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Old 02-20-2017, 12:23 PM
 
Location: South Florida
5,013 posts, read 7,386,450 times
Reputation: 5445

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tamika929 View Post
I got sick of always cleaning up after floods all the time. I had to leave and move forward in my life.
Been here 21 years and never had to clean up after a flood.

Where were you living?
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Old 02-20-2017, 01:19 PM
 
Location: North County San Diego Area
782 posts, read 752,650 times
Reputation: 731
Quote:
Originally Posted by expatCA View Post
I am a native Californian currently living in TN. We are looking at either the West Coast, Oceanside, CA or The East Coast New Smyrna Beach, FL. I lived in SD for many years and am quite familiar with it and just visited last November as I own a Business (3 actually) in SoCal.

In running all the numbers FL is definitely lower than CA. The State Income tax being one of the major issues and housing costs. Uniquely for the same size house the taxes are higher as a percentage in FL but equal overall due to the higher cost in CA. Now SWFL is a bit unique, but SD is not as bad as OC or LA, but still more expensive than FL. If you go to Zillow.com and include sales and foreclosures you will see a Huge number of foreclosures in SD. The banks do not list them all for sale at once to keep the price up. In the Oceanside VS New Smyrna Beach areas, SD is far worse. State wide overall, is not an issue to me.

A major issue is the constantly rising taxes and fees and they will only get worse due to the pension mess and poor financial management by the State. Residents get to pay and pay and ... well it is not getting any better. I have watched this for years and moved out of CA for the the 3rd time in 2007 and the mess in regards to regulations taxes and fees is beginning to inhibit my desire to move back. The weather is great, lots of things to do, but you will pay far more overall than in FL.

Here is an example:

Taxpayer hit for pensions keeps ratcheting up - The Orange County Register

SD schools are laying off employees due to this.

Note the impact and even if you have no children you will pay for it.

"Some districts have been hit harder than others. According to Bloomberg, since 2013, Los Angeles Unified, San Diego Unified and Long Beach Unified have seen their pension costs grow between 74 and 78 percent, with Long Beach Unified impacted the most. Combined, the three districts have a net CalSTRS liability over $5 billion."
As odd as it may seem, we are doing better here financially than we were in South Florida, we live in the Carlsbad/San Marcos Area. Very nice area and while home prices are very high, we are content renting for the moment and waiting to see what happens when the bubble pops.

Florida vs South Florida, are two completely different animals when it comes to the cost of living. We lived in West Palm Beach area and it cost us more to live there than here, even when you figure in state income tax. Mainly due to very high insurance costs, every form of insurance in SoFla cost more than here, for example our car insurance for 2 average cars cost 300%+ more in West Palm Beach than it does here. Health insurance with my employer in Florida (Co-pay) was double what it is here per paycheck deduction.

On top of that property taxes were very high in SoFla.

Rents here are nearly the same as the affluent areas or nice properties in SoFla, so renting is not so bad based on our current income, we are able to save.

The biggest issue for leaving SoFla wasn't because we hated it or hated living there, keep in mind we both lived in Florida for a combined 30+ years, we loved the weather and lifestyle but the negatives were overpowering the positives, mainly for our careers and there was no light at the end of the tunnel.

My wife had a decent job but equally saw flat wage growth, my last employer in FL only gave COLA increases, no merit raises or bonuses, yet hired upper level managment six figure employees hand over foot, along with very high capital purchases and stated in meetings every quarter that the company had another record breaking year, but no mention of a raise or bonus. Good, driven/money making employees soon left including me since the company didn't care to reinvest in those whow were hardworking and were delivering results. You are left with a sense of where am I going here, how much longer should I ride it out?

The overall mentality in SoFla with companies is take it or leave it, non-competes are forceable, where as here they are not, it's very much an employer's market and in many sectors there are little to no alternatives for people with a special skillset to move on to as with here, it's not the case. Ton's of businesses, companies and business parks and opportunity.

I moved here, got full relocation and a very generous sign-on bonus, never in FL did that happen.

Also received a 8% bonus of my base salary last month, while I did get bonuses in FL it has been years since I got one.

Comparing the areas you are mentioning in FL is like comparing SD County, OC, LA and Bay Area to places like Chico, Redding, Sacramento, Modesto and etc. Like I said, if you luck out and can land a great paying stable job in Florida or South Florida and/or are wealthy, retired and/or just plain rich. It's a great place to live.

Home prices are a problem here, but Temecula seems quite afforable in relation. We are not interested in living there or the commute to North County for work, along with this we are not looking for, or desire a big home like 90% of the population dreams of or wants. Less is more for us at this point in our lives. Also do not need flashy cars or need to fit the pretenious mindset so often experienced in SoFla, do see that here in some areas, OC mainly but not as common where we live now. Wealthy people yes, plenty but not Beverly Hills wannabees.

Last edited by aewan68; 02-20-2017 at 01:28 PM..
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Old 02-20-2017, 08:26 PM
 
174 posts, read 205,289 times
Reputation: 115
Going to the grocery store in palm beach county, food cost way too much and the food was stale.
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Old 02-21-2017, 03:20 PM
 
Location: Milwaukee Area of WI
1,886 posts, read 1,824,306 times
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Everything I have read on City Data Forum so far is that the West Coast of Florida is much cheaper to live in then the East Coast of Florida----Especially in the West Palm Beach down to Miami area. The Atlantic side is great but I would much rather live in the laid back West Coast side. Too each his own.
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Old 02-21-2017, 06:09 PM
 
174 posts, read 205,289 times
Reputation: 115
Yeah the west coast side is nice and quiet

The east coast side has latch key kids, really angry parents and poor renters
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Old 02-21-2017, 09:29 PM
 
18,172 posts, read 16,238,914 times
Reputation: 9325
Quote:
Originally Posted by aewan68 View Post

Home prices are a problem here, but Temecula seems quite afforable in relation. We are not interested in living there or the commute to North County for work, along with this we are not looking for, or desire a big home like 90% of the population dreams of or wants. Less is more for us at this point in our lives. Also do not need flashy cars or need to fit the pretenious mindset so often experienced in SoFla, do see that here in some areas, OC mainly but not as common where we live now. Wealthy people yes, plenty but not Beverly Hills wannabees.
I lived in Murrieta for 9 years. Liked it, but my wife did not like the dry heat. Mind you she does not like humidity much either.

I will be retired and have enough money for either area, but the problems that CA is facing, that will raise taxes and fees even more is frustrating. We are looking at New Smyrna area as it is more laid back and minimal traffic. We can buy a virtually identical home (Maybe a bit larger than SD) the for about $200,000.00 less than a comparable home in SD County. Closer to the beach as well. I think we will pick FL and visit CA a couple of times a year to enjoy what it has and then leave. With the savings we can do that for the rest of our lives and never run out of that $200,000.00. On the other hand if I get the price I hope on some patents I am selling we may buy in SD. Then if it gets too bad we can leave for ... FL.
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Old 02-24-2017, 11:51 AM
 
Location: North County San Diego Area
782 posts, read 752,650 times
Reputation: 731
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tamika929 View Post
Going to the grocery store in palm beach county, food cost way too much and the food was stale.
Publix Produce is hit or miss, often saw a lot of fruit flies, produce at The Fresh Market or Whole Foods often was a better choice but more $.

Food here is just as expensive it seems, our bill is around the same I thought it was going to be a little less in terms of produce with CA being a big producer.
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Old 02-24-2017, 12:02 PM
 
Location: North County San Diego Area
782 posts, read 752,650 times
Reputation: 731
Quote:
Originally Posted by expatCA View Post
I lived in Murrieta for 9 years. Liked it, but my wife did not like the dry heat. Mind you she does not like humidity much either.

I will be retired and have enough money for either area, but the problems that CA is facing, that will raise taxes and fees even more is frustrating. We are looking at New Smyrna area as it is more laid back and minimal traffic. We can buy a virtually identical home (Maybe a bit larger than SD) the for about $200,000.00 less than a comparable home in SD County. Closer to the beach as well. I think we will pick FL and visit CA a couple of times a year to enjoy what it has and then leave. With the savings we can do that for the rest of our lives and never run out of that $200,000.00. On the other hand if I get the price I hope on some patents I am selling we may buy in SD. Then if it gets too bad we can leave for ... FL.
Every Native here told me to not move to Riverside County if you don't like dry heat and we don't like it either.

If we were rich and financially set we'd probably move back to FL too, but it would take a lot of money to make it work in SoFla and where we'd want to be and it still doesn't change issues that are evident there or will be in due time. Other parts of FL are more friendly to the $ and traffic woes won't be so bad.

FL and CA both have issues from my point of view, at least for CA the drought impact has been turning around in the right direction. I won't have to hear about that anymore from people.

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Old 02-24-2017, 12:06 PM
 
Location: South Florida
5,013 posts, read 7,386,450 times
Reputation: 5445
Quote:
Originally Posted by CindyRoos View Post
Everything I have read on City Data Forum so far is that the West Coast of Florida is much cheaper to live in then the East Coast of Florida----Especially in the West Palm Beach down to Miami area. The Atlantic side is great but I would much rather live in the laid back West Coast side. Too each his own.
It really depends on if you need to work or not as far as where to live.
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Old 02-24-2017, 02:12 PM
 
18,172 posts, read 16,238,914 times
Reputation: 9325
Quote:
Originally Posted by aewan68 View Post
Every Native here told me to not move to Riverside County if you don't like dry heat and we don't like it either.

If we were rich and financially set we'd probably move back to FL too, but it would take a lot of money to make it work in SoFla and where we'd want to be and it still doesn't change issues that are evident there or will be in due time. Other parts of FL are more friendly to the $ and traffic woes won't be so bad.

FL and CA both have issues from my point of view, at least for CA the drought impact has been turning around in the right direction. I won't have to hear about that anymore from people.
Hey, if you are doing well enjoy it. You are working and I will be retiring, so there is a difference. Even cost of living increases would be less of an issue for you than me, as once retired my income, will be fairly static, where yours will increase. I love CA, but as I get older I have learned to look beyond what I am emotionally attached to and what is best for my wife and I, and family, as we get older. You are not there yet, so enjoy, but plan ahead as well.

Oh, don't wait for any bubble to pop. It won't happen as no bubble exists as it did in the last bubble pop. The prices will keep going up, even if this year they may move up a bit more slowly, they will keep increasing.

SD has plenty of water, but you will still pay more for it as at the State Gov't they keep claiming a drought and ... SD still has to pay.
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