posts: 299193
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| post_id | thread_id | thread_title | post_number | author_username | post_date | post_date_iso | post_body |
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| 299193 | 17382 | California--Current State of Living? | 58 | Doggyfizzle | Dec 5, 2023 | 2023-12-05T11:47:20-0500 | Lifetime CA resident here - unlike some, was not fortunate to grow up near the beach, but managed to find my way to SB for college and now Ventura for good. I remember visiting my aunt as a kid, whose husband was a firefighter at the Seal Beach Navy Base, and getting to watch him surf and thinking to how awesome it was to surf like 10 minutes from their apartment. The CA coast in Southern California is crowded, and I don’t see any possibility of that changing in my lifetime. Too much money chasing too little land. I will say, between Hueneme and up to Cayucos are pretty incredible places to live with surf, and besides the SB area, moderately more affordable than other SoCal beach areas. One thing I love about ventura is our beaches - mostly uncrowded (by my grumpy standards anyways), and easy to access. For raising kids, the beach is incredible - surf, boogyboarding, and not a fucking iPad in sight! I used to travel a lot for work, and spent a lot of time in TX (Houston, Midland area, and work breaks out to amazing spots near Corpus and Padre) - before I took my current job 15 years ago I really went back and forth about a really amazing job in Houston, but I decided to try out my current job and stayed in Ventura. I really enjoyed my time in Texas and am sure I would have had a great life there, but wouldn’t have had nearly the opportunity for easy coastal recreation like I’ve got now in Ventura. I will also say, at least in the Ventura area, there seems to be lot of economic opportunity in nearly all sectors of employments. I know good friends who make a great living as welders, electricians, computer programmers, accountants, carpenters, crop scientists, marine surveyors, you name it. In terms of cost of living, I found that with the property taxes in TX, the initial cost of a house in CA would be higher, but with the capped increased in property taxes from Prop 13, my cost of living would be lower about 10 years into our mortgage vs the place we almost bought in TX. In terms of politics, it’s not as bad as it seems. There is some zealotry that gets played up in the media, but most people forget that up until Gray Davis, California only had a Democratic governor (Pat and Jerry Brown) a couple times in the past 100 years. Since prop 185, the pendulum has titled left, but that’s not forever, and the path forward is hopefully the middle of the road. In terms of guns, I think you’d find the actual (not elected unfortunately) population about evenly divided on gun ownership. I know you can get a concealed carry permit - and know a few folks who have one, but I’m not sure how big of a PITA it is to go through the process. Long story short - CA has its issues, but the coastal areas are a pretty great and unique place to live. Yeah it’s expensive, but it’s expensive for a reason. |