AK Retiree Club
- Thread starter parman
- Start date
I have not lost nothing from CA other than the memoriesDon't worry - more and more Californians are moving into your neck of the woods, and they're bring all of this with them.
Mystic
We're all born mad
When I "lost" California, I simultaneously "lost" America (USA)... and yes, memories as well.
Now I am gradually "losing" France for Nairobi, Kenya.
I got out of California back in 97 and never looked back. Growing up Hawthorne, CA in the 60's and 70's was a blast! It's got to crowded and way to much traffic. I ended up the the greater Las Vegas Valley at first it was wonderful no parking lot freeway's. The people were friendly as long as didn't tell them you came for California. Yet 25 years later it got too crowded for me, I retired and moved to rural Central Nevada and the nearest stoplight 150 miles away. Overpopulation destroyed coastal southern California and the SF bay area. It's sad it such a beautiful state.
bluesky
Lunatic Member
Spent years in San Francisco - used to be simply wonderful back in the 70s and the first half of the 80s. LA was OK, had a good time, and San Diego was 'really nice' too. It's a real shame.
Agreed, it was a 'most beautiful' state. I'm just glad to have experienced living in San Francisco and San Diego back in the day when they were great. Very fond memories of a most wonderful place - California. Spent a little time in LA too, it was fun.
Guess it's over. I don't even ever go back to visit. I just by-pass it totally. Just keep my fond memories of the way 'it was' back in the good times.
Last edited:
Mart Mccall
Well-Known Member
It's all relative. I was last in California back in 2000 - LA and San Diego. I thought it was wonderful. Great food, great weather, people seemed to be mostly open and friendly.
Compared to where I live in UK (post industrial Victorian dereliction, cold, dark, raining every third day on average) it seemed like paradise to me.
Population density is lower than the UK too. By roughly 20 percent.
Compared to where I live in UK (post industrial Victorian dereliction, cold, dark, raining every third day on average) it seemed like paradise to me.
Population density is lower than the UK too. By roughly 20 percent.
Mystic
We're all born mad
But that's only the statewide population density. If you look at population density by "county", it is likely, though not a certainty, that the population densities of some California counties equal or come close to, but probably not match the population density around, say, Birmingham or certainly anywhere near London. But portions of Alameda LA, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco counties are wrapped up pretty tightly, though almost most of those populations are concentrated along the water's edge(s). Also, many of the above-cited counties have fairly to very generously set aside wilderness areas and/or natural topography, mainly in the for of the several mountain regions, that have prevented hyper-development of residential stock. One exception might be Orange County, which does not cozy up to the wide blue Pacific and is intensely urbanized ... but even "The OC" has a forest preserve, i.e., Cleveland National Forest, which prohibits any/all residential stock.
PS - What about Liverpool and Manchester? Those, too, are fairly intensely populated, yes?
Mystic
We're all born mad
Ditto, I have not been back to CA since my departure in 2014. Heck, I have only returned to the USA twice -- to DC and environs in 2023, and the following year (i.e., 2024) for a 3-week stay that encompassed (by automobile) DC-Columbus (OH)-Milwaukee-Chicago-Crown Point (IN)-Pittsburgh -DC again then back to France.... and from France, off to Nairobi for three months.
Mart Mccall
Well-Known Member
I think it's true of anywhere that the population is mostly concentrated in the cities.
Even the suburbs of Manchester and Liverpool are more densely populated than the suburbs of American cities where a 1 acre lot isn't unusual. In the UK to have a suburban house on a lot that large is very rare. And the land is so valuable that many of the big Victorian houses that originally had lots that size have sold a chunk of it for another house - or several - to be built on it.
UK as a whole is only 5 percent urbanised or 'discontinuous urban fabric' as it is called. There's lots of national parks, farmland and 'empty' areas.
But living outside the cities is expensive and there's very little work if you can't work from home.
If you live in a city, expect it to be crowded. That's why I'm unclear as to the reason why over-population was brought up as a downside to living in California.
Decades ago I was waiting in a dentist’s office and grabbed a retirement magazine to read. It listed CA as one of the Top 5 states folks were leaving and that surprised me. Reading into it I saw why. With the high cost of real estate folks were cashing out the equity and relocating to AZ, FL, SC, etc where they could pay cash for condos/homes and bank massive amounts of the equity to boot.Don't worry - more and more Californians are moving into your neck of the woods, and they're bring all of this with them.
It seemed odd, but looking at the massive disparity in taxes and housing costs it seemed like almost a no-brainer for many.
3rd generation Californian here. I always thought I’d retire in the mountains like my beloved in-laws. Until they had to give up their dream to get barely even decent healthcare. California is ranked #7 and our local hospital of choice for nearly 50 years is #10 in the state and #5 in the LA metro region. We decided to stay 13 years ago.
Now it’s Tennessee.
LOL! My sister and BIL retired from WI to a golf course community in central TN about 5 years ago! After 3 years/winters there they decided it was still too cold in winter and moved to SC about 20 miles from Hilton Head and love it. It’s a Del Webb development and has a 9,000 ft sq. woodshop with every power tool known to man. Rich sold all his tools and loves all the new one’s he has access too.
Last edited:
Decades ago, my cousin tried to convince me to move to California, "But be sure to get paid California dollars!"
Even more decades ago, my company was looking into expanding into California. When I inquired into any compensation adjustments, I was told there wouldn't be much and that nixed the move for me as I didn't want to live in a cardboard box on the street....
Conversly, they expanded into Puerto Rico and a friend took a position and lived like a king down there on the same salary...
Conversly, they expanded into Puerto Rico and a friend took a position and lived like a king down there on the same salary...
Good advice but sometimes you can still come up short. I moved from NY to CA in 1980 and doubled my salary. In NY I could have bought nice ranch style home with full basement on 2 acres for 60k, in CA nothing anywhere as nice for 2X the price. An equivalent home would have been 350k - 400k.
But it was a great place for a career in tech. I cashed out an moved to NV in 2020.
Last edited:
