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Call me easy but I like Melissa Manchester.
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CA state income taxes are high at 10%. Having said that, I cannot see myself living anywhere else.
The opportunity here as well as the multi cultures is like no where else in the world.
Silicon Valley has been so good to me.
For most, other lower cost states probably make more sense.
But for me, there is just too much here.
 
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Originally Posted by JeffKeryk
CA state income taxes are high at 10%. Having said that, I cannot see myself living anywhere else.
The opportunity here as well as the multi cultures is like no where else in the world.
Silicon Valley has been so good to me.
For most, other lower cost states probably make more sense.
But for me, there is just too much here.


The issue is this-not talking politics. There arre 38 million people in California. My son (whom I just visited still lives there in Corona). My wife's brother lives in Palm Springs. It was 3 1/2 hours to get there on a Friday evening. My wife also wanted to go to where she grew up-basically the West Side of Los Angeles. It took over two hours to get there-three to get back. You want to see a show in downtown L.A.-or go to the Pantages on a Friday or Saturday evening-the traffic is not much better. OH-when you get there it's $20.00 bucks to park your car. I just saw Air Supply in downtown Salt Lake on Friday. It was 40 minutes to get there-parked in a VERY NICE parking structure in downtown at the very upscale "City Creek" shopping mall. First two hours free-two dollars an hour after that. Came back after the concert and the total for 4 hours of parking was $4.00.

You are very correct-California has a lot to offer that's why the population (the upper middle class and the rich) continue to flock there. But after having spent my entire working career in So. Cal as an industrial sales rep. (yep-I have a million miles under my belt on those freeways) when ever I go back to visit my son-it reminds me of how awful the quality of life is-something you have no comprehension of-until you leave!

Having spent a lot of time in the "Bay Area"-what I describe above is as bad or worse than Southern California. Driving in from Walnut Creek or Pleasanton -with a car in to "The City" is the absolute pits.
 
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I lived in Monterey, Ca for 18 months. I thoroughly enjoyed the first month there. After that, I couldn't wait to leave. The insanely high gas prices, ridiculous taxes, and over regulation of every little aspect of life got old really quick. I could've probably adjusted to all of that, but what I couldn't adjust to was the people. I'm not talking about just the amount of people, but their character as well. Everybody was so smug. There was no sense of greater good, just everybody out for themselves and their own ideas. Nowhere else in the US, not even abroad, have I been shamed for serving in the military. The general attitude of the people was that the only people who join the military are the ones who are too dumb to go to college, and therefore have no place among them. I was called a racist, child killer, and extremist without uttering a word. My only sin was being out in public with a crew cut. I didn't even receive as bad of treatment by the general populace in Afghanistan.

I was stationed in Texas after California, and the quality of life was a night and day difference.
 
Originally Posted by RDY4WAR
I lived in Monterey, Ca for 18 months. I thoroughly enjoyed the first month there. After that, I couldn't wait to leave. The insanely high gas prices, ridiculous taxes, and over regulation of every little aspect of life got old really quick. I could've probably adjusted to all of that, but what I couldn't adjust to was the people. I'm not talking about just the amount of people, but their character as well. Everybody was so smug. Nowhere else in the US, not even abroad, have I been shamed for serving in the military. The general attitude of the people was that the only people who join the military are the ones who are too dumb to go to college, and therefore have no place among them. I was called a racist, child killer, and extremist without uttering a word. My only sin was being out in public with a crew cut. I didn't even receive as bad of treatment by the general populace in Afghanistan.

I was stationed in Texas after California, and the quality of life was a night and day difference.


That's the highly evolved progressives showing their 'tolerance'...

Thank You for your service.
 
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CKN - You are correct; they are a ton of people here. San Jose has 1M people alone and is in the top 10 cities by population. Traffic is a pain. You know Silicon Valley; I live in Los Gatos which, as you know, is a bit of a refuge of the people-eating money-making valley. I love living here. We also have a property in Petaluma, which is flat out wonderful.

RDY4WAR - Monterey is a wonderful place; I am sure you musta been to the Big Sur. Some of the most breath taking scenery in the world. I am sorry you encountered such small minded, stupid people. I cannot stand them. CA, with it's large population, has more people in the military than any other state. I hope you enjoy Texas; many people love it there. I honor your service. My Dad enlisted in WW 2; my mother had 5 brothers overseas; uncle Terry fought int he Guadalcanal Campaign.. My brother's wife's father was at the Battle of the Bulge and Normandy. Again, I honor your service.

I can tell you Silicon Valley is not for everyone. I can also tell you it saved my life. I spent the 1st 33 years of my life drinking myself into oblivion. I joined AA after my 3rd drunk driving. Because of the colleges and Silicon Valley opportunity, I now have 3 degrees and, let's just say, things are really good. I am lucky enough to gift considerable $$ to family and those in need. I get to help young people through college that otherwise would struggle. I do not know where this could have happened besides here after all the mistakes I have made. This is my story. I love it here.
 
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Originally Posted by Malo83
Looking at retiring next year around Aug 2019, want to move out of California, state is going to [censored]. Looking at possibly Nev, Arizona or New Mexico. Will sell my house and cut all ties with Cali, looking for any sound advice from anyone that's gone down this road, and Thanks.


Get out and Don't look back! Cost of living is much lower depending where you go. The states you listed are pretty harsh desert! Utah is a nicer option, little colder in winter. Nice people. Nice desert. The cold is not bad at all, you get used to it, it actually feels good! Are you attracted to the desert?


Originally Posted by grampi
CA is a good place to be from...


It was a Great place once upon a time!


Originally Posted by TheLawnRanger

We're full. No vacancies.


No offence But, nobody wants to move to Mississippi...
 
I did meet some nice people in California, a couple of which I am still friends with 10+ years later. I ran in the Big Sur marathon, camped among the big sequoias, played golf at pebble beach, volunteered for paddock security for every Laguna Seca race, spent a weekend in Yosemite, went backpacking through death valley, toured Alcatraz, drove across the Golden Gate bridge, and drove the length of hwy 1 from Monterey down to Morro Bay. I did a lot of fun things there, but just couldn't live there.

I did the majority of these events with a fellow soldier and good friend by the name of Michael Taylor. He was a tax lawyer from upper New Jersey. His brother worked in the South tower of the World Trade Center and was killed on 9/11. He gave up his practice and joined the military to honor his brother. He was an avid motorcycle rider. Leaving the base one day, I was behind him a stop light just outside of the gate to the base. There was an anti-war rally going on outside the gate. One of the protesters walked up him on his motorcycle and spit on him, then proceeded to call him (and all military) the "the world's real terorrists from the bottom 1% of society." He just sat there, the bike idling, just staring at them. The light changed and he went on about his business. He never said anything about it.

He died in the fall of 2010 after coming home from a 15 month deployment. He got off the plane, was welcomed home by his wife and daughter, and they were driving home. Less than 2 hours after landing back in the US, just 15 minutes from his home, a drunk driver blew through a stop sign and t-boned them, causing the car to flip and roll. He died on the way to the hospital. His wife is permanently bound to a wheelchair. His 3 year old daughter was strapped in her car seat and fortunately only suffered minor cuts and bruises. Ironically, the drunk driver that hit them was a lawyer.
 
Originally Posted by KneeGrinder

No offence But, nobody wants to move to Mississippi...


I do. I own 120 acres down there. Given the fact that I'm on a fixed income and homeschool my daughters, their low cost of living, low taxes, and relaxed laws are especially appealing. I very much enjoy the peace and quiet of living out in the middle of nowhere. I can fire my AR-15 at a metal gong setup on the opposite end of the property, over 500 yards away, and nobody is around to even hear it, much less care.
 
RDY4WAR, I'm terribly sorry to hear the story about your fellow soldier and his family. Too often, the world just does not seem right, makes you wonder why things like that happen at all, let alone to your friend that dropped his life and dedicated it to his brother by enlisting. It's a sad story to hear.



Idaho is the most "Relaxed" state I know, you can carry your AR loaded in your car/truck, no CCW required for state residents.


Thank you for your service sir! Your welcome here in Idaho anytime!
 
Originally Posted by pbm
I can never understand why people leave an area and then vote for the same policies (party) that forced them to leave when they come to their new area.
I live about 2 hours north of midtown NYC and it's changing politically for this reason...unfortunately.

PS: ....The snow storm last week paralyzed NYC because of the INCOMPETENCE of the mayor (DeBlasio)….who is too busy running around the country trying to get more 'progressives' elected instead of doing his job....


The same can be said for people who move to this country from other countries. They move here to get away from oppressive, or in some other way, bad societies, and then they want to live here exactly the same way they lived in that country, instead of assimilating to our way of life. I will never understand that...
 
Originally Posted by pbm
I can never understand why people leave an area and then vote for the same policies (party) that forced them to leave when they come to their new area.
I live about 2 hours north of midtown NYC and it's changing politically for this reason...unfortunately.

PS: ....The snow storm last week paralyzed NYC because of the INCOMPETENCE of the mayor (DeBlasio)….who is too busy running around the country trying to get more 'progressives' elected instead of doing his job....


Ran into this in a tire store the other day … two ladies who moved away for cost of living and openly smack talking our political system …

We now have a 27 year old elected to lead the 3rd largest county (Harris) … one of the main jobs is disaster management
 
It's important to remember that the things that make a place attractive finally end up killing it, and it happens very quickly.
You (and me) and the rest of the country are looking for the next best place and when word gets out, the rush is on. There are very few undiscovered areas left in the country that can offer the amenities you expect with decent weather, low population density and reasonable taxes. My wife and I have spent the last two years searching for the perfect place to settle in our retirement, and the search goes on....
Good luck to you.
 
Originally Posted by KneeGrinder
RDY4WAR, I'm terribly sorry to hear the story about your fellow soldier and his family. Too often, the world just does not seem right, makes you wonder why things like that happen at all, let alone to your friend that dropped his life and dedicated it to his brother by enlisting. It's a sad story to hear.



Idaho is the most "Relaxed" state I know, you can carry your AR loaded in your car/truck, no CCW required for state residents.


Thank you for your service sir! Your welcome here in Idaho anytime!


Thank you.

I like Idaho's laws. The wife and I have occasionally talked about finding us a small house up in the rocky mountains. Unfortunately, my wife hates cold weather. I don't mind it, but I'm a avid racer, and the list of racetracks in Idaho/Montana/Wyoming is a bit slim.

Either way, we have grandparents nearby down here that are still alive and kinda dependent on us. We're definitely staying around here at least until they kick the bucket.
 
Originally Posted by RDY4WAR
I did meet some nice people in California, a couple of which I am still friends with 10+ years later. I ran in the Big Sur marathon, camped among the big sequoias, played golf at pebble beach, volunteered for paddock security for every Laguna Seca race, spent a weekend in Yosemite, went backpacking through death valley, toured Alcatraz, drove across the Golden Gate bridge, and drove the length of hwy 1 from Monterey down to Morro Bay. I did a lot of fun things there, but just couldn't live there.

I did the majority of these events with a fellow soldier and good friend by the name of Michael Taylor. He was a tax lawyer from upper New Jersey. His brother worked in the South tower of the World Trade Center and was killed on 9/11. He gave up his practice and joined the military to honor his brother. He was an avid motorcycle rider. Leaving the base one day, I was behind him a stop light just outside of the gate to the base. There was an anti-war rally going on outside the gate. One of the protesters walked up him on his motorcycle and spit on him, then proceeded to call him (and all military) the "the world's real terorrists from the bottom 1% of society." He just sat there, the bike idling, just staring at them. The light changed and he went on about his business. He never said anything about it.

He died in the fall of 2010 after coming home from a 15 month deployment. He got off the plane, was welcomed home by his wife and daughter, and they were driving home. Less than 2 hours after landing back in the US, just 15 minutes from his home, a drunk driver blew through a stop sign and t-boned them, causing the car to flip and roll. He died on the way to the hospital. His wife is permanently bound to a wheelchair. His 3 year old daughter was strapped in her car seat and fortunately only suffered minor cuts and bruises. Ironically, the drunk driver that hit them was a lawyer.




This was heartbreaking just reading it.
 
Originally Posted by Cadenza
It's important to remember that the things that make a place attractive finally end up killing it, and it happens very quickly.
You (and me) and the rest of the country are looking for the next best place and when word gets out, the rush is on. There are very few undiscovered areas left in the country that can offer the amenities you expect with decent weather, low population density and reasonable taxes. My wife and I have spent the last two years searching for the perfect place to settle in our retirement, and the search goes on....
Good luck to you.


My wife and I have decided on Marco Island Florida as the place we want to spend our winters when we retire. The rest of the year we'll stay up here in Canada, but we'll move closer to the border in the Niagara region not far from the falls. (hopefully a place on or very close to a beach on Lake Erie)

Marco Island is blessed with amazing weather in the winter (it's 83 degrees and sunny there at this moment and that's typical weather from now until the spring) and it's not overcrowded there, it's an undiscovered gem. We've been there many times and Marco Island beach is a ghost town compared to other Florida beaches that are packed with tourists. If I was a US citizen I'd choose to live there all year round.
 
Originally Posted by RDY4WAR
I did meet some nice people in California, a couple of which I am still friends with 10+ years later. I ran in the Big Sur marathon, camped among the big sequoias, played golf at pebble beach, volunteered for paddock security for every Laguna Seca race, spent a weekend in Yosemite, went backpacking through death valley, toured Alcatraz, drove across the Golden Gate bridge, and drove the length of hwy 1 from Monterey down to Morro Bay. I did a lot of fun things there, but just couldn't live there.

I did the majority of these events with a fellow soldier and good friend by the name of Michael Taylor. He was a tax lawyer from upper New Jersey. His brother worked in the South tower of the World Trade Center and was killed on 9/11. He gave up his practice and joined the military to honor his brother. He was an avid motorcycle rider. Leaving the base one day, I was behind him a stop light just outside of the gate to the base. There was an anti-war rally going on outside the gate. One of the protesters walked up him on his motorcycle and spit on him, then proceeded to call him (and all military) the "the world's real terorrists from the bottom 1% of society." He just sat there, the bike idling, just staring at them. The light changed and he went on about his business. He never said anything about it.

He died in the fall of 2010 after coming home from a 15 month deployment. He got off the plane, was welcomed home by his wife and daughter, and they were driving home. Less than 2 hours after landing back in the US, just 15 minutes from his home, a drunk driver blew through a stop sign and t-boned them, causing the car to flip and roll. He died on the way to the hospital. His wife is permanently bound to a wheelchair. His 3 year old daughter was strapped in her car seat and fortunately only suffered minor cuts and bruises. Ironically, the drunk driver that hit them was a lawyer.

Wow, that is tragic.
frown.gif
Thanks for sharing this story. Thanks as well for your service, I certainly appreciate it.
 
Originally Posted by Patman
Originally Posted by Cadenza
It's important to remember that the things that make a place attractive finally end up killing it, and it happens very quickly.
You (and me) and the rest of the country are looking for the next best place and when word gets out, the rush is on. There are very few undiscovered areas left in the country that can offer the amenities you expect with decent weather, low population density and reasonable taxes. My wife and I have spent the last two years searching for the perfect place to settle in our retirement, and the search goes on....
Good luck to you.


My wife and I have decided on Marco Island Florida as the place we want to spend our winters when we retire. The rest of the year we'll stay up here in Canada, but we'll move closer to the border in the Niagara region not far from the falls. (hopefully a place on or very close to a beach on Lake Erie)

Marco Island is blessed with amazing weather in the winter (it's 83 degrees and sunny there at this moment and that's typical weather from now until the spring) and it's not overcrowded there, it's an undiscovered gem. We've been there many times and Marco Island beach is a ghost town compared to other Florida beaches that are packed with tourists. If I was a US citizen I'd choose to live there all year round.


Welland is really inexpensive, you can get a house on the water, it's not far from the falls either or US shopping. My folks were looking to move there as well until we found out my dad had Cancer and they decided to stay put. I keep pushing my in-laws to move there from Oakville because they are retired and make frequent trips to the U.S. They could buy 2 houses in Welland and still have money left over with what their house is worth in Oakville. I think they should buy a rental property there and use that income to fund their trips to the U.S. while living in another house there mortgage free. Instead of paying Oakville $500/month in property taxes and not having much money to travel based on basic CPP/OAS and a small Pension.
 
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That's pretty close to the areas we're considering, we really like Ridgeway, it's a cute little town that's not far from Fort Erie, not far from the border and close to Crystal Beach. But we're open to just about any of the areas that are within about a half hour of the border in Niagara region (maybe even Grimbsy, with all the new development going on there it's looking good)
 
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