[quote=CA renter] … I think the long-term trend of people moving from the interior of the country to the coasts just might reverse over the next few decades as more and more people seek to buy their own homes, but can only do so in these cheaper states. As many have pointed out in other threads, incomes in other areas are about the same, while the cost of living is often substantially lower. If someone doesn’t have family and/or deep roots here, the “sunshine tax” argument becomes less compelling, especially if people are not able to buy their own homes here.[/quote]
I agree here, CAR, and it won’t be just “boomers.” A lot of native Cali recent college grads are no doubt going to have to relocate to find jobs in their fields which pay a living wage … even if just for the first few years of their career. The problem is that (not sure it IS a problem for all) if these recent grads end up staying on these distant jobs and “settling” in a “flyover state” to raise a family there, it is very often too difficult to duplicate the “lifestyle” in CA coastal counties that their families will enjoy elsewhere … even if they get a job in Cali which pays a little more than the one they have.
I myself raised my family in a region (SD) in which I (and my then spouse) had (and have) zero local family-member residents. We/I traveled often to see them and vice versa, but it wasn’t the same lifestyle as my friends and neighbors experience (with family constantly all around them for support). Thus, I’m one of those people (boomers :)) who will have no problem with blowing SD as soon as the last kid leaves the nest …. SOON for me, YAY! Even though I love parts of SD (which I could never afford to buy into by myself), after nearly 40 years here, I’m mainly disenchanted with SD’s unbridled growth (lowering every resident’s quality of life) and in my profession, I’ve seen way more than enough :=0
If I just need a “SD fix” in the future, there’s always friends to stay with and/or the Best Western, lol …
I’ll likely be moving to a town/city (not a “suburb” but semi-rural/rural) with a population of 1K to 50K (leaning towards <20K).
Hopefully, I will be able to find a nice log cabin to buy :=]
