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Fleeing California

Its because people don't WANT to live there. When you are in more desireable areas, rents and home prices increase. You will pay more for a home in San Diego, than you will in Fargo North Dakota.

dude, Madison AL is about 20 miles from where I live and it is one of the 10 fastest growing cities in the country. IOW...PEOPLE WANT TO LIVE THERE. I work in Huntsville, one of the leading aerospace/tech areas around. We are one of the few areas that did NOT go tits up during the housing crash. give up your stereotypes, not everyone in AL lives like Jed Clampett or Bo and Luke Duke.

As for the rest of your post....I live in LA...and all of my neigbors speak English, although I wish there was more cultural diversity in my particular neighborhood....oh...and my commute to work is about 15-20 minutes.

lucky you. I lived in Galt and at least 50% of my neighbors spoke little or no english. I worked for GENCORP up near Folsom and it took me at least an hour and a half every day.
 
I lived in Virginia when I was a kid - it was pretty . . . we went to the beech once (the actual Bay) - it took 2 hours of bumper to bumper traffic to get there. . . totally ridiculous. That is exactly why I don't like populated areas - to just go to the store to buy some milk it's a two hour trip.

Yeah, traffic is really bad. Luckily I am 15 minutes from work and it is against traffic each way, so I am golden for that. A co-worker lives in Dupont Circle, DC and has to drive all the way out here in NoVa, but he leaves at 9:30 after rush hours and it takes him 45 min one way. Fridays going out of town SUCK. I am actually going to Philly this weekend and my g/f and I plan to leave at 3. It will still SUCK then too.

On the other hand, living in suburbia next to DC provides lots of opportunities for great food and great shows/bands, and lots of parks for hiking, including an hour to Shenendoah Mtns. Not quite like Seattle as far as that goes but good enough for me. Plus I have lots of family within an hours drive so we get together often. That is important to me.
 
Its because people don't WANT to live there. When you are in more desireable areas, rents and home prices increase. You will pay more for a home in San Diego, than you will in Fargo North Dakota.

As for the rest of your post....I live in LA...and all of my neigbors speak English, although I wish there was more cultural diversity in my particular neighborhood....oh...and my commute to work is about 15-20 minutes.

The cost of different things varies on all the components within it - it can be complicated.

Base-costs - this is the minimum cost that is spent by a company to produce each product and deliver it for sale to a larger store.
A producer has to cover manufacturing costs - everything from the ingredients or elements of said product - to the cost of labor production, equipment, packaging - and shipment.
If you have an area that's harder to access - product base cost might be the same but shipping will be higher.
You also have business-profit margins. A business' usual bottom line is profit - maximizing profits is where many problems come from . .. it's a fine line.

On top of the base-cost is the cost for the store to obtain shelve, maintain, market. . . as well as the store's profit so they can cover their costs and all that.

Then there's tax - state, federal.

Lots of components - lots of different niches in a product's path to the shelf which hike the costs up. . . and everyone wants some sort of profit - everyone has to pay different taxes.

A house is no different than any other product - it's just stationary, subject to different taxes, and along with the product (house) you have to buy land and cover other things. . . there's more cost overall - labor is more, for example - a large team of people have to make a house - but only a few people in a factory make a watch. . . and so on.

Something being expensive isn't necessarily a sign that it's worth the money, either. We can look at name-brands and generics for example. A good one is Tylenol. For (me) a bottle of gel-caps (24) is $5.29. But I can save $2.00 by buying the same exact product sold under a different (generic) brand-name (Great Value or whatever). It's packaged the same (in a bottle - in the box) and it looks the same (gel-cap). With the same ingredients (Acetaminophine - 250 mg) . . . but it's sold by a different company with a different profit-line approach.

Yet - tylenol still outsells the identical generic.

If I were to find an identical house and plot of land in California (3.5 acres with a 3 bedroom/2 bathroom mid-sized house) how much would it cost me to purchase?

If it's the same exact product - but the difference is all the components in the cost chain (shipping, cost of labor, location, related taxes and fees - etc etc etc) - then what is the perk to spending four times as much in California?

Obviously they couldn't get away with exorbitant costs unless there was the natural draw of the area which attracted people and made people feel that "it was worth it"

And so it all comes down to personal opinion if someone's *choosing to move there* - "is it worth it to move there?" - some say yes, others say no.
But if you are born and raised there - many don't have a choice - they have to figure out how to be able to continue to stay there. . .many don't feel they have a choice.
 
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I can be in Memphis in 3 hours
I can be in Atlanta in 2 hours
I can be in New Orleans in 5 hours
I can be in Panama City in 7 hours
I can be in St Louis in 7 hours
I can be in Nashville in a little over an hour

pretty centrally located to lots of nice places to visit. I am about a mile from the Tennessee River if I care to go fishing or boating. My property taxes are low and I don't have 1,000 people living within a 1/4 mile radius of me.
 
I can be in Memphis in 3 hours
I can be in Atlanta in 2 hours
I can be in New Orleans in 5 hours
I can be in Panama City in 7 hours
I can be in St Louis in 7 hours
I can be in Nashville in a little over an hour

pretty centrally located to lots of nice places to visit. I am about a mile from the Tennessee River if I care to go fishing or boating. My property taxes are low and I don't have 1,000 people living within a 1/4 mile radius of me.

I can go from sea level to 10,000 feet in four hours.
 
Yet - tylenol still outsells the identical generic.

that's because lots of stupid people still believe that if something costs more it is somehow better or more desirable.

back when I was a smoker, I figured out that many of the generic brands (ie gunsmokes, double eagles, etc) were the exact same cigs made by the same guys who made marlboros. they just put em in different packaging.

why pay an extra dollar or two for the name? but plently of people did, and still do, it.
 
I can be in Memphis in 3 hours
I can be in Atlanta in 2 hours
I can be in New Orleans in 5 hours
I can be in Panama City in 7 hours
I can be in St Louis in 7 hours
I can be in Nashville in a little over an hour

pretty centrally located to lots of nice places to visit. I am about a mile from the Tennessee River if I care to go fishing or boating. My property taxes are low and I don't have 1,000 people living within a 1/4 mile radius of me.

We are so going to have to have a DP get together in Atlanta this summer. I bet we could get 15 or more members together for something one weekend.
 
I can be in Memphis in 3 hours
I can be in Atlanta in 2 hours
I can be in New Orleans in 5 hours
I can be in Panama City in 7 hours
I can be in St Louis in 7 hours
I can be in Nashville in a little over an hour

pretty centrally located to lots of nice places to visit. I am about a mile from the Tennessee River if I care to go fishing or boating. My property taxes are low and I don't have 1,000 people living within a 1/4 mile radius of me.

I can be in SoCal in three and see all the pretty ladies in bikinis
 
I can be in SoCal in three and see all the pretty ladies in bikinis

I loved San Diego when I was there. One of the better cities I have ever been in.
 
:) Desperation strikes deep.

Btw, if anyone gets to the Monterey Bay Area, let's party.

Used to go there every March at my last job. Sadly, I won't be back this year. Great golfing. Played all four of the Pebble Beach courses.
 
Used to go there every March at my last job. Sadly, I won't be back this year. Great golfing. Played all four of the Pebble Beach courses.

The Pebble Beach courses are amazing. It wouldn't be possible to develop anything like them in this era in California.
 
There's a botanical garden north of Hilo. It's the most amazing garden I've ever seen. Have you been there?

I have not....I wasn't even aware of it. I will have to check it out next time I make it over there!
 
If California is as bad a place as many are saying, I wonder why high tech companies prefer California?

"Despite the development of other high-tech economic centers throughout the United States and the world, Silicon Valley continues to be the leading hub for high-tech innovation and development, accounting for 1/3 of all of the venture capital investment in the United States."

Silicon Valley - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
I can be in Memphis in 3 hours
I can be in Atlanta in 2 hours
I can be in New Orleans in 5 hours
I can be in Panama City in 7 hours
I can be in St Louis in 7 hours
I can be in Nashville in a little over an hour

pretty centrally located to lots of nice places to visit. I am about a mile from the Tennessee River if I care to go fishing or boating. My property taxes are low and I don't have 1,000 people living within a 1/4 mile radius of me.



I can beat that:

I can be in San Diego in 2 hours
I can be in San Francisco in 5 hours
I can be in Monterey/Santa Cruz in 5 hours
I can be in Las Vegas in 4 hours
I can be in Rosarito Mexico in 3 1/2 hours
I can be up skiing in 2 hours or at the beach in 45 minutes......
 
If California is as bad a place as many are saying, I wonder why high tech companies prefer California?

"Despite the development of other high-tech economic centers throughout the United States and the world, Silicon Valley continues to be the leading hub for high-tech innovation and development, accounting for 1/3 of all of the venture capital investment in the United States."

Silicon Valley - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wikipedia? I don't accept that as a source for the proposition you are advancing.

Silicon Valley isn't what it used to be. That's what audit managers will tell you.

Silicon Valley is pinning its hopes on Cleantech. Won't happen. Cleantech needs subsidies that it won't receive from the federal govt. because there's a new sheriff in town. Cleantech won't be cost effective without subsidies.
 
I can beat that:

I can be in San Diego in 2 hours
I can be in San Francisco in 5 hours
I can be in Monterey/Santa Cruz in 5 hours
I can be in Las Vegas in 4 hours
I can be in Rosarito Mexico in 3 1/2 hours
I can be up skiing in 2 hours or at the beach in 45 minutes......

That's pretty hard to beat.
 
Southern California is not as nice as Northern California. We have water. You guys don't.

I would respectfully disagree. Northern California is a beautiful place to visit, but Southern California is a better place to live....and we actually do have water, now. Our reservoirs are almost back to pre-drought levels.
 
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