Reply to WWYD: Move to Cali for career opp or stay in VA

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Op here. One more stat - $900k HHI[/quote]

I was going to say no ... but at that HHI yes I might. You will need to plan on private school, high food and fuel costs, smaller house for the money. Eldercare issues / travel costs related to the grandparents. 
And yes, fire (including days of smoke from far away fires) and earthquake insurance or self insurance: when looking for housing, think about evacuation routes, fire-resistant construction, and also how reliable is your water source because drought - which has always been a consideration - is going to turn into a political issue.

I'm from the Bay Area and my family is there, so I have personal reasons to live there - but I live in VA, instead, because it offers me a better quality of life for my salary, which is much lower than yours. The fires scare me and the Bay Area has become more crowded, rich, and pretentious than when I was a kid there. You will need to keep an eye on your kids' mental health because their peers will be intense.

Also, if you move there and still call it Cali, they throw you back over the border to Nevada. That's just the rules. [/quote]

OP here - hilarious on the Cali point, I deserved that.

Do you think the pressure cooker environment for kids is more than in the DMV? I worry about my kids here with the high amounts of wealth they are exposed to and high pressure at school.

Do you think you'll ever go back to the Bay Area?[/quote]

21:20 here (other replies are not me). I'm obviously not there now but from talking to friends, yes, it's the same or worse. Partly just a scarcity issue: there are just more smart rich people with high expectations for their kids, and many of them will have more resources and connections than you. There's way mor wealth than here. There's also a cultural desire to seem chill and make success look effortless and not as important to you as your hobbies (which will also be impressive). And there are body image / ED issues in some of the sports like climbing. I'm not trying to scare you but please just be aware and support your kids.

The public university system used to be excellent and cheap, which took some pressure off college admissions - I hear about it going downhill but I have no idea if that's actually true. If so, then you'll have more college scarcity. Many Californians have no interest in leaving the state (or the west) for college and less interest in East coast schools than you'd think - sort of, "Cornell? Didn't you get into a California school?"

The public K-12s are chroniclly underfunded because of some property tax decisions made in the 90s. In wealthy areas, they rely on parent donations. There are a number of strong privates, mostly religious, that are popular alternatives.

I saw in another post that you're looking at Burlingame to Mountainview - that's a really long commute, but I would consider it if you really love Burlingame and could take the train. If you plan to drive I would look closer to work. [/quote]

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