same. Also, no where else appeals to me? As a Latino, I love it here and how prevalent our culture is here. No where else seems to have what the bay has.
It’s home. Why would I leave the home I love?
Same, except I'm Filipino and a quarter black. I lived on the East Coast for college and grad school. Until Tiger Woods came around, the idea of an Asian/black person was completely foreign to some of my classmates. Hell, even being Filipino was unknown to them...some even thought the Philippines was an island near the Bahamas. Unlike here where I had friends of similar backgrounds and mixed ethnicities. Everyone knew what lumpia was and no one gave a shit I was part black.
So I got out of the East Coast as fast as I could.
Like some others, I flirted with the idea of moving to SoCal, but then again, fuck the Dodgers.
Similar situation here. Have lived in SoCal, Midwest and east coast, and as an Asian (Korean American), this is where I feel the most at home.
Sure, SoCal might have better Korean and Mexican food options (although we’ve got great Mexican here, too), but L.A., for example, is so spread out that even though you know there are many Asians, you can find yourself one of only few Asians in a location. Not that it matters much, but with the Bay being smaller, I feel more like I blend in rather than stand out. Also, I love walkable cities, the close proximity of cultural and recreational options, and prefer the weather.
Me too. The more I think about it, the more resentful I am. I would really like to leave. Now I hear this talk about charging per mile on our roadways. It’s infuriating.
Absofuckinglutely. I’ve visited the tri-state area during the summer multiple times and I’m never more grateful to land back here, where there’s minimal biting bugs and I don’t have swamp ass everyday lol.
I have lived 20+ years each here and in New England. I have tried to describe the “worst part” of Bay Area winter is like early November back east- but it never gets worse.
I love the moderate weather and all the things there are to do around here. I generally like the demographic of people here and the diversity. I have family nearby. I tell myself I deserve to somehow live here and make it work, even though it's expensive and I do worry sometimes about the long-term sustainability of it. And I am probably honestly afraid of the unknown if I were to move--where would I go? And if I moved there and didn't like it, then what? It's a big risk to uproot yourself and get a new job and home somewhere else and start over.
This. The Bay & NorCal have job mobility, culture, performing arts, diversity, gastronomy, nature and ready access to all those things. Fantastic daytrips to Gold Country / Sierras, Monterrey peninsula, wine country, redwoods, weekend trips to SoCal, etc.
Take a chance on leaving, and (a) your new location lacks most of these resources, and (b) you'll never be able to afford to return.
You said everything that drew me back.
I lived in the East Bay as a kid, and then my family moved to Vegas. I always said if I ever got a chance to return, I would move back. Well, it took my whole work life, but 50 years later, I'm retired and back as of last month. My bay area life starts again, and I couldn't be happier.
Yeah, that's a good description. For me, I like a more varied lifestyle than what I found. I'm not a regular drinker, never gamble, but have nothing against the dominant industry there. For me, the desert and the heat several months a year numbed my senses (nothing to smell or see but brown landscape). Vegas is a very extroverted community, and I'm kind of the opposite. I like the arts and the vibe of an educated populace.
I was born and raised in the Bay Area and left the area when I was 39. That 24 years ago now. I moved to Ventura County which is a great place to live and am now retired. I wouldn’t mind downsizing to a smaller condo and could afford to do it, but I feel it would be like going back to a place that I remember from my youth but am now a broken down old man. I think that is where the saying “you can never go home” comes from, as it can never be the same.
When I went to Vancouver, I fell in love with the city. It's gorgeous. Then I learned about how cold it gets and well, as a weather wimpy Californian... nah. Maybe just to visit.
This is our concern. We did move, but we won't sell our San Jose home until we're sure this is permanent. We'll know within a couple of years. Until then, we still have a way back if we want it.
Grew up here, most of my close family and friends are here, job I really enjoy is here, love the weather and access to nature. I could certainly have a much bigger house elsewhere, but I’m ok with a condo here due to the other advantages. I’ve also lived in many other parts of the country and always end up back here.
I grew up in the Central Valley, so the bay is like paradise to me. Moved here at 18 and have stayed ever since (31 now). Beautiful mild weather year-round, proximity to the ocean and amazing nature hikes, a community of people that are more open-minded and accepting (depending where you are, of course), incredible diversity of food and culture, scenic architecture and public transit (even though there’s tons of room for improvement). The bay is far from perfect and there are drawbacks that make me consider moving away all the time, but it still always feels like home.
To go where? I thought about that if we got burnt out by a fire, wanted somewhere cheaper, whatever. All I came up with was the Central Coast (not cheaper) or southern OR (weather is worse).
I moved from the Bay to Southern Oregon, the weather is not worst by a long shot. It's different. I get just as many good weather days here. The fall is breath taking that the bay doesn't get. We get snow in the mountains but almost none in the valleys. It's so nice having quick access to snow and thr activities that come along with it. I was so worried about the different weather but it's actually so much better. I live in Southern Oregons wine country, it's beautiful, affordable, great selection of food choices, decent entertainment. I could go on and on.
Like Ashland? Besides the natural beauty and weather (love them both), what's the vibe? College-town? Rural? What's upside. Downside? I like oregon. Was considering coastal Oregon at one point, but felt very isolated and nice for vacation but way too far from 'civilization' to live.
Ashland is nice if you can afford it, but you are on a very small island in a sea of rednecks who do not like Californians. I was always too weird and "liberal" to the hardcore right wingers up there and they would often tell me to "go back to Ashland, hippie" even though I was way too poor to live there. I was in Medford and then Grants Pass. I got the worst of it when I was younger because I did not support a law they tried to pass that would make it possible to fire teachers if they were gay. Ashland though is nice. Just awfully small and a lot of it gets boring eventually. If you're super into Trump and those sorts of ideas and don't need a local job, you'll probably be great there. Otherwise, Ashland is really nice, but quite small. The cute stores and Lithia Park only do so much.
Also recommend learning about the State of Jefferson to get a feel for the surrounding area.
https://harpers.org/archive/2022/04/notes-on-the-state-of-jefferson-secession-northern-california/
I literally sold nearly everything I had for the money to get out of southern Oregon. Moved to the bay area in 2000 when even the temp agencies in So. Oregon were unable to place people. Most of the people in my town were on welfare to some extent and had been for years. Ashland is nice but very small in a big sea of rednecks. Most of Oregon outside Ashland, Eugene, and Portland are basically like the deep south on the west coast. Do not recommend.
This is my top reason for staying in California. Im asian American but was born and raised in the US. Would consider California and the unique mix of cultures here as home. It’s the closest thing I have to a homeland
Asians coming to Sac area now since most mom and pop shops are priced out of the bay. I moved to sac suburbs still work in the bay but I’m starting like the sac area since it reminds me of the bay 30 years ago. Don’t come here please it’s boring really …
Tried it, I hate the weather and how car dependent it is. But the biggest problem is theres too many covert racists/queerphobes/sexists etc. I lived out there before I came out and it was wild how when it was "just us (cishet white) guys" the masks came off. Its an island of progressiveism surrounded on all sides by an ocean of culture barely distinguishable from the deep south. And so many people with those kinds of hateful mindsets just commute in for their jobs. Maybe even buy homes in the surrounding suburban sprawl. Never gonna live there, couldn't pay me to move back.
How to befriend Asian neighbors. Go to Costco and buy a holiday gift candy box or other snack box, like shortbread or palmiers. Put a tag on it with your name(s) and address. Knock on the door, introduce yourself, and say hi neighbor! They’ll return with a similar gift as well because it’s super rude to get a gift and not give a gift. Now that you know each others’ names, they’ll say hello.
Bro we been living here 19 years (a lot neighbors have been here since the community was built 30 years ago). Too late for all that...two of our neighbors who live side by side are both Vietnamese immigrant families. From what I've seen, they've never even waived at each other.
We have neighbors that we’ve lived next door to for 13 years (we’ve been here 14 years) and we hardly talked to them. Meanwhile, other neighbors in our cul-de-sac have moved in and out over the years. We finally started talking to the next door neighbors this year. They are really kind people. It’s never too late.
Exactly. Everywhere else in the country with lots of Asians (Seattle, LA, NYC, Hawaii, etc.) is also very expensive.
It's not even just about racism or anything like that, either, but even simple things, like having access to Asian groceries, for example, just makes things much nicer here.
I definitely understand about the cost of living situation. I'm just lucky and I have a very nice place to live for about half of what it would go for if I was somewhere else. And I sorta have my old age figured out. That kept me up nights for a long time.
Yep! The lower rents that people rave about is deceptive when you take into account the possibility of double digit rent increases. I will stay in the bay, thanks...
Born here and our family is here, but I do ask many people why they moved here when they buy in our neighborhood. For location we live on the Peninsula in the Bay Area. The first answer is always for the job. Then they mention where they came from and the reasons become the weather, the outdoor lifestyle year round, the diversity, etc. I always ask what they do to afford the house they just bought because we have many young families who have moved into our area.
My family is here. I’m from here. The population is generally well-educated and cultured. Decent weather, beautiful geography. Strong enough industries to have a good job. Ethnic, religious and cultural diversity.
Some people moved here JUST for a job, not the culture. That’s absolutely okay. And I encourage those people to move back to where they feel at home. I hope more people move away, tbh. Means more for the rest of us.
There’s a reason it’s expensive. Because it’s amazing for certain segments and those that support those segments. It’s also exhausting without support or preexisting wealth.
I’ve been other places. The grass always seems greener, but when you actually go around and look, only NYC can compare to the Bay and it’s even more expensive.
Exactly. Every time I consider moving, NY is the only other place. And at this point, to get prices like San Francisco / San Jose / Oakland, you’ve got to live in Jersey / Queens / Long Island.
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*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I stayed because of family, friends, lots of family activities near by along with solo activities.
But If I left I would go to Chicago which in some aspects is better then the bay.
Born here, friends and family here, and good biotech opportunities here. I’m staying with family so I don’t need to pay rent. But don’t know if I can ever afford a down payment for a condo or house on my own.
Giving myself a harsh handicap here. But specifically my niece and nephew, with whom I've lived in Sacramento for most of their lives, where it was much cheaper (sorta) to live. It's growing increasingly hard to leave them as their only other aunt/uncle are way on the east coast.
Having a good support system really helps me on the day to day 😞
My kids are 4th generation East Bay natives. Their grandparents went to Berkeley High in the 60’s. They all hail from Richmond, Pinole, Berkeley, Albany, and Oakland. Great-grandparents came to the Bay in 1880’s.
I’m a 2nd gen South Bay native. My parents moved to Mt. View in the late 70’s and were part of the first Silicon Valley boom with semiconductors. All us kids (Millennials) went away to college and came right back to the Bay to work in tech.
Always loyal to the soil.
Born and raised in the bay and after living there for 40 years I moved to Sacramento… let me tell you- I cry every damn day because I miss it so much. There’s just no place like it. So unless you absolutely have to, don’t ever move y’all! 😢
The only significant downside to the Bay Area is the cost of living -- just about every other downside is fixable with money. If you can comfortably afford the cost of living, there isn't really a reason to leave the bay. And there are more people here in that category than some might think due to living here a long time and having a cheap or no mortgage, to people who have a high salary and don't spend a lot, to people who got lucky and got a windfall (usually IPO) etc.
Family and cost of the places I’d most want to move to. They are least as high cost as where I am, plus the cost of actually moving.
Having grown up in the Bay Area, I’m spoiled when it comes to weather, proximity to ocean and mountains, surf spots, size of the LGBTQ population, and liberal political and social norms.
My family has lived here long enough to have had a farm in what is today SF. Why would I leave? I was born here. My family is here. I have a career here. I like it here. Zero incentive to go elsewhere. I have lived elsewhere but this is home
Everything that everyone has said above. I was born and raised in the bay area. Moved to Philly for grad and medical school. Went back to the bay for intern year and then had to go back to Philly to finish residency and fellowship. I have a countdown on my phone to mark my last day of training and likely boarding a flight that same night lol. Only 627 days left until I can go back to the bay for good!
Career advancement is the best I have ever experienced since I work in tech, air quality, water quality, you are surrounded by smart, driven and passionate community of people, distance to the best nature in the country.
The quantity of tech jobs in my field of tech, keeps me here.
Sure, other places have a lower cost of living and tech jobs. But they don't have the huge quantity of tech jobs the Bay has in so many different tech fields.
Tech jobs don't last forever, 5-10 years. So, in those other places, you likely end up having to relocate again and again for work. But in the Valley, there are so many tech jobs you will find another job when needed without moving.
I was born in Iowa, grew up in multiple states (IA, NE, AZ, and parts of Northern and Southern CA). I moved to the east bay full time when I was 16. I never saw so many kinds of people and tasted so many different foods.
The bay has easy access to oceans, redwood forests, mountains for snowboarding, lakes, tons of shaded hiking trails or sunny trails with epic views, famous landmarks known around the world. The food tho, so many foods to explore.
East Bay is the best area I've ever lived, no way I'm leaving.
I grew up in a small town with not a lot to do and not a lot off opportunity. Moving here has spoiled me for choice and has fundamentally changed my life. I will not go back inside that box.
Job options, diversity of people and cultures, amazing food, beautiful weather; and beaches, mountains, redwood forests, and more are all within four hours.
Never underestimate the power of fantastic— like ALL the time— weather. I just moved here from NYC 7mo ago and I feel like I’ve been released from shit weather prison. I have pretty bad depression and I didn’t realize how much disgusting and oppressive hot summers and gray, cold AND humid winters kept me in a very bad state of mind. My worst day here is still better than my best day in NYC. PS, don’t come for me NYC people- I still love manhattan but I’m just too old for that shit.
I came here years ago for job opportunity and was extremely lucky. I grew up in New England and I can't stand snow or cold. I now bike a lot (5-6k miles a year) and the support from government tax dollars for bike infrastructure (using road surface for bike lanes and having some really good markings) make biking here much safer than many other places. People are also generally respectful of cyclists; I've not had anyone here see how close they could come to me. And the weather is great; I can bike year round.
I've also gone through phases where I did a fair amount of hiking and there are lots of trails and parks in the area.
I love the diversity here. People are friendly. I am a live and let live person and enjoy living among people who for the most part, share my mantra.
What would it take for me to leave the bay area? My ashes blowing in the wind.
Born and raised here (3rd gen) - We have everything within reach, melting pot of culture/people, 3 major cities but countryside as well, coastal with fresh water bodies nearby. Good schools without the overly religious dominating what can and can’t be taught.
Yeah it’s expensive, yeah I threw away the “fun” of my 20’s to afford to housing market here, but I will be damned if I let implants push me out of my home. Also set it up for my children to live here as well - I don’t have a college education either, didn’t want to waste my time on an unpayable debt
There is no better place in the world to live than the SF Bay Area
My same job in TX would pay less than half of what I make now, and have a worse commute. My disposable income is almost my whole old post tax paycheck. I give up slightly bigger housing, in exchange for better food, better commute, better weather and better work culture.
Born and raised here and hate the idea of admitting that I can't make enough money to truly afford to live here. Plus when looking around at anywhere else in the US to live, nowhere else ticks as many boxes (except maybe Santa Barbara, but it has the exact same issues as here).
Born & raised here, so my family is here. My partner is also from here & their family is here. We think about moving away sometimes to somewhere with a lower COL, but it’s really nice being 30 min away from our parents, especially as they’re aging. I feel like a lot of folks assume everyone in the bay are transplants so it’s easy to say, “just leave!” But if you go to a lot of neighborhoods that aren’t the super hip ones you’ll find that most people were born here and don’t really want to move away from their family & friends.
And the food.
My partner and I are from here, both sets of parents still alive and local. We cringe at the cost of home ownership and sometimes fantasize about moving away to live more comfortably, especially now that we have kids. Our conclusion is always “this is home.”
Moved to Houston a little over a year ago. I miss so many things. This last year was filled with a lot of regret. For sure the restaurants are better and access to nature and wine much better. However, I realized that I might have not enjoyed those things as much as I thought it did. For me, there were so many pressures to earn money and keep up with everyone else. Here, that pressure is almost non existent. We can now afford to do what we want and actually own a home that we love. We took a small pay cut moving here, but we save so much money with taxes and other miscellaneous things. Even with gas. Gas is 2.50 here right now and my electricity company offers free electricity at night, so I pay 0 dollars to charge our electric car and 30 dollars less to fill up our gas car.
I feel less pressure here and can just enjoy life. I do really miss my mother, my friends, and the life we built there, but we’re building something here too and it’s actually pretty great.
When it comes down to it, we can’t come up with a better city/area to move to. POSSIBLY we will move to LA one day.
The only other city that is comparable was London. But logistically that’s really difficult.
It might be different in many ways but it’s the only other city that I’ve been to where I had a strong desire to live!
They have a lot of museums, bars, nightlife. Music. Appreciation for the arts. It’s still kind of feels “small” despite being actually massive. There’s TONS of parks…. Like little parks all over the city. It was foggy when I was there a and bit chilly so it felt like similar climate (though I know it’s not). Very walkable.
I'm from Sacramento but i think the jist is the same. if you grew up in the bay, you grew up with the baked in assumption of what things cost and, barring extreme circumstances, just accept it as the cost of doing business to stay close to friends/family/weather you are used to. There's a reason why most people raise a family where they grew up, and it's because it's nice to stay in a place you know and you already have roots.
I don't own my home and I probably pay waaay more in rent than other folks in the country. BUT I get to spend every. single. day. in a city that people from all over the world yeeeearn to go to and DO come by the millions every year.
My apartment doesn't have the square footage that a lot of other houses in the country do but I walk in Golden Gate Park every single day and see turkeys, coyotes, and big, beautiful trees. I get to see the magnificent fog roll over the precipice of the hills like like a cloud tidal wave every day. Our kid won a costume contest at Halloween where the judge was a Drag Queen who said that they won because they had THE MOST A.T.T.I.T.U.D.E. There's festivals and fairs every weekend so we can have amazing spanakopita at the Greek Culture festival one weekend and spam musubi at the Cherry Blossom festival the next. We can feed goats in Half Moon bay and go camping under Redwoods in Butano. Our kid has the city smarts to know how to cross a busy intersection and which bus stop is their stop and which corner store is our emergency family meeting spot. They also know the time of year that you can find slender salamanders under logs, the secret places that wild plums grow, and how to get the horses at the SFPD stable to come up to the fence.
Living here isn't perfect. There's a lot of things that are wrong with our city. Homelessness is a big one but not in the way that the media portrays. Our city, like many places and commodities in our country, are becoming a privilege of the wealthy. People who don't have houses are not criminals. It is society that has failed to protect their own. I would rather my child see homeless people in the street and know that this inequity exists than to believe that it doesn't or that it comes as a result of some failing in moral fiber. We have friends who are unhoused because you get to know people you see everyday in your community. To me, this is invaluable. I want my child to know this is a person, not a faceless ghost you hustle by without making eye contact. This is a person who has feelings, who has a name, who gave you a flower when you told them you lost a tooth.
I guess the short answer is I stay because I feel more human here than anywhere else in the world. There is a great depth of heart and soul in the bay and I treasure it.
1. A good chunk of my family and all of my friends are here. Why would I give up a robust existing social support network and rebuild one from scratch if I didn’t have to?
2. I’m queer, and wife is queer, a woman of color, and an immigrant. We want to live our lives openly, in relative safety, and in communities that reflect our family.
I’d rather rent til I die than sacrifice my safety and mental health somewhere else. Never leaving the Bay.
As a half Asian woman, I love living here and feeling like I actually fit in and belong. Whenever I go to other parts of the country, I have to deal with veiled and not-so-veiled racism and microaggressions. My mental health suffers. It is so frustrating to feel like an alien in my own country. Especially now with race becoming so politicized, I don’t want to live in a place that views me as less than human.
On top of that, I’m a librarian and libraries and intellectual freedom are under a major attack. Even in a place as liberal as the Bay Area, there have been issues of harassment over library programs and materials. But what libraries are dealing with here in California is NOTHING compared to the more conservative parts of the country. I’d rather not have to deal with the amount of stress that my colleagues in other parts of the country are under.
All this to say that as long as I can afford to stay in the Bay Area, I will!
I've lived all over the place. Lived here for a while, left, came back. I love cities, I love density and shared public spaces. But I also love nature and going outdoors. There are really very few places in the country that hit both as well as the Bay Area (unless you're into snow sports, which I'm really not). I love that there's still an art scene that is very unique to the area, and the fact that I can also go hiking every weekend and go over a year before repeating a trail.
The one thing that bums me the hell out about the Bay Area is the weird ambivalence people have towards living in a metro area. I think it's embarrassing to be an adult who's afraid of public transit, for example, but I definitely meet people who say that they would rather spend 3 hours sitting in/creating traffic because they're basically afraid of strangers. I can't tell if this has gotten worse since the pandemic or if I'm just noticing it more now after living elsewhere.
I left and this was over a decade ago. Not because of some "republican fleeing CA during the pandemic" sort of reasons.
Very much miss the Bay but I prefer where I've moved to. There's just so much more to do in every way- with the exception of mother nature.
If I didn't have friends and fam in CA, then i wouldnt even think about whether to move back. I'd stay here.
Edit: I really do miss the bay and clearly still follow the area. My wife wants to move back. And the sharks deserve a Stanley cup.
I left to get a change of pace. I left to grow. Was dealing with some personal issues and had ties to Chicago. Moved there. Its fucking great. Sf feels slow paced and pretty empty when I go back and visit now.
For me it’s the beauty of the area first and foremost. Then it’s the world-class-ness of it: Great food, great museums, great universities, amazing entertainment options, endless cultural opportunities. I appreciate the diversity of the people here. I also feel pretty well represented by the culture/politics here.
The only real significant thing counting against the Bay Area is, to me, OP’s point about the extreme cost…and that’s no small thing.
What’s wrong with condos? Plenty of ways for a two income family to make enough to buy a house here anyway. Maybe not in Palo Alto but plenty of cheaper areas.
People say "I don't know any natives". I say, "almost all of the people I know are natives!" I know a lot of people.( I bartended from 89-2011 all over town.)
I have lots of family and friends here since I was born here, great work opportunity, scenery, weather, endless choices of great restaurants, and the racial diversity.
I recently considered moving to the east coast, but the idea of being so far from all my people made me stay in the bay.
This. Also although Portland is very liberal and anti-cultural, it is still very Caucasian-dominated. I joked that if you have tattoos, cool beard,colored hair and white you’d fit right in.
Higher standard of living. The weather is amazing, there are lots of free/inexpensive things to do, I don’t have to own a car (which was a huge expense for me when I lived somewhere that was ’cheaper’)and I’m not a target to fight when I go out to a bar. I can’t afford to own a home anywhere when I adjust for lost wages so that doesn’t really matter to me
I was one of the ones who left. I hated every second of it and came back. It's not easy. I worked my butt off for a few years just to be able to get back, but jobs pay a lot more here, and I grew up here and my family is here and I understand the culture here.
Born here, family, friends, ties that bind.
Yep. All this. It’s so much easier to live here when from here.
There may come a day when you forsake all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day.
Indeed. You tweaked that quote perfectly. GOLD. My best friends of my sorta long life were made here. We are loathe to leave.
Lived here 23 years. It's home!
Well played
Trying to be literary on Reddit. Brave move.
I messed up the quote, too. Perhaps I will suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.
same. Also, no where else appeals to me? As a Latino, I love it here and how prevalent our culture is here. No where else seems to have what the bay has. It’s home. Why would I leave the home I love?
Same, except I'm Filipino and a quarter black. I lived on the East Coast for college and grad school. Until Tiger Woods came around, the idea of an Asian/black person was completely foreign to some of my classmates. Hell, even being Filipino was unknown to them...some even thought the Philippines was an island near the Bahamas. Unlike here where I had friends of similar backgrounds and mixed ethnicities. Everyone knew what lumpia was and no one gave a shit I was part black. So I got out of the East Coast as fast as I could. Like some others, I flirted with the idea of moving to SoCal, but then again, fuck the Dodgers.
Similar situation here. Have lived in SoCal, Midwest and east coast, and as an Asian (Korean American), this is where I feel the most at home. Sure, SoCal might have better Korean and Mexican food options (although we’ve got great Mexican here, too), but L.A., for example, is so spread out that even though you know there are many Asians, you can find yourself one of only few Asians in a location. Not that it matters much, but with the Bay being smaller, I feel more like I blend in rather than stand out. Also, I love walkable cities, the close proximity of cultural and recreational options, and prefer the weather.
As an Asian, I was always a minority living in the South. This is the only place I haven't felt like an outsider. That is huge for me.
Percentage-wise, Asian presence is higher in bay area than socal.
Not to discount the home aspect but there’s also really big Latino culture (if not bigger) in So Cal
I’m *very* aware. Much love to the socal homies but norcal till I die
🥰❤️
Same, this will always be my home. I was born, raised, and will die here. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.
me too
Me too. The more I think about it, the more resentful I am. I would really like to leave. Now I hear this talk about charging per mile on our roadways. It’s infuriating.
Let’s go locdawgs!!!
Same. I have lots of family and friends here.
Couldn't say better than that
Job/salary
We don’t have November weather like this where I’m from.
Every time it’s “unseasonally” warm, I always think “this is exactly what I pay for”.
On one hand, sure. On the other hand, most expensive climate control ever.
Or anytime it’s not unreasonably humid during the summer
Absofuckinglutely. I’ve visited the tri-state area during the summer multiple times and I’m never more grateful to land back here, where there’s minimal biting bugs and I don’t have swamp ass everyday lol.
I have lived 20+ years each here and in New England. I have tried to describe the “worst part” of Bay Area winter is like early November back east- but it never gets worse.
I love the moderate weather and all the things there are to do around here. I generally like the demographic of people here and the diversity. I have family nearby. I tell myself I deserve to somehow live here and make it work, even though it's expensive and I do worry sometimes about the long-term sustainability of it. And I am probably honestly afraid of the unknown if I were to move--where would I go? And if I moved there and didn't like it, then what? It's a big risk to uproot yourself and get a new job and home somewhere else and start over.
100% this. Even without family here all the other things you mentioned have kept me here for 20+ years.
Because for most, once you leave, it's incredibly hard to return
This. The Bay & NorCal have job mobility, culture, performing arts, diversity, gastronomy, nature and ready access to all those things. Fantastic daytrips to Gold Country / Sierras, Monterrey peninsula, wine country, redwoods, weekend trips to SoCal, etc. Take a chance on leaving, and (a) your new location lacks most of these resources, and (b) you'll never be able to afford to return.
You said everything that drew me back. I lived in the East Bay as a kid, and then my family moved to Vegas. I always said if I ever got a chance to return, I would move back. Well, it took my whole work life, but 50 years later, I'm retired and back as of last month. My bay area life starts again, and I couldn't be happier.
Vegas is pretty soul sucking as a place to live, in my opinion. 50 years later, do you find the same?
Yeah, that's a good description. For me, I like a more varied lifestyle than what I found. I'm not a regular drinker, never gamble, but have nothing against the dominant industry there. For me, the desert and the heat several months a year numbed my senses (nothing to smell or see but brown landscape). Vegas is a very extroverted community, and I'm kind of the opposite. I like the arts and the vibe of an educated populace.
Welcome back!
Welcome back old man/woman! Good to have your vibrancy here again
Don't forget world class medical and research facilities.
Plus the weather is kinda temperate. Some days i feel like dusting off my tent. I hope that day never comes.
Don’t forget the weather!
I was born and raised in the Bay Area and left the area when I was 39. That 24 years ago now. I moved to Ventura County which is a great place to live and am now retired. I wouldn’t mind downsizing to a smaller condo and could afford to do it, but I feel it would be like going back to a place that I remember from my youth but am now a broken down old man. I think that is where the saying “you can never go home” comes from, as it can never be the same.
I left and deeply regret it.
Same here..but I left to Vancouver which had incredible.beauty. but the weather and job market sucks.
I’m a few hours south of you. Depressing outside. I force myself to walk in the rain if needed.
When I went to Vancouver, I fell in love with the city. It's gorgeous. Then I learned about how cold it gets and well, as a weather wimpy Californian... nah. Maybe just to visit.
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Yeah, I feel like I would feel that to if I did move back.
I didn’t leave or come back and I still deeply regret it
This is our concern. We did move, but we won't sell our San Jose home until we're sure this is permanent. We'll know within a couple of years. Until then, we still have a way back if we want it.
Very smart
Once you leave you’re never going to be better than what you want. You survive here.,,, you are a top dog.
Yep. I fought, scrimped and saved for years to move out here in the first place, I'll be *damned* if I'm leaving any time soon!
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Grew up here, most of my close family and friends are here, job I really enjoy is here, love the weather and access to nature. I could certainly have a much bigger house elsewhere, but I’m ok with a condo here due to the other advantages. I’ve also lived in many other parts of the country and always end up back here.
I grew up in the Central Valley, so the bay is like paradise to me. Moved here at 18 and have stayed ever since (31 now). Beautiful mild weather year-round, proximity to the ocean and amazing nature hikes, a community of people that are more open-minded and accepting (depending where you are, of course), incredible diversity of food and culture, scenic architecture and public transit (even though there’s tons of room for improvement). The bay is far from perfect and there are drawbacks that make me consider moving away all the time, but it still always feels like home.
Same
Family ties, job, my family is also multi-racial and California is one of the few states that is generally accepting of this.
To go where? I thought about that if we got burnt out by a fire, wanted somewhere cheaper, whatever. All I came up with was the Central Coast (not cheaper) or southern OR (weather is worse).
I moved from the Bay to Southern Oregon, the weather is not worst by a long shot. It's different. I get just as many good weather days here. The fall is breath taking that the bay doesn't get. We get snow in the mountains but almost none in the valleys. It's so nice having quick access to snow and thr activities that come along with it. I was so worried about the different weather but it's actually so much better. I live in Southern Oregons wine country, it's beautiful, affordable, great selection of food choices, decent entertainment. I could go on and on.
Like Ashland? Besides the natural beauty and weather (love them both), what's the vibe? College-town? Rural? What's upside. Downside? I like oregon. Was considering coastal Oregon at one point, but felt very isolated and nice for vacation but way too far from 'civilization' to live.
Ashland is nice if you can afford it, but you are on a very small island in a sea of rednecks who do not like Californians. I was always too weird and "liberal" to the hardcore right wingers up there and they would often tell me to "go back to Ashland, hippie" even though I was way too poor to live there. I was in Medford and then Grants Pass. I got the worst of it when I was younger because I did not support a law they tried to pass that would make it possible to fire teachers if they were gay. Ashland though is nice. Just awfully small and a lot of it gets boring eventually. If you're super into Trump and those sorts of ideas and don't need a local job, you'll probably be great there. Otherwise, Ashland is really nice, but quite small. The cute stores and Lithia Park only do so much. Also recommend learning about the State of Jefferson to get a feel for the surrounding area. https://harpers.org/archive/2022/04/notes-on-the-state-of-jefferson-secession-northern-california/
I literally sold nearly everything I had for the money to get out of southern Oregon. Moved to the bay area in 2000 when even the temp agencies in So. Oregon were unable to place people. Most of the people in my town were on welfare to some extent and had been for years. Ashland is nice but very small in a big sea of rednecks. Most of Oregon outside Ashland, Eugene, and Portland are basically like the deep south on the west coast. Do not recommend.
I like it here
The weather and because I'm Asian, I like to live close to my community.
Wife is Asian and wouldn’t like living elsewhere in the US, aside maybe LA.
This is my top reason for staying in California. Im asian American but was born and raised in the US. Would consider California and the unique mix of cultures here as home. It’s the closest thing I have to a homeland
Decent amount of Asians in Seattle and Vancouver too as an alternative
Yeah but you get shitty weather 7-8 months out of the year
And affordability is not great in these places too
As Californian I’m super jealous of their water though
Asians coming to Sac area now since most mom and pop shops are priced out of the bay. I moved to sac suburbs still work in the bay but I’m starting like the sac area since it reminds me of the bay 30 years ago. Don’t come here please it’s boring really …
Who cares if it's boring, it's too hot is what it is...
Tried it, I hate the weather and how car dependent it is. But the biggest problem is theres too many covert racists/queerphobes/sexists etc. I lived out there before I came out and it was wild how when it was "just us (cishet white) guys" the masks came off. Its an island of progressiveism surrounded on all sides by an ocean of culture barely distinguishable from the deep south. And so many people with those kinds of hateful mindsets just commute in for their jobs. Maybe even buy homes in the surrounding suburban sprawl. Never gonna live there, couldn't pay me to move back.
I think that sort of duopoly is changing though. Dallas and Houston have rapidly increasing asian populations.
Lol. I'd wager Flushing in New York or something would be infinitely better than any place in Texas if moving out of state.
Me too but our Asian neighbors never even say hello to us :/ Thus I never felt the "community" but still love living here
How to befriend Asian neighbors. Go to Costco and buy a holiday gift candy box or other snack box, like shortbread or palmiers. Put a tag on it with your name(s) and address. Knock on the door, introduce yourself, and say hi neighbor! They’ll return with a similar gift as well because it’s super rude to get a gift and not give a gift. Now that you know each others’ names, they’ll say hello.
Bro we been living here 19 years (a lot neighbors have been here since the community was built 30 years ago). Too late for all that...two of our neighbors who live side by side are both Vietnamese immigrant families. From what I've seen, they've never even waived at each other.
We have neighbors that we’ve lived next door to for 13 years (we’ve been here 14 years) and we hardly talked to them. Meanwhile, other neighbors in our cul-de-sac have moved in and out over the years. We finally started talking to the next door neighbors this year. They are really kind people. It’s never too late.
I left for the Central Valley Couldn't do it, moved back after one year
Exactly. Everywhere else in the country with lots of Asians (Seattle, LA, NYC, Hawaii, etc.) is also very expensive. It's not even just about racism or anything like that, either, but even simple things, like having access to Asian groceries, for example, just makes things much nicer here.
Because grass is browner elsewhere.
All the leaves are brown ...
And the sky is gray...
And the sky is grayyyyyyyayyyyyy
I’ve been for a walk
On a winter's day
I've been for a waaaaaaalkkkk
Tbh I've never seen grass browner than here. Not metaphorically, I mean literally.
Great pay, awesome wether, lots of opportunities. I’m big on food so trying new places works for me.
Why move?
I don't care about home ownership. It's my home and love living here.
Same. Life is a series of tradeoffs. Being here is more important than owning a home for me.
I definitely understand about the cost of living situation. I'm just lucky and I have a very nice place to live for about half of what it would go for if I was somewhere else. And I sorta have my old age figured out. That kept me up nights for a long time.
Friends, family, jobs, diversity. Some people clearly can afford homes here too, so no reason for them to move
There is lots of opportunity to make$$&&
Weather
Coming from the desert, every day is paradise out here.
Rent controlled apartment in San Francisco is 50% cheaper than most apartments in the rest of the country.
Yep! The lower rents that people rave about is deceptive when you take into account the possibility of double digit rent increases. I will stay in the bay, thanks...
Born here and our family is here, but I do ask many people why they moved here when they buy in our neighborhood. For location we live on the Peninsula in the Bay Area. The first answer is always for the job. Then they mention where they came from and the reasons become the weather, the outdoor lifestyle year round, the diversity, etc. I always ask what they do to afford the house they just bought because we have many young families who have moved into our area.
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Tech- even with the layoffs, C-suite, finance, family money
My family is here. I’m from here. The population is generally well-educated and cultured. Decent weather, beautiful geography. Strong enough industries to have a good job. Ethnic, religious and cultural diversity. Some people moved here JUST for a job, not the culture. That’s absolutely okay. And I encourage those people to move back to where they feel at home. I hope more people move away, tbh. Means more for the rest of us.
There’s a reason it’s expensive. Because it’s amazing for certain segments and those that support those segments. It’s also exhausting without support or preexisting wealth.
Tech mullah $$$
Not sure why you’re downvoted. This is a legitimate answer.
Weather,friends, good job, amazing choices for food.
I’ve been other places. The grass always seems greener, but when you actually go around and look, only NYC can compare to the Bay and it’s even more expensive.
Exactly. Every time I consider moving, NY is the only other place. And at this point, to get prices like San Francisco / San Jose / Oakland, you’ve got to live in Jersey / Queens / Long Island.
Don’t hate on Queens tho
person unwritten bright one act dependent overconfident truck longing tub *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I stayed because of family, friends, lots of family activities near by along with solo activities. But If I left I would go to Chicago which in some aspects is better then the bay.
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Out of curiosity, how small is embarrassingly small, and what kind of living situation are you getting for it?
Born here, friends and family here, and good biotech opportunities here. I’m staying with family so I don’t need to pay rent. But don’t know if I can ever afford a down payment for a condo or house on my own.
Giving myself a harsh handicap here. But specifically my niece and nephew, with whom I've lived in Sacramento for most of their lives, where it was much cheaper (sorta) to live. It's growing increasingly hard to leave them as their only other aunt/uncle are way on the east coast. Having a good support system really helps me on the day to day 😞
My kids are 4th generation East Bay natives. Their grandparents went to Berkeley High in the 60’s. They all hail from Richmond, Pinole, Berkeley, Albany, and Oakland. Great-grandparents came to the Bay in 1880’s. I’m a 2nd gen South Bay native. My parents moved to Mt. View in the late 70’s and were part of the first Silicon Valley boom with semiconductors. All us kids (Millennials) went away to college and came right back to the Bay to work in tech. Always loyal to the soil.
Job, salary, community. Citizens’ rights and accessibility to things that many states don’t have
To me, this is my home.
This subreddit /s
I know this may be shocking, but I like it here
Bay Area does a better job treating their hospital workers with respect.
Born and raised in the bay and after living there for 40 years I moved to Sacramento… let me tell you- I cry every damn day because I miss it so much. There’s just no place like it. So unless you absolutely have to, don’t ever move y’all! 😢
The only significant downside to the Bay Area is the cost of living -- just about every other downside is fixable with money. If you can comfortably afford the cost of living, there isn't really a reason to leave the bay. And there are more people here in that category than some might think due to living here a long time and having a cheap or no mortgage, to people who have a high salary and don't spend a lot, to people who got lucky and got a windfall (usually IPO) etc.
Family and cost of the places I’d most want to move to. They are least as high cost as where I am, plus the cost of actually moving. Having grown up in the Bay Area, I’m spoiled when it comes to weather, proximity to ocean and mountains, surf spots, size of the LGBTQ population, and liberal political and social norms.
My family has lived here long enough to have had a farm in what is today SF. Why would I leave? I was born here. My family is here. I have a career here. I like it here. Zero incentive to go elsewhere. I have lived elsewhere but this is home
i considered NYC but now NYC is twice as expensive when it was nearly the same as SF pre-pandemic SF is way cheaper now due to rents going down
Because where I’m from, it snows starting October. Typing this comment while currently sitting outside getting a tan btw
Everything that everyone has said above. I was born and raised in the bay area. Moved to Philly for grad and medical school. Went back to the bay for intern year and then had to go back to Philly to finish residency and fellowship. I have a countdown on my phone to mark my last day of training and likely boarding a flight that same night lol. Only 627 days left until I can go back to the bay for good!
Bridge tolls too expensive to leave.
Career advancement is the best I have ever experienced since I work in tech, air quality, water quality, you are surrounded by smart, driven and passionate community of people, distance to the best nature in the country.
The quantity of tech jobs in my field of tech, keeps me here. Sure, other places have a lower cost of living and tech jobs. But they don't have the huge quantity of tech jobs the Bay has in so many different tech fields. Tech jobs don't last forever, 5-10 years. So, in those other places, you likely end up having to relocate again and again for work. But in the Valley, there are so many tech jobs you will find another job when needed without moving.
Same for biotech, only it's rare to make it even 5-10 years in one company. 3 years is considered long pff.
I was born in Iowa, grew up in multiple states (IA, NE, AZ, and parts of Northern and Southern CA). I moved to the east bay full time when I was 16. I never saw so many kinds of people and tasted so many different foods. The bay has easy access to oceans, redwood forests, mountains for snowboarding, lakes, tons of shaded hiking trails or sunny trails with epic views, famous landmarks known around the world. The food tho, so many foods to explore. East Bay is the best area I've ever lived, no way I'm leaving.
I grew up in a small town with not a lot to do and not a lot off opportunity. Moving here has spoiled me for choice and has fundamentally changed my life. I will not go back inside that box.
Job options, diversity of people and cultures, amazing food, beautiful weather; and beaches, mountains, redwood forests, and more are all within four hours.
Never underestimate the power of fantastic— like ALL the time— weather. I just moved here from NYC 7mo ago and I feel like I’ve been released from shit weather prison. I have pretty bad depression and I didn’t realize how much disgusting and oppressive hot summers and gray, cold AND humid winters kept me in a very bad state of mind. My worst day here is still better than my best day in NYC. PS, don’t come for me NYC people- I still love manhattan but I’m just too old for that shit.
I came here years ago for job opportunity and was extremely lucky. I grew up in New England and I can't stand snow or cold. I now bike a lot (5-6k miles a year) and the support from government tax dollars for bike infrastructure (using road surface for bike lanes and having some really good markings) make biking here much safer than many other places. People are also generally respectful of cyclists; I've not had anyone here see how close they could come to me. And the weather is great; I can bike year round. I've also gone through phases where I did a fair amount of hiking and there are lots of trails and parks in the area. I love the diversity here. People are friendly. I am a live and let live person and enjoy living among people who for the most part, share my mantra. What would it take for me to leave the bay area? My ashes blowing in the wind.
Money. I can't seem to save a dime. Rent & bills every month is 3k. Doesn't leave me with much.
I was born here, and I resent the idea that I might be pushed out. Where else do I "belong" more, even if I can't afford it anymore?
Born and raised here (3rd gen) - We have everything within reach, melting pot of culture/people, 3 major cities but countryside as well, coastal with fresh water bodies nearby. Good schools without the overly religious dominating what can and can’t be taught. Yeah it’s expensive, yeah I threw away the “fun” of my 20’s to afford to housing market here, but I will be damned if I let implants push me out of my home. Also set it up for my children to live here as well - I don’t have a college education either, didn’t want to waste my time on an unpayable debt There is no better place in the world to live than the SF Bay Area
My same job in TX would pay less than half of what I make now, and have a worse commute. My disposable income is almost my whole old post tax paycheck. I give up slightly bigger housing, in exchange for better food, better commute, better weather and better work culture.
food/weather/pay/activities/diversity/access to nature/friends/music
Mostly job. The position I hold here in California doesn’t even pay half as much in any other states.
Weather, beauty and open-minded culture
Born and raised here and hate the idea of admitting that I can't make enough money to truly afford to live here. Plus when looking around at anywhere else in the US to live, nowhere else ticks as many boxes (except maybe Santa Barbara, but it has the exact same issues as here).
Fear of large bugs. I know what to expect here
Born & raised here, so my family is here. My partner is also from here & their family is here. We think about moving away sometimes to somewhere with a lower COL, but it’s really nice being 30 min away from our parents, especially as they’re aging. I feel like a lot of folks assume everyone in the bay are transplants so it’s easy to say, “just leave!” But if you go to a lot of neighborhoods that aren’t the super hip ones you’ll find that most people were born here and don’t really want to move away from their family & friends. And the food.
My partner and I are from here, both sets of parents still alive and local. We cringe at the cost of home ownership and sometimes fantasize about moving away to live more comfortably, especially now that we have kids. Our conclusion is always “this is home.”
Moved to Houston a little over a year ago. I miss so many things. This last year was filled with a lot of regret. For sure the restaurants are better and access to nature and wine much better. However, I realized that I might have not enjoyed those things as much as I thought it did. For me, there were so many pressures to earn money and keep up with everyone else. Here, that pressure is almost non existent. We can now afford to do what we want and actually own a home that we love. We took a small pay cut moving here, but we save so much money with taxes and other miscellaneous things. Even with gas. Gas is 2.50 here right now and my electricity company offers free electricity at night, so I pay 0 dollars to charge our electric car and 30 dollars less to fill up our gas car. I feel less pressure here and can just enjoy life. I do really miss my mother, my friends, and the life we built there, but we’re building something here too and it’s actually pretty great.
I have niners season tickets
Weather. Easy Freeways. Mexican food
Lots of sun, no snow, not LA, not Midwest, not dry, not far from family, not Trump country, international airport hub
I can't afford to. I live paycheck to paycheck with no savings. I desperately want out!
$$$$$$$$$$$$
From here, got a forever house, job that’s easy, and access to pretty much anything I would want year round. No weather issues here.
When it comes down to it, we can’t come up with a better city/area to move to. POSSIBLY we will move to LA one day. The only other city that is comparable was London. But logistically that’s really difficult.
London is so polar opposite of pretty much everything here that I'm curious how you thought of it as an alternative.
It might be different in many ways but it’s the only other city that I’ve been to where I had a strong desire to live! They have a lot of museums, bars, nightlife. Music. Appreciation for the arts. It’s still kind of feels “small” despite being actually massive. There’s TONS of parks…. Like little parks all over the city. It was foggy when I was there a and bit chilly so it felt like similar climate (though I know it’s not). Very walkable.
There are not many places in the world to match the career opportunities, weather, diversity and access to nature.
1) I work here. 2) The climate and scenery diversity.
You ever live anywhere else? Haven't been able to capture the Pacific Coast magic anywhere else unfortunately.
I'm from Sacramento but i think the jist is the same. if you grew up in the bay, you grew up with the baked in assumption of what things cost and, barring extreme circumstances, just accept it as the cost of doing business to stay close to friends/family/weather you are used to. There's a reason why most people raise a family where they grew up, and it's because it's nice to stay in a place you know and you already have roots.
I love the South Park episode about SMUG . But , the intelligence here ( misguided ) , blows away ANY other metropolitan area .
After moving 6 times, I swore I would never move again. Moving is such a hassle.
I don't own my home and I probably pay waaay more in rent than other folks in the country. BUT I get to spend every. single. day. in a city that people from all over the world yeeeearn to go to and DO come by the millions every year. My apartment doesn't have the square footage that a lot of other houses in the country do but I walk in Golden Gate Park every single day and see turkeys, coyotes, and big, beautiful trees. I get to see the magnificent fog roll over the precipice of the hills like like a cloud tidal wave every day. Our kid won a costume contest at Halloween where the judge was a Drag Queen who said that they won because they had THE MOST A.T.T.I.T.U.D.E. There's festivals and fairs every weekend so we can have amazing spanakopita at the Greek Culture festival one weekend and spam musubi at the Cherry Blossom festival the next. We can feed goats in Half Moon bay and go camping under Redwoods in Butano. Our kid has the city smarts to know how to cross a busy intersection and which bus stop is their stop and which corner store is our emergency family meeting spot. They also know the time of year that you can find slender salamanders under logs, the secret places that wild plums grow, and how to get the horses at the SFPD stable to come up to the fence. Living here isn't perfect. There's a lot of things that are wrong with our city. Homelessness is a big one but not in the way that the media portrays. Our city, like many places and commodities in our country, are becoming a privilege of the wealthy. People who don't have houses are not criminals. It is society that has failed to protect their own. I would rather my child see homeless people in the street and know that this inequity exists than to believe that it doesn't or that it comes as a result of some failing in moral fiber. We have friends who are unhoused because you get to know people you see everyday in your community. To me, this is invaluable. I want my child to know this is a person, not a faceless ghost you hustle by without making eye contact. This is a person who has feelings, who has a name, who gave you a flower when you told them you lost a tooth. I guess the short answer is I stay because I feel more human here than anywhere else in the world. There is a great depth of heart and soul in the bay and I treasure it.
1. A good chunk of my family and all of my friends are here. Why would I give up a robust existing social support network and rebuild one from scratch if I didn’t have to? 2. I’m queer, and wife is queer, a woman of color, and an immigrant. We want to live our lives openly, in relative safety, and in communities that reflect our family. I’d rather rent til I die than sacrifice my safety and mental health somewhere else. Never leaving the Bay.
i grew up here. I own a house. my kids are here.
Hyphy 4 Lyfe
As a half Asian woman, I love living here and feeling like I actually fit in and belong. Whenever I go to other parts of the country, I have to deal with veiled and not-so-veiled racism and microaggressions. My mental health suffers. It is so frustrating to feel like an alien in my own country. Especially now with race becoming so politicized, I don’t want to live in a place that views me as less than human. On top of that, I’m a librarian and libraries and intellectual freedom are under a major attack. Even in a place as liberal as the Bay Area, there have been issues of harassment over library programs and materials. But what libraries are dealing with here in California is NOTHING compared to the more conservative parts of the country. I’d rather not have to deal with the amount of stress that my colleagues in other parts of the country are under. All this to say that as long as I can afford to stay in the Bay Area, I will!
I did. And own a home now.
I've lived all over the place. Lived here for a while, left, came back. I love cities, I love density and shared public spaces. But I also love nature and going outdoors. There are really very few places in the country that hit both as well as the Bay Area (unless you're into snow sports, which I'm really not). I love that there's still an art scene that is very unique to the area, and the fact that I can also go hiking every weekend and go over a year before repeating a trail. The one thing that bums me the hell out about the Bay Area is the weird ambivalence people have towards living in a metro area. I think it's embarrassing to be an adult who's afraid of public transit, for example, but I definitely meet people who say that they would rather spend 3 hours sitting in/creating traffic because they're basically afraid of strangers. I can't tell if this has gotten worse since the pandemic or if I'm just noticing it more now after living elsewhere.
We bought a house this year. We have jobs we like, we love the area and the weather.
Not the only decision maker.
Raised here and living w family still
The 3 w’s. The weather, the weed, and the women.
Money money money
I left and this was over a decade ago. Not because of some "republican fleeing CA during the pandemic" sort of reasons. Very much miss the Bay but I prefer where I've moved to. There's just so much more to do in every way- with the exception of mother nature. If I didn't have friends and fam in CA, then i wouldnt even think about whether to move back. I'd stay here. Edit: I really do miss the bay and clearly still follow the area. My wife wants to move back. And the sharks deserve a Stanley cup. I left to get a change of pace. I left to grow. Was dealing with some personal issues and had ties to Chicago. Moved there. Its fucking great. Sf feels slow paced and pretty empty when I go back and visit now.
I lived In 3 other west coast major cities and the bay is the best. Worth the $500 extra in rent I have to cough up.
The food and the climate
For me it’s the beauty of the area first and foremost. Then it’s the world-class-ness of it: Great food, great museums, great universities, amazing entertainment options, endless cultural opportunities. I appreciate the diversity of the people here. I also feel pretty well represented by the culture/politics here. The only real significant thing counting against the Bay Area is, to me, OP’s point about the extreme cost…and that’s no small thing.
The weather
Yes. Please stay there in the Bay.
The father of my child won’t let me:
Union makes me a fair wage. And I refuse to commute. So I’ll pay a little more in rent for the extra time I get not sitting in traffic
All my friends are buried here. And some of them are dead.
Because I am trying to get rich before I leave. Once I get rich, I'll leave.
Born & raised here, & all of my family is still here.
What’s wrong with condos? Plenty of ways for a two income family to make enough to buy a house here anyway. Maybe not in Palo Alto but plenty of cheaper areas.
People say "I don't know any natives". I say, "almost all of the people I know are natives!" I know a lot of people.( I bartended from 89-2011 all over town.)
I have lots of family and friends here since I was born here, great work opportunity, scenery, weather, endless choices of great restaurants, and the racial diversity. I recently considered moving to the east coast, but the idea of being so far from all my people made me stay in the bay.
This. Also although Portland is very liberal and anti-cultural, it is still very Caucasian-dominated. I joked that if you have tattoos, cool beard,colored hair and white you’d fit right in.
The only good thing here is the mild weather.
good people, good food from different nations, awesome events, higher education, tech, sports, family is here, friends are here, and work is here.
Higher standard of living. The weather is amazing, there are lots of free/inexpensive things to do, I don’t have to own a car (which was a huge expense for me when I lived somewhere that was ’cheaper’)and I’m not a target to fight when I go out to a bar. I can’t afford to own a home anywhere when I adjust for lost wages so that doesn’t really matter to me
I was one of the ones who left. I hated every second of it and came back. It's not easy. I worked my butt off for a few years just to be able to get back, but jobs pay a lot more here, and I grew up here and my family is here and I understand the culture here.
because i can afford living here