Business Fleeing California???

[Dreamliner]

Originally Posted by gatorev12

^best of luck to you as you start this new endeavor

Thanks, rev.

[adamgator96]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner

Update: found a cheap place to live in Pasadena. Auto insurance will be no more than $350 annually. Health insurance will probably be a little over $100 a month. Gas is surprisingly not much higher. Groceries are maybe slightly higher than in Florida. No shortage of cheap eats and thrift shops are profuse.

Yes, the area is vastly more huge than Orlando, so I may be spending more money on gas overall. Ex: I had a rental car and it took me all day to drive from Santa Monica, to downtown, up to Pasadena, down Sunset Blvd to the ocean, up to Malibu, then back to Santa Monica.

On the other hand, rail and bus is quite extensive and their monthly passes are cheap. I'll have to play this by ear.

One thing on the docket is to invest in a good pair of hiking shoes so I can hike in the San Gabriel Mountains weekends. I can see the mountains from my bathroom window.

Dream - groceries are much more expensive than Florida. If you haven't noticed yet, then good on ya. A can of Le Seuer peas is $2.69 at Ralph's or Gelsons. It's at least a dollar cheaper in FL. Can't understand why it's WIC approved considering other brand cost 69 cents. Eggs, bread, milk, meat...Clausen pickles...all are much more expensive.

And you'll easily pay 30-50 cents more per gallon of gas depending on where you buy it, so you have to pay attention.

It is a gorgeous day today, though, so it'd be worth the gas money to get out and explore.

[Gatorrick22]

Originally Posted by wygator

2010 Census Data had a net negative migration for California of 93,000 people. I'd say that's likely to be increasing. Largest numbers moved to Texas, Nevada, Arizona and Washington.

Interesting graphic here

Excellent info wygator. Thanks for posting it. Florida is gaining too.

[Dreamliner]

Originally Posted by adamgator96

Dream - groceries are much more expensive than Florida. If you haven't noticed yet, then good on ya. A can of Le Seuer peas is $2.69 at Ralph's or Gelsons. It's at least a dollar cheaper in FL. Can't understand why it's WIC approved considering other brand cost 69 cents. Eggs, bread, milk, meat...Clausen pickles...all are much more expensive.

And you'll easily pay 30-50 cents more per gallon of gas depending on where you buy it, so you have to pay attention.

It is a gorgeous day today, though, so it'd be worth the gas money to get out and explore.

Thanks, gas is about $3.40 in Orlando, around $3.80 in LA. And I did see $3.75 here and there.

Thing is, I can save about a dollar a day driving around Orlando ... and I see Orlando.

But I guess I didn't notice a pronounced difference in food prices, at least not in the foods I typically buy. Maybe it's good that I'm not a milk drinker.

Certainly I would have expected a city much larger than Orlando to have generally higher prices. I guess I was prepared for a larger disparity in prices than I appeared to find.

Ex: I parked all day, in downtown LA, for $4. I couldn't do that in Orlando. Next day I parked in a very swish garage, in downtown Pasadena, that was free for two hours. I then bought a cup of really good coffee, with a really good oatmeal-raisin cookie, for under $3, went to a really nice park and read the free local newspaper.

I suppose it greatly helps that I am a man with perhaps unusually simple tastes. What I just described is me partying.

The one thing I found annoying was the profusion of valet parking. It's everywhere. It's like a jobs program.

[Gatorrick22]

Dreamliner, did you move out there or are you just visiting/vacationing.

[Swampmaster]

if you really like living in california (san diego, LA, SF, etc.) not many will pack up and move just because of a tax.

[Dreamliner]

Originally Posted by Gatorrick22

Dreamliner, did you move out there or are you just visiting/vacationing.

Just got back from a scouting trip. Will likely more there in 4-6 weeks.

[Dreamliner]

Cost Comparison LA vs. Orlando:

Gas: higher

Groceries: higher

Public transit: same

Parking: same (except for valet)

Restaurants: same

Coffee: same

Sunday newspaper: same

health insurance: cheaper

auto insurance: cheaper

income vs. rent: starting weekly income for temporary job is quite modest, but exceeds monthly rent. Being the cheapskate that I am, I may be able to quickly establish fixed expenses at no more than 50% of income.

fitness business: this is the longer-term goal and there are no guarantees, but my sister is a marketing consultant and maintains that I should be able to easily double my Orlando rates.

Bottom-line: for me, LA appears to offer much more promise than Orlando. Yes, I may be slightly atypical, but nonetheless an example of why people move to California. it helps that I'm probably closer to a Mexican than a Gringo in terms of what I need to be happy. Also, it helps that my sister is going to assist me with my marketing needs for free.

[Dreamliner]

Originally Posted by Swampmaster

if you really like living in california (san diego, LA, SF, etc.) not many will pack up and move just because of a tax.

This is key. I can already understand why people put up with untold aggravations to live here. I just mentioned that I will be able to see snow-capped mountains from my bathroom window and hear parrots flying overhead.

[Dreamliner]

Weekend entertainment options:

(A) Saturday: take my dogs thirty minutes drive to the beach or take my dogs thirty minutes drive to mountains.

(B) Sunday: park downtown for free, buy coffee, oatmeal cookie and newspaper for under $5 and read newspaper in park. Or stay in cafe and post on Gator Country after having read newspaper. Then go home and get pummeled by dogs. Then take them outside and train them not to eat my neighbors free-ranging chickens.

Day trips:

Mexico, San Francisco, San Diego, Las Vegas, Big Sur, 14,000+ foot mountains, Death Valley, Joshua Tree National Park, Redwoods, take ferry to Catalina Island, mountain hiking, etc.

Over-nighters: Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Area 51, etc.

Short vacation: take train up coast to Canada. Neighbors are bigtime dog-lovers and will babysit my dogs.

[Dreamliner]

Further observation: spending a few days in LA my reaction was not so much "Wow! Look at all the Hispanics!", probably because there are so many in Orlando. Rather, my reaction was like "Wow! Look at all the Asians!"