I used to live in OC all my family on my wife’s side and on my side still live in OC. They would not consider moving to Riverside because they would not want to pay the price of time – not gas.
When I lived in OC I didn’t consider moving to Riverside even though I knew I could buy a bigger house. My time with my family was more important than that they live in a bigger house with a bigger backyard.
I think most people decide where to live based on how near they are to their employment – because it saves them time.
I moved my family to Riverside county because my employment location changed. I think most people have their own personal threshold for how much drive time they will spend for work. Mine was 3 hours a day on the freeway each day for nine months.
Of course it was easy for my stay-at-home wife to say that I should not base where I live on where I work. Leaving for work at 6am and sometimes not getting home until after 7pm each day gets old after a while. What’s the point of being married and having a family if you only see your kids for a couple hours at night?
Which would you rather have: free gas or free time?