Does anyone want to move out of the Bay Area (Orange: month to, custom home)

[readuntil]

> It is in California's best interest to encourage affordability.

How?

[sliverbox]

> It is in California's best interest to encourage affordability.

How?

Well, it wouldn't be easy. There are a few major obstacles. One would be proposition 13, a tax measure passed in the 70's to protect the then retired homeowners from having to pay an escalating amount of property taxes.This created numerous problems, such as the fact that people who were living in houses that were too big for their needs had no reason to downgrade or move period. It also meant that local infrastructure like Schools, roads, and public services would receive less and less money. This in time can be repealed.

The second roadblock is much more difficult to address. California has the strongest "NIMBY" ( Not In My Backyard) attitude than any state I've lived in. Laws were passed in countless cities in towns limiting growth, the types of housing units that could be built, and where they could be developed. The town I live in states that nobody can build a new homes UNDER 2,000 square feet nor can home with multiple units be built either. So in reality, nothing short of a new mansion can be built. So that means that almost all homes available in my area are pre-existing and primarily built before the 1940's. The result is that homes in countless California cities and towns are unnecessarily precious and overvalued because the housing supply is artificially manipulated by somewhat selfish legislation. This also places California is a predicament where it's socioeconomic structure continuously slides towards a heavily stratified composition.

Basically, if you aren't a major business executive, then you're going to struggle. But that doesn't stop the sea of unskilled labor from streaming across the border. So what you get is essentially Brazil; quite a few people in the upper income bracket, a huge amount of people in the unskilled labor bracket, and a continually shrinking middle class. Unfortunately, this kind of social composition doesn't pan out if in regards to a single state tied to the rest of a primarily middle class country. People have the logical choice to migrate out and away once economics pressures become too great, and this is precisely what's happening in CA and a number of other primarily Northeastern cities. All you need to do is check out the city data site for Raleigh, NC and see just how many pages are from today, and how many of those people on there are either from here, or the Northeast. Most of them.

Conclusion: CA needs to wake up to the situation and aggressively pursue ways in which to keep it's middle and even upper middle classes. That begins with creating the steps necessary to build more affordable housing, and more of it as well.

[readuntil]

Repealing prop. 13 seems to be the more difficult option as it saves a lot people a lot of money. The proponents of prop. 13 often say that repealing it would force the elderly out of their homes, although I'm pretty sure the biggest beneficiaries of the program are the middle class and wealthy. Even when Warren Buffet suggested it to the governor, the governor told him to do 500 sit-ups (or was it pushups).

As for the zoning laws, which place requires new homes to be over 2000 square feet? It would appear that with concerns over global warming and the environment, and California being a liberal and environmental state, smaller homes would be favored here as heating and cooling costs would be less.

What worries me about the statement that California should do more to encourage affordable housing is that such statements are often attempts to raise taxes. I guess I'm too conservative to endorse any more socialism. Already taxes are 10.3% (thanks to prop. 63, though 9.3% on most of the reasonably wealthy), which I think is 9.3% too high.

[Ultrarunner]

I believe that all California property tax payers benefit from Prop 13.

It is true that the benefit increases with each year the property is held... so longtime owners have a proportionally greater benefit. The point is that all owners benefit because the Statewide Tax Rate is fixed at 1% of assessed value and this was not the case, pre prop 13.

By coincidence, another thread on City Data asks "What do you miss the most about leaving California?" I truthfully answered that I miss the stability Prop 13 provided by knowing that my Statewide Property Tax was limited to yearly increases of no more than 2% and the rate is fixed at 1%.

Over the last several years, it is not uncommon for Washington State residents to see property taxes increase by more than 50% simply because someone has paid top dollar for a neighboring home. I call it Property Tax Roulette... because you never know how much your property tax will increase until the bill arrives.

[readuntil]

> Over the last several years, it is not uncommon for Washington State
> residents to see property taxes increase by more than 50% simply because
> someone has paid top dollar for a neighboring home. I call it Property Tax
> Roulette... because you never know how much your property tax will
> increase until the bill arrives.

This makes sense, yet the services the city provides has been growing faster than 2%. Certainly 50% is way out of whack.

[sliverbox]

What worries me about the statement that California should do more to encourage affordable housing is that such statements are often attempts to raise taxes. I guess I'm too conservative to endorse any more socialism. Already taxes are 10.3% (thanks to prop. 63, though 9.3% on most of the reasonably wealthy), which I think is 9.3% too high.

I think California will have more to worry about besides taxes if prices for housing and such do not come down. This article came out today:

The Mercury News. “With stratospheric housing prices pushing an unprecedented flow of college graduates out of the state, a prominent think tank says California faces a worrisome shortage in future decades: A lack of highly skilled workers to buttress the state’s quality of life.”

“Much of the worry is prompted by the new exodus of college graduates. Historically, college graduates have flocked to California from elsewhere in the United States. But according to PPIC’s analysis of Census data, since 2000, more college graduates have been leaving California for other states than are arriving.”

“‘It’s safe to say that certainly we haven’t seen this kind of flow out of the state in the past,’ said Hans Johnson, a PPIC demographer who co-authored the report. ‘Probably what’s happening now is unique in California’s history.’”

This goes along with some of the somewhat ancedotal evidence I've been mentioning here for awhile, which is that uncontrolled, non-fundamental costs in living in a state like CA will only hurt it in the long term. California is not another country. It's economy can just as easily be exported to other areas right along with all the college students, young couples, and families who left to join them.

It is in my opinion the most important issue in this state, and unless things are changed, don't expect things to get any better. Of course if everyone leaves, the prices will come down. But there might not be any smart people left anyway, so who'd want to live here then?

[moonsavvy]

Checking in!

Yes I feel like the bay area is suffocating me and my family. When you relocate to the bay area for a 6 figure income and still can't afford to buy a house? It really pisses me off!!

Signing off as a tenant stuffed in less than 1000 sq feet and two kids and a husband! AND NO TAX WRITE OFF!

I'm sorry, the bay area is just not thaaaaat cool.

[lululoo]

I LOVED it in SanFran. Really, that city is utopia to many with a more liberal point of view. I never wanted to leave, but sadly, was very young and poor and when my landlord wanted his house back for his daughter to live in, there was no way I could afford the rent (I had a DEAL- the entire bottom floor of a house in Twin Peaks for $700 a month.) I certainly couldn't think about buying. So I left. But I loved it and would seriously consider going back given the right set of circumstances. I'm not hung up on the Bay Area-- this is a BIG country with a lot of great places, but it certainly ranks in my top three cities.

[LaPerla]

I'm outtie! I'm planning on selling my properties and moving out state...not sure where. All I know is I plan to buy a house cash and have no mortgage or rent...but I will miss Cali

[dd94595]

Originally Posted by Pucca

due to its rising cost in housing? I find it ridiculously expensive to buy a house for over half a million. We are thinking of moving because we simply can't afford buying a home. And rent is also far from being affordable. Does anyone want to move out as well or is it just me?

I agree that the cost of living is outrageous. My husband and I were approved for a loan recently and started shopping for a house out in Brentwood, CA. We were shocked to find that at $400,000 we were the bottom of the price range out there. The least desirable houses in town were the ones in our price range. This is shocking because the mortgage on a loan like that was still going to be nearly $3000 per month even with us putting $50,000 down. $50,000 is a lot of money, but it does not go very far here. I guess I had hoped that if I was paying $3000 a month for a house it would be bigger than 1400 sq ft and closer than 60 miles outside S.F. and would actually be a house I loved and not just a house that I could afford.

I want to move, but it is a hard decision. We make good money in CA and all of our family and friends live here, but I just do not see how we can afford to pay a mortgage like that and still have a life, kids, decent cars, maybe even vacations.
The bay area has a lot to offer for a lot of people, but I think it is a hard place to start out.