It's something that we wouldn't have even considered fathomable even just a couple of years ago, but we are in the process of leaving the area and heading to Southern California (Marina Del Rey area). We're presently about 50/50 between the 2 areas as we transition. The reasons were many:
-Housing costs. Even though we have made almost no improvements to our home, its value has nonetheless absolutely shot through the roof for very little reason. I would go so far as to suggest *no* reason, as I understand the reason for the housing spike is simply foreign (usually Chinese) investors looking for tax havens for their money that are buying all the properties - most of the time sight unseen - and creating a frenzy that just isn't justified in this area. A number of homes in my area have gone up and sold within a matter of days, and then remained empty. It's the beginning of the same issue that has been plaguing Vancouver for years. Which leads me to point 2, which is....
-We did a cost analysis between Seattle and Los Angeles, and amazingly found that LA would only end up being about 3% more expensive once the initial housing jolt is dealt with (and, thanks to the profit to be made up here thanks to some random Chinese buyer, is largely mitigated). So now you're telling me that for 3 points, I can actually have pleasant weather where you actually see the sun more than 3 months out of the year, dominant culture, better food, outdoor activities that more align with our preferences, better mental health (that seasonal affective disorder is actually a thing, it turns out) and less wear and tear on our bodies (as we get older, the moist climate up here works more and more hell on our bodies). That's a steal at twice the price.
-Social climate. Honestly, this was what got the conversation going. We simply got tired of having to deal with another protest every single day up here. Tired of the traffic jams. Tired of the screaming. Tired of the having to avoid certain parts of town, usually near the core. We're centrists, very live and let live types of people, and we find ourselves ever more surrounded by a bunch of hardcore intolerants who can't accept someone not agreeing with their more extreme positions. It says a lot that this city has actually become more granola than frigging SoCal....we're just tired of it, and tired of worrying about how we're going to raise a reasonably well-adjusted child in an area where indoctrination comes from all sides and is openly pushed in the education system. The LA area at least has the benefit of you being able to stay away from that nonsense if you want due to its sprawl.
-Weather. The summer is the payout up here, and we've been robbed of those summers more than once in recent years (either it doesn't really start until way late or too much of it ends up being uncomfortably hot). Similarly, the winters have been even greyer than normal, yet this was the first year in a while we at least got some snow to change things up. Why this is, we don't know, but without the payout, this place is really trying.
-We live on the East side, but both work west of the lake. Our commute is already abysmally bad, and the 90 express lanes are being appropriated with no traffic mitigation in the very near future. We did dry runs, and our commutes down in Cali are actually faster even before the war on cars continues up here.
-Taxes, taxes, more taxes, and then more proposed taxes on top of that. At least LA already has most of their taxes already baked in. ST3, taxes to coddle the homeless (and there's another big reason, btw), taxes for public art projects, taxes to mitigate the loss of Federal funding because the city won't get off its sanctuary city kick and figures the populace will just eat that. I read somewhere recently that there has never been a point in history that the area has had as much money in the government coffers as it does right now, and yet they keep reaching ever further into everyone's pockets. Tired of it. I'm seeing a new proposed tax almost weekly at this point.
The short of it is that at the turn of the century, this was one of my favorite places anywhere in the world. Fast forward to today, and I barely even recognize the place anymore, and I don't mean in terms of architecture. The entire vibe of the place has changed in just 15 years and, for us, this place has just lost its soul and what made it such a great place to be. It's gone from being a criminally underrated hidden gem to a woefully overrated experiment in what happens when inmates are given run of the asylum. No regrets.
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-Housing costs. Even though we have made almost no improvements to our home, its value has nonetheless absolutely shot through the roof for very little reason. I would go so far as to suggest *no* reason, as I understand the reason for the housing spike is simply foreign (usually Chinese) investors looking for tax havens for their money that are buying all the properties - most of the time sight unseen - and creating a frenzy that just isn't justified in this area. A number of homes in my area have gone up and sold within a matter of days, and then remained empty. It's the beginning of the same issue that has been plaguing Vancouver for years. Which leads me to point 2, which is....
-We did a cost analysis between Seattle and Los Angeles, and amazingly found that LA would only end up being about 3% more expensive once the initial housing jolt is dealt with (and, thanks to the profit to be made up here thanks to some random Chinese buyer, is largely mitigated). So now you're telling me that for 3 points, I can actually have pleasant weather where you actually see the sun more than 3 months out of the year, dominant culture, better food, outdoor activities that more align with our preferences, better mental health (that seasonal affective disorder is actually a thing, it turns out) and less wear and tear on our bodies (as we get older, the moist climate up here works more and more hell on our bodies). That's a steal at twice the price.
-Social climate. Honestly, this was what got the conversation going. We simply got tired of having to deal with another protest every single day up here. Tired of the traffic jams. Tired of the screaming. Tired of the having to avoid certain parts of town, usually near the core. We're centrists, very live and let live types of people, and we find ourselves ever more surrounded by a bunch of hardcore intolerants who can't accept someone not agreeing with their more extreme positions. It says a lot that this city has actually become more granola than frigging SoCal....we're just tired of it, and tired of worrying about how we're going to raise a reasonably well-adjusted child in an area where indoctrination comes from all sides and is openly pushed in the education system. The LA area at least has the benefit of you being able to stay away from that nonsense if you want due to its sprawl.
-Weather. The summer is the payout up here, and we've been robbed of those summers more than once in recent years (either it doesn't really start until way late or too much of it ends up being uncomfortably hot). Similarly, the winters have been even greyer than normal, yet this was the first year in a while we at least got some snow to change things up. Why this is, we don't know, but without the payout, this place is really trying.
-We live on the East side, but both work west of the lake. Our commute is already abysmally bad, and the 90 express lanes are being appropriated with no traffic mitigation in the very near future. We did dry runs, and our commutes down in Cali are actually faster even before the war on cars continues up here.
-Taxes, taxes, more taxes, and then more proposed taxes on top of that. At least LA already has most of their taxes already baked in. ST3, taxes to coddle the homeless (and there's another big reason, btw), taxes for public art projects, taxes to mitigate the loss of Federal funding because the city won't get off its sanctuary city kick and figures the populace will just eat that. I read somewhere recently that there has never been a point in history that the area has had as much money in the government coffers as it does right now, and yet they keep reaching ever further into everyone's pockets. Tired of it. I'm seeing a new proposed tax almost weekly at this point.
The short of it is that at the turn of the century, this was one of my favorite places anywhere in the world. Fast forward to today, and I barely even recognize the place anymore, and I don't mean in terms of architecture. The entire vibe of the place has changed in just 15 years and, for us, this place has just lost its soul and what made it such a great place to be. It's gone from being a criminally underrated hidden gem to a woefully overrated experiment in what happens when inmates are given run of the asylum. No regrets.
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