I'm a Californian living in the Bay Area, I am growing weary of the high cost of living. I love California by all means, we have the best food and best weather there is in the United States but I am wanting to start a family soon and I don't think I'll be able to if most of my paycheck is going to bills. What are some states/cities that you guys would suggest for an easy transition from living in California. Not so strict gun laws is a plus, I hate California gun laws!
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Best place to move?
- Thread starter phas3
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Your about to or are wanting to start a family and your main concern is strict gun laws? So things like the best place for jobs for what industry you work in, crimes rates, education facilities/scores, healthcare, places of interest/activities etc arn't higher up on your list of priorities?
I would suggest Florida, cost of living is very reasonable, warm weather year round similar to Cali, and Florida is very Gun friendly.
What do you and your spouse do for work? Will your professions be impacted by where you are living in terms of the job market? How portable is your job and/or certifications?
How long are you looking to settle in one spot for- move to a cheaper area, have kids, and then eventually move to a more family friendly place or move directly to a family friendly place.
Where is the rest of your family? Do you want to be near them?
There's a lot of big questions like this to ask yourself.
How long are you looking to settle in one spot for- move to a cheaper area, have kids, and then eventually move to a more family friendly place or move directly to a family friendly place.
Where is the rest of your family? Do you want to be near them?
There's a lot of big questions like this to ask yourself.
Not at all, the OP doesn't state any other concerns or say other concerns have been researched, nor has he narrowed down his search by excluding states that would be adverse to him for other reasons than gun control.
Best place to move is relative to what you are looking for.
Colorado is nice, it's a cheap place to live, but it gets cold.
California is nice, it's expensive to live there, but you have to deal with earthquakes sometimes.
Arizona is nice, it's cheap to live there, but it stays mostly hot.
Florida is nice, it's moderate in cost of living, but you have to deal with tropical storms every once in a while.
Indiana is nice, it's cheap to live there, but it's got a full range of unpredictable weather.
That is assuming you are talking about the states. If you are talking about outside of the states then all of that is based on weather and political ways.
Since you live in California and your cost of living is, for the most part, higher than everywhere else, you shouldn't have too much of a problem going wherever suits you.
Colorado is nice, it's a cheap place to live, but it gets cold.
California is nice, it's expensive to live there, but you have to deal with earthquakes sometimes.
Arizona is nice, it's cheap to live there, but it stays mostly hot.
Florida is nice, it's moderate in cost of living, but you have to deal with tropical storms every once in a while.
Indiana is nice, it's cheap to live there, but it's got a full range of unpredictable weather.
That is assuming you are talking about the states. If you are talking about outside of the states then all of that is based on weather and political ways.
Since you live in California and your cost of living is, for the most part, higher than everywhere else, you shouldn't have too much of a problem going wherever suits you.
Depending on how much the cost of living is an issue - you can get by quite a bit cheaper in San Diego as compared to the BA if you don't mind it being summer all year.
edit:
It's only cheap in the places that aren't all that nice to live. The Denver metro area has gotten extremely expensive relative to the rest of the state. Mostly due to all the Californians migrating here because it's very similar 8 months out of the year.
I love it here but the honeymoon will be over in a few years. We'll be as expensive as any major California city or Seattle soon enough.
edit:
It's only cheap in the places that aren't all that nice to live. The Denver metro area has gotten extremely expensive relative to the rest of the state. Mostly due to all the Californians migrating here because it's very similar 8 months out of the year.
I love it here but the honeymoon will be over in a few years. We'll be as expensive as any major California city or Seattle soon enough.
Depending on how much the cost of living is an issue - you can get by quite a bit cheaper in San Diego as compared to the BA if you don't mind it being summer all year.
edit:
It's only cheap in the places that aren't all that nice to live. The Denver metro area has gotten extremely expensive relative to the rest of the state. Mostly due to all the Californians migrating here because it's very similar 8 months out of the year.
I love it here but the honeymoon will be over in a few years. We'll be as expensive as any major California city or Seattle soon enough.
I wasn't referring to Denver, per se, but Longmont which is about 15 mins. north of Boulder is pretty inexpensive and has a nice view. Regardless, you make my point with it all being relative, I happen to like Colorado because it's a better view than where I'm at and costs about the same to live there, if not a little cheaper than where I'm at. Dealing with the cold just means I'm staying in for the winter, outside of that, it has everything I could ask for and if it doesn't I just have to drive no more than 30 minutes to a city that does. In Texas you have to drive 2 hours at 90 MPH to get to another city, but that's a nice place too.
I lived there for 5 years, the rest of my life has been spent in the Midwest. By comparison, rents were (I assume still are) higher in Colorado, and I think buying is more expensive too. Cold? Are you talking in the mountains or along the front range? The dry air keeps you warmer in winter than less arid places. I remember bundling up to take a walk, figuring it would be very cold based on all the snow that was on the ground. By the time I returned, I was sweating. It gets cold in the upper Midwest, in Colorado, not so much, unless you're above 10,000 feet or so.
A bit of a false dichotomy, no?
He's allowed to mention gun laws, and still care about education, crime rates, etc. It doesn't automatically make it #1.
He didn't say it was his #1 priority, nor that other factors didn't matter as much. You said that.
But it was the only priority that was high enough for him to bother to mention when asking for advice about where to move.
For the OP though if you like where you live other than the cost have you tried looking for a different higher paying job?