Relocating from California in 2025

L

LadyRecluse

New Member
Hi All,
very glad to have found this forum, so much to learn. I have lived in Los Angeles for the last 35 years and now am thinking of relocating. Not yet retired, but very close. Biggest concern - cost of living, house prices, property taxes. Thinking of Arizona, Oregon and Texas. Don't like snow and being cold. But having over 100 degrees for months on end is no longer fun either. Relatives are not an issue, most are young and will travel to see me. Finding a friendly community is a must. Would love to hear about places like Medford, OR, Prescott, AZ and drier parts of Texas. :)
 

You do not have to relocate that far. If you move to Ventura County, SoCal best kept secret. We lived in a +55 MHP community in Santa Paula, where you can get a newer manufactured home for less than 300K.
You can be at the beach in about 20 minutes. You will also be out of all the BS in LA city and County.
 
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bowmore said:
You do not have to relocate that far. If you move to Ventura County, SoCal best kept secret. We lived in a +55 MHP community in Santa Paula, where you can get a newer manufactured home for less than 300K.
You can be at the beach in about 20 minutes. You will also be out of all the BS in LA city and County.
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Yes, and there are some other counties in Calif. that are less expensive (in some cases way less expensive) than the L.A. area. If it weren't for spousal/family issues, I'd move to Humboldt County--specifically McKinleyville--in a heartbeat; maybe a little more rain than you'd like but cooler than LA in the summer, beautiful redwood trees, close to beaches, and reasonable housing prices, I love the area.
 
Welcome to the forum ! Prescott is one of my favorite places in Arizona and the weather is more temperate then the Phoenix area although it can get a little to cold for me in the winter (anything below 60 is cold to me). However, housing prices in the town of Prescott and the surrounding mountain homes have skyrocketed in the past ten years. Prescott Valley is an option but to me Prescott Valley is almost just like a distant suburb of Phoenix. The traffic is bad, the population has boomed and it keeps growing and it is not as laid back as the Prescott area (even though Prescott is only a few miles away).

I would highly suggest anyone retiring the in the Prescott area but do some research about the housing prices first. There are some very nice cabins a few miles outside of Prescott up in the mountain areas. It does snow up in the mountains at times though. As far as Prescott proper goes, it is a great small community with a lot of events always going on. It does retain a small town atmosphere. Good luck in your search.
 
MarkinPhx said:
Welcome to the forum ! Prescott is one of my favorite places in Arizona and the weather is more temperate then the Phoenix area although it can get a little to cold for me in the winter (anything below 60 is cold to me). However, housing prices in the town of Prescott and the surrounding mountain homes have skyrocketed in the past ten years. Prescott Valley is an option but to me Prescott Valley is almost just like a distant suburb of Phoenix. The traffic is bad, the population has boomed and it keeps growing and it is not as laid back as the Prescott area (even though Prescott is only a few miles away).

I would highly suggest anyone retiring the in the Prescott area but do some research about the housing prices first. There are some very nice cabins a few miles outside of Prescott up in the mountain areas. It does snow up in the mountains at times though. As far as Prescott proper goes, it is a great small community with a lot of events always going on. It does retain a small town atmosphere. Good luck in your search.
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I lived in Prescott before people from Cali and Oregon started buying up all the real estate and the prices skyrocketed. The downtown square is beautiful but quite frankly, not all that much to do unless you enjoy bars. Whiskey row is a tourist place for drunks. I did enjoy the concerts in the ark and the juried art festi\vals. That is actually what drew me there in the first place.

The town square is absolutely beautiful during the christmas season. Parking is a nightmare because the town was growing past its intended size. I cant stress that enough! It was virtually impossible to find a spot unless you parked many many blocks away. I imagine it has gotten far worse. I enjoyed the four seasons and the lake.It snowed 22 inches one winter. I think that was 2019.

Prescott is a very wealthy little town and not particularly that friendly. One in ten are millionaires. I wasnt one of them. Prescott changed alot in the seven years I lived there. Water is a sore subject that most dont want to talk about especially if they are investors or builders. I sold and left in 2018. I tripled my investment and got out while the getting was good. I relocated to a state where if I bought in Prescott what I have now, Id pay upwards 600K; maybe more. Its ridiculous. The wealthy liberals are ruining that once conservative sleepy town.
I miss the SW but not enough to move that way again. Just my 2 cents worth.
 
bowmore said:
You do not have to relocate that far. If you move to Ventura County, SoCal best kept secret. We lived in a +55 MHP community in Santa Paula, where you can get a newer manufactured home for less than 300K.
You can be at the beach in about 20 minutes. You will also be out of all the BS in LA city and County.
Click to expand...
Oh, my Goodness! Thank you so much for letting me know, I had no idea. I must say, part of the plan was to move away from San Andreas Fault and into a cooler area. But with Ventura County being literally next door, I should definitely explore this possibility. And a new construction home sounds like heaven. I shall do my research. Thank you sooooo much. (y)
 
Salty said:
I lived in Prescott before people from Cali and Oregon started buying up all the real estate and the prices skyrocketed. The downtown square is beautiful but quite frankly, not all that much to do unless you enjoy bars. Whiskey row is a tourist place for drunks. I did enjoy the concerts in the ark and the juried art festi\vals. That is actually what drew me there in the first place.

The town square is absolutely beautiful during the christmas season. Parking is a nightmare because the town was growing past its intended size. I cant stress that enough! It was virtually impossible to find a spot unless you parked many many blocks away. I imagine it has gotten far worse. I enjoyed the four seasons and the lake.It snowed 22 inches one winter. I think that was 2019.

Prescott is a very wealthy little town and not particularly that friendly. One in ten are millionaires. I wasnt one of them. Prescott changed alot in the seven years I lived there. Water is a sore subject that most dont want to talk about especially if they are investors or builders. I sold and left in 2018. I tripled my investment and got out while the getting was good. I relocated to a state where if I bought in Prescott what I have now, Id pay upwards 600K; maybe more. Its ridiculous. The wealthy liberals are ruining that once conservative sleepy town.
I miss the SW but not enough to move that way again. Just my 2 cents worth.
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Thank you so much for sharing. Frankly, I did not have to read anything past "22 inches of snow". That is enough to scare me away from any place. But I appreciate all the details you've provided. It is impossible to find such details on any website. Yet, they could constitute the very difference between happy or absolutely miserable. Parking would clearly contribute to miserable, particularly in winter. Prescott is out. Thank you. This really helps.
 
bowmore said:
You do not have to relocate that far. If you move to Ventura County, SoCal best kept secret. We lived in a +55 MHP community in Santa Paula, where you can get a newer manufactured home for less than 300K.
You can be at the beach in about 20 minutes. You will also be out of all the BS in LA city and County.
Click to expand...
Excellent choice. I would love to live there, but frankly am not going to leave this house/High Desert, would be too much on the plate.
 
MarkinPhx said:
Welcome to the forum ! Prescott is one of my favorite places in Arizona and the weather is more temperate then the Phoenix area although it can get a little to cold for me in the winter (anything below 60 is cold to me). However, housing prices in the town of Prescott and the surrounding mountain homes have skyrocketed in the past ten years. Prescott Valley is an option but to me Prescott Valley is almost just like a distant suburb of Phoenix. The traffic is bad, the population has boomed and it keeps growing and it is not as laid back as the Prescott area (even though Prescott is only a few miles away).

I would highly suggest anyone retiring the in the Prescott area but do some research about the housing prices first. There are some very nice cabins a few miles outside of Prescott up in the mountain areas. It does snow up in the mountains at times though. As far as Prescott proper goes, it is a great small community with a lot of events always going on. It does retain a small town atmosphere. Good luck in your search.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much. A cabin in the mountain would be perfect 20 years ago. I am 65 now, and shoveling snow might not be possible a few years from now. Also moving has always been a miserable experience for me. So I do need to find a place to stay for good with accessible medical help. Most important, though, would be a friendly community. So I am thinking a town, not too big, not too small. Thank you again.
 
LadyRecluse said:
Biggest concern - cost of living, house prices, property taxes. Thinking of Arizona, Oregon and Texas.
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LadyRecluse said:
Would love to hear about places like Medford, OR, Prescott, AZ and drier parts of Texas.
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Welcome to the group, LadyRecluse.
Compared to other places, house prices have eased in parts of north and central Texas, except there are parts of Dallas and north of it that are very pricy. San Antonio homes may also be more expensive.
Drier parts of Texas are the western part. However, in most of Texas, you will see summers 100 degrees and over for an average of 3 months, maybe longer. This year, our summer was particularly hot and dry. We have had no rain in some parts of central Texas for 1 month, even though Oct. is usually our wettest month.
I hope you find a place to your liking, whether it be Texas or elsewhere.
Mack


images
 
officerripley said:
Yes, and there are some other counties in Calif. that are less expensive (in some cases way less expensive) than the L.A. area. If it weren't for spousal/family issues, I'd move to Humboldt County--specifically McKinleyville--in a heartbeat; maybe a little more rain than you'd like but cooler than LA in the summer, beautiful redwood trees, close to beaches, and reasonable housing prices, I love the area.
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Thank you very much for sharing. I will research Humbolt County. Rain in CA actually sounds very soothing, I am quite tired of heat in the city. And cooler would be welcome. One of the reason to move out of CA though is San Andras Fault. Wanted to get away from it. But then there would be something else, wouldn't it? Thank you again.
 
LadyRecluse said:
Oh, my Goodness! Thank you so much for letting me know, I had no idea. I must say, part of the plan was to move away from San Andreas Fault and into a cooler area. But with Ventura County being literally next door, I should definitely explore this possibility. And a new construction home sounds like heaven. I shall do my research. Thank you sooooo much. (y)
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Attached is a photo of the house in Santa Paula we recently sold. We moved to an apartment with an elevator so we did not have to climb any steps.
The second photo is from our window in Ventura.


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MACKTEXAS said:
Welcome to the group, LadyRecluse.
Compared to other places, house prices have eased in parts of north and central Texas, except there are parts of Dallas and north of it that are very pricy. San Antonio homes may also be more expensive.
Drier parts of Texas are the western part. However, in most of Texas, you will see summers 100 degrees and over for an average of 3 months, maybe longer. This year, our summer was particularly hot and dry. We have had no rain in some parts of central Texas for 1 month, even though Oct. is usually our wettest month.
I hope you find a place to your liking, whether it be Texas or elsewhere.
Mack


images
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Thank you Mack. Yes, Texas climate might not be the easiest, but I always loved every Texan I've met. Amazing people! This is precisely why it is so difficult to make a choice, every place has something. Well, I have about a year-and-a-half. Will try to visit a few places before making a decision. Thank you again.
 
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