Is Everybody Moving to California?

U.S.A. California

Published

Just an observation but, it seems like there's a flood of posts lately from people inquiring about moving here.

Not too long ago the local news seemed to be filled with stories about people supposedly moving away because of the high cost of living, traffic etc. I guess that in reality, it doesn't always seem to be the case ... at least with RN's.

So what's up posters? What made you decide to check out and/or move to Cali?

:typing

Hello,

I live in California and have been here since 1979 and I am trying to get out. Housing is "outrageous" and if you are willing to live to pay a mortgage go right ahead and move here. Otherwise if I were you, I would look elsewhere. You wouldn't be missing a thing!

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I live in California and have been here since 1979 and I am trying to get out.

If only I'd bought a house in California in '79 ...

Whoah ... I'd be sitting on a gold mine and could retire!

I'm happy with the equity I have now but, man ... I should have bought much, much earlier ...

As the song says ... California dreamin'.

:lol2:

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Specializes in Postpartum, Lactation.
Living that close to the beach, who cares about schools.

Besides California schools Rate Far Higher than lowly Texas Schools.

Actually CA ranks 47th in the nation and Texas ranks 24th. Schools are a big deal when you have children, as it seems fionasmommy does. The beach isn't all that to a lot of people. There are only a select few, highly unaffordable, beach communities in SD I would ever choose tho live in.

That's was the point I was trying to make, fionasmommy, it is very hard to OWN a home in San Diego. Unfortunately, renting a home is not something I would ever consider.

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...Living in AZ or anyother state and looking online isnt going to find you what you want unless you have a lot of money.

I couldn't agree more.

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Specializes in Public Health, DEI.
Actually CA ranks 47th in the nation and Texas ranks 24th. Schools are a big deal when you have children, as it seems fionasmommy does. The beach isn't all that to a lot of people. There are only a select few, highly unaffordable, beach communities in SD I would ever choose tho live in.

That's was the point I was trying to make, fionasmommy, it is very hard to OWN a home in San Diego. Unfortunately, renting a home is not something I would ever consider.

Those are just aggregate numbers and don't really mean anything about individual school districts. My son's district is one of the best in the County and state. OTOH, I know of schools that perform abysmally. I will agree that CA should be ashamed of itself for what it spends on education and how it allows the schizm betwixt the haves and the have nots to exist and grow, but I'll put my school district up against the best Texas or any other state has to offer.

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Specializes in Postpartum, Lactation.

I don't disagree that there are some excellent schools in SD. Unfortunately, I could not afford a nice, big, new house in any of those school districts, like I can here. My house in Texas, with square footage and exemplary performing schools, would have easily cost us 800K-1M in San Diego. We paid a small fraction of that. And our city, which is near but not in Austin, has one of the lowest crime rates in the country.

Don't think that I didn't think of everything before making a move this big. My dh and I are natives, we left our entire families there. We wanted to stay there. But, in the end it came down to lifestlye. I never wanted to work my butt off just to pay a mortgage on a 40 year old tract home east of I-15.

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Liz were you an army brat? (lived many places...)

I have never been to San Diego, but i love the idea of the beach and the temperate weather. Wages don't match the prices though so it isn't on the short list. I was amazed to see that several Texas areas did though! Austin, the dallas fort worth areas all are high on our list to visit and check out. California is vast and there have to be some cheap places around somewhere. I think Lizz hit the nail on the head about moving to the desert areas. When we drove from Palm Springs to Vegas this past summer, we passed so many tiny little towns that are somewhat commutable to a larger area. (also some that were not) Saw a little town called "victorville" (nothing really there though if I recall). Still, Calfornia real estate if bought at a reasonable price has got to be a fairly sound investment if you are near an area of growth. Now those that are taking out weird loans of 600k for a 1200 sq ft 1970's ranch...well, I worry for them...

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I think Lizz hit the nail on the head about moving to the desert areas. When we drove from Palm Springs to Vegas this past summer, we passed so many tiny little towns that are somewhat commutable to a larger area. (also some that were not) Saw a little town called "victorville" (nothing really there though if I recall). Still, Calfornia real estate if bought at a reasonable price has got to be a fairly sound investment if you are near an area of growth. Now those that are taking out weird loans of 600k for a 1200 sq ft 1970's ranch...well, I worry for them...

Actually, I live near Victorville in the town next door, Hesperia. There wasn't much here when we moved here three years ago but, there is now. In my neighborhood alone a third of the properties were vacant lots ... now they all have brand new houses on them.

My house has doubled in value in three years, my commute is reasonable (even with increased traffic in the area). RN wages are up 30 percent and, even though it's desert, we usually (although certainly not always) get enough marine layer through the Cajon Pass to keep it relatively cool during the summers.

But, in all honesty, ... is it still a dinky desert dirt redneck town? Hell yes. I'm not going to lie and say it's utopia yuppyville by any means ... far from it.

Will it stay that way forever? Probably not. We actually have a sushi bar that's just opened in town ... never thought I'd see that for at least a few more years.

Lots of chains are coming in: Starbucks, IHop, etc. have all built new outlets since we've been here and Target, WalMart and Home Depot are all building supercenters. Now ... if they could get a Claim Jumper restaurant and a Borders bookstore in town ... I'd be in heaven.

The roads were really bad when we first moved here and it's still a major problem but, they have done a ton of new paving and traffic improvements. Nevertheless, traffic has gotten worse with all of the people moving here. So, they're now trying to improve two roads that go straight to the interstate so there will be better commute routes.

The great paradox of road improvement, however, is that more people will move here and, ultimately, traffic will probably get worse because of it. But, that's always the case ... no matter where you live in California.

The upside though is, hopefully, my home will be worth even more than it is now. And RN wages have really improved since I've moved here. There used to be a huge discrepancy between what you made up here versus down the hill but, that's not so much the case anymore.

Ultimately ... the way I look at it is: Traffic = money. No traffic = no money.

P.S. I wasn't an Army brat ... just moved around a lot when I was young and single. Once I got to California I (obviously) fell in love with the place.

:typing

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Don't think that I didn't think of everything before making a move this big. My dh and I are natives, we left our entire families there. We wanted to stay there. But, in the end it came down to lifestlye. I never wanted to work my butt off just to pay a mortgage on a 40 year old tract home east of I-15.

I could see why that would be even more of problem in San Diego. Yes, Orange County, LA, San Fran and all of the other coastal areas are very expensive but ... the RN wages are also a lot better there. For whatever reason, SD wages have always been low by comparision ... which would make living there even more difficult.

:typing

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Actually CA ranks 47th in the nation and Texas ranks 24th.

I don't know how this plays in Texas but, the low test scores in California are largely attributed to the vast numbers of illegal children who don't speak English. If you don't speak the language very well ... you're not going to test well either.

I don't know if Texas allows illegals into their school system to the extent that California does but, it's definitely a big part of the problem ... and certainly a hotly debated political issue here.

:typing

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Specializes in O.R., ED, M/S.

I lived in the Victorville/Hesperia/Apple Valley area from 1962 to 1978 and wouldn't go back IF you Gave me a home! Trafic is terrible and people live on top of people. The small town atmosphere has been long gone and all of the gang bangers have moved from LA to the affordable housing of the High Desert. My best friend from high school still lives there and works for the phone company, 34 years, and he evens says if he could he would get out. He goes into alot of "newer" homes to install DSL and he says they are absolute dumps. Poorly con structed and poorly maintained by the homeowners. He has built two homes of his own so he knows what he is talking about. This area is one to avoid because of the influx of undesirables from the LA area. People who have been only there a few years, 10 years or less, don't really have a concept of what this area once was. There use to be only one high school, the airbase was the biggest employer besides the cement company, the college was located at VVHS before moving out to Bear Valley. All areas deserve upgrading with more resources and people but VV/Hesperia/AV has really gone down the toilet. Too many people, very bad traffic and poor construction. I wouldn't move back on a dare. There are many places to move to in Calif but this isn't one of them.

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I lived in the Victorville/Hesperia/Apple Valley area from 1962 to 1978 and wouldn't go back IF you Gave me a home! Trafic is terrible and people live on top of people. The small town atmosphere has been long gone and all of the gang bangers have moved from LA to the affordable housing of the High Desert. My best friend from high school still lives there and works for the phone company, 34 years, and he evens says if he could he would get out. He goes into alot of "newer" homes to install DSL and he says they are absolute dumps. Poorly con structed and poorly maintained by the homeowners. He has built two homes of his own so he knows what he is talking about. This area is one to avoid because of the influx of undesirables from the LA area. People who have been only there a few years, 10 years or less, don't really have a concept of what this area once was. There use to be only one high school, the airbase was the biggest employer besides the cement company, the college was located at VVHS before moving out to Bear Valley. All areas deserve upgrading with more resources and people but VV/Hesperia/AV has really gone down the toilet. Too many people, very bad traffic and poor construction. I wouldn't move back on a dare. There are many places to move to in Calif but this isn't one of them.

When was the last time you were here? The picture you're painting is distorted, to say the least.

Yes, like anywhere else, there's been problems with a few of the track home developers but, there's plenty of good homes with spacious lots (1/2 acre or more) for sale also. There's tons of them on the market right now. My lot is 2/3 of an acre. People certainly don't live on top of each other in my neighborhood.

As for gangs ... yes, that's been a problem mostly in Victorville and Adelanto, where some prisons are located, but Adelanto is also 30 miles away.

Do you not think Orange County, LA and San Diego have gang problems? Did they all suddenly leave and come up to the High Desert? Do you think the rest of California is suddenly a gang free zone? Uh ... no ... I don't think so ...

Crime is up ... yes ... but crime is not up per capita. It's actually down in the High Desert when you take into account the population growth.

As for traffic: yes ... it's gotten worse with more people here. But it's still no where near as bad as when I take the 91 in Riverside or the 55 in Orange County. There ... you literally can't move during rush hour a lot of the time.

The desert traffic has not gotten that bad ... at least not yet. I still get around pretty easily unless there's a fire or accident. And I still get through the Cajon Pass, the 215 and the 15 just fine even with the additional traffic (except on Friday evenings when everybody heads out to Vegas or the River so, I don't work on Fridays.)

Of course, traffic is very bad on the Cajon Pass today because they're doing a bunch of road work that's actually going to make commuting better. But, in that case, it's worth it.

If the High Desert sucks as much as you say it does ... why are people paying $300 - $450K for homes here? Are they all gang bangers?

Of course not.

As for the phone company ... nothing against your friend personally but, I've had enough them out to my house to know that those guys are the laziest workers I've ever seen. I had to file complaints with the PUC twice because they claimed to fix my phone service multiple times but didn't ...

Only when I got the PUC out here to investigate did I finally get my phone fixed. And I'm talking about basic phone service ... nothing fancy.

Since I know for a fact that they've lied to me multiple times ... I personally wouldn't believe anything they had to say.

:typing

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