[jennyo]

Beanmaestro, please forgive my ignorance, but what is the welfare tax?

[jennyo]

I am a native San Diegan, born in Sharp Hospital in 1968. My father was a SD City firefighter for 35 years, my mother did not work outside the home. We lived in rentals in Escondido until I was about 8 (apparently the commute on I-15 wasn’t terrible at the time) and then my parents bought a lot in Valley Center and built a home on it. At that time, all the VC lots were a minimum of 2.5 acres. Our road did not get paved until 1981, and there was no high school. I agree that most of inland north county is pretty soul-less (a bit racist too). Around 1979 my dad got involved in some “speculative” real estate deals and the RE market crashed so he was carrying the costs of 3 houses (2 specs and our home) on his firefighter salary. I remember feeling very, very poor at the time. Eventually the market improved and the spec houses sold. But I don’t remember viewing SD real estate prices as being out of control until the past 5 or 6 years. I moved to Northern Cal for college in the late 80s and and stayed here after, but until 2001 or so felt that the pricing insanity was worse in the Bay Area than in San Diego. There were always “rich places” like La Jolla, Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe where prices were going to be exclusive, but what shocks me now is that people are willing to pay high prices to live in places like Escondido, Vista, Temecula (ugh) and yes, VC. Especially with the crowds. Other than the beautiful weather, I don’t see how the quality of life can be as good as it once was.

[jennyo]

I am a native San Diegan, born in Sharp Hospital in 1968. My father was a SD City firefighter for 35 years, my mother did not work outside the home. We lived in rentals in Escondido until I was about 8 (apparently the commute on I-15 wasn’t terrible at the time) and then my parents bought a lot in Valley Center and built a home on it. At that time, all the VC lots were a minimum of 2.5 acres. Our road did not get paved until 1981, and there was no high school. I agree that most of inland north county is pretty soul-less (a bit racist too). Around 1979 my dad got involved in some “speculative” real estate deals and the RE market crashed so he was carrying the costs of 3 houses (2 specs and our home) on his firefighter salary. I remember feeling very, very poor at the time. Eventually the market improved and the spec houses sold. But I don’t remember viewing SD real estate prices as being out of control until the past 5 or 6 years. I moved to Northern Cal for college in the late 80s and and stayed here after, but until 2001 or so felt that the pricing insanity was worse in the Bay Area than in San Diego. There were always “rich places” like La Jolla, Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe where prices were going to be exclusive, but what shocks me now is that people are willing to pay high prices to live in places like Escondido, Vista, Temecula (ugh) and yes, VC. Especially with the crowds. Other than the beautiful weather, I don’t see how the quality of life can be as good as it once was.

[jennyo]

I grew up in NE SD County (Valley Center) in a modest home my parents built on a large lot in the 70s. Now live in Sacramento working for the state, I make $114,000 and my husband makes about $68,000. We are both 38, no kids but we have 3 90-lb dogs which makes home ownership a must. We manage to save a little but will both have 60 percent state pensions when we retire. We bought a small post war bungalow (1200sf) here in 2000 for $115,000 and sold it in 2003 for $250,000. After that we purchased a larger (small by today’s standards at 1600sf) house in 2003 for $319,000. I still think we paid a little too much for the house we are in but our mortgage is about $200K and we really wanted a second bathroom. We make decent wages for this area, but we wouldn’t even be able to sniff at a house in SD without $300k-$400k in cash.

[jennyo]

I grew up in NE SD County (Valley Center) in a modest home my parents built on a large lot in the 70s. Now live in Sacramento working for the state, I make $114,000 and my husband makes about $68,000. We are both 38, no kids but we have 3 90-lb dogs which makes home ownership a must. We manage to save a little but will both have 60 percent state pensions when we retire. We bought a small post war bungalow (1200sf) here in 2000 for $115,000 and sold it in 2003 for $250,000. After that we purchased a larger (small by today’s standards at 1600sf) house in 2003 for $319,000. I still think we paid a little too much for the house we are in but our mortgage is about $200K and we really wanted a second bathroom. We make decent wages for this area, but we wouldn’t even be able to sniff at a house in SD without $300k-$400k in cash.

[jennyo]

I am getting a 10 percent retention increase and a 3.4 percent cola. My husband is just getting the 3.4 pct. We both work for the state government.

[jennyo]

I am getting a 10 percent retention increase and a 3.4 percent cola. My husband is just getting the 3.4 pct. We both work for the state government.

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