flinger, why do you like Austin, Albuquerque, and Ft. Collins? Why are you anxious to leave San Diego?
The first and most obvious reason is why we all read this blog in the first place: housing is too expensive. It costs too much to either rent or own, but ownership is not an attainable goal for me in SoCal. Even if the severe declines in home prices happen, I really don’t ever expect to ‘catch’ the market since I earn relatively little (~$90K/year currently).
Those places I listed above are all less expensive at the moment. My home town of Austin in particular is really nice: better scenery, better weather, better personality, better people (in my opinion :). I am an outdoor person so I prefer the hill country and all the activities central Texas has to offer.
