cleveland vs SoCal (live in, move to, relocate)

[Clevelander17]

Originally Posted by rmsi

Thanks for this thread! In the next year or two, my wife and I are considering a number of places in the midwest to move our family - including Shaker - from Scottsdale, AZ... most everyone thinks I'm crazy, but I've been here since I was six years old and been telling myself I was gonna get the heck outta dodge for too long now...

I found this thread while searching for just how bad the winters are, because my wife's family is in Dayton and Detroit, and they all keep telling me that I should look at S. Ohio because I won't be able to handle the winters in the Cleveland area... but Shaker seems to have most everything I'm looking for...

I told my wife I would gladly trade desert, dryness, and 7-8 months (roughly April-October) of stifling heat for seasons, trees, and four months of snow... I know it sounds odd, but sunny days depress the crap outta me... my wife thought it was so odd that no one leaves their houses here in summer... but 118 degrees'll do that!

So the consensus (at least in this thread) is that the winters can be dark and cold, and will obviously take some getting used to, but are doable and really only get terrible in the last month or two?

I lived in Scottsdale for a bit, and while I thought it was nice, it just wasn't for me. Scottsdale and Shaker Heights are almost polar opposites. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Cleveland has one of the longest winters of any major city in the United States, but once you get used to it, it's not that bad. There are only a few days where it really snows so hard that you are stuck inside. And quite often you'll get days or even weeks of randomly mild weather in the middle of winter (think 50-60 degrees).

I would suggest visiting the area, perhaps in the winter-time, to see what you think. Reality is that other parts of the state do have much milder winters, but they lose out on the recreation opportunities that Lake Erie provides.

[Clevelander17]

Originally Posted by ClevelandMike

SoCal to Cleveland ....Are you NUTS ??? If a Clevelander responds negatively without ever being in CA they are NUTS too!

I've been to Southern California. The weather is nice and they've got miles of coastline and beaches. But beyond that, I don't understand why anyone who isn't extremely wealthy would choose to live out there. I'm not going to list the negatives, however, because I realize that there are a lot of people who wonder why anyone would choose to live in Ohio.

[medsrme]

I feel compelled to chime in on this thread. Let me preface by stating that I was born and raised in NE Ohio (lived there for 26 years). Lived in Charleston, SC for 7 years and now reside in SoCal (San Diego).


San Diego is beautiful. However, there is a HUGE misconception about the weather. Before I moved here I thought it was going to be sunny and warm for at least 80% of the time. Wrong. For the past 4 days, it's been overcast with no sun and it's rained on and off. My husband and I have been here since October 2008.


Let me tell you about SoCal's seasonal weather. Winter: Yes, it's not as cold as OH, but it is cold and overcast a lot. It rains a lot in the winter and it's a wet cold and it's dreary. Now, it's May and they refer to the weather as "May gray" and in June the grayness is referred to as "June gloom". So, SoCal picture perfect weather is a misconception. IMO, the only place in the US that you may find close to perfect weather might be Hawaii.


Don't get me wrong, CA is beautiful. However, as a previous poster pointed out, it's hard to find good neighborhoods. It's practically non-existent----well, maybe for greater than $1M you could pull it off, but how practical is that?

Next, the schools are horrible. On top of paying over $500K for an 1,000 sq.ft. fixer-upper in a so-so neighborhood, one has to plan on sending their kids to private schools. Even in this down economy, home owners are still trying to make hundreds of thousands of dollars on homes they bought before the crisis.


I know Cleveland is currently going through tough times to say the least. However, California is BROKE. Here's a link to an LA Times editorial by Bill Maher: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-maher21-2009may21,0,7944770.story
In addition, the concern for spillover violence from Tijuana isn't appealing. Kidnappings have occured on the US side of the border recently.


I know this was not a positive look at SoCal, but it was a realistic one. The California lifestyle is overpriced and unrealistic. I'm not on board to continue paying for it. I don't recommend it to others. Needless to say, when possible we will be moving back to Cleveland. I can't wait!!

[5Lakes]

Originally Posted by medsrme

I feel compelled to chime in on this thread. Let me preface by stating that I was born and raised in NE Ohio (lived there for 26 years). Lived in Charleston, SC for 7 years and now reside in SoCal (San Diego).


San Diego is beautiful. However, there is a HUGE misconception about the weather. Before I moved here I thought it was going to be sunny and warm for at least 80% of the time. Wrong. For the past 4 days, it's been overcast with no sun and it's rained on and off. My husband and I have been here since October 2008.


Let me tell you about SoCal's seasonal weather. Winter: Yes, it's not as cold as OH, but it is cold and overcast a lot. It rains a lot in the winter and it's a wet cold and it's dreary. Now, it's May and they refer to the weather as "May gray" and in June the grayness is referred to as "June gloom". So, SoCal picture perfect weather is a misconception. IMO, the only place in the US that you may find close to perfect weather might be Hawaii.


Don't get me wrong, CA is beautiful. However, as a previous poster pointed out, it's hard to find good neighborhoods. It's practically non-existent----well, maybe for greater than $1M you could pull it off, but how practical is that?

Next, the schools are horrible. On top of paying over $500K for an 1,000 sq.ft. fixer-upper in a so-so neighborhood, one has to plan on sending their kids to private schools. Even in this down economy, home owners are still trying to make hundreds of thousands of dollars on homes they bought before the crisis.


I know Cleveland is currently going through tough times to say the least. However, California is BROKE. Here's a link to an LA Times editorial by Bill Maher: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-maher21-2009may21,0,7944770.story
In addition, the concern for spillover violence from Tijuana isn't appealing. Kidnappings have occured on the US side of the border recently.


I know this was not a positive look at SoCal, but it was a realistic one. The California lifestyle is overpriced and unrealistic. I'm not on board to continue paying for it. I don't recommend it to others. Needless to say, when possible we will be moving back to Cleveland. I can't wait!!

I have also lived in San Diego and the Cleveland area, and think that these are some good points. SoCal has its obvious advantages, but it is not without faults and it is very expensive if you want to reside in a good neighborhood. Once you get away from the coastal communities SoCal is nothing special and really a typical middle class neighborhood in the Cleveland area will be nicer than the SoCal counterpart.

[Kasey77]

I have been back and forth from Cleveland to San Diego for 32 years. I am now living in San Diego. I miss Cleveland and it will always be home. I think San Diego is beautiful I have met a lot of wonderful people and have some great success here. If I could, I would move back to Cleveland and hope that I can in 3 years and live the rest of my life there.

[ClevelandMike]

Well then ....you must have been passing through cause you certainly did not spend any time to enjoy it. Yes, you must have money to live there (like most desirable places) and this person obvioulsy lives there now and that is not an issue unless they are having rough times and need to find a real cheap place to live....!!!

[Clevelander17]

Originally Posted by ClevelandMike

Well then ....you must have been passing through cause you certainly did not spend any time to enjoy it. Yes, you must have money to live there (like most desirable places) and this person obvioulsy lives there now and that is not an issue unless they are having rough times and need to find a real cheap place to live....!!!

There are plenty of desirable places in the United States, heck even in Ohio, that aren't extremely expensive.

[medsrme]

Originally Posted by ClevelandMike

Well then ....you must have been passing through cause you certainly did not spend any time to enjoy it. Yes, you must have money to live there (like most desirable places) and this person obvioulsy lives there now and that is not an issue unless they are having rough times and need to find a real cheap place to live....!!!

Who is "this person" that you're referring to?

[Cleveland_Collector]

Pitch dark at 4:30? Where? The Yukon? Sunset in Cleveland begins around 5pm on the shortest daylight day of the year. It isn't that much different than the rise/set times in SoCal.

ClevelandMike: The best thing about SoCal is the weather. Most everything else outside of the direct coastal areas is relatively overcrowded and/or seedy. Before you ask, I've been between San Diego and LA dozens of times. The place I liked best was Carlsbad.

[rmsi]

Originally Posted by Clevelander17

I would suggest visiting the area, perhaps in the winter-time, to see what you think. Reality is that other parts of the state do have much milder winters, but they lose out on the recreation opportunities that Lake Erie provides.

Great idea! I think what we're going to do is whittle our list down to 3-5 definite places that meet all of the parameters we have, and visit them all for a bit before we make a final decision. We will actually be in Detroit for a week and a half over Christmas, so we may have to take a drive to check out the Cleveland winter...

To the OP: sorry to hijack the original thread a bit!