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I was shocked when I learnt just how expensive New Jersey is, the woman in this video is paying over $4K a month in rent for an apartment in Jersey city, you can rent an apartment in Los Angeles for half that price easily
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Jersey City and Hoboken are paradise for those can't afford / don't want to live in Manhattan or Brooklyn. Not to mention big banks and insurance companies moving back offices across the river and easy commutes into the City.
I am 23M and I grew up in the northern NJ suburbs. NJ is not my favorite place, but it is a wonderful place to live and was wonderful growing up as a kid. I did hate living at home and could not wait to leave NJ to be away from my parents, and I graduated college in 2020 and I knew that getting a job was going to be impossible, but I managed to land something part time out here in the Bay Area and moved in with family out here.
My family that I live with out are great and I am very grateful to live with them, otherwise I would not be living here. I hate California and the cost of living and everything in the Bay Area is insane. I felt more at home back in NJ. I am ready to move back East and I am trying hard to get a remote job so I can live in a semi-rural PA, which is a beautiful state I have visited and dreamed of living in.
I just don't get how people want me to live out here forever. When I lived in NJ, it was the same when people kept wanting me to stay there forever.
I hate California with its high cost of living, overpopulated, poor quality of life, poorly designed roads (driving in the Bay Area is miserable!), poor infrastructure, deranged homeless people, stolen vehicle crimes, armed robberies, smash and grabs, things getting stolen, arid weather, no rain, etc.
I just don't how people want to pay a high cost of living to have no quality of life. And I am so TIRED of people telling, "It will be the same everywhere". Literally my own grandparents are the ones who told me this even though they had tons of travel experience in their lives. And they told me "you can't beat the weather". People who say it happens everywhere are wrong, because I lived in two states and things are different in each place, so the people who keep saying things are the same everywhere I wrong. My brother who lives in NJ who has not even lived in another state keep saying, "There is nothing wrong with California. It is the same as anywhere". Whenever I told people I am tired of seeing "street people" or "crazy homeless people", people just tell me, "Even where you lived in NJ had it", "That's a rich people mentality", or "you grew up privileged." Seriously? California is overrated and people do not understand me especially the people who never lived here themselves. The people who are part the California exodus due to dislike of the state are the smart ones.
I just want to live somewhere where I would rather shovel snow for one or two days of the year instead of living somewhere with crappy quality of life for 365 days a year. I need humidity and rain back, because arid weather makes me lightheaded and cars also get too hot out here even if the weather is mild. Again, so weather is not the same everywhere. I want safety which is a priority, I want to live somewhere "naturally safe" where you do not even need law enforcement to keep yourself safe from two legged creatures.
I am an adult and I am doing what I want! I am going to move regardless of what anyone tells me! My grandmother told my brother, "Why would he want to give up full time job with good benefits?" But, this is more of a "You couldn't pay me more to live here" type of scenario, because I want to be happy. My grandmother even told me, "But you have more friends out here and you did not have many friends back at home". What is the purpose of me living somewhere expensive and a poor quality of life with remote jobs these days... I don't get why people are telling me to stay in California when I am listening to music reminiscing about my memories of how great the East Coast is
Anyone else had this issue when wanting to move?
NJ/NY > California … any day but maybe it’s just us. I really wanted to love CA & ive visited many times bc my fam is there … i just dont understand the appeal of paying $2 million dollars for a tiny little house in the middle of a desert & having to conserve water & stay inside without power bc a wildfire is coming.
I love seasons. I love snow. I love changing leaves & having summer to look forward to. NJ has a lot to offer, I can see why you like it. I’m in NY so very similar.
@ the end of the day it is yr decision & yr life. Ppl will always want to insert their 2 cent. Good luck with whatever u choose.
I was shocked when I learnt just how expensive New Jersey is, the woman in this video is paying over $4K a month in rent for an apartment in Jersey city, you can rent an apartment in Los Angeles for half that price easily
NJ/NY > California … any day but maybe it’s just us. I really wanted to love CA & ive visited many times bc my fam is there … i just dont understand the appeal of paying $2 million dollars for a tiny little house in the middle of a desert & having to conserve water & stay inside without power bc a wildfire is coming.
I love seasons. I love snow. I love changing leaves & having summer to look forward to. NJ has a lot to offer, I can see why you like it. I’m in NY so very similar.
@ the end of the day it is yr decision & yr life. Ppl will always want to insert their 2 cent. Good luck with whatever u choose.
Not all of California is a desert, the state has seasons too.
If you hate California that much who cares what other people say? do whatever it takes to make your soul be happy and move elsewhere. If you feel you would be happier on the East Coast, then make that happen. I disagree with you completely about California having no quality of life, it's the best state in the country in my opinion, but if you are miserable there then you need to move somewhere where you will be happy. Thankfully the USA is huge and there's a place for everyone. The way you feel about California is the same way I feel about the Pacific Northwest, I spent so many years up there and I was miserable, I hated the people, attitudes, weather, culture, lack of diversity, everything.
I'm actually shocked that the Pacific Northwest that the Pacific Northwest would have a bad quality of life ! As I did mention in another post, living somewhere is different that visiting it. I visited Seattle and the suburbs and all the way out to Mount Rainier and I fell in love with the area and it was nothing compared to the Bay Area and way better. I actually moved out here with my grannies in the Bay Area to start a life West and eventually move to Washington state or Oregon, but I changed my mind and I prefer the East Coast. I know for sure that I will not be happy out West for the rest of my life, I would rather get a remote job so I can go where I am happy, I am never going to listen to people who tell me to become some glamorous Silicon Valley Techie in the South Bay. I am not going to wait until I am old and retired just to live somewhere that I am happy. You can't pay me more to live out here.
If you know where you want to live next and can work remote, trust your instincts. I left CA after 33 years with many locals asking how could I possibly live anywhere else and citing reasons, most of which have turned out to be not true, why I’d be miserable in Florida (which I’m not, 5.5 years later). I experienced a number of similar quality of life issues you stated in CA and traveled to Miami on my company’s nickel more than 15 times for 4 years before deciding it was a better fit for me. I’m grateful for having experienced and lived in 3 different CA metros over 33 years but also grateful I moved away.
I’m from the NY metro area originally myself and there are definite cultural and people differences between the 2 coasts. (What’s next, people in Mississippi are the same as Manhattanites??). Do what YOUR gut tells you to do, not what others think you should do, if you can pull it off. Good luck. You’re young and mobile and allowed mistakes on your resume for another 5 years if things do not work out.
I trust my instincts with a combination of visiting a place. Never listen to people who reprimand you for leaving the state. When I was leaving NJ, it was the same issue where people would ask me why I would want to leave the amazing Tri-State Area.
I had a relative who recently moved from the Bay Area to South Florida, which she always fell in love with. She is happier now and does not miss the Bay Area at all.
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! As I did mention in another post, living somewhere is different that visiting it. I visited Seattle and the suburbs and all the way out to Mount Rainier and I fell in love with the area and it was nothing compared to the Bay Area and way better. I actually moved out here with my grannies in the Bay Area to start a life West and eventually move to Washington state or Oregon, but I changed my mind and I prefer the East Coast. I know for sure that I will not be happy out West for the rest of my life, I would rather get a remote job so I can go where I am happy, I am never going to listen to people who tell me to become some glamorous Silicon Valley Techie in the South Bay. I am not going to wait until I am old and retired just to live somewhere that I am happy. You can't pay me more to live out here.
