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I’d suggest looking into San Luis Obispo county, Paso Robles, Templeton, Arroyo Grande, etc. beautiful, beach, mountains, wineries, great weather, and more affordable than Bay Area:
Also moved 7 months ago from DC to SF. And although my salary doubled, I feel like my quality of life significantly decreased. Groceries are triple expensive here, and housing, is insane, I still live with 2 roommates to save money (used to comfortably live by myself on the east coast). I also feel a lot of financial pressure bc there is no way I could afford a decent house here any time soon (price hijacked by super high paying tech industries). Although I love California, it has so much to offer, I don’t recommend the Bay Area unless you absolutely HAVE to live here.
SF is definitely more expensive than DC, but not that much. Nerd wallet has DC as being 18% cheaper than SF. https://www.nerdwallet.com/cost-of-living-calculator/compare/san-francisco-ca-vs-washington-arlington-alexandria-dc-va
I moved to Southern California in 2019 from an east coast MCOL city to move closer to my spouse’s family. I know a lot of people who have done similar moves and it’s a mixed bag of opinions. A lot of people love it and will stay forever. Personally, I don’t enjoy living here and am planning on moving towards the end of the year to a different state.
In terms of politics, the biggest effect is the prices of goods and services. It is really crazy expensive due to various taxes, state laws, etc. Homelessness is a problem, but frankly isn’t much different than what it was in my east coast city.
I think maybe years ago, it was limited to just the Bay Area. However due to home prices and rise in remote work, it seems to have spread further beyond just the metro area. I can’t speak for every town, but when you have an area that’s known for “something” (e.g. weather, ocean, etc), you get a lot of people moving in and out as they realize what does and doesn’t work for them.
For what it’s worth, my spouse and I are trying to start our family. That is one of the reasons that we do want to move. It doesn’t seem financially feasible to give my kids the lives I want to provide them with my income here.
Chief
Look into Sebastopol, it's awesome. Smash town, so you won't be too impacted by the politics.
Enthusiast
You can’t beat California weather! But you’ll also have to deal with bad air quality during summer/fall due to wild fires and maybe earthquakes
Pray on it, but I work in the construction field as an inspector in Texas. I see a flood of Californians moving here. A lot because of cost in California and the politics.
Sonoma/Napa/Petaluma etc are much cheaper than the Bay Area. Marin County can be expensive though. And you’ll be in the suburbs up there so the homeless population won’t be as bad as it is in SF city.
Chief
Yes, they do
If you don’t like CA politics, you can get similar scenery/weather in Tampa area, at a fraction of the cost CA would be. Tampa may not be Napa, specifically, but that’s why it’s expensive I suppose.
Well I don’t have an HOA, and other homes we looked at were about $30 a month tops. As far as the politics, I suppose it’s a cult-like worship of republicans or democrats in California, pick yourself poison. OP said he was NOT a fan of California’s politics, so that might be a benefit for him. True about mountains, though a few hours drive and you can have that in Georgia. You’ll typically have to drive to it in California too, depending where you end up. You got me on the humidity and larger-than-life bugs though lol
I mean if you can afford the astronomical rise in the cost of living and the taxes, then I think it’s great! I love California. I have often thought about moving there myself.
I’m in SF bc I’m from here and am too stubborn to leave. Those places are great but not worth the pension crisis that will hit in about 20 years and the overall fiscal crisis that will descend on CA once politicians finally succeed in killing the golden goose of tech. I’d suggest Florida or South Carolina instead.
Yikes, is the fiscal situation that bad?
Breaking: Homelessness is a US problem not a distinctly Californian problem.
As for politics, don’t move to California if you’re not on board with social issues and basic human rights - you won’t be welcomed. Period. We pay the ridiculous housing cost for the right to be within 45 min of city life/mountains/ocean and to live in a place where we’re not subjected to ppl trying to legislate their morality into our personal lives. If that’s not something you’re into, consider buying a McMansion in a flyover state. You’ll be happy. We’ll be happy. We’ll all be happy.
Not trying to be rude, but if you’re worried about the ‘politics’ in California, it probably isn’t the place for you.
The irony of the dude from KPMG calling me out for working out Walmart and supporting human rights, not knowing anything about modern day Walmart (particularly hilarious coming from someone at KPMG who gets paid by companies like Walmart to ‘consult’ - how you gonna consult when you don’t know anything about the biggest player in retail?): you ready?
1. We’ve had a 100% HRC equality index score since 2017
2. We pay some of the highest hourly wages in the country - and we did that years before every other company was scrambling during COVID to raise wages because of labor shortages.
3. We have some of the most aggressive leadership diversity targets of any Fortune 500 companies
4. We have some of the most aggressive sustainability efforts of any Fortune 500 companies
5. Go do homework… I’ll wait.