A realistic look at SoCal for those planning a move here (Carson: for sale, rentals)

[Fontucky]

And the best tamales are made by fobby abuelitas in their home.

[Sunday1]

Originally Posted by legal_eagle

If you ever actually leave, I hope you'll give us an update and let us know if the trade-off was worth it. But the way that you foment makes me think you're pretty torn about leaving and that you'll probably end up staying.

Agreed.

Mbelle75,

If you can earn the same living anywhere you want to be, and you evidently hate it here with a passion, why haven't you moved yet? Not being sarcastic, I think it's a legitimate question.

[HBsteve]

City threads like this fall into two categories - this city isn't as nice as everyone says it is, or this city isn't as bad as everyone says it is. SoCal is in the former category - for good reason. All in all, it's pretty sweet.

[dexter14]

Originally Posted by Sunday1

Agreed.

Mbelle75,

If you can earn the same living anywhere you want to be, and you evidently hate it here with a passion, why haven't you moved yet? Not being sarcastic, I think it's a legitimate question.

Because this is my home, lived here my entire life aside from 18 months in Portland, OR. Most of my family is here. Every year that goes by, the worse it gets here though. More people (many illegals crossing the border) more cars, more traffic, rental prices escalating ridiculously. The apartment I was in went up $250 over 2 years before I moved. I make good money but Im not stupid with it either. Paying $1950 for an 1150 sqft apartment in Anaheim was already a rip off, at $2200? No thanks. Im looking at houses close to twice that size in NV, AZ and TX for half the price. I just paid $3.95 for regular gas the other day. My friend coming from Dallas was shocked at that price. They are paying about $1 less, that a HUGE difference. I wont even get started on the corrupt politicians in this state with senators trying to take away law abiding gun owners 2nd amendment rights every chance they get. We already have unconstitutional laws in place being challenged in federal courts. These issues don't exist in free states as the ones I just mentioned. So the cons are now a landslide over the pros for staying here. Making a move by Jan and yes, I will keep you updated.

[Electrician4you]

Originally Posted by mbell75

Because this is my home, lived here my entire life aside from 18 months in Portland, OR. Most of my family is here. Every year that goes by, the worse it gets here though. More people (many illegals crossing the border) more cars, more traffic, rental prices escalating ridiculously. The apartment I was in went up $250 over 2 years before I moved. I make good money but Im not stupid with it either. Paying $1950 for an 1150 sqft apartment in Anaheim was already a rip off, at $2200? No thanks. Im looking at houses close to twice that size in NV, AZ and TX for half the price. I just paid $3.95 for regular gas the other day. My friend coming from Dallas was shocked at that price. They are paying about $1 less, that a HUGE difference. I wont even get started on the corrupt politicians in this state with senators trying to take away law abiding gun owners 2nd amendment rights every chance they get. We already have unconstitutional laws in place being challenged in federal courts. These issues don't exist in free states as the ones I just mentioned. So the cons are now a landslide over the pros for staying here. Making a move by Jan and yes, I will keep you updated.

Most people CANNOT just move. YOU are one exception because you can take your work with you, you are self employed and if you don't need a brick and mortar storefront and sounds like your work is mostly if not all work from home. You CAN move to another state and keep working with no drop in pay. Most can't. That's the difference.

If you don't mind 120* heat and living in the middle of nowhere surrounded by desert emptiness Arizona may be for you. It you don't mind heat and humidity then Texas might be the ticket. Nevada is economically decimated and so is Arizona. Besides Reno and Vegas Nevada is pretty empty. Flippers were having a field day savaging the housing market in Arizona and Nevada. You missed out on probably the best three years to steal a house in so cal since the early 90s.
You can thank investment firms and a weak dollar for the rent and price hikes.
S**t is expensive here because of the demand. If some place is in demand its gonna be expensive. There s a reason you can buy 40 acres of desert land or land somewhere for 8k. It's because nobody wants it. The people leaving the state are lower income and they are replaced with same or higher income.its not like 150,000 people are leaving and nobody is replacing them.

Gun issues? Those issues exist in free states. Colorado just had a ban on mags. Colorado is becming Coloradifornia. Connecticut is banning every gun with the exception of the spit wad straw. Hawaii has crappy gun laws and so does NJ and NY. Texas has a ton of Californians. Just wait till they get enough liberals in there voting. Dallas and Austin are pretty liberal btw.

[dexter14]

Originally Posted by Electrician4you

Most people CANNOT just move. YOU are one exception because you can take your work with you, you are self employed and if you don't need a brick and mortar storefront and sounds like your work is mostly if not all work from home. You CAN move to another state and keep working with no drop in pay. Most can't. That's the difference.

If you don't mind 120* heat and living in the middle of nowhere surrounded by desert emptiness Arizona may be for you. It you don't mind heat and humidity then Texas might be the ticket. Nevada is economically decimated and so is Arizona. Besides Reno and Vegas Nevada is pretty empty. Flippers were having a field day savaging the housing market in Arizona and Nevada. You missed out on probably the best three years to steal a house in so cal since the early 90s.
You can thank investment firms and a weak dollar for the rent and price hikes.
S**t is expensive here because of the demand. If some place is in demand its gonna be expensive. There s a reason you can buy 40 acres of desert land or land somewhere for 8k. It's because nobody wants it. The people leaving the state are lower income and they are replaced with same or higher income.its not like 150,000 people are leaving and nobody is replacing them.

Gun issues? Those issues exist in free states. Colorado just had a ban on mags. Colorado is becming Coloradifornia. Connecticut is banning every gun with the exception of the spit wad straw. Hawaii has crappy gun laws and so does NJ and NY. Texas has a ton of Californians. Just wait till they get enough liberals in there voting. Dallas and Austin are pretty liberal btw.

We agree for once! I am looking for open spaces! Sick of being overcrowded and all the traffic. Dont mind the heat that much. Funny you mentioned $8k for desert no one wants. My grandpa could have bought tons of land in the cove in La Quinta, CA for $8k back in 1980 but he thought the same way. Its just desert, no one wants it. That same land was going for hundreds of thousands of dollars 5 years ago. I like the idea of being in much less populated areas as things get worse. if a major disaster or some kind of incident happened in SoCal and you needed to get out quickly, forget it, freeways would be parking lots. States like TX, AZ and even NV have a rich history of guns, nothing like CA. They would revolt before letting their 2nd amendment rights be taken away, nothing like the wussy liberals here in CA. In fact, TX and AZ have passed laws recently giving gun owners MORE rights rather then less. Love it.

[Electrician4you]

Originally Posted by mbell75

We agree for once! I am looking for open spaces! Sick of being overcrowded and all the traffic. Dont mind the heat that much. Funny you mentioned $8k for desert no one wants. My grandpa could have bought tons of land in the cove in La Quinta, CA for $8k back in 1980 but he thought the same way. Its just desert, no one wants it. That same land was going for hundreds of thousands of dollars 5 years ago. I like the idea of being in much less populated areas as things get worse. if a major disaster or some kind of incident happened in SoCal and you needed to get out quickly, forget it, freeways would be parking lots. States like TX, AZ and even NV have a rich history of guns, nothing like CA. They would revolt before letting their 2nd amendment rights be taken away, nothing like the wussy liberals here in CA. In fact, TX and AZ have passed laws recently giving gun owners MORE rights rather then less. Love it.

Ok if it works for you that's great. But just because others don't want to move doesn't mean they are settling for less or are losers simply because they don't agree with your views. Some can't just pick up and go. Some don't want to and are willing to pay the price.

[dexter14]

Originally Posted by Electrician4you

Ok if it works for you that's great. But just because others don't want to move doesn't mean they are settling for less or are losers simply because they don't agree with your views. Some can't just pick up and go. Some don't want to and are willing to pay the price.

The original purpose of this thread was to warn people looking to move IN to CA and give them some reality checks. Its not all sunshine and rainbows. It was not intended to get people to move out of CA.

[Electrician4you]

Originally Posted by mbell75

The original purpose of this thread was to warn people looking to move IN to CA and give them some reality checks. Its not all sunshine and rainbows. It was not intended to get people to move out of CA.

Ok. That's your right to warn people but if someone is Planning on moving here i doubt your post will sway them. I dont know how many other states you lived in but from my experience the expensive part is relative to the wages in the area. when someone that has a ton of money moves in a lower price area he lives like a king but as more people move there the cost of living for the locals goes up. Especially if moving there brings up values in real estate. That's what happened in California. And it's happening in other parts of the country. But lots of people seem ok with this state. And no state is ever all sunshine and rainbows. Just not gonna happen.

[Sunday1]

mbelle75,

You'll see when you are living elsewhere that the grass is seldom truly greener on the other side of the fence. You've been here your entire life. That's the problem. You just haven't any experience with real life in different regions.

Give it a try, but just as you're warning people to not be overly enthused about relocating to southern Cal -- I warn you not to spend an entire life here, never living anywhere else, and then act like you're qualified to issue dire warnings of comparison. You're entitled most definitely to your opinions. But not so much your "warnings" without any basis of comparison.

I have life experience in nine other states to compare this with. I won't get to stay here forever because of family (their location trumps all else, and I think that's true for most people) but while I'm here I'm very happy we decided to make the move.

I wish you the best with your very first move ~!