in Texas or any other place.

Your profile isn't populated:
Are you retired?
What line of work are you in?
What is your budget for housing?
Kids? Ages?
Where are your parents? Who is going to take care of them?
What is "Plan B" if you don't like the move?

[Lovehound]

Originally Posted by 4beanie

I am interested in those of us who are seriously considering leaving Ca and your reasons and where are you considering going. Spouse and I are in the thinking stage and we are disgusted with Ca. We were both born in So Ca but live in No Ca now. That helped for a while but we just can't see Ca digging itself out of this mess...

You don't need any answers from me. You already got it.

Originally Posted by Charles

The pull to leave Southern California isn't as great now as it was three years ago, from a purely housing economic standpoint.

The craziness has increased exponentially since three years ago. The economy is in the tank and the CA legislature is throwing gasoline on the fire!

If your house is burning down your primary motive is to escape the fire. California is burning down, not only for things like the SB fire but because of economic considerations.

Hey, I'll give you my idea of the future of California:

Every citizen is a firefighter, teacher, legislator, police officer, or a state, county or city employee, or an elected public official. That's right, it's the Socialist People's Republic of Kalifornia. Everybody works for the state. The taxes are 100% and everybody gets 100% of their salary as a retirement benefit after working for 20 years.

Eat that California! You can kill me but you can't make me live here.

You can make that happen but you can't make me live here and pay for it. Go ahead and be the snake that's eating its tail.

[EscapeCalifornia]

My wife and I entered the "thinking about it" stage 3 years ago when we went to Austin to see some family. We decided that the LONG, HOT, HUMID summers wouldn't suit us very well. I like Texas too but unless you love sticky summers, think twice about living there. Right after returning home one of my customers told me about the Denver area. From that little seed of an idea, we've made 4 trips and found we really like the area. Now we know where we're going, we just have to get there. At this point we're arranging our finances to make a move possible. We're hoping to be out in a year.

Charles is right that the bursting of the housing bubble has made SoCal more affordable for many, but the price drops have not been geographically uniform. To date, the only affordable places are in the ghetto or on the other end of a long commute. We'll see what happens over the next year and if prices in nice areas come down to reality, we'll have some hard decisions to make. Of course that won't improve the quality of life, traffic, quality, taxes, etc.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

We are in the "wait and see" stage. Essentially, we have a good income, own a house and other short term positives. However, we can see the writing on the wall. We have a sort of short list of trip points. For example, if the work situation goes down hill. If more of our friends leave. If my folks leave. If we start to see the current outmigration of natives become an overall outmigration of all, true population decline ala the Rust Belt. The appearance of urban prairies in places like Stockton, Richmond, etc. So, if certain trip points are reached, we'll get very active. Not if, but when we do ....

We are not into a one size fits all plan. We have thought about going overseas, or, to parts of the South, or, maybe staying within the Western US. Nothing specific yet.

[Lovehound]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

My wife and I entered the "thinking about it" stage 3 years ago when we went to Austin to see some family. We decided that the LONG, HOT, HUMID summers wouldn't suit us very well. I like Texas too but unless you love sticky summers, think twice about living there. Right after returning home one of my customers told me about the Denver area. From that little seed of an idea, we've made 4 trips and found we really like the area. Now we know where we're going, we just have to get there. At this point we're arranging our finances to make a move possible. We're hoping to be out in a year.

My hit list isn't working. Too hot, too cold, too ???

I'm thinking of taking a visit to Colorado Springs or Aurora.

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

Charles is right that the bursting of the housing bubble has made SoCal more affordable for many...

So Cal is still more expensive than many or most places elsewhere in the nation. Sell here and move there, you might be money ahead.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by Lovehound

My hit list isn't working. Too hot, too cold, too ???

I'm thinking of taking a visit to Colorado Springs or Aurora.

When leaving SoCal's moderate climate, you really have to pick your poison and decide for yourself what kind of climate you'll best tolerate. Some people are cold weather people and some are hot weather people. I discovered a long time ago that heat and humidity makes me much more irritable than cold. As they say, you can always put on more layers but you can only take off so much. My winter trip to Denver and Colorado Springs was an eye opener. I got to practice driving in snow and experience the cold for a week. 28 degrees and sunny ain't half bad and 45 felt great. I remember walking around the 16 Street Mall at night (maybe 25F) and people weren't dressed any more warmly than I see people in LA dressed at 60F. The dry definitely helps make the cold more tolerable.

Originally Posted by Lovehound

So Cal is still more expensive than many or most places elsewhere in the nation. Sell here and move there, you might be money ahead.

I don't have anything to sell and make a profit on here. I'm going to have to do it the old fashioned way and save up for a house there. We're seeing plenty of houses there in the suburbs for about $100/sqft. Houses in my home town in SoCal are still going for $300/sqft. That's a big gap that would have to close to keep me here.

[iluvcj]

I would love to move out of ca but I have never really been anywhere to even know where I would like to move..I gotta get out more I have relatives that I have never met in Louisiana but I would never consider moving there

[Lovehound]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

When leaving SoCal's moderate climate, you really have to pick your poison and decide for yourself what kind of climate you'll best tolerate. Some people are cold weather people and some are hot weather people. I discovered a long time ago that heat and humidity makes me much more irritable than cold. As they say, you can always put on more layers but you can only take off so much. My winter trip to Denver and Colorado Springs was an eye opener. I got to practice driving in snow and experience the cold for a week. 28 degrees and sunny ain't half bad and 45 felt great. I remember walking around the 16 Street Mall at night (maybe 25F) and people weren't dressed any more warmly than I see people in LA dressed at 60F. The dry definitely helps make the cold more tolerable.

I'll have to admit you've really got me thinking. I've been thinking of moving to a colder-than-Los-Angeles place in NM but I've been worried that I won't be able to take the cold. I checked Colorado Springs on your (tacit) recommendation, and my place is the same altitude, probably almost exactly the same weather although probably a bit less snow...

You have one thing right for sure. All I've found is places that are too hot and places that are too cold. There really aren't any places that have just as good weather as LA (or the rest of So Cal). The only places I've found are too hot, too cold, or ... bugs!

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

I don't have anything to sell and make a profit on here. I'm going to have to do it the old fashioned way and save up for a house there. We're seeing plenty of houses there in the suburbs for about $100/sqft. Houses in my home town in SoCal are still going for $300/sqft. That's a big gap that would have to close to keep me here.

$100/sq.ft. x 2,000 sq.ft. = $200K ??? !!!! What?

I could sell my L.A. house and buy that house and have enough money left over to buy a couple of nice new cars!!!

(I'm assuming I could get about $300K for my present 1,300 sq.ft. house in Northridge, and assuming you can buy nice cars for $50K/ea. -- closing costs not included.)

[Curmudgeon]

Oh, bother! I know I've said all this before but I really don't mind doing so again.

I was born in SoCal. My wife was born in NorCal. In addition to both being natives, we're both military brats as well. I spent 12 years in the military and her first marriage was to an Airman. She's lived in one other country and four other states. I've lived in three other countries and seven other states.

We met at work where both of us were legislative analysts for the state. After working with various administrations and the Legislature for a congregate 37 years, we're both of the opinion that California is the most taxed, most lawed and most regulated state in the country and it's only getting worse. Add how it's too expensive as well and we're leaving to maximize our retirements.

Next month we fly to Missouri where there are three realtors in three different places all ready to show us homes. We've chosen MO because of the pace of life, its sense of history and tradition, the friendliness of the people, the beauty of the Ozarks and four distinct seasons. The costs of just about everything are far less than here. Coincidentally, English is also the predominant language and after California it will be like moving back to America. No more pressing one for English or selecting my language at an ATM. What balderdash.

To me it feels as if I'll be leaving a third-world country and returning home.