Leaving and Returning (San Diego, Sacramento, Irvine: new home, to buy, allergies)

[rksinco]

Hey Everyone-

I have been curious about this:

I moved from Rancho Santa Margarita out here to Colorado 5 and a half yrs ago. At that time the OC Register was running plenty of stories about the flood of people who were cashing out and leaving the state for places like Colorado, Arizona, texas, etc. So we were not alone in going.

We love Colorado but now sometimes fantasize about returning to OC...mainly for the weather, and proximity to established friendships and family. I'm a teacher though, so odds are stacked against me anyway, but we still play the "what if" game all the time.

So just curious if anyone here has moved away from OC, especially to another state, and if you have decided to return. Or do you know anybody who left and came back?
I'd love to know how many who moved away decided to come back versus those who said good riddance and enjoy life outside the Orange Curtain, or the golden state altogether.

Thanks for any feedback. Happy New Year everyone!

[bhcompy]

My wife's best friend and her fiance moved to Denver(Lowry) about 5 years ago. They really enjoyed it, but they had a hard time making friends and their families gave them a lot of hell and they moved back last year(still haven't found jobs since returning).

My family was going to move to HR, but the house we had under contract was pulled back at the last minute by a secondary leinholder and our window closed. We still wish we could get out of here, but job situation forces us to stay.

I also have friends that have moved to Utah and Idaho and are very happy and comfortable. Southern California is a great place, but mostly only if you can afford it with enough left over to have a viable retirement and emergency fund.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by rksinco

So just curious if anyone here has moved away from OC, especially to another state, and if you have decided to return. Or do you know anybody who left and came back?

I'd love to know how many who moved away decided to come back versus those who said good riddance and enjoy life outside the Orange Curtain, or the golden state altogether.

Did both. Native Californian here. Uncle Sam moved me away from OC in 1966, sent me back in '69 and took me elsewhere from '73 until '78 when I left active service. By that time my childhood home was far too expensive for me and my young family so we reluctantly moved to the Inland Empire where we could afford to buy a home.

Over the next 30 years we gradually moved north, ending up in Sacramento where I spent the last 20 years of my career and also went through a divorce.

Some years later I remarried and 12 years after that, retired. In 2009 my wife and I moved 2,000 miles away from California, bought a modest but comfortable home on the shore of a large lake and will most likely finish out our days here. My wife is also a native Californian.

I wouldn't say that either of us would classify our relocation as "good riddance" to California, nor would I say the same about Orange County. What I will say is that current conditions within California, financially, socially and societally, no longer suit us. We're happy where we landed but in some part of us, California will always be fondly remembered.

[Fontucky]

Also a native. I moved out for a few years, not counting my service years back in the seventies. I came back to OC in 2001 and, now in the IE, I am here to stay. Mah ayse ain't going anywhere.

[Charles]

Derek had a good thread on the CA forum

//www.city-data.com/forum/calif...eturn-did.html

We sold in Thousand Oaks at d(price)/dt = 0 (june 2006) and moved to near Colorado Springs.

We probably wouldn't have moved there if CA housing hadn't tripled between 1997 and 2006 and we probably wouldn't (couldn't) have moved back for

Originally Posted by rksinco

the weather, and proximity to established friendships and family

if prices and interest rates didn't get to where they are now.

[VeronikaW]

We left OC for San Diego for 4 years and then moved to WA for 3 years. We returned to OC in June to be near family since we now have small children. We are already planning to move back to WA.

I love many things about CA, but there are so many things I do not like (over-crowded, the air quality is really bad compared to WA (my son is now suffering from horrible allergies he didn't have there), high taxes, expensive housing, everyone is in a rush, harder to get services for our children (my son needed speech therapy in WA and was provided it readily through the federally mandated Birth to 3 program, when we got to CA we were told if he wasn't severely disabled they wouldn't help us)).

I will miss being close to my family, and the familiarness of OC (I grew up in Irvine), but my kids will have a better quality of life in WA, and right now that's what's important to us.

V. =)

[Twinkle Toes]

Moved to TX, had a gorgeous home built there, and 9 months later we were back in beautiful, gorgeous, sunny SoCal. The type of work both my husband and I do, we can do in any state, so coming back wasn't a problem. We were able to sell our TX house within a month of putting it on the market, and were able to take our time here looking for a new home to purchase. We were never unhappy in CA, but man-oh-man, are we happy to be back!!!

[rksinco]

Thanks everybody for your thoughts and experiences.
Charles- great thread you included...great information there! We pretty much go through this every year right after Christmas and then as soon as the fly rod comes back out in spring and summer, I'm back to the Rocky Mtn High! Your pics of your house are beautiful in both places...looks like Kings Deer? I teach in Monument.
I also need to be more assertive in getting to know people but man, I meet so many people that are military that end up leaving in a year or two, so that makes it somewhat difficult. Thus the longing for my 20-year friendships still in Orange County.
A high this coming Friday of 11 degrees won't help any of this!

[Charles]

Originally Posted by rksinco

.looks like Kings Deer? I teach in Monument.

Yep, we lived in Kings Deer and our kids went to Prairie Winds and the Montessori on 105.

[phiphika]

@VeronikaW - where did you live in Seattle? I'm moving from Kirkland next month to OC. Been in Seattle for 10 years.