California transplant has forgotten what it's like to live somewhere else

[Finper]

Originally Posted by Tall Traveler

Yeah I agree but there is a contrary argument to be made. Most would agree that Cali has a significantly better climate than Az and then there is the cost of moving, uprooting your family, etc. I believe OP has a family so the cost versus income has to be a big factor....in my opinion, $70K for a family in Socal is struggling although frugal people will make it work.

I make 50k and single and if I hadn't bought my place in 02 I'd of had to leave Ca years ago. Also our weather is changing here we've had the hottest most humid summer on record here. It never rains. Lots of people on the coast don't have a/c. Everything is on fire. I just went hiking yesterday in a canyon that last fall burned to the ground and I had to evacuate. There's no clear skies. It's either smoggy hazy or smokey. Sure the beach is nice but I never have time to go and it's 15.00 bucks to park there. It would be difficult to uproot a family especially if certain people don't want to move but in the end the positives heavy outweigh the negatives

[kttam186290]

Originally Posted by Bert_from_back_East

This might sound odd, but IMO, Southern California is a more of a healthy medium between the Midwest and Arizona for the following reasons:

1) There is a stronger, more pervasive Protestant Christian element in California that doesn't really exist in Arizona. FWIW, Arizona's population is quite irreligious. Those in Arizona who are religious tend to be either Roman Catholic, Mormon or Jewish. FYI, no one in the Midwest is Mormon or Jewish, LOL.

2) California is more festive during the holiday season, consistent with much of the Midwest. Christmas decorations, holiday parties, boat parades, etc. are favorite, long-held pastimes of many local communities in Southern California. In Arizona, OTOH, you could drive through a subdivision of 100 homes and count on one hand how many of those homes were decorated for Christmas. Also, no one -- and I repeat, no one -- in Phoenix or Tucson have any special or long-held Independence Day traditions.

3) Although California is home a greater proportion of transplants than most, if not all, Midwestern states, you will meet many people throughout California whose families have lived in the state for generations. In Arizona, 9/10 people you meet originated in another state, and most of those people will never live in the state for more than 10 years total. Simply stated, Arizona doesn't have as many "sticky factors" as California to retain a high percentages of both natives and transplants.

4) People are much more sociable in California. Arizona is a very anti-social state: people don't smile or make eye contact with others in public, small talk at grocery stores or other public places is quite uncommon, coworkers don't usually greet each other with "good morning" at the office, people stay shuttered in their dark homes for much of the year and go from their air-conditioned homes to their air-conditioned cars to their air-conditioned workplaces with minimal outdoor exposure, etc. People in Arizona just aren't that interested in getting to know and befriending you because either you're going to move on quickly or they're planning to themselves.

My observations as well.