At the end of 2019, I retired from my last job. My wife immediately said, "We need to get out of California." 40 years ago, when she was my girlfriend, she said "Come to California! You'll love it here!" So I did, and we did, and we lived there for 35 delightful years before the place started to go to hell. Another 5 years, and a really good opportunity to leave, and we were out of there. Sold our house in Sacramento and moved, in the middle of 2020, at the peak of the Covid hysteria, to San Antonio, TX.
We didn't move for the weather; Sacramento weather was just about perfect. Taxes, politics, safety - THOSE were the big factors. In the spring of 2020, BLMtifa rioters were setting fires a few blocks away.
And my wife watched a TV "news" program in which Navin Gruesome said that he was going to send sheriffs around to register guns. Not. A. Chance. So we sold our house on a sixth of an acre in Sacramento and bought a bigger house on an acre in San Antonio for less money.
The government is less idiotic here, taxes a LITTLE lower. (Between no income taxes and MUCH higher property taxes, it was about a wash). I'm not really happy about last week's freeze, or the February '21 Fimbulwinter, but we're prepped for bad weather. But I'm fairly sure that Texas stores won't be subject to Los Angeles or San Francisco's "smash and grab" robberies - in part because Texas is a "no permit required" concealed carry state.
Civilization - and civilized behavior - will survive here in Texas. And in Florida. Not so sure about the rest of the disunited States.
Had a trader angel investing buddy move from Chicago to right around San Antonio. I think he moved up to Dallas because his son is in Kansas City. He likes Texas. I looked at Texas for retirement but the property taxes were prohibitive. If you are an income earner, you can handle them. Texas needs to figure that out, quickly.
My property taxes here are high, but tolerable. The problem is that the tax varies depending on the school district, so if you move into a pricy school district, your property taxes may be higher. The State of Texas doesn't have much to do with it, I think. I do need to start going to school board meetings, to prevent the adoption of gold-plated programs.
But I'm doing OK on Social Security plus my military pension plus my IRA.
Last time I checked, weather in Sac sucks but maybe not much different than TX, so the move might not be much of a shock. CA is a huge state. You cannot pigeon hole it. My take is that folks hate newsome and his taxes as the main reason to leave. If leaning on the right, lots of likeminded folks here so I don't think that leaving is out of a need for kinship (for the most part).
Weather in the goldilocks zones is worth the price. Albeit, if you bought low and/or have a great job -- or just don't mind the weather tax.
Weather in Sacramento is pretty comparable to weather in San Antonio - except for the freak Feb '21 snowstorm, and last week's freeze. But we had freezes in Sacramento as well. The biggest difference is the delta breeze; cold sea air that blows in through the Golden Gate and flows right up the Sacramento River, which can drop the evening temperature 30 degrees in a matter of an hour. Nothing like that here in San Antonio!
That is cool, never knew the ocean breeze flowed up to Sac. Storm door is open here this season so far. Thank God! We are getting hit hard with the rains which is a real blessing unless it gets overdone and mudslides and flooding hit :) God Bless TX, enjoy it out there! Happy New Year!
You mentioned Newsom in CA. I live in north Idaho and the entire state has been inundated with people from all over the country but particularly Californians. The ones that move to Boise tend to be left-liberals, but everywhere else it’s strong, often Christian conservatives and what I call “conservatarians”. It is clear that a long time ago, the oligarchs that run CA decided to pass laws that result in what I call “The Purge”. An age-old communist tactic that has been successfully used in almost every large city and many blue states. Essentially, the Purge laws are a combination of culture-war and economic laws (and illegal immigration, which is akin to the slave trade, but with less whipping) that oppress the relatively conservative middle class, pushing them away and creating a neo-feudal class system essentially like the system of slavery in the old South. I guess that’s what they call “progress” now.
Depends. I want to be close enough to see my kids easily. So, Europe and South/Central America are out. I don't like Mexico, so that is out. Canada is too cold, so out.
Moved from Chicago early this year. Best decision we ever made. Walking on egg shells wondering when/ if you will get mugged or car jacked is not good for your stress and health either.
The walking on egg shells comment is part of the marginal cost vs marginal revenue part of the blogpost. How much is personal safety worth to you? For some people they are willing to make a trade off for other things, like maybe being close to family or something like that. For others it's not. However, as all costs rise both fiscal and intangible the MR part of the equation has to rise too otherwise you move.
Kinda breathtaking how much ground this post covered...
One aside about going to the office is that there is always politics. Not being there is akin to not voting (in an election) and, at worst, you can get fired or laid off because you are unable to make your case from a distance. This is what happened to someone younger that me who I know.
I don't think things are going to break as cleanly as at a state-by-state level, but rather, at the county or even township level... For example, as Mr Carter already knows, Greater MN (the MN outside the metro area) where I live is about as conservative as any area in the country (there are exceptions). This is not unusual in blue states. Look at the nascent New California state movement. To be honest, I don't think blue cites surrounded by red are going to be happy with this sort of split if it comes to that.
I can see voters wanting to go to systems like Nebraska has. It isolates Omaha. In virtually all states the biggest reason they are Democratic is the large cities have too much influence. Not sure how to cure that on an electoral basis which preserves the integrity of the Electoral College but guarantees representation for everyone.
I live in Lake County, Illinois that has some of the highest property taxes as a percentage of home value in the country and the highest percentage of property taxes as a percentage of household income in the country. I have a college friend who lives in Park City, Utah and his home is worth about $3.5 million and his property taxes are $6500. My property taxes in Beach Park, IL are $6600 on a home that is assessed at $220,000. 14% of the properties in Lake County, IL that have mortgages have monthly property taxes that are more than principal and interest on the mortgage. The average home in Zion, IL on a $200,000 assessed value will have a property tax bill of $8,484.00 or 4.24% of assessed value. I have to get the hell out of Illinois! And, these property taxes are because of the Democrats tax and spend policies and they are giving unions gold-plated pensions!
We expect to leave Boulder, Colo., if/when I retire, due to high cost of living and the feeling we get from oppressive blue policies, as we saw here during Covid. We got out of suburban Chicago in the nick of time, in 2006. Next stop: low taxes, warmer weather, smaller government, like-minded people. Jeffrey, we used to live in the Fox Valley and would go to Geneva often. I like to hear about life in the pits — a big part of what made Chicago so outstanding back in the day. I would walk past CMEX and CBOT on the way to work in the Loop every day for 19 years.
At the end of 2019, I retired from my last job. My wife immediately said, "We need to get out of California." 40 years ago, when she was my girlfriend, she said "Come to California! You'll love it here!" So I did, and we did, and we lived there for 35 delightful years before the place started to go to hell. Another 5 years, and a really good opportunity to leave, and we were out of there. Sold our house in Sacramento and moved, in the middle of 2020, at the peak of the Covid hysteria, to San Antonio, TX.
We didn't move for the weather; Sacramento weather was just about perfect. Taxes, politics, safety - THOSE were the big factors. In the spring of 2020, BLMtifa rioters were setting fires a few blocks away.
And my wife watched a TV "news" program in which Navin Gruesome said that he was going to send sheriffs around to register guns. Not. A. Chance. So we sold our house on a sixth of an acre in Sacramento and bought a bigger house on an acre in San Antonio for less money.
The government is less idiotic here, taxes a LITTLE lower. (Between no income taxes and MUCH higher property taxes, it was about a wash). I'm not really happy about last week's freeze, or the February '21 Fimbulwinter, but we're prepped for bad weather. But I'm fairly sure that Texas stores won't be subject to Los Angeles or San Francisco's "smash and grab" robberies - in part because Texas is a "no permit required" concealed carry state.
Civilization - and civilized behavior - will survive here in Texas. And in Florida. Not so sure about the rest of the disunited States.
Had a trader angel investing buddy move from Chicago to right around San Antonio. I think he moved up to Dallas because his son is in Kansas City. He likes Texas. I looked at Texas for retirement but the property taxes were prohibitive. If you are an income earner, you can handle them. Texas needs to figure that out, quickly.
My property taxes here are high, but tolerable. The problem is that the tax varies depending on the school district, so if you move into a pricy school district, your property taxes may be higher. The State of Texas doesn't have much to do with it, I think. I do need to start going to school board meetings, to prevent the adoption of gold-plated programs.
But I'm doing OK on Social Security plus my military pension plus my IRA.
Last time I checked, weather in Sac sucks but maybe not much different than TX, so the move might not be much of a shock. CA is a huge state. You cannot pigeon hole it. My take is that folks hate newsome and his taxes as the main reason to leave. If leaning on the right, lots of likeminded folks here so I don't think that leaving is out of a need for kinship (for the most part).
Weather in the goldilocks zones is worth the price. Albeit, if you bought low and/or have a great job -- or just don't mind the weather tax.
Weather in Sacramento is pretty comparable to weather in San Antonio - except for the freak Feb '21 snowstorm, and last week's freeze. But we had freezes in Sacramento as well. The biggest difference is the delta breeze; cold sea air that blows in through the Golden Gate and flows right up the Sacramento River, which can drop the evening temperature 30 degrees in a matter of an hour. Nothing like that here in San Antonio!
That is cool, never knew the ocean breeze flowed up to Sac. Storm door is open here this season so far. Thank God! We are getting hit hard with the rains which is a real blessing unless it gets overdone and mudslides and flooding hit :) God Bless TX, enjoy it out there! Happy New Year!
The Balkanization of the USA is underway. No doubt about it.
That brings its own challenges. Democrats are notoriously violent when they don't get what they want.
You mentioned Newsom in CA. I live in north Idaho and the entire state has been inundated with people from all over the country but particularly Californians. The ones that move to Boise tend to be left-liberals, but everywhere else it’s strong, often Christian conservatives and what I call “conservatarians”. It is clear that a long time ago, the oligarchs that run CA decided to pass laws that result in what I call “The Purge”. An age-old communist tactic that has been successfully used in almost every large city and many blue states. Essentially, the Purge laws are a combination of culture-war and economic laws (and illegal immigration, which is akin to the slave trade, but with less whipping) that oppress the relatively conservative middle class, pushing them away and creating a neo-feudal class system essentially like the system of slavery in the old South. I guess that’s what they call “progress” now.
Would you consider moving to another country?
Depends. I want to be close enough to see my kids easily. So, Europe and South/Central America are out. I don't like Mexico, so that is out. Canada is too cold, so out.
Moved from Chicago early this year. Best decision we ever made. Walking on egg shells wondering when/ if you will get mugged or car jacked is not good for your stress and health either.
The walking on egg shells comment is part of the marginal cost vs marginal revenue part of the blogpost. How much is personal safety worth to you? For some people they are willing to make a trade off for other things, like maybe being close to family or something like that. For others it's not. However, as all costs rise both fiscal and intangible the MR part of the equation has to rise too otherwise you move.
Kinda breathtaking how much ground this post covered...
One aside about going to the office is that there is always politics. Not being there is akin to not voting (in an election) and, at worst, you can get fired or laid off because you are unable to make your case from a distance. This is what happened to someone younger that me who I know.
I don't think things are going to break as cleanly as at a state-by-state level, but rather, at the county or even township level... For example, as Mr Carter already knows, Greater MN (the MN outside the metro area) where I live is about as conservative as any area in the country (there are exceptions). This is not unusual in blue states. Look at the nascent New California state movement. To be honest, I don't think blue cites surrounded by red are going to be happy with this sort of split if it comes to that.
I can see voters wanting to go to systems like Nebraska has. It isolates Omaha. In virtually all states the biggest reason they are Democratic is the large cities have too much influence. Not sure how to cure that on an electoral basis which preserves the integrity of the Electoral College but guarantees representation for everyone.
I live in Lake County, Illinois that has some of the highest property taxes as a percentage of home value in the country and the highest percentage of property taxes as a percentage of household income in the country. I have a college friend who lives in Park City, Utah and his home is worth about $3.5 million and his property taxes are $6500. My property taxes in Beach Park, IL are $6600 on a home that is assessed at $220,000. 14% of the properties in Lake County, IL that have mortgages have monthly property taxes that are more than principal and interest on the mortgage. The average home in Zion, IL on a $200,000 assessed value will have a property tax bill of $8,484.00 or 4.24% of assessed value. I have to get the hell out of Illinois! And, these property taxes are because of the Democrats tax and spend policies and they are giving unions gold-plated pensions!
JC- you have some interesting points... And figures... in here.
We expect to leave Boulder, Colo., if/when I retire, due to high cost of living and the feeling we get from oppressive blue policies, as we saw here during Covid. We got out of suburban Chicago in the nick of time, in 2006. Next stop: low taxes, warmer weather, smaller government, like-minded people. Jeffrey, we used to live in the Fox Valley and would go to Geneva often. I like to hear about life in the pits — a big part of what made Chicago so outstanding back in the day. I would walk past CMEX and CBOT on the way to work in the Loop every day for 19 years.