Left the Bay area after nearly 30 years for so many reasons. Go back occasionally but am so relieved to cross the state line and be away from the smog, politics, cost of living, demographics,
taxes, traffic, crowds, etc. Miss a lot of old friends back there, but honestly have never looked back. Good luck with your move and life change!

What can I do?

Sons, daughters, aunts, nephews, a brother and sister.

Just move to Ceder City Utah? No. I am stuck. Every gallon of gas I pay for.... .70cents goes to the California government.
Insane but what can I do?

I'm lucky. I grew up in the peaceful Santa Cruz Mountains above Portola Valley, and now live in peaceful Half Moon Bay where it's cool and not crowded (except for the weekends with all the tourists.) I never wanted to live "over the hill" as we say. I don't feel a need to go anywhere, however my beach house is worth quite a lot and I could sell it to finance a move to the gold country. It's tempting.

Cedar city is really nice but at over a mile in elevation it can get cold. St George is only around 2800 ft IIRC, so milder winters. hope this helps :)

BTW you're paying over 73 cents per gallon tax at the pumps.
the $.73 can break down to:
•Federal tax - $0.184
•State tax - $0.417
•Sales tax - 2.25 percent
•Any applicable district taxes

And just a note for anyone considering moving out of mexifornia:

you probably won't be able to afford moving back if you change your mind.

My BIL wanted to retire to a town with one stop sign in the middle of town.

Congrats on the retirement, Toby. I envy you as I’m still 12 years away from it. No chance of me retiring early or moving away from the Bay Area. I have to drive into your old neck of the woods often for work and I dread it. If I don’t get on the road by 2 pm to head home, I’m looking at a near 3 hr commute to drive 80 miles. Crazy.

chris, thank you my friend. kinda crazy how long ago it was all of us BAP guys became compadres based on these cars and being pelicans. as different as we all were in so many respects the weave our 911's provided was the thread that kept us entwined.


if I get the place im focused on with a roomy studio above the garage I hope to have some of you guys up from time to time to camp indoors, fish, go to the river, cook some killer food and tell stories of when we too were greater..

I might even have cliff up if he quits signing off his once a year voicemails with "no need to call me back":confused:

t

Just let us know when! I’ll drive my Jeep up there.

Juan B: Wishing you all the best. 2 of my friends retired from the City of Sunnyvale years ago. An old college room mate lived there for many years. I used to ride down and we would race our motorcycles along Skyline and down to the beach.........I was not there for a long time and noticed the big change you talk about when my daughter lived there from 2011-2015.....

Best of luck in the foothills.........

I totally understand the motivation. I grew up in a sleepy SoCal citrus town that is now traffic 24/7. I am circling the eject button as I write this and as soon as family obligations are covered I plan to punch out. My parents moved up near you to Groveland, CA. Dad built his house with a friend and they lived in heaven on earth for 10 years.

See you around T. Best of luck to you in. The next chapter of your life.

But allow me to put a positive spin on it. Ironically, the very thing you hate; crowds and traffic go hand in hand with the exploding value of the home you bought. That mere fact is allowing you the luxury of pulling the chute and getting out like a total winner.

Wave bye to the neighborhood with both a thanks and middle finger to the insane rat race.

Well,done Toby. Not even the most hardened CA hater wouldn’t love the appreciation you saw. You did great. If you started where you’re going to, not so sure you would he in the same shape.

Congrats on your retirement!

I don’t love where I live, my wife and I will eventually relocate post kids. But at least the living is cheap, the job market is solid, and there’s no congestion or traffic. You couldn’t pay me enough to live in one of the urban areas of CA.

Virginia City, Nevada :<)

I grew up in California and the current population (that can be accounted for) is over 2 1/2 times what it was in the 1960's when a was a lad.

Trust me, I get why California attracts people from all over the world but it is painful to see the sprawl, formerly neat small cities (San Diego in the '80's when I was stationed there for six years was the best small city on the planet) become unwieldy.

Best of luck - I love the area you are considering. I spent a lot of time as a white water rafter up and down the western slopes of the Sierra's in the late '70's early '80's: Angels Camp, Placerville, Coloma, Sonora, Marysville, etc.

Last I checked, Boulder City, NV.

Sold our home in L.A. and moved to Mariposa 6 months ago.
Bought 5 acres with a house that was a teardown about 8 years ago.
I would come up and work on the place 2 or 3 times a month.
Ended up buying the 5 acres next to us we now have 10.
The best days in L.A. are over.
The traffic has gotten worse and the are intentionally making it worse.
The city has gotten a lot meaner, dirty, expensive and squeezing the middle class.
We couldn't wait to get out.
The things I do miss is the food and being able to shop at late hours.
I have kept all of my Doctors in L.A. They are top notch.
I wish we could have done it sooner.
Bernie

One of my friends is a retired federal judge. He was sent to San Jose in the late 1960 and bought a modest house at cheap interest rates. The area right behind his house was turned into a golf course, and the needed a corner of his property for the road into the country club. So they offered him a free lifetime membership to the country club. The area was built up with expensive houses.

He retired as a judge, and was ready to move out of there and get back to Oklahoma. He sold the membership for a million bucks. He sold his house for a lot more, and came to Oklahoma City urban area, and bought a 1/4 section of undeveloped land (160 acres) covered in trees for cash. He built a really nice large house in the middle of the property. The rest he has made into a wildlife refuge. He has a herd of deer that make it home. One eagle family nests there every year. He has bough a Canon camera system that would make a National Geographic photographer envious. He loves sitting in a blind he built and watching the animals.

His 6 car garage has a different toy car on a regular basis, mostly old American muscle cars.

He cash out his years in California at the right time.

I love Mariposa. It’s my turkey hunting spot. The recent fire would have spooked me.

People are friendly and you have a few decent places to eat. That dude at Happy Burger needs to pare down his menu drastically. He must lose a fortune in ingredients