‘Sticker Shock’ in Los Angeles Housing

Re:‘Sticker Shock’ in Los Angeles Housing by hugs on Tuesday September 27, 2016 @07:12PM (#12594090)

Cost of living and real estate prices are what keep me away from living in California again, even though I grew up there. Grew up in Thousand Oaks (due north of Malibu), but got married and started my family in Oak Park (west of Chicago). We'd be happy to have you here! Take all the money you would otherwise spend on a house in L.A. and instead, spend it on extending your startup's runway, and/or 3D printers, Arduino, and making robots. It worked for me! With O'Hare airport nearby, you're always a frequent, direct flight away from the coasts if needed.

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Re:‘Sticker Shock’ in Los Angeles Housing by toomuchtodo on Tuesday September 27, 2016 @07:14PM (#12594098)

Funny enough, I recently moved from Schaumburg (having lived most of my life in the Chicago suburbs) to St Petersburg, FL to get away from the high cost of living in Illinois (and the winters!).

No income tax (helpful in high earning years), much lower property taxes, and I'm 15 minutes from one of the top rated beaches in the country.

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Re:‘Sticker Shock’ in Los Angeles Housing by kcanini on Tuesday September 27, 2016 @07:41PM (#12594249)

Yeah, but how many high-paying tech jobs are available in Florida?

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Re:‘Sticker Shock’ in Los Angeles Housing by toomuchtodo on Tuesday September 27, 2016 @07:46PM (#12594282)

I work remote for a Bay Area startup, close to market rate.

If I instead worked locally, DevOps jobs are a plenty. Sure, not at $130K-$150K/year, but plenty at $100K-$125K/year, which affords more purchasing power relatively than me making market rate in the Bay Area. And I get much more time with my family working from home.

There is no amount of money in the world worth trading quality of life.

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Re:‘Sticker Shock’ in Los Angeles Housing by kilbuz on Tuesday September 27, 2016 @11:13PM (#12595194)

Which is exactly why many people would never dream of leaving SF for Florida.

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Re:‘Sticker Shock’ in Los Angeles Housing by dionidium on Wednesday September 28, 2016 @09:59AM (#12597641)

San Francisco is a fantastic place, but I'm convinced that comments like this one that assume it's so much better than everywhere else that you'd have to be crazy to leave are evidence of a deep (probably not even conscious) need to justify the high cost of living.

If San Francisco didn't cost so much, people wouldn't feel the need to defend it in such ridiculous ways.

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Re:‘Sticker Shock’ in Los Angeles Housing by irrational on Wednesday September 28, 2016 @02:45AM (#12595867)

What is it that attracts you to SF? I've been there lots of times for conferences and it has always struck me as a so-so place to live, but in my experience there are so many places that are so much better. Cheaper housing, closer to nature, better mountains, better beaches, less fog, better weather, less taxes, fewer californians ;-)

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Re:‘Sticker Shock’ in Los Angeles Housing by toomuchtodo on Wednesday September 28, 2016 @12:50AM (#12595476)

To each their own. I'd rather retire at 35-37 then have to try to stick it out in the tech industry in my 40s and face the ageism that comes with that.

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Re:‘Sticker Shock’ in Los Angeles Housing by shostack on Wednesday September 28, 2016 @06:37AM (#12596651)

Lived in Chicago most of my life and moved to the bay a couple years ago.

What you might gain in affordability you lose in weather and employment options. Also, corporate culture in the Midwest is typically as dated and conservative as it gets.

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