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Imo, West coast only has great quality of living if one has a fairly decent income. Other parts of the country offer a better VALUE for quality of life. If I was very wealthy I would love to own a cliff house somewhere on the coast around San Francisco, to me personally that would be near the highest quality of life. Great weather, great hospitals, attractions, international flight, wine country, skiing, boating/yachting, awesome restaurants, friendly people. The downside of course is cost. I couldn't afford that lifestyle. I maintain a higher quality of life here in Kansas than I could in most places on the west coast for the income I have.
Quality of life is subjective and based on a variety of factors. If you place a high value on having a large amount of money for discretionary consumer spending and other ancillary purchases in your "low cost" location than that is a factor for you, maybe not for other people. I don't find Kansas to have a high quality of life so I left and moved on to other places that have better value and high quality of life. Yes, sometimes you do have to pay a bit more to live in nicer places.
Quality of life is subjective and based on a variety of factors. If you place a high value on having a large amount of money for discretionary consumer spending and other ancillary purchases in your "low cost" location than that is a factor for you, maybe not for other people. I don't find Kansas to have a high quality of life so I left and moved on to other places that have better value and high quality of life. Yes, sometimes you do have to pay a bit more to live in nicer places.
On the other hand, paying more does not guarantee you get a nicer place to live.
There are areas running out of land to build and keep up with the in-migration of newcomers, as well as resource issues.
I love the West, been all over it and have family in Hawaii, California and Washington, but the only one that really appeals to me is Washington/Oregon because its more sustainable and green. It doesn't cost as ridiculous as Hawaii and California but still not cheap.
California is way too expensive, and the cities are a ***** to get around without public transit, save for SF, but still. I need green areas and character. They're some of my favorite places anywhere, but from a quality of life standpoint, its tough to say. If you can't afford, then there's no quality of life period. Its that simple. Owning a home is all but impossible for the average person.
The Southwest is also way too ****ing dry and brown for me.
Topography plays a large role here. Flat land is at a premium and access is an issue due to the mountain ranges. Especially when you want to live within 25 miles of the Pacific Coast near the economic center that's L.A.
The Los Angeles freeway system has been derided as spaghetti, but it's more of a function of topography.
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Originally Posted by nep321
I think the west coast is very aesthetically appealing in general, but it can appear quite brown and dry a lot of the time. But the real killer is the COST OF LIVING. I thought Fairfield County, CT was extremely expensive, but most of coastal California is about 50% MORE expensive than the NYC tristate area even.
Building on hills is more expensive than on flat land. That would be reflected on your insurance premium and your mortgage if you live on a subdivision built on the side of a mountain.
Oddly enough, produce is much more expensive in California than what I am used to paying in Houston even though California is the produce basket for America!
Quality of life is subjective and based on a variety of factors. If you place a high value on having a large amount of money for discretionary consumer spending and other ancillary purchases in your "low cost" location than that is a factor for you, maybe not for other people. I don't find Kansas to have a high quality of life so I left and moved on to other places that have better value and high quality of life. Yes, sometimes you do have to pay a bit more to live in nicer places.
Yup, that's why I put "imo" or in my opinion, because it's all subjective. I am not saying Kansas has the highest quality of life at all, probably not at any income level, but compared to the west coast at my income level I can attain a higher quality of life... in my opinion. I'm sure there are places all over the US that has better bang for the buck quality of life then Kansas, but I like it here for the most part. Your perceived disdain for Kansas is well known by those who frequent the Kansas forum.
The grass is always greener on the other side, but I stick by my original statement, for me personally I would love living on the west coast, but not at my current income levels, it would become a sort of prison for me as I could do very little to enjoy the benefits.
On the other hand, paying more does not guarantee you get a nicer place to live.
That is mostly a function of supply and demand. Those areas that have next to no demand are usually not very desirable, therefore prices are low. In terms of a real estate perspective, those areas are poor investments due to little appreciation and very few new people moving in because of low in-migration.
Last edited by GraniteStater; 08-27-2015 at 07:25 PM..
Yup, that's why I put "imo" or in my opinion, because it's all subjective. I am not saying Kansas has the highest quality of life at all, probably not at any income level, but compared to the west coast at my income level I can attain a higher quality of life... in my opinion. I'm sure there are places all over the US that has better bang for the buck quality of life then Kansas, but I like it here for the most part. Your perceived disdain for Kansas is well known by those who frequent the Kansas forum.
The grass is always greener on the other side, but I stick by my original statement, for me personally I would love living on the west coast, but not at my current income levels, it would become a sort of prison for me as I could do very little to enjoy the benefits.
My disdain has a lot to do with the horrible weather there and other factors related to a mediocre job market in my career field. When I was growing up by KC I had to contend with temperatures that reached as high as 108F with a heat index reading reaching over 117F at times. Never again.. I do have family there that will never leave, even though they probably have better opportunities elsewhere in terms of jobs. Kansas also has a continually regressive tax structure that will get much worse due to education spending cuts at the state level- leading to a high likelihood of property taxes increases at the local level to go along with high sales taxes (including all grocery food items).
I find the West Coast to be quite foreign based on what I am used to but it is a nice area to take vacations to. I have generally always stayed in the eastern 1/2 of the country and I'm now in the Ohio Valley. It is among the lowest cost of living of any area of the US for the middle class and has extremely mild weather most of the time. I also enjoy my five minute drive to work and no traffic.
My disdain has a lot to do with the horrible weather there and other factors related to a mediocre job market in my career field. When I was growing up by KC I had to contend with temperatures that reached as high as 108F with a heat index reading reaching over 117F at times. Never again.. I do have family there that will never leave, even though they probably have better opportunities elsewhere in terms of jobs. Kansas also has a continually regressive tax structure that will get much worse due to education spending cuts at the state level- leading to a high likelihood of property taxes increases at the local level to go along with high sales taxes (including all grocery food items).
I find the West Coast to be quite foreign based on what I am used to but it is a nice area to take vacations to. I have generally always stayed in the eastern 1/2 of the country and I'm now in the Ohio Valley. It is among the lowest cost of living of any area of the US for the middle class and has extremely mild weather most of the time. I also enjoy my five minute drive to work and no traffic.
I don't want to hijack the thread, but I agree Kansas weather is terrible 40 weeks of the year! Actually this year has been pretty nice, but last year was brutal. Is where you live more temperate? I always assumed the weather was pretty much the same all the way to the Appalachian mountains, heading east and one either gains cold days going north or hot days going south. The worst summer I ever faced was in N. Arkansas...
For a moment, put aside the political and economic talk. Taxes/Real Estate/etc, irrelevant all of it. Cities/traffic/people, irrelevant too.
Let's focus for a minute on NATURAL DISASTERS. Earthquakes, Wildfires, Tsunamis. The fact that Baja California could separate from the continent at any given moment.
For a lot of it, it's not a matter of IF but WHEN. WHEN will another giant earthquake hit LA? Eventually.
I am not keen on living the movie San Andreas.
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