I am sure there is. You go first, Peter. lol

I made $28k out of college in 1990. Took 7 years but the wife and i saved enough to buy a home 2 miles from the ocean. Now you need to make $250k and the place is shaky. Sad really.

Bottom line - every place has its ups and downs. California is like a Country. Not everywhere is expensive or high tech etc. It has beauty and ugly. And so forth. Parts of LA County are a hell hole and parts are beyond compare. Pepperdine is a fairly pretty school as an example. The great parts and the great schools are becoming so much harder to access. That is different than 10 even 20 years ago. Then there are smaller places e.g. Sonoma, SLO, Carmel, SB, etc., that are also amazing. My other personal favorite is Encinitas in SD. Our Company is expanding in other locations actually faster than in CA e.g. Boston, Austin and Denver, as they have so much to offer and are attractive locations to live in. I think you have to have 2 places to live in. My plan is to “retire” in Manhattan Beach and really walk everywhere ( beach, restaurants etc.). Get in the car on occasion and really only for fun. Right now the damn kids are in the way of that plan. For me, if I can afford it, I have to be close to the water. That’s why I’m here. Can’t beat the weather and the beauty that it brings. I will never live in Arizona for example. Could live in Austin (on the water) or CO near mountains.. But I’d have to have a place here for summer or winter depending on which one 😀.

Outside of CA, I,d say Sydney.. Perfection. But also expensive.. Cars are more than double and housing is crazy expensive just like LA or SF.

Well said. And yes, Australia car prices are insane. Not to mention fuel, registration, etc.

Under California law, a person who visits the state for other than a temporary or transitory purpose is a legal resident, subject to California taxation.

This includes renting a house a few months or more per year. The notion that you can just live 51% of the year in another state and avoid being taxed in California is not true anymore.

Though Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and Sonoma counties experience their share of audits, historically the most common casualties are affluent "snowbirds" who own vacation homes in the Palm Springs area as an escape from the winter blasts of the Midwest or northern states. In fact, many of the major cases in residency taxation are eerily similar: they usually involve Midwesterners who own winter vacation homes in Palm Springs and environs. If the FTB finds significant taxable income coupled with meaningful contacts with California (such as a vacation home, business interests or long visits to the state), it can lead to the launch of a full-blown residency audit.

In some ways, these audits are the equivalent of the old-fashioned speed trap, with the difference that a speed trap usually nets the state about $500, while these residency audits can often fill the state's coffers with tens of thousands of dollars in back taxes. And for the taxpayer this may also mean years of legal wrangling.

If a large enough tax liability is at stake, to establish legal residency, FTB auditors may appear out of nowhere to interview neighbors. They can subpoena a taxpayer's utility bills, credit card statements and check register. They solicit affidavits from friends (and enemies). In general, they pry into a taxpayer's private affairs.

The weightiest factors for residency are (based on case law, regulation and the practice of auditors):

• Ownership or lease of real estate.
• Business interests or employment.
• Financial accounts, such as banks and investments, safe deposit boxes.
• A spouse's residency (they don't have to be the same)
• Schools children attend.
• Voter registration.
• Automobile registration and license
• Use of professional services such as a primary physician, dentists, accountants and lawyers.
• Professional licenses.
• Family ties and social life.
• Representations of residency in social media or websites (where does your Twitter account say you're tweeting from?).
• Address used on various tax documents, such as a federal return (form 1040) or W-2s, 1099s, K-1s, etc.
• Location of important personal belongings such as family heirlooms, art, or important documents.
• Membership in clubs and gyms.
• And of course, where you spend most of your time.