Where are Californians moving to, what states?

[isabel]

I'm just wondering. We have been looking at Idaho for months now for a place to work a while longer and then retire. It is affordable and lots of CA residents are going there. I wonder what other states have low cost homes and living expenses? That other CA residents are finding attractive and are moving too. I have heard mention TX...any other states...and where in TX?

Izzy

[the dufferz]

Originally Posted by isabel

I'm just wondering. We have been looking at Idaho for months now for a place to work a while longer and then retire. It is affordable and lots of CA residents are going there. I wonder what other states have low cost homes and living expenses? That other CA residents are finding attractive and are moving too. I have heard mention TX...any other states...and where in TX?

Izzy

Washington gets a ton of Californians. That is one reason Western Washington has high housing costs and traffic .

The only follow-up question for me would be what job do you need to have and what kind of weather do you like?

There are areas of Washington that are very similar to Idaho and have a small town feeling to them. I talk about eastern washington in the washington forum, but I still have a couple of other areas to talk about.

Washington is a beautiful state both east and west, giving you everything from the rain forest to desert land, high density populations to "neighbors? we have neighbors?".

[RodFarlee]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, from 1995 to 2000, the number of Californians (in thousands) moving to the following states was:
Nevada 199
Arizona 186
Texas 183
Washington 156
Oregon 132
Colorado 111
Florida 94

[isabel]

Actually, my husband is a forklift mechanic. So we need to be near or in a fairly large populated area. Right now we live a half hour away from his work, and we live in a small rual town.

Like to have lots of activities for the kids, roller skating, bowling, the parks, things that wear them out:) I like artist stuff. Must have at least one art store supply place within driving distance. A community college would be nice or a college town. With plays and other art type activities. My hubby loves to fish and ride his bike. He doesn't mind the hot weather. I can't hack anything above 95 degrees. Here it gets to 115 some days in the summer. Doesn't have to be green all over the area...but at least be able to have green in the neighborhood would be nice. Humidity...never experienced it but I hear it can be an issue for some. Safe area to raise kids. We are also very active in our church, LDS.

Would like a home for under $200,000. Hopefully more around $175,000. Remember we are planning our retirement on our next move.

Izzy

[PDXnative]

North Carolina is a hot spot right now. We were even considering it.

[RodFarlee]

Izzy, Idaho probably comes closer to meeting your criteria than other alternatives. Boise does get above 95 in midsummer afternoons, but humidity is low and it cools off reliably in the evening. The median home price in Boise is $264,700 according to HousingTracker, but is lower on the west side (Caldwell, Nampa), and there's a range of housing available. Job growth is strong, unemployment is low. The Church has a dozen stakes throughout the area, of course, and could be a helpful resource in moving and settling there.

Summers in NC are a stream bath in comparison!

[PDXnative]

Idaho has a very large LDS community, but they HATE californians. Nampa and Caldwell are the armpits of Idaho. They have lots of hispanic gangs and problems.

Have you looked at St. George Utah? BEAUTFUL area!!! Saw roses blooming in December with palm trees in the background and light snow falling. coolest site I had ever seen. The red soil down there makes the place look like you are on mars. Very nice area!!!

[RodFarlee]

Chuckle! Nampa, and to a lesser extent Caldwell, do have problem areas. But they also have very nice areas.
A large proportion of the Boise metro population is from California.

St. George UT is an interesting area for retirement... it's a less attractive to those seeking a job.

[isabel]

I'm interested in Boise ID right now. We just keep coming back to it. I'm looking in the Kuna, Star, Bosie bench, Eagle, Meridian areas. I like the older homes in Bosie Bench, but the Kuna and Star area seem to give the most dollar value. Also checked out Emmetts...just seems to far out from Boise. I'm worried about icy roads in the winter commute.

I also looked at the Dallas, Texas and surrounding areas. Good prices on home. But it is so far from California where all our family lives. Some distant relatives in Utah.

Izzy

[catfish]

I think allot of people will move anywhere just to get out of the pits of california, We moved to north east Arkansas and so glad to out of SoCal

[Wyoming53]

Unfortunately, Calafornians move here.

If they moved here to enjoy the charm of the mountains, the fishing, the hunting, the way of life, that would be one thing. But they don't.

They move here, they pay cash for a house, and then when the second house is being built in the subdivision, out comes the convenence. This is how we did things in California. We want the same thing here. Even though all lots are a minimum of 10 acres, there will be no farm machinery. There will be no business run out of the home. There will be no animals other then you can have one dog and one cat. We don't want the ugly school bus driving all over ruining our roads, so all kids will congregate at the entrance of the subdivision and wait for the bus. yadda yadda yadda.

Excuse me. Take said covenence and go back to California. I don't care how you did things in California, and I darn sure don't want to do them here. I have 10 acres, I will buy a small tractor to keep it up. I bought 10 acres so I had a place to park my Semi. Yes, I'm independent, I don't belong to a company so there fore, you can consider me running a business out of my home. No matter where I park the truck. I want 2 dogs and no cats. I want the school bus to drive up to my driveway and pick up my kids. This is Wyoming. Do you understand -30 and the wind is blowing? I pay taxes for that bus to pick my kids up at my driveway. Not at the entrance thats 2.6 miles away.

If you want to move up here and blend into the charm of Wyoming. Welcome. But remember, you chose this lifestyle for a reason. It won't be that lifestyle if you change it.

[catfish]

Originally Posted by Wyoming53

Unfortunately, Calafornians move here.

If they moved here to enjoy the charm of the mountains, the fishing, the hunting, the way of life, that would be one thing. But they don't.

They move here, they pay cash for a house, and then when the second house is being built in the subdivision, out comes the convenence. This is how we did things in California. We want the same thing here. Even though all lots are a minimum of 10 acres, there will be no farm machinery. There will be no business run out of the home. There will be no animals other then you can have one dog and one cat. We don't want the ugly school bus driving all over ruining our roads, so all kids will congregate at the entrance of the subdivision and wait for the bus. yadda yadda yadda.

Excuse me. Take said covenence and go back to California. I don't care how you did things in California, and I darn sure don't want to do them here. I have 10 acres, I will buy a small tractor to keep it up. I bought 10 acres so I had a place to park my Semi. Yes, I'm independent, I don't belong to a company so there fore, you can consider me running a business out of my home. No matter where I park the truck. I want 2 dogs and no cats. I want the school bus to drive up to my driveway and pick up my kids. This is Wyoming. Do you understand -30 and the wind is blowing? I pay taxes for that bus to pick my kids up at my driveway. Not at the entrance thats 2.6 miles away.

If you want to move up here and blend into the charm of Wyoming. Welcome. But remember, you chose this lifestyle for a reason. It won't be that lifestyle if you change it.

I don't blame you I feel the same way. We moved to Arkansas because we love the area and don't want to change a thing. If people liked the area they move from so much then stay their. It's kind of like these illegal mixicans moving in and makng your area look like mexico. Their are places in California where it looks like you crossed over the border and didn't no it.

[Wyody]

Originally Posted by catfish

I think allot of people will move anywhere just to get out of the pits of california, We moved to north east Arkansas and so glad to out of SoCal

That's quite a change to move from dry ol Southern Cal to Arkansas - especially your part of Arkansas.
I moved from Southern Cal to "The Rockies" but was from the "midwest-east".
Was it a hard time adjusting - were you already "from" the area? Did you know what you were getting into? Did you move from city to farm? Farm to city?

[isabel]

Like the dog Wyody. I once moved from California to Virginia. Talk about culture shock:) That was back in the early 70's. When I came back to CA I had a southern accent. Funny, when I moved there it took three days for me to even understand what people were saying the accent was so thick. When I left they sounded completely normal...

Do you have an accent Wyody?

Izzy

[Wyody]

Originally Posted by isabel

Like the dog Wyody. I once moved from California to Virginia. Talk about culture shock:) That was back in the early 70's. When I came back to CA I had a southern accent. Funny, when I moved there it took three days for me to even understand what people were saying the accent was so thick. When I left they sounded completely normal...

Do you have an accent Wyody?

Izzy

Dog want cookie. Bad!
Funny thing about accents. I don't know if I have one any more or not.
When I first moved to Florida after a brief stint in San Atone, I still had my mid-western (Ohio) "non-accent". I didn't have the normal colloquial accents most folks know as "Ohioan". (poosh, boosh, schoo instead of push, bush and school). So, I spent a couple of years in Florida and moved to Michigan in the retail-finance field ... where I discovered I had grown a southern accent ... which was odd because I didn't have it when I left Florida!!
Well, that southern accent stayed with me a long time - thru Michigan and California and to the Rockies ... where it must've gotten lost. Most Rocky Mountain states have a "southern-style" accent but with no drawls - no particular "gentlemanly" adornments - just a straight out southern delivery.
Not Appalachian, not Texas, not Florida.
Now, here in Oregon, I'm not really detecting any accent and haven't heard that I have one so, can't say. Does it look like I have an accent? (Y'all?)