Move to CA... Reasons not to?

IDK.

Most people I know that move there move back........thats always stopped me.

 

Hello, past me. This is future you speaking.

When I was 28 (1999) I was in precisely your shoes. Fed up with east coast flatness, couple of buddies living in Santa Cruz and tired of my job here. Then I met the girl of my dreams who was about to..wait for it.....MOVE TO CALIFORNIA!

Well, one thing led to another and we wound up not going. 16 years later I'm pretty happy with the decision. We wound up having two kids and I gotta say, having family close by has been something I am happy I never gave up. My kids are close to their grandparents and will have memories of that relationship that will last forever. You can say, "Oh, we'll see them twice a year, but it ain't the same as taking a quick drive to grandmas for Sunday dinner or having them around to babysit. They're also super close to their cousins and aunts and uncles etc. My dad is in his 70's now and he almost died a few years ago. It's really awesome to be able to call him up and go catch a Mets game. Priceless ****. I could go on.

Read up on some of the recent research sociologists are doing on happiness - what makes people happy. And a constant through most of the research is good family ties and community trump everything else, no matter who they study, what country, economic bracket, etc. Human relationships drive happiness. There's pretty solid science behind it now.

None of this is to say you shouldn't go. It may be the absolute right move for you. I do sometimes think of all the waves I've missed. (I turned down a job offer in Costa Rica in 1998 too, which is really a bigger 'what if' for me in terms of surfing). But just consider there may be intangible factors that are not apparent on the surface now.

One other thing - every time I go to the West Coast nobody understands my sarcasm or irony. I feel like people are on a completely different wavelength I'd never get. And yes, most of my friends who moved west in their 20's eventually came back east. Still, if you're single and don't have kids yet, I encourage you to travel your ass off. Stop me if I"m contradicting myself. But life is full of complicated paradoxes.

 

..also, more important than where you live is going to be having a wife who understands your surfing obsession and encourages it (including solo surf trips overseas). Believe me, that's going to be a bigger factor in how many waves you catch the next few decades and how happy you are.

 

It's expensive. Really expensive. Really, really, insanely expensive. As in comparable housing in Hawaii is cheaper expensive. As in a small house with 3 beds and one bath that hasn't been updated since the 1960's or 70's in a decent neighborhood will run you in excess of $750,000.00 (closer to $1,000,000.00 if it's been updated). If you don't care about owning a home, then by all means go for it. That's one of the main reasons I turned down a transfer to san diego with my job; my wife and I could not afford to purchase a home out there. That and the taxes are high as balls. I would have been taxed at a 12.5% by the state, in addition to federal income and any local taxes (I pay about 5% to the state in Virginia). Waves are definitely worth it, but the cost of living is unreal if you want to own a home and live in an area with good public schools (I have children, so this is very important to me).

 

1. They ain't got any water.

2. Everybody since post World War II had the same idea to move to sunny Los Angeles. So did the Joad's. Dirt and dust, man, it sucks.

3. Mexicans

4.What's worse? The east coast wave quality or watching quality waves with 300 people on it?

5. Calabasas Calabasas - and the Kardashians. Hey, Bruce Jenner is a woman now or something.

6. Persians

7. Nikki Sixx

8. Orange County

9. Ain't no cheesesteaks out there

10. The LA River

11. Downtown LA

12. Laguna Beach and the rough existences faced by upper class white kids.

13. California Public Schools.

14. MIS-13

15. 18th St

16. Wicnhel's doughnuts suck

17. No Rob Kelly

18. No Ben Gravy or NUB TV

 

Taxes. The unholy government enslavement vehicle: taxes.

You could probably run the numbers & draw your own conclusions: extrapolate what you & the missus will earn in the next 20 yrs; run the tax numbers in your current east coast locale vis a vis Cali's govt-sanctioned theft program.

With what you save by staying on the right coast, you could probably do a coupla surf treks every year.

 

Let your friends move there for a little bit and then ask them questions about how they like it and what not. Obviously they'll want you to move there too. I visited San Diego in 2012 and everything is very expensive. I felt like the people there were a little stuck up. The every mans car here is like a Honda Accord, out there it's a BMW 740. I didn't feel like I belonged there. I wasn't cool enough if you know what I mean. Now I would say it's definitely more of an enjoyable lifestyle, if you can afford it. If you can't then it's only a matter of time before you'll be back. You're only 28 and you don't have kids. Heck maybe take a chance. You can always come back if you have to. If you want to get ahead of the game and have less of a cooler lifestyle, you stay here for the money. If you want a better lifestyle and less money, you move there. It's a hard call for a lot of people. It's a place for rich people, or young people with rich parents or young people that want to just enjoy the lifestyle and not think about long term. If you lived super simple and didn't have to live in the nicest area you could pull it off long term. This is just my 2 cents and my perception of SD. I've never lived there. I have friends that did live there and now they're back here, but she had a job offer she couldn't turn down (6 figures). She does hate it here, but she's also making good money comparatively speaking and has more friends and family here. They also have 1 child. Personally, I probably wouldn't do it since I have so much family in the area and the wife and I would have to make at least 6 figures there each for me to go. Good luck in whatever choice you make. As they say...follow your heart.

 

Yeah, I can't find good reasons that out weigh the bad reasons on the subject of moving to Cali. Maybe a month visit every couple of years, but other then that... nah..

 

Remember guys, when you need advice for major life decisions be sure to come to Swellinfo first, especially for medical advice.

I, for one, used to watch Quincy and that dude taught me all I know aboot doctoring. Plus, I think Brewengineer watches MASH reruns.

 

Oh yeah earthquakes(big one's a comin')

Mudslides

Civil unrest as in the Watts Riots(which are a comin' soon, also)

Brush Fires

Smog

Yes, most of which I speak of is Southern dominant, and that's because you aren't welcome north of County Line, sucker. You souther fem. Go back to LA.

 

rippin N tearin, are you the dude in that video at Hedonism? LMAO!!!

 

Today is my 1,460th day of my California surf trip. Booked a one way ticket on May 18, 2011. BEST CHOICE EVER! You should totally do it! PM with Questions!

EDIT:
Just saw the post above mine..I get O's of top shelf for $200. Not a reason to move or anything, but a very nice perk! Chicks, Waves and weather are just a few others too!

 

if you had a choice (and this won't apply if you got bank) would you chose to live 10-15 min away from the ocean in a house, or

would you pay the same amount to live 45 min-1 hr away (depending on traffic) in a shack so you don't gotta live next to MIS-13 (as RM pointed out)

maine was a cold, but easy choice for me, as is the EC (can't believe i said that out loud because i still have the picturesque cali dream - BUT SO DOES EVERYONE ELSE that' why it cost so much...dreams are free, reality cost dough)

another thing to ponder...decisions get harder the more stuff you have (whether you're aware of said things or not)

 

HEY, how can Hawaii be cheaper than New Jersey?

Isn't everything overpriced there?

Growing herb in Hawaii seems kind of romantic.

 

^^^ a picture is worth 1k words

 

BWAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA, I am crying!! The reporter didn't know what to do!

 

oh man, FIRING!!!!