Why do people stay in California?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Or they all think they can be YouTube sensations and make millions. A few do, but most fail.

As with most things ratings-driven, the clown with the brightest colors, most sensational, obnoxious behavior and outlandish actions (and biggest / loudest mouth) wins. It’s a race to the bottom for sensationalism just like television was for the last generation.

Pretty soon it’ll be streaming “Ow! My Balls” I imagine...

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Noah930

I don't know if it's different where you live, but here in California, just about everybody is too good to do any manual labor. OK, I say that tongue-in-cheek, but maybe with a cynical hint of truth. There's no white guy who would ever work in the fields (unless, as pointed out, he has some sort of ownership/managerial stake in the place). Heck, it's even a minority of English-speaking hispanics that do those jobs. I take care of schoolteachers, too. I would guess that less than 1% would work in the fields during summer break.

I don't doubt that you have done that work. I don't doubt that if push came to shove and finances dictated it, you wouldn't go back to doing it to put food on your table. Maybe that's part of the reason why you're relatively well-off in life--no matter what happens to fint, he'll find a way to make out OK. But I think your work ethic and ego (or lack thereof) are increasingly rare in California society. We're a society of entitlement. Everyone deserves an iPhone, a Coach handbag, and a Lexus or BMW. You're right in that we supposedly have an unemployment problem, but at the same time people (citizens) are seemingly above doing menial labor for subsistence.

This portrayal does not fit my neighborhood whatsoever. Nor does it fit the majority of Long Beach. Last figure I saw Long beach was the 5th poorest city in the state for cities over 100,000 (we have 463K).

[fintstone]

Back to the original topic. One can see why one might choose to spend a lot of their working life in a place that pays well and then take their earnings to a place where the costs are low (where others are paid poorly). That enables them to compete well for housing and services (live above what their means would be if they did not). It is problematic for the areas they go to in large numbers as it drives housing and other costs way up...and locals workers and retirees cannot compete. It has been equalizing over time as more people and employers leave the rust belt and colder climates to go south and west...but it is a slow process and is really hard on cites they leave (reduces tax base) and cities they relocate to (housing shortages and increased eldercare costs)...as, in general, many do not bring jobs, just needs/wants based on the place they just left.

Good strategy for most, but it does create challenges (as the social and political ramifications are not lost on the locals).

The article below has some interesting numbers (both actual and adjusted for cost of living) for metro areas and states. It might help one create a strategy...if they are considering relocation. Obviously, depending on your vocation and spending needs, size may vary.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/these-are-us-cities-highest-cost-living-adjusted-salaries

[Danimal16]

I wasn't going to comment on this thread as it gets old with the California bashing. Yeah I get it, I really do. It gets old. I see it as folks that come to your home, **** on the carpet and blames your home.

California IS my home. It is where my family grew up. It is where many loved ones will remain forever.

It is not the same as when I grew up. A truly blessed time. Like no other and it will not happen again in our lifetimes, or maybe never. And I am grateful, truly grateful.

So, here I am listening on my Sonos and up comes THE song that best expresses what it was like to live that life. The Mamas and the Papas; Twelve Thirty:

[RonDent]

Danimal16,
Like you I have lived here all of my life. Like you my family is all here as well. I am at a point in my life where my wife and I are retiring soon. We have talked about moving out of state and have batted around a number of places. I have done a fair amount of traveling in and out of the US and to be fair there are a number of great places that made our list. But in the end we decided to stay in Ca. For all its faults it's hard to beat the climate and the scenery.

[ckissick]

Originally Posted by RonDent

Danimal16,
Like you I have lived here all of my life. Like you my family is all here as well. I am at a point in my life where my wife and I are retiring soon. We have talked about moving out of state and have batted around a number of places. I have done a fair amount of traveling in and out of the US and to be fair there are a number of great places that made our list. But in the end we decided to stay in Ca. For all its faults it's hard to beat the climate and the scenery.

I'm like you, too. Also wanting to retire in a few years. Instead of going out of state, there are nice places in CA to retire to. I like the Murphys area. Of course, we'll first have to see where our two daughters end up.

[Evans, Marv]

I like Murphys too. Got to go to a local home cooked meal fair there, see a melodrama, and participate in part of a bar brawl in the Murphy's Hotel bar. The area is beautiful. I/we won't be leaving California any time soon. I'm retired and my wife still works. My original plan was to move to Australia, Portugal, or some place else after retirement, but marriage changed that. I've been in CA since 1947 (except for traveling & the Army), when my family moved here from Illinois. I love the state but it's true it isn't like it used to be. That's no doubt true of most other places & people would probably complain if things never changed. I'm lucky in that I've managed to insulate my life from lots of the negative changes financially and location wise, so life isn't so bad considering.

[fintstone]

I am curious, if Proposition 15 passes to get rid of some provisions of Proposition 13 (increases property taxes on commercial properties with combined worth of more than $3 million to be based on current market values vice purchase price*), will that change anyone's mind? If I understand this, it seems like prices for just about everything would go up (from fast food to marijuana), including building rents as these additional costs are passed on to consumers.

*The tax is currently limited to no more than 1 percent of the purchase price (at the time of purchase), with an annual adjustment equal to the rate of inflation or 2 percent, whichever is lower

[Rick Lee]

People who always favor higher taxes on other people never believe it will affect anyone but those other people.

[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

People who always favor higher taxes on other people never believe it will affect anyone but those other people.

"The problem with Socialism (even a la Kalifornia) is that eventually you run out of other peoples money"

[Evans, Marv]

Re: Prop. 15. My former wife & I had a two bedroom house in 1977. The property tax was $867/yr. After passage of Prop. 13, it went down to $4XX/yr. Californians look at most proposed changes in property taxes as a way to chip away at Prop. 13. For good reason I think.

[group911@aol.co]

What a concept. Having to collectively pay for something you collectively benefit from.

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

"The problem with Socialism (even a la Kalifornia) is that eventually you run out of other peoples money"

[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by group911@aol.co

What a concept. Having to collectively pay for something you collectively benefit from.

That is NOT socialism. You must have slept during social studies. Unfortunately I have neither the time or the crayons to explain it to you.

[fintstone]

Originally Posted by group911@aol.co

What a concept. Having to collectively pay for something you collectively benefit from.

What a concept...to assume that strangers (politicians) know better how to spend your money in a way to benefit you than you do.

[sammyg2]

Denver, go figure.
Ig-nor


Back to topic:
my wife has lived in so cal her whole life, and will not move away from her parents.
A few years back we all had plans to bail on this sheethole state but her parents developed health problems and now aren't going anywhere.
So neither are we, for a while.
Otherwise we'd already be mooooved.

[GH85Carrera]

No doubt inertia is the biggest thing that keeps most people in place at home.

In 1978 I moved to Oklahoma City. I did not know one single person except my grandparents. The one reason I came to OKC to look for a job was I figured I could hang out at the grandparents house on Sunday afternoon and odds were high grandma would invite me to eat with them. Lots better than my cooking. I loved all my grandparents, but they were not a lot of fun to just hang out with. Lawrence Welk was just not my type of music or entertainment.

I had to learn to navigate the city, and start to find friends and get involved with the city activities. Just like I did all my life with all the moves I made as an Air Force brat growing up. I can't image how hard that is for someone that grew up in one house, moved out from mom and dad, and lived in the same city all their life. To leave all your friends and start from scratch is not something many want to try.

I know many people that have life long friends. I live 900 miles away from the high school from which I graduated. And I only knew my high school friends for two years so non are friends I have ever tried to connect with.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by fintstone

I am curious, if Proposition 15 passes to get rid of some provisions of Proposition 13 (increases property taxes on commercial properties with combined worth of more than $3 million to be based on current market values vice purchase price*), will that change anyone's mind? If I understand this, it seems like prices for just about everything would go up (from fast food to marijuana), including building rents as these additional costs are passed on to consumers.

*The tax is currently limited to no more than 1 percent of the purchase price (at the time of purchase), with an annual adjustment equal to the rate of inflation or 2 percent, whichever is lower

There are a ton of new people and/or emerging personal companies vested in major real estate purchases. They all have a positive vision. Many are young positive entrepreneurs and believe in the hype of the silicone valley days.

Stretched thin on monthly economic payments like a rubber band..COVID politics is the knife.

When the onslaught on big international money rushes in and goggles up all, where does that leave local entrepreneurship?

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

Denver, go figure.
Ig-nor


Back to topic:
my wife has lived in so cal her whole life, and will not move away from her parents.
A few years back we all had plans to bail on this sheethole state but her parents developed health problems and now aren't going anywhere.
So neither are we, for a while.
Otherwise we'd already be mooooved.

To where and why? I mean why on the choice of destination.

[sammyg2]

Can't answer that question without PARFing up this thread.

[creaturecat]

wherever you go ..... there you are.
sounds more like a bunch of grievances - looking for a cause.
not happy? move.
why bother ****ting on folks that believe otherwise?