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Just on a plane waiting to depart LAX. I love California. Was here for a few days work. I think SoCal would have to be it just for the weather and driving potential.
If one was to buy a condo or small townhome with garage where would be a good neighbourhood. Pasadena, OC are favourites. Palm Springs seems like Scottsdale from what I read here, have only driven by it on the way to Scottsdale. Love Scottsdale for the openness, not busy and hectic and hiking is close by. This would be a vacation home.
Are there any quality gated communities with nice pools etc? Similar to what you find in Naples, FL. Young family that would get use out of pool facilities.
Grew up in So Cal and my entire family still lives there. Beautiful weather, everything else about that place blows. Boggles my mind that people are willing to sink their money into that dumpster fire of a state.
As was stated already, the Pacific Ocean is COLD. Unless you have a wetsuit you are going to freeze. I am talking bone-chilling cold. So plan on looking at the ocean as opposed to actually swimming in it. But...the weather is perfect, at least within 5 miles of the coast. How perfect? Weather is not a topic. There is no looking at the weather forecast. It is basically perfect every day. When it isn’t, that is real news.
As was stated already, the Pacific Ocean is COLD. Unless you have a wetsuit you are going to freeze. I am talking bone-chilling cold. So plan on looking at the ocean as opposed to actually swimming in it. But...the weather is perfect, at least within 5 miles of the coast. How perfect? Weather is not a topic. There is no looking at the weather forecast. It is basically perfect every day. When it isn’t, that is real news.
This morning on the news they were talking about how it's been 30+ days not being over 70.
Prior to LA, I practiced medicine in Santa Barbara for three years. That is a truly magical place. The saying is that SB is for "the newlywed and the nearly dead." SB might be the perfect spot for you. Less traffic than LA, SD or SF, it is a gorgeous beach community with the backdrop of the magnificent Santa Ynez mountains, it has great culture for a city of 90,000 people (the same population as Santa Monica). Great restaurants, nice art museum, they have a symphony, fantastic wine bars everywhere you look.... So, why did I leave and head to LA? Because I was 35, single and I decided to open my own practice in Beverly Hills. That being said, I plan on buying a home up there someday and I would love to retire there - I'll become one of the "nearly" (and eventually completely) dead. SB also has easy access to gorgeous mountain and coastal drives and great golf for a small town (much better offerings than LA).
If I were in your shoes, I would jump in your 911, put "Santa Barbara, CA" in your GPS and never look back. You will be glad you did.[/QUOTE]
.....or go a little bit further north. I grew up in the bay area and trained in LA. I moved to the California central coast near San Luis Obispo in '95. Less expensive to live but much quieter. 3 hrs to the bay, 2 1/2 hrs to LA. Darn near perfect weather, if you like the coastal climate and a little fog, 365 days/yr. Great wine. Good restaurants. I jog along the coast most every night after work. Great driving roads and very little traffic, although we are starting to get discovered. Shhhh.....we'll let you in if you are a Porsche GT guy. Just be ready to pay a lot of taxes to support the rest of Kalifornia if you have a high income.
PS Normally the sky is clear and the ocean blue/green but the haze you see is from one of the massive brushfires we have every Sept/Oct.
If my daughter has recovered from flu by this evening - we'll go here for dinner to celebrate a special occasion. With daylight savings we can see the sunset too
Great taste. Sushi and sunset in one of the best. One of my favorites, and a unique experience. - there is an item off menu, called "the leg spreader", you might want to try.
This photo only kind of explains why politics can be so terrible, housing prices so high and taxes exorbitant.
If my daughter has recovered from flu by this evening - we'll go here for dinner to celebrate a special occasion. With daylight savings we can see the sunset too
I live in Socal, but used to live in Houston when I was grewing up, came out to CA to go to college but never went back. I also worked for a company that's HQ in Dallas and went back there a lot so I know a little about both states. Being a CPA, I'd like to bring up a few financial considerations:
Texas doesn't have personal income tax, vs CA's personal income could cost you an extra few percent a year off of your gross income
In Texas when you buy a car with a trade in through a dealer, you pay the sales tax on the difference between purchase and trade-in price. In CA you pay the sales tax on purchase price. Period
General sales tax rate is higher in CA and in many cities, it is now over 10%.
Houses in CA is about 2.5 to 3 time the cost of a comparable home in TX
TX's property tax rate is about 2.5 times that of CA to make up for the lack of State personal income tax.
Insurance and registration fees are lower in TX
Then why in the world am I still in CA??? Oh well, it is the weather, food, and culture.
If you can afford it, move to CA, if you are on a tighter budget, think twice before moving. If I were to move back to Houston and get a comparable house, I'll have enough money leftover to get a few exotic cars. So I keep telling myself if my businesses fail and need to scale back, I'll then move to either Nevada or Texas.
BTW if you are dead set to move, also consider the very southern part of Orange County or San Diego County. If you like rural areas, take a look at Fallbrook where you can still get huge lots for $150K that you can build huge custom homes on.
WOW, WOW, WOW! Thank ya'll for all of the great info! I didn't expect to get this many responses. My wife and I need to digest it all!
Our main reason for considering a move is weather. OKC weather just blows, especially the winter. My wife has an autoimmune disorder that's significantly worsened when its cold, so we are wanting to get somewhere warmer. We aren't sure if its just a vacation home during the winter months or a permanent home, hence why we are considering Palm Springs (we are big architecture fans).
The number of people, politics, traffic, taxes, etc are all things we are worried about in regards to California, esp the LA area which is where I seem to have the best job opportunity. Ventura is also a possible landing spot for work. Just after a quick skim of responses, I am a bit disappointed to hear that its hard to get out of LA traffic to get to the good drives even on the weekends. Oh, and I looked at the Santa Monica homes on Redfin. Holey smokes!
Scottsdale
Thank me later.
Great everything. If you need the ocean it's 4 hrs away in MX.
Best cars in the world. Like minded people that are friendly and easy to meet.
Housing and taxes are cheap. 6k sqft house $1.5 2 landscaped acres. Prop tax $4,300
03-09-2019, 07:38 PM
