I know that they started ticketing the big lines of RVs that were parked along Latham street late last year, and the RVs started disappearing. Maybe they found another area? Haven’t been they that area at night since end of last year.
There are still RVs parked in the area around Rengstorff Park as far as I know.
We saw a lot of them on South Shoreline last fall, near where S1 lived.
Do finance/IB interns still sleep under their desks in NYC ? And not because they do not have an apartment in the area, but because they worked 16 to 17 hour days.
I feel lucky because the house I bought 9 years ago in Southern CA for $700k during a buyer’s market is now selling for 1 million. Good to know I can buy two very nice, better houses in AL if I sell this one.
^You couldn’t give me a house in Alabama, lol, but there certainly ARE plenty of places where you can get nice houses for the equity you have now!
This article is timely:
It came up in my google feed. I guess google knows which threads I read!
^^^ I’m sure the folks in Alabama are happy they haven’t been affected by the California exodus. Give it time.
D and her new H currently live in Southern California. They both would very much like to return to the Bay Area - especially so they could be near us when they have their own family. And H and I are in a position to help them financially.
DSIL has been looking at opportunities in many areas, Austin being one of them. They did the math. For what a small fixer upper in the East Bay would run them they could get a brand new, with pool, with guest unit, in a neighborhood of great schools place in Austin. PLUS, as DSIL jokingly put it 'we could by the smaller place down the road for your parents and it still would be less expensive than the Bay Area." Additionally, their utilities - even with running the needed AC - would be less than what they are paying for electrical in their current condo.
My D2, 2017 college grad, is in the Bay Area and I don’t see her staying long because it’s so expensive. She loves the company she works for, so who knows.
I used to drive myself to high school every day senior year (about ~30 miles round trip) and it was fine. I mean, there was traffic if I left campus past 4pm but it was fine.
About a week ago I made the full trip from my high school to my parents house well before the high school would be let out (it’s summer anyway) and people started going back home. Oh. My. God. The traffic was horrible! There were no accidents on my direct route, just more people.
So much congestion everywhere! So many people. I don’t know if staying here is worth it for many people.
The Chinese RE investors don’t care about traffic. They don’t live there.
If folks continue to migrate to other states, I’m OK with that. The weather, Pacific Ocean, Wine Country, Lake Tahoe, 49ers, Warriors, Cal and Stanford aren’t moving anywhere any time soon. <:-P
We have seen a lot of migration to Austin of young people. As much as they appreciate the lower cost of living most want to come back to California. The pull of family is great.
The fiancé of my S interviewed for a job at Zappos in Las Vegas. The job was good but she didn’t feel moving to Vegas was worth the trade off. It’s hard going from a California salary to a Las Vegas salary even though rationally you don’t need as much to live as cost of living is lower.
This thread prompted me to check out a property recently owned by family. Menlo Park area: @50 year old 1100 sq ft, 1 bath ranch. Small lot. Sold in '06 for 850K, then sold in 2015 for 1.7M after about 35k of improvements. Zillow, etc. say current value is 2.3M and its value has increased 66k in last month. Apparently, I lack imagination…
It’s all about choices. Most families can afford homes, but perhaps not always where they want.
I bought a 3 bedroom house a few years ago in the midwest on a phd stipend salary. The school system is fantastic. My work is within commuting distance and once I graduate, I have multiple cities/areas within commuting distance that can offer me work. Mr R’s work is so close that he comes home for lunch. These are choices we made because we knew we wanted a family (which, at the time, meant we wanted a dog).
I think the cost of living many places is disgusting and a gross injustice- but almost no one HAS to live in one high COL place or another. And if you do, because that’s your chosen profession and the “only” place you can find opportunities, then that’s your choice. I’ll save my sympathy for people trapped in places like Flint and Detroit who are there because they literally have no choice. Their choices were essentially made for them when they were born into places of deeply entrenched poverty.
I grew up in poverty. There are always choices. The question is whether the individual has the desire, the wherewithal, the grit, and the will to make a different choice from the one they find themselves in.
If only it were just will/desire needed. So many have the will, but not the actual ability - mental/academic/opportunities, etc. I suspect there’s a genetic component, but also a childhood (and/or even pre-birth) environmental one. If some kids had been swapped at birth I’m pretty sure there’d be an entirely different outcome for many for the environmental part (not counting pre-birth things like FAS). One need only look at twin studies to see the genetic parts.
'Tis definitely impressive when some make it, but saying it’s only desire, grit, etc, is akin to saying all of us can be Bill Gates or Elon Musk (or any top sports star) if we only want it badly enough. I don’t think so. I think it takes a combo of the right genetics and opportunity - then add desire.
Exceptional desire, wherewithal, grit, and will may bring someone out of a poor situation. However, someone with average desire, wherewithal, grit, and will may be much likely to escape from poverty, even if someone with similar desire, wherewithal, grit, and will starting in a non-poverty situation would become successful in life.
I grew up in poverty too. But I didn’t have lead in my drinking water, I had textbooks at school, and the color of my skin made it far more likely that I would grow up without run-ins with the law. Just to name a few advantages that allowed me to break out of the cycle.