As someone who grew up in California and left 10 years ago I can tell you the quality of life sucks there now. And this is not even mentioning any topics that might get my post removed. When I grew up there-the state had a population of about 20 million. You could still get on the freeways and not really see any appreciable traffic except for a hour each side of "rush hour". TODAY-the state has over 40 million people and freeway gridlock is 19 or 20 hours a day. Want to go from the Inland Empire to the Beach? Figure over 2 hours. Want to go to a play in "Hollywood" from Orange County or the Inland Empire? Figure a minimum of three hours each way. Go to Walmart and wait in line to check out. Go to any popular fast food chain on the weekends-again wait in a substantial line to check out. All services which include auto mechanics, plumbers, electricians, etc., are ultra expensive-after all it takes a chunk of change to live there. Go to a park or other recreationally place on the weekends? Lots of luck with that. Also-bring a cool 1plus million (at least) to live in a desirable neighborhood. The upside to the state? The weather. Also the beaches and the mountains if you can get to them.
So yea-from someone who live there over 50 years of my life.
Northern Virginia:
Traffic congestion? Yes. 2 hours to 50 miles on I95 between DC and Fredericksburg is the norm. Sometimes it can be closer to 3 hours. The only alternative routes are Route 1 and some 2-lane secondary roads which haven't been improved since the Byrd was governor (his political machine was also responsible for "Massive Resistance", go look that one up if you'd like a glimpse into Virginia's sordid history) and got them paved almost 100 years ago.
Ultra expensive services? Absolutely. The cost of living here is about 150 percent of the national average.
Living in a decent neighborhood? The median cost of a house in Fairfax county is now $716k. Arlington county? $1.2 million. If you don't mind living 30 miles from DC, with a 2 to 3 hour commute if you happen to work in that city, you might be able to find a townhouse for under $400k in a pretty crappy neighborhood.
Population? Virginia had a population of 6 million in 1988 when I moved here (not by choice, came with my parents, dad moved to keep his job). It now has a population of 8.6 million.
That addition of 2.6 million people had made traffic on the already inadequate road infrastructure exponentially worse. What Virginia has is "plantation class" roads. They were perfectly good for getting the cotton and tobacco to port, so many roads are east-west roads. There are not many north-south roads in the state, which is why getting from DC to Fredericksburg is almost always a nightmare.
How has the qualify of life changed in the 34 years I've lived here? It's never been good, and it's getting worse. The police blotter for the county I live in, Prince William, is reporting shootings almost every single day.
And the weather in Virginia pretty much sucks. 90F with 50% humidity most days in the summer. Air conditioning is very much a necessity here. Hope it doesn't break down, you might be waiting a while to get it fixed.
