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?

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Hey there, RN Mommy, how are you doing there in Austin. I bet you love that new house. I'd love to hear how you like your new job in Austin, please post or PM and let me know.

To everyone else, I read this whole thread and had a few comments. I've lived here my whole life - 38 years now - and I've never been bothered by an earthquake, in fact I usually sleep through them when we have them. They are nothing compared to the hideous humid swampy hurricane weather on the gulf coast, ugh. I've lived here my whole life but everytime I travel I just thank God I live in San Diego and that I was smart enough to buy a house eight years ago because it's true, buying a new home here is very difficult for most people. Everytime I travel I also realize how lucky we are to have this weather here, weather is horrible nearly everywhere I've been. I guess if you live in it you get used to it though.

I don't know what the ratios are like elsewhere but I am happy to have 4 patients, I'm sure I could manage more but it wouldn't be the quality of care I want to give and it would be a lot more stressful. The pay is decent although in my opinion does not correlate with the cost of living. LA and SF pay more, yet their housing costs are very similar, I think we need to make a bit more.

Lizz, I don't think that you can discount the fact that most people (not just nurses) have to work to afford to live in CA.

I am a native San Diegan, 30 years. My husband and I just moved to Texas in June. Why? Cost of living. The lifestyle that we wanted was not attainable to us in CA. We were homeowners and our mortgage wasn't too bad but we only had 1300 sqft in a home built in the 1970s in a school district with average scores. We had to drive our daughter 20 minutes to take her to a school with an excellent API (those in our neighborhood were 6 and 7). We LOVE LOVE LOVE San Diego and really miss our family but we would never be able to afford what we have here in TX at a fraction of the cost: a 3000 sqft brand new house in the burbs within walking distance to a superb school.

Now back to my original point, it is much easier to have a one working parent houshouse.

ehold here. Where I could not have dreamed of working part-time or PRN in CA, I look forward to cutting down to PRN soon then possibly taking a couple years off after the birth of our third child here in TX.

And, if I can't live in my beloved San Diego, I don't want to live in CA. There are many Californians who wouldn't even consider living in the Central Valley, Imperial Valley or The Sierras, myself included.

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I don't know what the ratios are like elsewhere but I am happy to have 4 patients, I'm sure I could manage more but it wouldn't be the quality of care I want to give and it would be a lot more stressful. The pay is decent although in my opinion does not correlate with the cost of living. LA and SF pay more, yet their housing costs are very similar, I think we need to make a bit more.

I've never understood why San Diego area RN pay has been low compared to other coastal areas (which also plays into what RNmommy was saying.) Pay definitely has not kept up with the cost of living in San Diego and, generally ... San Diego has always had the reputation for being one of the lowest paying areas.

So ... I definitely agree that you guys need to make more. There's been a lot of union organization in the last couple of years because of the low pay and, I hope that will help in the future.

:typing

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What is property taxes like back East? The mortgage payment might not be to bad but the taxes will kill you. My taxes on my house, 3 acres in the mountains, will be about 1600 this year. I know people in Texas who paid very little and got alot but the taxes are killing them. Low mortgages are great but no one even mentions the terrible taxes they pay back East.

Yeah but ... to be honest, the overall tax situation probably isn't any better here. If you bought your house cheap your property tax may not be high ... but they tend to make up for it in other ways.

California's income tax, for example ... can be a killer also ... up to 9 percent when you get into the higher tax brackets. Not much you can do about it except stash as much money as you can into 401K or some other (albeit) temporary tax shelters.

Nevertheless, I do feel we get relatively decent services for our tax dollars here compared with other states I've lived in.

Just as an example ... when I lived in Washington D.C. they had a 10 percent income tax (which you had to pay even if you weren't in a higher tax bracket) but ... I've never seen so many potholes in my life (except, maybe New Orleans which didn't have much of a tax base to speak of, even before Katrina).

By contrast ... virtually all of the major roads where I live now have been re-paved in the last three years. And major improvements are now underway on the interstate where I commute ... which will greatly improve traffic (at least for awhile).

Of course, they can never keep up with the growth in California. Mostly because once they add a lane or fix a problem with the directional flow of traffic, more and more people tend to use that road and/or move to that area and ... before you know it, you're back to traffic congestion all over again because of the improvements.

So ... while they can never tame the beast ... at least, they try.

:typing

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Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.
What is property taxes like back East? The mortgage payment might not be to bad but the taxes will kill you. My taxes on my house, 3 acres in the mountains, will be about 1600 this year. I know people in Texas who paid very little and got alot but the taxes are killing them. Low mortgages are great but no one even mentions the terrible taxes they pay back East.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Texas does not have income taxes.

The result of not having state Income tax, is that you will either get killed on property taxes, impact fees, or sales tax...or in combo of the above. Or you will have crappy state infrastructure (roads/schools/services).

There is no "free ride" and you get what you pay for. Florida has some of the worst schools and some really crappy, dangerous roads (19 is known to be one of the most dangerous in the Nation and has been so rated for ages.) But there is no state income tax.

Georgia has some of the more affordable state income taxes, reasonable infrastructure updates and reasonable housing, and is "back east".

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There is no "free ride" and you get what you pay for.

I agree. There are, of course, always a few exceptions but ... generally ...

No tax base = no infrastructure = no job growth

No job growth = crappy wages.

So ... while everybody hates to pay taxes sometimes, it's actually better when you do.

:typing

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My main motivation for posting my California gripe was to try to get the people here to prove me wrong, and you have all done a fairly good job. California is where I have wanted to live for the past 10 years, and I hope I may be able to find a way to live there with the career in nursing.

As for NY, I am from Western NY and I want to let you know that if you are a sun worshipper (like myself), then you may want to avoid Upstate NY, especially western NY. In Western NY, you can go 30 days at a time in the winter without seeing a single patch of blue in the sky. The clouds are usually so thick that you can't tell where the sun is at all for days or weeks at a time. A couple of hours East is considerably better, but still absolutely horrible compared with California or Arizona. Anywhere in Upstate NY, be prepared for winters with very long periods of bitter cold, wind, lots of cloud cover, and summers with high humidity and lots of bugs, along with frequent rain and thunderstorms.

Thanks for the input on CA, I look forward to reading what others have to say about it also.

If you ar a nurse in say, san diego making on average 50k a year, you can make it just fine. We are doing it on a much less salary and we live 2 blocks from the beach in a nice part of san diego. None of my friends are rich and we have all lived here our entire lives and have all done very well and we have all stayed close to the beach. You just need to know the city and do research, but it is very doable.

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Specializes in Postpartum, Lactation.

Fionasmommy, you OWN a house two blocks from the beach and make less than $50k??? Which beach? How do your schools rate? What are your taxes.

Gee, I lived in SD my whole life (until recently) and never found any of these realestate bargains you say are easy to find with a "little research".

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Fionasmommy, you OWN a house two blocks from the beach and make less than $50k??? Which beach? How do your schools rate? What are your taxes.

Gee, I lived in SD my whole life (until recently) and never found any of these realestate bargains you say are easy to find with a "little research".

I cannot believe that it is possible at all to own a house on the beach IN San Diego on an income significantly less than 50K per year.... especially when it sounds like you're talking about more than one person living there in that house on that small of an amount of income....

I'm sure that I must have misinterpreted your post, Fioanasmommy.

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If you ar a nurse in say, san diego making on average 50k a year, you can make it just fine. We are doing it on a much less salary and we live 2 blocks from the beach in a nice part of san diego. None of my friends are rich and we have all lived here our entire lives and have all done very well and we have all stayed close to the beach. You just need to know the city and do research, but it is very doable.

it would be easy to RENT by the beach with under $50k a year (maybe in PB, OB, or IB) but i can't see how someone could make that amount of money and OWN a house by the beach... or anywhere else in san diego for that matter.

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Fionasmommy, you OWN a house two blocks from the beach and make less than $50k??? Which beach? How do your schools rate? What are your taxes.

Gee, I lived in SD my whole life (until recently) and never found any of these realestate bargains you say are easy to find with a "little research".

She didn't actually say she owned a house. But, if she does, maybe they bought it before prices got really crazy.

:typing

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She didn't actually say she owned a house. But, if she does, maybe they bought it before prices got really crazy.

:typing

Your right, I didnt say I OWN a house. But I do rent one. My comment was manly to the people that say they want to move to CA but cant afford it. If you want to live here, you can rent and live in a nice place for a decent amount of rent. While you are renting, you can get to know the areas and porobably be able to find a place you can afford to buy eventually, but I think its better to be out here and start building your life and it wil be easier to find the right place to buy if that is your goal. Living in AZ or anyother state and looking online isnt going to find you what you want unless you have a lot of money.

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Specializes in ER, ICU, L&D, OR.
Fionasmommy, you OWN a house two blocks from the beach and make less than $50k??? Which beach? How do your schools rate? What are your taxes.

Gee, I lived in SD my whole life (until recently) and never found any of these realestate bargains you say are easy to find with a "little research".

Living that close to the beach, who cares about schools.

Besides California schools Rate Far Higher than lowly Texas Schools.

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