More flee California state than move in

[Peikko 1,575]

Could be, personally I don't look over the neighbours fence and have the 'what if's', unless of course they have a swimming pool that's larger than a fish pond, now that I would want, no more trudging to the gym for the consitutional.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

This is true for Jersey as well. It's not a good sign for either state.

Hard to afford a house in either state.

[anitacastillo 0]

California has great weather, is full of things to do, has ocean/lakes/mountains/deserts/forests and varied landscapes. The food, farming, wine, and other nicer aspects of living here are unparalleled. San Francisco, while a liberal nut fest at times is also cultured with fine dining, museums, landmarks, shopping, etc., that you can't find in smaller areas.

Los Angeles is a city like no other with the movie industry "Welcome to Hollywood," thoughts of being a star, Disney, Universal, Magic Mountain and other theme parks.

Nevada is a short drive or plane ride to Las Vegas, Reno, and Tahoe and the skiing and entertainment options there. Hawaii is a 4 hour hop away. Mexico is a short hop as well.

Housing prices are definitely BS. I was saying long, long before the current housing situation that speculators were driving the market by taking out 0 down loans with teaser rates and flipping the homes in 6 months or so for a $20-50K+ gain. Nice for them while it lasted, but it screwed real homeowners, skewed prices even more than usual, and a large group of homes facing foreclosure are the speculators running away.

Of course the experiences a person has in California, just like in all areas in life relate to where you live, what you do for work, who you know, and your access to resources and ability to save for the future. If I were a white kid living in Compton or East Palo Alto I'd run for any other state ASAP.

Shhhh! Its okay if some leave. Its a little crowded.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

We see Californians moving to Idaho all the time driving to cost of living up.

[Peikko 1,575]

Maybe you need to build a fence...

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I hate the cost of living here but can't afford to move.

Me too. I'm hoping we can move out of here within the next 3 years. I'd like to try living on the East Coast for a change.

Most of New England is just as pricey as here.

There's always the Dixie part of the east coast

Yeah but Cali Steve would stick out like a sore thumb there.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

This is true for Jersey as well. It's not a good sign for either state.

Hard to afford a house in either state.

There's a lot of high quality housing in both states. Most of it is occupied so clearly many can afford it. But I can't. So, if I can't afford it, I'm starting to think maybe I should focus on getting the kind of skillset that would allow me to buy the same homes so many others are buying. It's clear to me that a BS in CS doesn't cut it anymore, at least not in the greater NYC area. I could move out, but that would be admitting defeat. This is where the rich people are. This is where the money is. Moving away would mean I say bye-bye to all that for good. It's admitting, they win, I lose.

Edited December 22, 2007 by VJ Troll

[kerewin21 2]

Maybe you need to build a fence...

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

This is true for Jersey as well. It's not a good sign for either state.

Hard to afford a house in either state.

There's a lot of high quality housing in both states. Most of it is occupied so clearly many can afford it. But I can't. So, if I can't afford it, I'm starting to think maybe I should focus on getting the kind of skillset that would allow me to buy the same homes so many others are buying. It's clear to me that a BS in CS doesn't cut it anymore, at least not in the greater NYC area. I could move out, but that would be admitting defeat. This is where the rich people are. This is where the money is. Moving away would mean I say bye-bye to all that for good. It's admitting, they win, I lose.

Look at money a bit differently: Think in terms of disposable income potential and areas outside the greater NYC area become quite attractive.

[eric&gen 0]

I don't think i will be leaving anytime soon stuck here no matter how bad the illegal population gets lol how in hail do they afford expensive houses here?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

This is true for Jersey as well. It's not a good sign for either state.

Hard to afford a house in either state.

There's a lot of high quality housing in both states. Most of it is occupied so clearly many can afford it. But I can't. So, if I can't afford it, I'm starting to think maybe I should focus on getting the kind of skillset that would allow me to buy the same homes so many others are buying. It's clear to me that a BS in CS doesn't cut it anymore, at least not in the greater NYC area. I could move out, but that would be admitting defeat. This is where the rich people are. This is where the money is. Moving away would mean I say bye-bye to all that for good. It's admitting, they win, I lose.

Look at money a bit differently: Think in terms of disposable income potential and areas outside the greater NYC area become quite attractive.

There just isn't the same amount of economic opportunity anywhere outside the NE and the West Coast. Sure, I could land a middle manager job in an IT AD group somewhere in flyover country, but so what? That's dead end. I'm starting to think IT is dead end. Best case is long term stagnation. Salaries don't go higher than 150k. If I want more, I gotta go back to school.

That LSAT thread from last night did a mindfukc on me LOL.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

This is true for Jersey as well. It's not a good sign for either state.

Hard to afford a house in either state.

There's a lot of high quality housing in both states. Most of it is occupied so clearly many can afford it. But I can't. So, if I can't afford it, I'm starting to think maybe I should focus on getting the kind of skillset that would allow me to buy the same homes so many others are buying. It's clear to me that a BS in CS doesn't cut it anymore, at least not in the greater NYC area. I could move out, but that would be admitting defeat. This is where the rich people are. This is where the money is. Moving away would mean I say bye-bye to all that for good. It's admitting, they win, I lose.

Look at money a bit differently: Think in terms of disposable income potential and areas outside the greater NYC area become quite attractive.

There just isn't the same amount of economic opportunity anywhere outside the NE and the West Coast. Sure, I could land a middle manager job in an IT AD group somewhere in flyover country, but so what? That's dead end. I'm starting to think IT is dead end. Best case is long term stagnation. Salaries don't go higher than 150k. If I want more, I gotta go back to school.

That LSAT thread from last night did a mindfukc on me LOL.

Eh, there's plenty of IT jobs in greater-DC area and metro-Atlanta. Of course, if you look ONLY at $$, then you won't find any that will fit.

Have you ever considered getting a cent-percent mortgage through NACA (www.naca.org)?

Edited December 22, 2007 by CherryXS

[no name 1]

I hate the cost of living here but can't afford to move.

Me too. I'm hoping we can move out of here within the next 3 years. I'd like to try living on the East Coast for a change.

Most of New England is just as pricey as here.

There's always the Dixie part of the east coast

The NE does have affordable pockets, but they're out in the supercommuter-haven exurbs. Places like Ocean County in NJ or the Lehigh Valley in PA come to mind.

I was thinking of several things...being in close proximity to so many places, mass transit, more cities and towns that weren't designed around the automobile.

Not gonna happen. Those places are more expensive BECAUSE of mass transit, sadly. We looked all over the East Coast, and I have friends relocating now. RI is incredibly expensive as well as NH, MD & DC. Boston is horrible too.

There's always the Dixie part of the east coast

The Northeast does have affordable pockets, but they're out in the supercommuter-haven exurbs. Places like Ocean County in NJ or the Lehigh Valley in PA come to mind.

I don't know anything about New England, though.

The Dixie part is hurricane country. PLus they talk funny there.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Have you ever considered getting a cent-percent mortgage through NACA (www.naca.org)?

Don't need it, don't want it. I have a place with a comfy mortgage so that's not really the issue. The issue is envy and fear. Envy that I can't afford what soooo many others can. Northern and Central NJ has, according to local newspapers, about half a million households with over 250k household incomes. That's who buys all those homes. That's the envy part. The fear is that I feel I'm stagnating in my career. Even if I were to move on to the next step and get promoted to a first-level manager position, it wouldn't be better salary-wise and of course, I can say bye bye to my skillset. So what's next? Decisions, decisions.

[kerewin21 2]

Most people in this country would be very happy with $150,000 yearly