Moving To California

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luvflyin

luvflyin

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Luvflyin
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We haven't had a good State Bashing session lately. And my sanity hasn't been questioned publicly in awhile, so. Really, I am emigrating to California.
 
I grew up in So Cal through college (UCI) and moved away for school then the Air Force. Would always wonder why people would live there - until we went back to visit family on occasions. Then, despite the traffic, I’d see why so many people want to live there. The weather is great virtually all the time and there are few places where you can be in the snowy mountains in the morning and wandering around tide pools mid-afternoon (which we did just last November).

Lots of people in ANY place leads to challenges. Not unique to California. If it weren’t so expensive I’d definitely go back - which is the dilemma. It’s so expensive because lots of people see how much is there.
 
luvflyin said:
We haven't had a good State Bashing session lately. And my sanity hasn't been questioned publicly in awhile, so. Really, I am emigrating to California.
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You have my sympathy.
 
I grew up in the Central Valley, Moved away 4 yrs ago, I will never go back.

there is a lot of places to see, lots of flying destinations, decent weather, except when the tule fog rolls in or the dirty air when the forest is on fire.
 
luvflyin said:
We haven't had a good State Bashing session lately. And my sanity hasn't been questioned publicly in awhile, so. Really, I am emigrating to California.
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Other than tax rates and a few odd rules it's not as bad as others make it.

Edit: Also, our major natural disasters (earthquakes) are less frequent and less impactful than places with tornadoes or hurricanes.
 
I moved to CA from New England back in 2009, haven't looked back since. I'm also in San Diego, which is less like your typical "CaLiForniA" stereotype

PROS
-sailing, hiking, skiing, desert, forests.. all within 3 hrs or less

-weather.. I'm sorry but dealing with tornadoes, snow storms, rain, and severe temp swings sucks. I spend 90% of my time festooned between 65 and 75*F

-flying.. the flying is awesome - beautiful sights, epic vistas, great day flight options (AVX, Kern, Death Valley, Big Bear, Sedona, Havasu, etc). Sure beats flying around the same boring flat crap in New England

CONS
-the homeless problem is legit out of control and our politicians are patent imbeciles

-taxes and the cost of everything is ridiculous. $800K will buy you a 700 sqft squalor ridden s#!thole


If I were to move it'd be cost and politics motivated. I'm firmly in the minority here. But c'est la vie. I pay my taxes and mind my business and don't let others get to me. I can't control people, but I can control my actions and how much I let them get to me
 
Pi1otguy said:
Other than tax rates and a few odd rules it's not as bad as others make it.

Edit: Also, our major natural disasters (earthquakes) are less frequent and less impactful than places with tornadoes or hurricanes.
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Dude you have like major wildfires every year for the whole summer.
 
the hellscape pictures of fires from the news ought to be taken with a grain of salt, or just completely ignored. It's the news after all...

From Wikipedia, 2022 CA wildfire season:
Wildfires killed nine people in California in 2022, destroyed 772 structures, and damaged another 104.

According to NOAA we've already had 31 people die of tornadoes this year alone


I'm all for bashing aspects of a state, but critiquing CA based on natural disasters is a non starter off the bat, it's a massive state with huge forests and the tallest mountains in the contiguous US. It's going to have it's share of weather issues by default.

From a Pilots 'n Paws flight in the Centurion a few weeks ago.. so much death and destruction abounds. Oooh the humanity!
upload_2023-4-5_11-29-23.png
 
Tantalum said:
the hellscape pictures of fires from the news ought to be taken with a grain of salt, or just completely ignored. It's the news after all...

From Wikipedia, 2022 CA wildfire season:
Wildfires killed nine people in California in 2022, destroyed 772 structures, and damaged another 104.

View attachment 116358
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How many of the structures were homes vs dilapidated barns/outbuildings? While there isn't an open "let it burn attitude", there is more consideration for how quickly does this one need to be put out for remote fires. Don't get me wrong, there are downsides to the state but, the media is not a good source for a full picture of reality, about anything.
 
Tantalum said:
I moved to CA from New England back in 2009 ...
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Tantalum, you should be disqualified from answering the OP;):confused::eek:

Those two living areas are probably equal, like jumping out of the kiddy pool due to urine and into the big pool which appears to have a "baby Ruth" floating at the surface :p:D
 
Llewtrah381 said:
If it weren’t so expensive I’d definitely go back - which is the dilemma. It’s so expensive because lots of people see how much is there.
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Yeah, it always cracks me up to see people write about how everyone is leaving CA and that no one wants to live there, and completely ignoring the fact that the reason it is expensive is because of good ole capitalism. Demand is higher than supply, so prices get pushed up. If everyone were actually leaving, you'd be able to buy a beautiful large home in CA for $250-350K, like you can in Georgia, because demand is low in Georgia and supply outpaces it.
 
Tantalum said:
the hellscape pictures of fires from the news ought to be taken with a grain of salt, or just completely ignored. It's the news after all...

From Wikipedia, 2022 CA wildfire season:
Wildfires killed nine people in California in 2022, destroyed 772 structures, and damaged another 104.

According to NOAA we've already had 31 people die of tornadoes this year alone


I'm all for bashing aspects of a state, but critiquing CA based on natural disasters is a non starter off the bat, it's a massive state with huge forests and the tallest mountains in the contiguous US. It's going to have it's share of weather issues by default.

From a Pilots 'n Paws flight in the Centurion a few weeks ago.. so much death and destruction abounds. Oooh the humanity!
View attachment 116358
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Until it wipes out an entire town.

From the wiki:
Eighty-six people died in the Camp Fire, tens of thousands were displaced, and 18,804 buildings were destroyed. Only 5% of buildings in the town remained without serious damage after the fire.
 
Where are you moving to? Look us up when you get here. I am in the Commonwealth of Ventucky.
 
It’s literally impossible to evict a tenant, and if you steal stuff under $1000 you won’t be arrested. Homeless have the right to attack people for money, you don’t have the right to protect yourself.

Not too worried about wildfires, you can choose where to live. It’s expensive, it’s old, and traffic is out of hand. If you love the beach maybe.
 
I struggle with the notion of accepting a life of house poverty for the sake of pleasant weather. It's not like there's a legal prohibition against travel and part year-living in the US.

i don't speak from the cheap seats on that one, as I'm a brain drain economic refugee from bona fide paradise (Caribbean) myself. If money were no object, i would have never left home, i was quite content with that weather growing up.

In the end, my preferences bend toward low population density, more so than weather, though I'm still a warm weather leaning person.

For the record, the climate code for Mediterranean climate that most covet, only occurs in a sliver of coastal land area, which is why California continues to struggle on the housing front (well the second reason, the main one being hypocritical bipartisan upper middle nimbyism, but we don't talk about fight club around those who resemble the remark).

There's plenty of land in California none of the usual suspects have any interest or desire in occupying. So that's not just a flyover country problem/dynamic in the least.
 
hindsight2020 said:
I struggle with the notion of accepting a life of house poverty for the sake of pleasant weather. It's not like there's a legal prohibition against travel and part year-living in the US.

i don't speak from the cheap seats on that one, as I'm a brain drain economic refugee from bona fide paradise (Caribbean) myself. If money were no object, i would have never left home, i was quite content with that weather growing up.

In the end, my preferences bend toward low population density, more so than weather, though I'm still a warm weather leaning person.

For the record, the climate code for Mediterranean climate that most covet, only occurs in a sliver of coastal land area, which is why California continues to struggle on the housing front (well the second reason, the main one being hypocritical bipartisan upper middle nimbyism, but we don't talk about fight club around those who resemble the remark).

There's plenty of land in California none of the usual suspects have any interest or desire in occupying. So that's not just a flyover country problem/dynamic in the least.
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You mean you could...pay 1/3 the price for the same house, and use all that extra money to fly first class, or use your own plane, on the weekends to your destination of choice to get good weather?!?!? Say it ain't so!
 
This looks like a 'drop the nuke and run' thread, but I'll bite anyway. California? There's lots to be desired, but I'd say there's an equal amount of undesireable traits that would keep me out. The political scene has just gotten out of control. It's a beautiful place, no doubt about that, but COL + State Politics is enough to drive most out and keep the others from ever considering it as a place of residence.
 
well, with all the new construction here in FL....and all the California plates I see in the driveways of those new houses, I'm hopeful that in a few years there will be a massive reset politically out there. What little I know about the place.... all the positives listed here in this thread, mostly to do with climate and topography...I think I'd love it out there...but no way no how in the current political landscape (taxes, cost of living, regulations, etc..)
 
EdFred said:
Until it wipes out an entire town.

From the wiki:
Eighty-six people died in the Camp Fire, tens of thousands were displaced, and 18,804 buildings were destroyed. Only 5% of buildings in the town remained without serious damage after the fire.
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That was a bad one (gross understatement). But pointing out that fire would be like pointing out Michigan's Thumb Fire that killed over 200 people as a reason to not live in Michigan and who would do that?
 
Tantalum said:
Sure beats flying around the same boring flat crap in New England
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Yeah, it's boring flat crap here...
upload_2023-4-5_16-18-50.png



Tantalum said:
I'm sorry but dealing with tornadoes, snow storms, rain, and severe temp swings sucks. I spend 90% of my time festooned between 65 and 75*F
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So, boring flat weather. :D

Tantalum said:
-sailing, hiking, skiing, desert, forests.. all within 3 hrs or less
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Ditto for New England, except the desert.

Pi1otguy said:
They're disasters, but most aren't natural.
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They're a disaster for nature...
 
I have to go to LA every couple of years.

Happiness is seeing California disappear behind me.

Note: That was my personal opinion. If anyone was offended, well.....
 
Mrs. P and I are both SoCal born and raised. It was a great place to grow up, but the handwriting was on the wall by 1995, and we voted with our feet. Ironically in the context of this thread, we moved to Vancouver WA. No regrets.
 
Pilawt said:
Mrs. P and I are both SoCal born and raised. It was a great place to grow up, but the handwriting was on the wall by 1995, and we voted with our feet. Ironically in the context of this thread, we moved to Vancouver WA. No regrets.
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I often regret leaving the state of Washington, but I don't regret living in California.
 
Piling on: rolling brownouts/blackouts
 
I don't t have a problem with the State of California, but the state of California would keep me from doing more than a visit. Dealing with the absurd mentality of the controlling parties would outweigh the scenery and nice weather.
 
EdFred said:
Until it wipes out an entire town.
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It's primarily the mountain forest communities that are at risk in the fires. People also have some responsibility of choosing where to live, every area comes with its risk, that's true anywhere not just California. Buy an ocean front house don't get upset when a hurricane and storm surge floods your home. The OP is moving to California, if he's going to move into the forests up in the Sierras, yeah, he'll have some risks. If he's moving to Carlsbad on the other hand..

Dana said:
Ditto for New England, except the desert.
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Strokes for folks. New England is not for me. But while on the topic of cool places to fly and since Washington was raised up thread, Washington and the San Juans were by far the prettiest place I've flown yet.. Bozeman to Skagit late afternoon / sunset was unreal. As far as NE is concerned, I skied and hiked all over New England and while Stowe, Cannon, Okemo, Sugarbush, Jay, Washington, Franconia Notch, all of VT are pretty in their own right they don't compare to the Sierras in the skiing or the hiking..

But I always found state nationalism or bashing kind of silly.. live whereever makes you happy. If that's Chicago, Texas, FL, that's all cool. Luckily this country has enough variety to offer almost everything to most people
 
danhagan said:
baby Ruth
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it's true.. I quoted that movie to someone the other day "kill the gophers" and they didn't get it. Sad.

We've considered leaving. The costs and the homeless problem are getting out of control. What I don't get is why it's allowed to happen.. but that's a different thread. It used to be LA and SF but it's making its way into the SD areas. A long time ago in a galaxy far away we lived in Florida.. that's always an option.
 
Tantalum said:
But I always found state nationalism or bashing kind of silly.. live whereever makes you happy. If that's Chicago, Texas, FL, that's all cool. Luckily this country has enough variety to offer almost everything to most people
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Yeah I agree, it is. California politics will always appeal to a certain demographic, the others will just continue to flee to wherever better fits their ideologies. Same song and dance as it’s always been, granted I do feel the politics have shifted further left than they were the last few years but I have no evidence of that.
 
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Tantalum said:
It's primarily the mountain forest communities that are at risk in the fires. People also have some responsibility of choosing where to live, every area comes with its risk, that's true anywhere not just California. Buy an ocean front house don't get upset when a hurricane and storm surge floods your home. The OP is moving to California, if he's going to move into the forests up in the Sierras, yeah, he'll have some risks. If he's moving to Carlsbad on the other hand..


Strokes for folks. New England is not for me. But while on the topic of cool places to fly and since Washington was raised up thread, Washington and the San Juans were by far the prettiest place I've flown yet.. Bozeman to Skagit late afternoon / sunset was unreal. As far as NE is concerned, I skied and hiked all over New England and while Stowe, Cannon, Okemo, Sugarbush, Jay, Washington, Franconia Notch, all of VT are pretty in their own right they don't compare to the Sierras in the skiing or the hiking..

But I always found state nationalism or bashing kind of silly.. live whereever makes you happy. If that's Chicago, Texas, FL, that's all cool. Luckily this country has enough variety to offer almost everything to most people
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Every place I've lived or visited has had something to like about it.
 
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