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

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

#61

Post by pm90 »

pixl97 wrote: post #10
up_and_up wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally. Speaking as someone who lived in the bay area for 4 years and happily left after college, why live in CA when you can work remotely from anywhere else, live well, own a sizable property, and make decent bank? The bay area is great to visit, I was literally just there a couple months ago. But to live I would need to make 4x what I do now.

Well, the weather is nice in many places, and it has some beautiful scenery. Probably why so many people live there in the first place. Texas on the other hand is hot and flat. Really boring here. Oh and it's too crowded. Yep, if you're from California Texas is worse. Don't want to move here. Please stop moving here, please, oh god please.

I know what you're trying to do, but its not going to work ;). Texas is about as interesting as you can get, especially if you live in Austin. The housing costs are not ridiculous (yet), you can live in decent house near downtown, COL is low, no state taxes etc. Quite a wonderful state, especially if you're young and in tech.

BTW, there is also a vibrant live music scene. And also a lot of theater and art. Did I mention the food?

The only thing I would say Texas lacks are good beaches. We do have a lot of rivers/lakes though. But for someone who grew up near the ocean...it does suck.

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

#62

Post by yequalsx »

shiftpgdn wrote: post #29
TDL wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being from Chicago I say it's a good thing to pay down the pension obligations. Pension obligations can cause a lot of problems in the future. Although I don't believe governments should be growing their budgets aggressively, squaring gov obligations is a good thing.

Why do government pensions even exist anymore? There is absolutely no reason for them and they need to go. The government can pay a reasonable salary if they wanted skilled workers.

For me the question is why don't all workers have pensions? As I understand it most 401(k) plans have high expense ratios, rely on people actively participating and generally leave workers with an underfunded retirement. I prefer a system much like the French. Leaving it up to an individual to plan 40 years into the future does not seem like a sensible social policy.

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

#63

Post by guftagu »

sphinx65 wrote: post #46

This is happening almost everywhere, but at a less frightening pace than CA. And we are told continually by the chattering class and politicians that skyrocketing real estate prices - asset inflation - is a good thing. Since forever a stable residential real estate market was the goal and people understood its value. Now we're all gamblers, meaning losers. When the hedge funds and REIT's stop speculating in residenti…

Why would they stop and pull out?

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

#64

Post by hackeratti »

cylinder wrote: post #41
sideband wrote: post #33

There's some sort of Stockholm syndrome prevalent among too many Bay Area residents that compels them to accept the lower quality of life. I lived there for several years until recently, and it was a surreal experience to hear others discuss the sacrifices they were making just to have a roof over their family's head, to provide a half-decent education for their children. And these were well-payed folks at the brand-…

Sounds like they aren't paying enough. If people demanded what they needed to live a decent life, they would either have to get it or the companies would wake up and relocate more quality jobs to lower COL locations.

A lot of folks are also immigrants, who need to wait close to a decade to become citizens to be able to demand anything.

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

#65

Post by mr_tristan »

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 garden opened up nearby, with a few nice tables and some decent beers. 2 beers will cost you about $16. It's like the entire economy is about paying rent. I remember going to heuriger in Vienna and grabbing a bottle of totally decent wine for about 8 EUR.

I'm not sure 64k people out of 38 million counts as an exodus, though. There's a whole lot of immigration going on.

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

#66

Post by chrisseaton »

TDL wrote: post #36
shiftpgdn wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do government pensions even exist anymore? There is absolutely no reason for them and they need to go. The government can pay a reasonable salary if they wanted skilled workers.

I agree with you. I think pensions are a mistake in general, however, many municipalities, counties, and states are locked in to existing pensions schemes. I am for doing away with pensions in the future, but the existing obligations need to be funded appropriately.

Doing away with pensions? Huh? How would that work? What would everyone do when they got too old to work? Do you think people should just build up a savings account? Without an annuity what would they do if they live longer than they planned and run out of savings?

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

#67

Post by superswordfish »

chiph wrote: post #50

Could there be a brain drain here? I see these people as being the smart ones - those who realize they're in a losing financial situation, and have the motivation to do something about it, even though in the short term it's painful for them (leaving friends & uprooting their family).

Editorializing, there's been a brain drain for some time now, with money men replacing creative types.

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

#68

Post by grimmdude »

overcast wrote: post #13
abduhl wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I move around and travel a lot for work - I've lived in 4 states in the last 2 years (CO, WA, CA, TX) - and one of the universal things across all the midwest and west coast that I've found is that while most people like the weather/scenery in California EVERYONE hates people from California, except for the people in California. I've heard the saying "California would be great if it wasn't for the people" in literall…

Is there anyone FROM California anymore? I'm guessing that sentiment comes from the type that are attracted to the entertainment industry.

Yes, many people are 'from' California; including myself. California is a pretty big state so keep that in mind. It's not just LA and SF.

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

#69

Post by ZanyProgrammer »

matt_wulfeck wrote: post #25

I'm fine here. I have a job in tech and I'll be able to put down roots and buy a home, Etc. However by virtue of living here I basically force all of my children to do the same or move away. it's simply too hard to live here unless you're working in tech.

To enjoy a halfway decent life in the Bay Area (to not require roommates to meet expenses, own a car, and not have to commute from the Central Valley everyday) I'd say you have to make 6 figures. Or be married to/BFF with someone who does.

Moving from the Bay Area to Portland, my salary increased by 8%, but I can afford my own apartment and s brand new car, middle class hallmarks that were way out of my league in Sunnyvale or Fremont.

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

#70

Post by shawndumas »

mc32 wrote: post #51
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…

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.
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