I work for the federal government. I wouldn’t want to paint the picture that everything is perfect here in Iowa, but for families in situations like ours, it makes sense and life is as good or better than SoCal for us. For single people in their 20s, I would recommend living in a place like PB in San Diego, and I have encouraged a few people here to actually move out there, get out of Iowa, and experience the world. Also, for families who make 150k+ a year, San Diego offers quite a few choices, and were I in that boat I would be tempted to live in a place like Encinitas or Carlsbad. Instead, I make half that, my wife doesn’t work, and my quality of life – minus the weather, beach, mountains, Mexico, Vegas etc., is pretty good. But at this stage in my life I’m more worried about good schools, safe communities, reasonable cost of living etc. One downside is that we truly miss our relatives in San Diego. That is by far the hardest part…
