[UCGal]

Scarlett –
my husband, being from the east coast (Philly), was SUPER paranoid about earthquakes when we moved here. He has since 100% changed his paranoia to fires.

There are things you can do to retrofit an older house. We haven’t spent much at all… (of course Hubby is doing the work.) It’s mainly just fixing things if we open a wall for some other reason.

That said – some of the classic mid-century features are things you need to consider for seismic… walls of bricks or stone around a fireplace wall… Hubby took out a lot of our brick around the fireplace to remove the weight – and then put wire and stucco over the remainder (more tuscan than mid-60’s now)… so that if an earthquake happens that brick won’t come landing in our living room and konk someone in the head.

As I said – my husband has shifted his previous paranoia from earthquakes to fire. (We’re right above San Clemente and have a deep canyon off shoot near our house). So now it’s about fire hardening the house… smaller screens on the soffit vents, nothing flamable right next to the house…

You can ALWAYS find a reason to decide against a house or neighborhood. But a lot of the issues can be addressed.

[UCGal]

Scarlett –
my husband, being from the east coast (Philly), was SUPER paranoid about earthquakes when we moved here. He has since 100% changed his paranoia to fires.

There are things you can do to retrofit an older house. We haven’t spent much at all… (of course Hubby is doing the work.) It’s mainly just fixing things if we open a wall for some other reason.

That said – some of the classic mid-century features are things you need to consider for seismic… walls of bricks or stone around a fireplace wall… Hubby took out a lot of our brick around the fireplace to remove the weight – and then put wire and stucco over the remainder (more tuscan than mid-60’s now)… so that if an earthquake happens that brick won’t come landing in our living room and konk someone in the head.

As I said – my husband has shifted his previous paranoia from earthquakes to fire. (We’re right above San Clemente and have a deep canyon off shoot near our house). So now it’s about fire hardening the house… smaller screens on the soffit vents, nothing flamable right next to the house…

You can ALWAYS find a reason to decide against a house or neighborhood. But a lot of the issues can be addressed.

[UCGal]

Scarlett –
my husband, being from the east coast (Philly), was SUPER paranoid about earthquakes when we moved here. He has since 100% changed his paranoia to fires.

There are things you can do to retrofit an older house. We haven’t spent much at all… (of course Hubby is doing the work.) It’s mainly just fixing things if we open a wall for some other reason.

That said – some of the classic mid-century features are things you need to consider for seismic… walls of bricks or stone around a fireplace wall… Hubby took out a lot of our brick around the fireplace to remove the weight – and then put wire and stucco over the remainder (more tuscan than mid-60’s now)… so that if an earthquake happens that brick won’t come landing in our living room and konk someone in the head.

As I said – my husband has shifted his previous paranoia from earthquakes to fire. (We’re right above San Clemente and have a deep canyon off shoot near our house). So now it’s about fire hardening the house… smaller screens on the soffit vents, nothing flamable right next to the house…

You can ALWAYS find a reason to decide against a house or neighborhood. But a lot of the issues can be addressed.

[UCGal]

[quote=bdc0]When buying, getting something built with better building codes is good. Is there a time they changed a lot? If so, when? I tried Google, but no luck. I’m sure there are various minor changes, I’m thinking of something such as “two years after the xx earthquake, building codes were upgraded to require more [good stuff]”.[/quote]

I asked my husband (architect) and he said the big seismic building requirements happened in the early 70’s following a big earthquake in San Fernando Valley in 1971.

Our house was built in the 60’s… hubby has been going through, methodically, adding diagonal bracing, sheer walls (plywood replacing sheetrock), more bolts to the foundation and strapping. He’s a bit paranoid. LOL.

A little more digging since you asked for specifics.

1971 was the Sylmar earthquake in the San Fernando. It triggered changes in Hospital and School requirements (including retrofitting). It also triggered LA to go in and require retrofitting of masonry and brick buildings.
http://www.bsc.ca.gov/abt_bsc/abt_hstry.htm

1994 was the Northridge earthquake – that triggered retrofit and new codes required for bridges and connecting structures (notice how the supports for freeway overpasses are now covered in steel.) It also changed the rules for wood framed structures 3 stories or higher. (More steel required if it’s 3 or more stories)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Northridge_earthquake

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/california-building-codes-earthquakes-2592.html

Basically – around the mid 70’s things got a lot more earthquake resistant. And even moreso after 1994.

[UCGal]

[quote=bdc0]When buying, getting something built with better building codes is good. Is there a time they changed a lot? If so, when? I tried Google, but no luck. I’m sure there are various minor changes, I’m thinking of something such as “two years after the xx earthquake, building codes were upgraded to require more [good stuff]”.[/quote]

I asked my husband (architect) and he said the big seismic building requirements happened in the early 70’s following a big earthquake in San Fernando Valley in 1971.

Our house was built in the 60’s… hubby has been going through, methodically, adding diagonal bracing, sheer walls (plywood replacing sheetrock), more bolts to the foundation and strapping. He’s a bit paranoid. LOL.

A little more digging since you asked for specifics.

1971 was the Sylmar earthquake in the San Fernando. It triggered changes in Hospital and School requirements (including retrofitting). It also triggered LA to go in and require retrofitting of masonry and brick buildings.
http://www.bsc.ca.gov/abt_bsc/abt_hstry.htm

1994 was the Northridge earthquake – that triggered retrofit and new codes required for bridges and connecting structures (notice how the supports for freeway overpasses are now covered in steel.) It also changed the rules for wood framed structures 3 stories or higher. (More steel required if it’s 3 or more stories)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Northridge_earthquake

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/california-building-codes-earthquakes-2592.html

Basically – around the mid 70’s things got a lot more earthquake resistant. And even moreso after 1994.

[UCGal]

[quote=bdc0]When buying, getting something built with better building codes is good. Is there a time they changed a lot? If so, when? I tried Google, but no luck. I’m sure there are various minor changes, I’m thinking of something such as “two years after the xx earthquake, building codes were upgraded to require more [good stuff]”.[/quote]

I asked my husband (architect) and he said the big seismic building requirements happened in the early 70’s following a big earthquake in San Fernando Valley in 1971.

Our house was built in the 60’s… hubby has been going through, methodically, adding diagonal bracing, sheer walls (plywood replacing sheetrock), more bolts to the foundation and strapping. He’s a bit paranoid. LOL.

A little more digging since you asked for specifics.

1971 was the Sylmar earthquake in the San Fernando. It triggered changes in Hospital and School requirements (including retrofitting). It also triggered LA to go in and require retrofitting of masonry and brick buildings.
http://www.bsc.ca.gov/abt_bsc/abt_hstry.htm

1994 was the Northridge earthquake – that triggered retrofit and new codes required for bridges and connecting structures (notice how the supports for freeway overpasses are now covered in steel.) It also changed the rules for wood framed structures 3 stories or higher. (More steel required if it’s 3 or more stories)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Northridge_earthquake

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/california-building-codes-earthquakes-2592.html

Basically – around the mid 70’s things got a lot more earthquake resistant. And even moreso after 1994.

[UCGal]

[quote=bdc0]When buying, getting something built with better building codes is good. Is there a time they changed a lot? If so, when? I tried Google, but no luck. I’m sure there are various minor changes, I’m thinking of something such as “two years after the xx earthquake, building codes were upgraded to require more [good stuff]”.[/quote]

I asked my husband (architect) and he said the big seismic building requirements happened in the early 70’s following a big earthquake in San Fernando Valley in 1971.

Our house was built in the 60’s… hubby has been going through, methodically, adding diagonal bracing, sheer walls (plywood replacing sheetrock), more bolts to the foundation and strapping. He’s a bit paranoid. LOL.

A little more digging since you asked for specifics.

1971 was the Sylmar earthquake in the San Fernando. It triggered changes in Hospital and School requirements (including retrofitting). It also triggered LA to go in and require retrofitting of masonry and brick buildings.
http://www.bsc.ca.gov/abt_bsc/abt_hstry.htm

1994 was the Northridge earthquake – that triggered retrofit and new codes required for bridges and connecting structures (notice how the supports for freeway overpasses are now covered in steel.) It also changed the rules for wood framed structures 3 stories or higher. (More steel required if it’s 3 or more stories)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Northridge_earthquake

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/california-building-codes-earthquakes-2592.html

Basically – around the mid 70’s things got a lot more earthquake resistant. And even moreso after 1994.

[UCGal]

[quote=bdc0]When buying, getting something built with better building codes is good. Is there a time they changed a lot? If so, when? I tried Google, but no luck. I’m sure there are various minor changes, I’m thinking of something such as “two years after the xx earthquake, building codes were upgraded to require more [good stuff]”.[/quote]

I asked my husband (architect) and he said the big seismic building requirements happened in the early 70’s following a big earthquake in San Fernando Valley in 1971.

Our house was built in the 60’s… hubby has been going through, methodically, adding diagonal bracing, sheer walls (plywood replacing sheetrock), more bolts to the foundation and strapping. He’s a bit paranoid. LOL.

A little more digging since you asked for specifics.

1971 was the Sylmar earthquake in the San Fernando. It triggered changes in Hospital and School requirements (including retrofitting). It also triggered LA to go in and require retrofitting of masonry and brick buildings.
http://www.bsc.ca.gov/abt_bsc/abt_hstry.htm

1994 was the Northridge earthquake – that triggered retrofit and new codes required for bridges and connecting structures (notice how the supports for freeway overpasses are now covered in steel.) It also changed the rules for wood framed structures 3 stories or higher. (More steel required if it’s 3 or more stories)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Northridge_earthquake

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/california-building-codes-earthquakes-2592.html

Basically – around the mid 70’s things got a lot more earthquake resistant. And even moreso after 1994.

[UCGal]

I would add another sdlookup forum thread – fresh from today… speculating that UTC rentals are about to crash.

http://www.sdlookup.com/Forums/General/tabid/57/forumid/624/postid/114672/view/topic/Default.aspx

[UCGal]

I would add another sdlookup forum thread – fresh from today… speculating that UTC rentals are about to crash.

http://www.sdlookup.com/Forums/General/tabid/57/forumid/624/postid/114672/view/topic/Default.aspx

[UCGal]

I would add another sdlookup forum thread – fresh from today… speculating that UTC rentals are about to crash.

http://www.sdlookup.com/Forums/General/tabid/57/forumid/624/postid/114672/view/topic/Default.aspx

[UCGal]

I would add another sdlookup forum thread – fresh from today… speculating that UTC rentals are about to crash.

http://www.sdlookup.com/Forums/General/tabid/57/forumid/624/postid/114672/view/topic/Default.aspx

[UCGal]

I would add another sdlookup forum thread – fresh from today… speculating that UTC rentals are about to crash.

http://www.sdlookup.com/Forums/General/tabid/57/forumid/624/postid/114672/view/topic/Default.aspx

[UCGal]

My grandfather retired early (55) in the early 70’s. Inflation KILLED thier budget. My grandmother, who’d never worked outside the home, became a “shop girl” at Quon Mane in La Jolla…, in her 60’s. The fixed income/pension that they thought would be enough wasn’t. It wasn’t the retirement of their plans.

[quote=walterwhite]Otoh instead of retirement taking time out for radical retooling for a better different job or adventure sounds more prudent and probably more fun and invigorating[/quote]

This is actually a great idea. I have 2 friends and a sister who’ve done this. One friend has an undergrad degree from Penn, MBA from Columbia, and was doing technical marketing for 15 years… She realized she’s always be a square peg in a round hole. She took some inheritance, paid off her house, traveled around the world for a year (volunteering in 1 month increments to allow her to meet people and get her host family lodging.) She came back, and started working as a director for a non-profit… Much more fulfilling for her than the corporate rat race. My sister decided in her early 30’s to chuck her corporate job and get a teaching credential… Lower income potential, but it was a good choice for her and her students – she’s a great teacher. Plus summers off to travel and do mission work in Africa. She’s never looked back.

[UCGal]

My grandfather retired early (55) in the early 70’s. Inflation KILLED thier budget. My grandmother, who’d never worked outside the home, became a “shop girl” at Quon Mane in La Jolla…, in her 60’s. The fixed income/pension that they thought would be enough wasn’t. It wasn’t the retirement of their plans.

[quote=walterwhite]Otoh instead of retirement taking time out for radical retooling for a better different job or adventure sounds more prudent and probably more fun and invigorating[/quote]

This is actually a great idea. I have 2 friends and a sister who’ve done this. One friend has an undergrad degree from Penn, MBA from Columbia, and was doing technical marketing for 15 years… She realized she’s always be a square peg in a round hole. She took some inheritance, paid off her house, traveled around the world for a year (volunteering in 1 month increments to allow her to meet people and get her host family lodging.) She came back, and started working as a director for a non-profit… Much more fulfilling for her than the corporate rat race. My sister decided in her early 30’s to chuck her corporate job and get a teaching credential… Lower income potential, but it was a good choice for her and her students – she’s a great teacher. Plus summers off to travel and do mission work in Africa. She’s never looked back.

[Author]

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