California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents • Hacker News Board

Re: California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents

#181

Post by Kalium » Thu, Jun 23, 2016, 5:06 PM UTC

musha68k wrote: post #127

mr_tristan wrote: post #65

Heh, funny to read this on the day my moving van arrives to get my things outta here! It's a little sad, but we simply got fed up with the standard of living here. And, the Bay Area just feels mismanaged. Getting around is a royal pain. After living in Vienna, I was amazed at people who thought Bart was great. Really? I found it dirty, slow, and crazy expensive. Of course everything is just crazy expensive. A beer ga…

I don't know when the wave actually broke but I was very disillusioned by the vibes of the bay area when I stayed for GDC in 2009. It seemed like they drove out most of the hippies a long time ago, more often than not people were just acting , very superficially and with a creepy adherence to a lost cultural heritage that felt more like selling out ( get your shrink-wrapped Jerry Garcia T-shirt and GTFO ). To make th…

The hippies either aged out or bought property decades ago. They were a real thing for a couple of years at most. The rest is myopic and ignorant nostalgia.

Re: California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents

#182

Post by rconti » Thu, Jun 23, 2016, 5:06 PM UTC

KKKKkkkk1 wrote: post #14

One of the local public radio stations had a show this week about how well San Francisco is doing budget-wise. Apparently, the San Francisco budget in the last decade has been growing much faster than the local economy, and it's been all going towards paying pension obligations, assistance to homeless and low-income people etc. Talk about killing the golden goose.

Not just San Francisco; California in general. Jerry Brown has done a fantastic job of forcing rainy day savings on the legislature, building a budget surplus, and enforcing fiscal discipline.

Re: California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents

#183

Post by pyre » Thu, Jun 23, 2016, 5:07 PM UTC

iamjdg wrote: post #72

These people who sold their Bay Area homes and moved somewhere else to pay cash for a house seem to gloss over the fact that they were able to do this because they struggled in the Bay Area for so many years and became real estate wealthy. They won't see this kind of real estate wealth growth in their new communities.

> They won't see this kind of real estate wealth growth in their new communities.

The question is do they expect to?

Re: California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents

#184

Post by irrational » Thu, Jun 23, 2016, 5:07 PM UTC

jmharvey wrote: post #138

arethuza wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What geological features of the Bay Area do you regard as a plus point? NB Not being snarky - I live in Edinburgh which is overflowing with geological features [hence arguably being the birthplace of geology as a science] and I love that factor but the main geological feature of the Bay Area would appear to be a major disadvantage rather than a feature?

I assume you're thinking about the earthquake risk. We haven't had a major quake here in a generation, and people have short memories. The San Andreas fault exists day-to-day as a pretty chain of lakes. I'd also count being in a place where the mountains meet the ocean as a plus, as well as the golden gate (the waterway, not the bridge, though the bridge ain't half bad, either). And a few hours away you've got Big Su…

You should move to Portland. We have all of that and more. No wait, the Californians are already ruining Portland. Please, do not move here.

Re: California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents

#185

Post by cylinder » Thu, Jun 23, 2016, 5:08 PM UTC

FreakyT wrote: post #37

All control of Bay Area housing should be put into the hands of a single "housing czar" with absolute authority to rezone. Usually democratic methods are preferable, but in this case it's clear they've failed in an absolute sense, and a new approach is needed.

Same with transportation. The reason transport is such a mess is because of all the different municipalities involved. To continue to think of the Bay as a group of totally independent cities is ridiculous.

Re: California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents

#186

Post by rconti » Thu, Jun 23, 2016, 5:08 PM UTC

sliverstorm wrote: post #136

iamjdg wrote: post #72

These people who sold their Bay Area homes and moved somewhere else to pay cash for a house seem to gloss over the fact that they were able to do this because they struggled in the Bay Area for so many years and became real estate wealthy. They won't see this kind of real estate wealth growth in their new communities.

That's kind of the point, you can get more for less struggle elsewhere. They are giving up the wealth growth.

Right, but it glosses over the fact that they were not able to afford their lifestyle 'organically' in their new place. It only seems awesome because they're going in with huge wads of California cash.

Re: California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents

#187

Post by skynetv2 » Thu, Jun 23, 2016, 5:09 PM UTC

even with good salaries, I would move away from California at the first chance I get.

Re: California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents

#188

Post by sbardle » Thu, Jun 23, 2016, 5:09 PM UTC

pj_mukh wrote: post #96

hkarthik wrote: post #91

I went the opposite route as most. I was remote for 3 years from Texas and then moved to the Bay Area for work. And I have a family of four. Key aspects that make it work for me are the following: * Accept a long commute to a more family-friendly community with good schools. * Live near BART and use it everyday. * Work in the city, not the South Bay. * Make sure you have two strong professional incomes. * Pay for goo…

"I am working with extremely smart, driven people who I am learning a ton from." This is something being overlooked completely. There aren't a lot of other places that have this concentration of progressive minded bright (tech and non-tech) individuals. Great things will come out of this density. It sucks that the non-techies are being pushed out, but that should accelerate the need for housing reform. This density m…

At the risk of the grossest generalisation, the Bay Area has worked because it's combined two very different types of people. On the one hand, the engineers/techies (with roots in the defence industry and conservative midwest backgrounds) and on the other, the idealists/utopians (with roots in the counter-culture movement). Strange bedfellows, but a world-changing combination back then. I don't live in the Valley now, so can't comment on the situation, but I hear it is far more of a mono-culture now.

Re: California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents

#189

Post by Roritharr » Thu, Jun 23, 2016, 5:09 PM UTC

hanklazard wrote: post #101

shawndumas wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having lived in Long Island, NY and Boca Raton, FL I gotta say... I don't think I could leave the Bay Area. The weather, the geological features, the schools, the meetups, the job opportunities... all factors. But the biggest is that the people are truly interested in intellectual matters in a way that was not extant in the other places I've lived. My son is a programmer and nobody had a clue what he was talking abou…

>But the biggest is that the people are truly interested in intellectual matters in a way that was not extant in the other places I've lived. This is the way I feel in Boston. The cost of living (mainly housing prices) gets more ridiculous every year, but the intellectual and cultural environment make me want to stay. Most of my friends back home (deep South) are easily able to afford to buy decent homes, while I'm s…

I have a child on the way, live in Frankfurt Germany and feel exactly this lack of cultural environment, as most topics in intellectual circles here can be either categorized into "how to make more money/keep up with the joneses?" or "how to be really politically and environmentally friendly while having a good quality of life?"

I'm really unsure if this environment is so great for children as i'd rather be able to get them in an environment where big ideas are discussed. I've been doing my best for the past few years by organizing meetups/events or supporting others who do likewise, but at this point I question if that is enough compared to just moving to a place where these things are just the norm.

Re: California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents

#190

Post by irrational » Thu, Jun 23, 2016, 5:09 PM UTC

shawndumas wrote: post #70

mc32 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jobs and day trips yes. Schools, no. Public schools are among the worst funded and least achieving. Good schools, go to Mass (with also good day trips, but harsh winters).

South FL has some truly awful schools; that was my comparison.

But South FL also has some truly great schools. I graduated High School from one of them. Many of my classmates ended up in ivy league schools. Everywhere, in my experience, has some good and bad schools.