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I currently live in Orange County with my wife and 2 children. We are considering relocating for a number of reasons. These are, in order of importance.
1) The sun. It is just too much for my wife, she is very fair skinned, as are my children, she would prefer somewhere cooler and with less sun, more importantly weaker sunshine. Personally I love it but I could live somewhere cooler.
2) The people. People in Orange County are rude, self absorbed, aloof, unfriendly, shallow, unwelcoming and vacuous. We've been here long enough and spoken to enough people to realize that this is just a fact of life here.
3) Demographics. The racial makeup, while I thought it would be great to have a real mix of races, actually, in my opinion, here in Orange County it has led to cultural segregation. Orange County has white, hispanic and asian communities. There seems to be almost zero integration between these communities. I'd be more than happy to befriend people of any race but due to a combination of 2) and 3) making friends here is rather difficult.
4) Cost of living. We would like one day to own a 5 bedroom home with a decent sized yard. To afford that in Southern California I would need to live in the desert.
5) Religion and Conservative values. I am a social liberal (although somewhat fiscal conservative), atheist, european who fell back in love with the US when Obama got elected. Here in Orange County everyone seems to be ultra conservative (even for the US) and goes to church all the time. Meeting new people here, the first thing they want you to do is come to their church. I am used to a very secular, non-religious lifestyle. The conservative religious values here are a culture shock to my european brain :-)
I work from home and all I need is an internet connection, a phone and an airport nearby. We have looked at various places to relocate to and are considering Seattle and San Francisco. We are not looking to move to the center of these cities but would like to be within 30 minutes drive of wherever we choose in a nice and safe suburban area. I wouldn't live in any of the "red" states and the north east is just too cold in winter and too humid in summer.
I reckon both of these places will give us the reduced sunlight we would like in both severity and amount so my question is that based on the reasons I am leaving Orange County. Do you think we will be happier in these places? Do moms with kids at pre-school in Seattle look at you as if you are going to steal their kids? Do people in San Francisco go into meltdown when someone speaks to them who isn't exactly like they are, has an accent for example? Would people rather discuss world politics or the color of pinneapple frozen yoghurt? Is everyone going to try to indoctrinate me into their backward religion?
Or should I pack my bags and go back to Europe? I'd really like to stay here!!!
LOL. This made me laugh. Some of it is true. I am in sales and used to have Seattle as my territory and love it there. San Francisco has a lot of weirdos...and if you go outside the city it is a lot of hicks, or if you do Oakland it is pretty ghetto. I live in Orange County now, and work in the real estate industry, let me know if you need help selling your home, renting it out, or finding a Realtor in either of those areas you are looking to relocate to. Kristen (949)280-3619
Thanks Kirsten. Like I say we are probably going to be OK with the weather in either of these places but I'd like to find somewhere less shallow and self centered than Orange County. I might try the forums of each city and see what the locals say regarding friendliness. It's not like we are trying to make 1000 friends and go out partying now we have 2 kids. We just find the level of every day civility in Orange County to be astonishing. And that is completely at odds with my experience of the US and Americans in general.
Yeah I know they are all expensive but in Seattle at least I can stay a little outside of the city where I'm hoping house prices are cheaper and not be in the desert. I don't intend on living in the center of these cities. I know it's going to be a trade off. The West Coast is more expensive but I can't see myself going east or into the center. We should have a pretty reasonable budget to buy a home in about 2/3 years time. Right now, living somewhere cooler (temp) and more friendly is our main concern.
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