6 ms·

Totally. Speaking as someone who lived in the bay area for 4 years and happily left after college, why live in CA when you can work remotely from anywhere else,

Totally. Speaking as someone who lived in the bay area for 4 years and happily left after college, why live in CA when you can work remotely from anywhere else, live well, own a sizable property, and make decent bank? The bay area is great to visit, I was literally just there a couple months ago. But to live I would need to make 4x what I do now.

pixl97 10y ago
Well, the weather is nice in many places, and it has some beautiful scenery. Probably why so many people live there in the first place. Texas on the other hand is hot and flat. Really boring here. Oh and it's too crowded. Yep, if you're from California Texas is worse. Don't want to move here. Please stop moving here, please, oh god please.
- throwanem 10y ago
  Replace "hot and flat" with "gray and rainy" and that's the western third of Oregon, too.
- pm90 10y ago
  I know what you're trying to do, but its not going to work ;). Texas is about as interesting as you can get, especially if you live in Austin. The housing costs are not ridiculous (yet), you can live in decent house near downtown, COL is low, no state taxes etc. Quite a wonderful state, especially if you're young and in tech. BTW, there is also a vibrant live music scene. And also a lot of theater and art. Did I mention the food? The only thing I would say Texas lacks are good beaches. We do have a lot of rivers/lakes though. But for someone who grew up near the ocean...it does suck.
  - overcast 10y ago
    It's oppressively hot though. I've been there many times for work(Dallas,Houston,Austin), and there is nothing enjoyable about being in Texas anywhere near the spring/summer months. Flooding, tornadoes, and other severe storms sucks too. Food is good though for sure.
  - superswordfish 10y ago
    Just pray you don't end up on the wrong side of the law (to be fair, the same could be said of CA).
    - pm90 10y ago
      How do you mean?
      - superswordfish 10y ago
        The death penalty, and heavy incarceration with atrocious conditions.
        hx87 10y ago
        Most Texans, let alone Californians fleeing high prices, don't have to worry about such things. Besides, the death penalty isn't exactly a negative if the alternative is life in (a Texas) prison.
        superswordfish 10y ago
        Perhaps I'm alone in deriving small comfort in the knowledge that even if I were framed or otherwise unjustly convicted for the most atrocious of crimes, this would not be my fate (though the federal government showed in MA, for instance, with the Boston Marathon bomber, that they will override humane state law; you're never truly safe in the US). The knowledge that a gross miscarriage of justice could land me in "hell on earth" was troubling in CA (death row in TX and CA are quite different beasts on the other hand).
        pixl97 10y ago
        While our death row is an issue, you are something like ten to twenty thousand times more likely to die at the hands of our idiot drivers here in Texas. So keeping a sense of perspective is important.
    - 10y ago
- ryan-c 10y ago
  Recently moved from the bay area to Austin. I hate the weather and the bugs. I plan to move back eventually.
encoderer 10y ago
Access to the local economy.
manacit 10y ago
Of course, hobbies and preferences are inherently subjective, but CA has a lot to offer. Parts of the state have (what I consider) perfect weather year round; access to the beach and mountains to ski/snowboard, tons of other outdoor activities, etc. You can find most of these in other places, of course, but CA is pretty unique in that it's all in the same state, and easily accessible.
- overcast 10y ago
  No one is denying the beauty, and adventures that await in California, that's why people live there. The issue here is what the original article is all about. When it becomes a grind just to live there, you can't even enjoy what makes it so awesome to be there.
  - antimatter 10y ago
    This. I've lived in Los Angeles almost my whole life. I visited the beach maybe once in the last 5 years. Why? Because to do so, you have to be willing to sit in at least 1-1.5 hours of traffic. When you get there, at least 30 min to find parking. There are simply too many people in CA at this point to enjoy anything it offers. Leaving the house for me means waiting (in traffic, lines, for parking, etc).
    - overcast 10y ago
      I know, I was just in Santa Monica visiting a friend for a week, before I headed off to the mountains. I feel sorry for what she has to put up with daily.
    - HillaryBriss 10y ago
      >There are simply too many people in CA at this point to enjoy anything it offers. The problem you describe does not get enough attention. The state and local governments have seriously mismanaged growth over the last half a century or so. The individual person's quality of life has truly been diminished in the way you describe.
    - 10y ago
grimmdude 10y ago
So, you're making 'decent bank' now yet you need to make 4x that to live in SF?
- overcast 10y ago
  You can make a ton of money elsewhere, relative to cost of living. If you were to move to SF, to have the SAME living standards, you'd need to making multiples more than that.
  - grimmdude 10y ago
    I mean, if you're talking about keeping the SAME living standards moving from somewhere cheaper to SF then that would apply to any major city really. Just depends on your priorities I guess and what you like.
    - overcast 10y ago
      Well, we're discussing standard of living, so that's the priority right now.

pixl97 10y ago

Well, the weather is nice in many places, and it has some beautiful scenery. Probably why so many people live there in the first place. Texas on the other hand is hot and flat. Really boring here. Oh and it's too crowded. Yep, if you're from California Texas is worse. Don't want to move here. Please stop moving here, please, oh god please.

throwanem 10y ago
Replace "hot and flat" with "gray and rainy" and that's the western third of Oregon, too.
pm90 10y ago
I know what you're trying to do, but its not going to work ;). Texas is about as interesting as you can get, especially if you live in Austin. The housing costs are not ridiculous (yet), you can live in decent house near downtown, COL is low, no state taxes etc. Quite a wonderful state, especially if you're young and in tech. BTW, there is also a vibrant live music scene. And also a lot of theater and art. Did I mention the food? The only thing I would say Texas lacks are good beaches. We do have a lot of rivers/lakes though. But for someone who grew up near the ocean...it does suck.
- overcast 10y ago
  It's oppressively hot though. I've been there many times for work(Dallas,Houston,Austin), and there is nothing enjoyable about being in Texas anywhere near the spring/summer months. Flooding, tornadoes, and other severe storms sucks too. Food is good though for sure.
- superswordfish 10y ago
  Just pray you don't end up on the wrong side of the law (to be fair, the same could be said of CA).
  - pm90 10y ago
    How do you mean?
    - superswordfish 10y ago
      The death penalty, and heavy incarceration with atrocious conditions.
      - hx87 10y ago
        Most Texans, let alone Californians fleeing high prices, don't have to worry about such things. Besides, the death penalty isn't exactly a negative if the alternative is life in (a Texas) prison.
        superswordfish 10y ago
        Perhaps I'm alone in deriving small comfort in the knowledge that even if I were framed or otherwise unjustly convicted for the most atrocious of crimes, this would not be my fate (though the federal government showed in MA, for instance, with the Boston Marathon bomber, that they will override humane state law; you're never truly safe in the US). The knowledge that a gross miscarriage of justice could land me in "hell on earth" was troubling in CA (death row in TX and CA are quite different beasts on the other hand).
        pixl97 10y ago
        While our death row is an issue, you are something like ten to twenty thousand times more likely to die at the hands of our idiot drivers here in Texas. So keeping a sense of perspective is important.
  - 10y ago
ryan-c 10y ago
Recently moved from the bay area to Austin. I hate the weather and the bugs. I plan to move back eventually.

encoderer 10y ago

Access to the local economy.

manacit 10y ago

Of course, hobbies and preferences are inherently subjective, but CA has a lot to offer. Parts of the state have (what I consider) perfect weather year round; access to the beach and mountains to ski/snowboard, tons of other outdoor activities, etc. You can find most of these in other places, of course, but CA is pretty unique in that it's all in the same state, and easily accessible.

overcast 10y ago
No one is denying the beauty, and adventures that await in California, that's why people live there. The issue here is what the original article is all about. When it becomes a grind just to live there, you can't even enjoy what makes it so awesome to be there.
- antimatter 10y ago
  This. I've lived in Los Angeles almost my whole life. I visited the beach maybe once in the last 5 years. Why? Because to do so, you have to be willing to sit in at least 1-1.5 hours of traffic. When you get there, at least 30 min to find parking. There are simply too many people in CA at this point to enjoy anything it offers. Leaving the house for me means waiting (in traffic, lines, for parking, etc).
  - overcast 10y ago
    I know, I was just in Santa Monica visiting a friend for a week, before I headed off to the mountains. I feel sorry for what she has to put up with daily.
  - HillaryBriss 10y ago
    >There are simply too many people in CA at this point to enjoy anything it offers. The problem you describe does not get enough attention. The state and local governments have seriously mismanaged growth over the last half a century or so. The individual person's quality of life has truly been diminished in the way you describe.
  - 10y ago

grimmdude 10y ago

So, you're making 'decent bank' now yet you need to make 4x that to live in SF?

overcast 10y ago
You can make a ton of money elsewhere, relative to cost of living. If you were to move to SF, to have the SAME living standards, you'd need to making multiples more than that.
- grimmdude 10y ago
  I mean, if you're talking about keeping the SAME living standards moving from somewhere cheaper to SF then that would apply to any major city really. Just depends on your priorities I guess and what you like.
  - overcast 10y ago
    Well, we're discussing standard of living, so that's the priority right now.