Is S.F. Really Worth The Cost? C'mon -- Really? (San Diego: home, to buy)

[kpoeppel]

Tallysmom,

Good points. I realize that people that have been there for many years/decades aren't living in "serfdom", but those that move in from elsewhere will have a hard time getting by unless they are making at least 6 figures, which is "rich" by my standards anyway.

I grew up in western PA, and landed a job with an air quality firm in Sonoma County. It was the only job I could find in my field (meteorology), and beggars can't be choosers. The job paid 44k/year, which is pretty good by western PA standards, but nowhere near enough by CA standards as I soon found out . I left the job 3 months after starting and fled back east over the Sierras as fast as I could!

I still couldn't believe the kinds of crappy houses that were going for 3/4 of a million dollars! Around here those kinds of places would go for around 50k!

[kpoeppel]

Tallysmom,

If I remember right you were thinking of moving to Pittsburgh, right? I thought read some of your posts over on the Pittsburgh forum.

When I was in CA, I told one of my co-workers that Marin County reminded me of Pittsburgh (because of the way the neighborhoods are built upon the rugged terrain). He looked at me in disbelief and said "EWW!" I guess the joke is on him, considering Pittsburgh was rated #1 most livable city in America by Places Rated Almanac.

[friendlyflyer]

I think I can add some testimony to what attracts one to SF, and why some stay despite the extreme high cost of living.

I'm in my 40's and grew up in NJ near Philly. Went to college in Arizona, and have worked for a major airline for 22yrs. I moved to SF on a transfer in 1990 and spent 14yrs here. I was 30yrs when I landed here and thought it was the best place in the USA I've been too for a big city next to NYC. There was everything I could imagine in a City and then some. What happen was it grew on me and influenced my outlook on life, and I'm not an extreme liberal!
Very hard to explain how, but the way in which I live my life, career oriented, mountain biker, rower, skier, fitness buff, arts, food, wine, you name it. Did I say wine...there are great wines here that don't get shipped outside of the Bay Area. Everything I wanted was just down the street or around the corner or max drive of 5hrs to Tahoe.
Also, the other half of my family relocated here in the 80's.

I'm sure just as someone who grew up in NYC or has lived there for an extended time, thinks its the best place on earth, the same thing happens to many Bay Area or people who live in "The City" as locals call it.

I moved away for work reasons 2 1/2 yrs ago to LA/Hollywood. Ok, living in LA is another story so I will save that for another time.
I'm just relocated back to SF the past few weeks for work again.

Here's what I realized, yes SF is an incredible world class city and the many offerings of the Bay Area. Is it worth the price? I say "not". It really depends where you are the economic scale, and your outlook on life regarding the cost of living in a place vs the quality of life.

Most of the people I know in the Bay Area, grew up here, and either they have family here or this is what they consider home{lifestyle) and nothing can compare. Many others came here prior to the tech boom, the internet boom and got into the market making a good salary, bought early and paid 200-400K for a home a now its worth 700-1Million, they "rode the wave" and got in at the right time. Some others made a fortune in the tech/internet boom and can afford what they want. The next group are the "call them what you want" either cannot afford to own, or save years to own a modest 1950's (1400 sq ft) house, or just pay high rent, because they just want to live here.

Personally at this point, financial security is more important to me, then the so called "quality of life" issue. I know friends who are still living back in the Philly/NJ area who have a wonderful quality of life. Ok, they dont have the Golden Gate Bridge in their back yard, but many US cities today offering a great quality of life, good or bad weather aside.

If I could wave the wand right now, I would move to San Diego. Basically I made long lasting friends there, and I just like the vibe there. It mixes a bit of the Bay Area with So Cal lifestyle. Also I wouldn't hestitate to move back East for the right reasons.

So I'm glad to be back and in ways it is like coming home, excluding any family or friends. However I don't think this will be long term.

So in summary, if your a young person and have this incredible itching to live in SF, then come and experience it. However in this day and age, only the rich will be able to sustain in this market as a new entrant, similar to NYC(Manhattan) If your lucky enough to make 150K it will go alot farther in many other cities and if your making way less than that and you want a nice middle class lifestyle, then maybe SF will be a vacation destination. Don't worry your not going to be missing out on anything anymore than happy folks in many wonderful US cities.

I will add one caveat that I failed to mention. If you are a soul in seek of trying to figure out who and where you are going in your life, this is one City in the world that you'll hopefully figure it out.

[BearBranch]

Here Here! Great post Friendlyflyer.

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by kpoeppel

Tallysmom,

If I remember right you were thinking of moving to Pittsburgh, right? I thought read some of your posts over on the Pittsburgh forum.

When I was in CA, I told one of my co-workers that Marin County reminded me of Pittsburgh (because of the way the neighborhoods are built upon the rugged terrain). He looked at me in disbelief and said "EWW!" I guess the joke is on him, considering Pittsburgh was rated #1 most livable city in America by Places Rated Almanac.

I was born in Pittsburgh and raised in Cranberry Township -- and hubby was born in Beaver Falls and raised in Beaver... so yeah -- I totally get what you're saying about Marin. We left right after we married because steel had died.

I'd love to move back to the East Coast -- so I'd never have to get on a plane again. And family is still back there...

[kpoeppel]

Tallysmom,

Wow, a fellow Butler County native. I grew up near between Saxonburg and Freeport. Cranberry (and southern Butler County in general) has been the only place in western PA to experience positive population growth. Cranberry especially is booming, with people fleeing Allegheny County taxes, as I'm sure you've heard.

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by kpoeppel

Tallysmom,

Wow, a fellow Butler County native. I grew up near between Saxonburg and Freeport. Cranberry (and southern Butler County in general) has been the only place in western PA to experience positive population growth. Cranberry especially is booming, with people fleeing Allegheny County taxes, as I'm sure you've heard.

Mom still lives in Cranberry. I'm going back next week for her 80th birthday. But man -- I hate what they've done to Cranberry -- reminds me of California where growth is rampant with no real thought of what it does to the surrounding area.

But then again -- maybe I've "Mayberry-ed" Cranberry. When I was young we had no grocery stores and one pharmacy that also told feed and tack. (That's horse stuff -- bridles, tethers, reins, saddles, stirrups, blankets...) I used to feed carrots to my neighbor's horses through their fence. I could wander into fields and never see another soul for hours.

[darkblue]

Main reason SFO to be liked by many single people,

1 - Its the best party city in the world
2 - Beautiful girls (Diversified - whites,latinos,blacks,filippinos,indians,chinese,e uropeans etc., and their availabilty)

Nobody mentioned these points in their posts.

[darkblue]

Has anybody thought or considered moving to Virginia Beach from Bay Area , I think This place has not yet beem discovered by many people , not even by me until I moved here because of my job.

//www.city-data.com/city/Virgin...-Virginia.html

[feskone]

Maybe the point is very simple. To keep it expencive so ppl think twice b4 moving to Bay Area and overpopulating it faster than its happening already.