Reasonable for California
-
7/29/2022
The mountains/hills are pretty, and it is less expensive than Los Angeles. There is next to nothing to do here if you aren't a Baby Boomer or a kid. However, it is a safe community. As someone who grew up in another state and has lived elsewhere, I'd say it is not worth the cost, unless you work in San Diego/Orange County and can't afford there. Then it probably makes 110% sense. That seems to be the crowd they build houses for--it's a commuter town. I wouldn't recommend the commute as someone from elsewhere. I'd live in San Diego if I worked there even if I had to rent and if I had a kid, I just wouldn't move to California period unless I had a fat trust fund and/or worked for Google and could afford private school. I wouldn't want to be stressed from the drive all the time when I got home too.
If this is your normal it may not be a big deal, but for me as someone from regular America, a commute beyond about 20 minutes with a bunch of people driving like super aggressive A-holes isn't for me. Grandma's cut people off in traffic here and the police are called proactive but don't seem to be many places and police anything over 10 over the limit. Yesterday I saw a drag race with three motorcycles and a Dodge Challenger in the suburbs.
There are many other places to live in America with way more luxury/house for your money. There is not enough inventory of affordable housing, so you need to be solid middle/upper middle class and bought a long time ago or upper middle/upper class now to afford it. It is nice to be able to take a day trip to the beach if you don't mind congested and stressful traffic. It's very corporate and not small business friendly and there are few professional jobs.
Don't move here unless you already have millions or a job. My wife had a job when we moved and despite the fact I'm in the less than 2% of the population that has a professional degree, I can't find anything. There are a lot of government employees with fat pensions and people who bought in a long time ago. Not a Millenials friendly place at all. If you are religious there are many evangelical people here and they're pretty zealous about it. It is a very diverse community for me. If you are from California it may not be comparatively.
There are many Trump signs and all and besides complaints about gas prices at the gas station, I don't hear much about politics. It seems like a bunch of older people trying to quietly live out their golden years and middle class families with kids. People are more pretensious than many places in America but probably not compared to elsewhere in California. There is a big military, veteran vibe here. The air quality is poor and once you reach California you'll notice it. I didn't see it in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas etc. It's like a haze that reminds me of China.
The sunsets are pretty. The air balloons are pretty. The houses are all plane vanilla tract homes not custom designed with unique architectural plans and still cost like $800,000. The water tastes bad if coming from out of state. Tastes kinda salty/mineralized. Ultimately, I'd like to move personally and get a custom house three times the size in Texas, have cheap gas, and I can access the mountains and beaches on vacations. The water is cold and rocky here and the sand isn't pretty like in Florida. If you have tattoos and look like a hipster, punk rocker, or like you work on motorcycle repair on the West Coast Customs show you will fit in. For me, I feel like people judge me for being "too conventional."
I try to just stick to myself and travel and enjoy my friends elsewhere. I'd like to meet some cool local people but have no idea how to. Old Town and wine country is pretty cool, but I don't drink. Wine country seems to focus on the Boomers which is smart business. Don't move here if you're single I hear. People are nice for California. I find Californians to be some of the rudest people I've ever encountered in the US, like they expect you to try to rob/rip them off instead of are just trying to say hello and meet people. It might be smart though I may be from a small and sheltered kind of place. My wife likes the people at work. People have been very nice to her for the most part. People aren't racist I don't think. It seems to have that stereotype, and I don't find it to be true largely at least.
Tyler | Murrieta, CA