Is California really worth the cost? (Corona, Manhattan Beach: real estate, transfer, purchase)

[Roma]

Originally Posted by Twinkle Toes

Roma - don't you be moving to Galveston. You'd best be moving back to CALI with me!!! If I hear about you moving to Galveston I'm gonna hunt you down and drag you back to CA with me!!!

LOL, Don't you worry your little dancing feet . We are moving back to Cali. When, is another story (hopefully within a year or so).

[midnightbirdgirl]

Originally Posted by fairweathergolfer

I would like to add that the hiking here is fantastic. Having grown up in the NW, I practically took long, intense hikes in the Bob Marshall Wilderness before I learned how to talk! I despised it pretty quickly, as beautiful as it all was, it got old with not a whole lot of variety. Then I moved close to the ocean and got excited for awhile about the evergreen hikes in the that part of the NW, then once again bored with the same ole' same ole.

California has fantastic hiking. I can literally go to the top of my Los Angeles block and spend the whole day hiking, or only the morning hiking, with views of just the mountains, or the city, or the ocean, or the island south of here or all at the same time. And this is just what is up the block. There are amazing an variable hikes here up and down California state. You'll have views that people pay millions to see everyday without the price. No need to buy--it is accessible to all.

People have no idea that do not live here, this place has it all! Even peace, quiet, and isolation within a few miles many times within the cities. Come on down from a hike and shop till you drop, go to a world class museum for free, eat amazing food, go to a yoga class, see the opera, a play, a musical, or hit a spa, take in a movie, take a class from an amazing university, listen to the ocean, study the palm trees' sway and luxuriate in the moderate temperatures, the fog, the sun, the snow. Take your pick we have it all here--city or town. Oh yeah, and then there are the beaches. See? I didn't even think of them until last as an after thought.

I think the hiking is one thing I will miss
I am an avid walker and hiker. There are a few other things too, family being one of them, my dad lives at the beach and I will miss that. But the cost in our cost is not only financial, it cost too much of our time to sit for no reason on the freeways.
MBG

[NewToCA]

Midnightbirdgirl, I was referring to the adult program. All states have mandatory school programs for developmentally disabled children, up to age 22. At that point, the state program kicks in and takes over their care, residential, health care, recreational, job opportunity, and transportation.

My posting has to do with those adults who are significantly disabled. By this I mean conditions like Downs Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, and Spinabiffida, people who have no hope of living independently or having whole lives without assistance.

California has excellent programs to assist these folks, while Florida's programs are minimal. Since my parents are elderly and retired in Florida, we extensively investigated the programs available, and found them to be very limited. Speaking with about half a dozen folks who have adult children in the programs confirmed this problem, and was a significant factor in our deciding to relocate to California instead of Florida.

The children programs are managed by the school districts, and usually under the supervision of a school board.

[fairweathergolfer]

I do not know your situation or where you live, but I can tell you I had a friend who had an autistic son that was struggling here in California. He moved to Billings Montana and for a variety of reasons Billings had great resources for his son and also they were able to buy something so very precious and irreplacable--time, not in traffic, but with one another. Just thoughts, don't know how relevant.

Originally Posted by midnightbirdgirl

I know from what I have dealt with for our son, it is an uphill battle from hell...He has a DX but we have still after years of fighting, have NO services...nothing, ZIP!! I know a child who in the 6 grade who is autistic was put in a hold for 4 hours, strapped down, not allowed to urinate, after acting out in an Acton middle school, and the parents were not contacted right away...it was horrid.
Maybe for adults it is better, but they are greatly lacking with children, unless you are on public aid then it is a bit better.
MBG

[james203]

ca has diff climates & inland is the worse.its hot & dry from may-oct.the illegal mexicans are crawling out of the woodwork.crime is high in ca especially nasty LA.everything is expensive here incl rents,utilities & gas is the highest in the nation.ca has 4 cities on the top 25 most dangerous cities in the us.#4-compton,#8-oakland,#11-richmond,#25-san bernardino.lets see.....people are rude & inconsiderate.greed is everywhere in ca & the govenor arnold ziffle needs to go back to hooterville.the inland empire in so.ca has 68,610 gang members in 287 gangs.LA & riverside/san bernardino areas has the worse smog in the entire nation.# 1 to be exact.i just have nothing nice to say about ca & its just no longer the golden state.this summer may be the yr ca is changed to mexifornia.

[Roma]

Originally Posted by Angel Bear

We'll probably end up moving to Hawaii when we retire though

We are already retired, young retirees LOL (41 years old), (been retired for 2 1/2 years). But we also would like to own a condo in Hawaii. We would like to have a home in Ca and a condo in Hawaii. I get island fever so I need to know that I can leave whenever I want to. I have family in Maui. I visit as much as I can. We have a lot of pets right now so we can't do the Hawaii condo thing yet but we probably will do that in the next 10 years or so. See you there!

[Jonah K]

Originally Posted by Roma

We are already retired, young retirees LOL (41 years old), (been retired for 2 1/2 years). But we also would like to own a condo in Hawaii. We would like to have a home in Ca and a condo in Hawaii. I get island fever so I need to know that I can leave whenever I want to. I have family in Maui. I visit as much as I can. We have a lot of pets right now so we can't do the Hawaii condo thing yet but we probably will do that in the next 10 years or so. See you there!

Better not wait too long, Hawai'i is being "Californicated" at a fairly rapid pace. With the possible exception of Maui, it's actually somewhat cheaper to live in Hawai'i than it is to live in California. Every time I see a BMW on the road or a forested lot cleared "pin-to-pin" and another "McMansion" under construction, chances are a Californian is moving in.

[Roma]

Oh dear, I'm so afraid, those darn Californians and BMW's . Well, move over Jonah K because we are coming if you like it or not and you can't scare us off . On your location it says that you live in Hawaii and California. Hmmmm....so you can live there but we can't? . I think not.
The more Californians living in Hawaii the better it will be for me. I love Californians, so I will feel right at home. The more Californians, the merrier.

[Californiaguy2007]

Yeah I do own a home :-)

Originally Posted by dennismpat

Hey, Caliguy2007, if you don't mind my asking---do you own your own home?

I don't know what you do for a living, but I hope it doesn't involve driving all the way to Los Angeles.

[sliverbox]

So far, I haven't read any real reasons why CA is "worth it". Of course, classic examples like weather, diversity, the 'tech' job market, and so on are mentioned. Admittedly, CA has unique geography. But so do most any other state in their own ways.

I've lived all over the country. I did the whole "coast to coast" thing living on both the east and West Coast. I grew up in the South. Quite honestly, I make more here than anywhere else by a long shot yet my quality of life is actually worse simply because the cost comparison ratio between CA and just about anywhere else is on a scale from 4:1. It literally costs 4 times more ti live in CA than most other states, with of course- the exception of large swaths of the Northeast. It seems like about 75% of the people who move here are either from A: the East Coast, or B: the rust belt. So in one camp you have people who are already accustomed to paying out the rear for some little cramped house and in the other, people who came from really crappy economically depressed regions. So naturally- ask the avg CA resident and you'll hear that it is the 'bestest' place in the whole wide world! ( compared to where they came from)

The fastest growing tech sector in the country isn't in CA by the way... that would be the Triangle in NC. But I'm not about to stop people from spouting California's virtues... Sure.. It's the BEST place on the planet!... Just means less Californians elsewhere in the future.