patrick.net

I’m departing Santa Cruz after 38 years next week.
I had a blast living here; surfing, going to San Francisco for adventures, scuba diving in Carmel and hiking in Big Sur.
I’m going to the only area of Florida that I am familiar with, because I can scuba dive there and avoid California taxes.
I’m unwilling to pay for the illegals to get health care and send their kids to school; I won’t pay the pensions of government goldbricks; I won’t pay millionaires at the CHP, Sheriff or fire department; I won’t support the homeless.
I calculated that my California taxes will be about $8000/year in 2021 and go up from there; fuck that.
I might visit each year for a couple of months and spend the 8 grand, but it will be my decision to spend the money.

You can't really describe California the same way you can't describe being in an asylum. When you run across crazy, you can't describe it in any meaningful way, you can only try to act it out in some kind of diorama repeating the crazy by imitation.

If Biden/Harris Presidency becomes reality, then the arrogance of rigged elections and KommiKunt atrocities will only double down in California.

We have to wait until Covid is over, but it really does look like time to take the filthy California lucre and run.

My wife is yammering about it more and more, and she likes the climate here as much as anybody.

Strange thing is, in addition to competing with all the California hordes for everything living here, we will now have to compete with them to leave the fucking place. It's stampede time.

The Illinois, California Exodus

Yes, all those companies will exit those Blue areas and bring lots of employees with them. That will be like a metastasizing cancer in that these folks will go to the unspoiled Red areas but bring their Blue politics along.

I promise not to be a Blue State cancer! I guess we need to wear his and her sandwich boards.

How to fix Illinois:

Chef Ramsay leaving California:

https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/tv-chef-gordon-ramsay-california-texas-restaurant-hq?source=patrick.net

I’ve convinced my wife and two kids that we’re leaving Commiefornia and going to Nashville next Summer. Enough is enough.

porkchopexpress says

I’ve convinced my wife and two kids that we’re leaving Commiefornia

porkchop, thank you for sharing.

Which part of California are you in? Are you a native Californian? If not, when (what age) did you arrive, and why did you come then?

Why did you choose Nashville?

Good luck to you!

WookieMan says

I hear ya. It's an unverifiable opinion, but the eating part is better in the Midwest hence the weight gain, lol. Outside of authentic Mexican, I'm not sure I've had what I'd consider a good meal in CA at a high(er) end place (non-chain). I'm sure there's good food somewhere, but I've had little luck and Yelp blows.

100% correct. Lived in TX for 2 years and CA for 8.

The food overall in CA was bland. While Midwest crushed it everywhere I went. From TX to OK, to KS, IL/MI.

In Atlanta now where it's hit/miss.

Wookie is on point with this.

https://conservativebrief.com/florida-2-56319/?source=patrick.net

Florida Registered GOP Voters Outnumber Dems For First Time Ever

B.A.C.A.H. says

porkchopexpress says

I’ve convinced my wife and two kids that we’re leaving Commiefornia

porkchop, thank you for sharing.

Which part of California are you in? Are you a native Californian? If not, when (what age) did you arrive, and why did you come then?

Why did you choose Nashville?

Good luck to you!

We're in San Diego county and been here for over 10 years. I've lived in many places but mostly in CA.

I'm now fully remote so me and the wife went through a significant analysis of COL, taxes, family, freedom, weather, schools, etc. There are pros and cons, but we landed on Nashville because of the following:
- We do have some family there. We have no family in CA.
- No state income tax and low property tax. I have a high income so this impacts us quite a bit.
- Red state. Gun friendly. People chanting "Let's go brandon" in bars.
- Relatively nice climate when you think about other states (minus CA of course). True 4 seasons and nothing extreme in winter or summer.
- Great schools and universities close by.
- The vibe. We visited Nashville and surround burbs and loved the atmosphere. Roads were good, cities clean, people nice, etc. Also, we love live music and our family is musical, so Nashville really only competes with Austin in that domain.
- Nice scenery and landscape. This is a reason I'm not as crazy about Texas or FL.
- Close to a lot within a days drive. We can drive to the FL panhandle in about 6 hours and be at white sandy beaches.

Of course, tornadoes are a downer and I'll miss the SCAL weather for sure, but the trade-offs are far too great to stay here anymore.

porkchopexpress says

the trade-offs are far too great to stay here anymore.

Fascinating.

Thank you for sharing.

Looks like Dave Rubin is evacuating...

Personal thanks to @GavinNewsom as I am officially leaving the dystopian nightmare of California for the free state of Florida. My successful business and all my employees are coming with.

See you soon, @GovRonDeSantis!

🐊😎🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/XC51yYRqZK

— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) December 13, 2021

B.A.C.A.H. says

porkchopexpress says

the trade-offs are far too great to stay here anymore.

Fascinating.

Thank you for sharing.

Are you contemplating something similar?

porkchopexpress says

I’ve convinced my wife and two kids that we’re leaving Commiefornia and going to Nashville next Summer. Enough is enough.

We too are leaving early next year, been looking at properties in Florida. I do have to say, it's cheaper, but only slightly more conservative than CA. Plenty of same corporations with their fag flags and BLM signs there too in Tampa. But i you go further out of the city, it gets more conservative.

porkchopexpress says

Are you contemplating something similar?

No.

Unlike you, Patrick and others who have shared on this blog, I am a local with deep roots here that compel me to remain under the present circumstances. Like a Palestinian in Israel or an Anglo-Irish in Ireland or a white South African.

That said, I am open minded that the circumstances could change, so I am interested in the motivations of others who acted on the decision to leave, and how they chose where to leave to. I am particularly interested about those who have only ever lived here and elected to leave their deep roots.

We are just now contemplating a 'window of flight' to some safe haven where we could rent a place and leave our properties here under custodianship remotely. Somewhere in mountain Arizona or Nevada sounds like a reasonable bet. There is too much uncertainty everywhere to think that permanent lily pad hopping might make something better. Investigating places requires direct hands on exploration, and probably staying for a while to see what they are like. Arizona has an active conservative militia that could work.

Things are too much in the air and unpredictable at the moment. We may take some spring journeys to check things out. SoCal will likely be going feral pretty rapidly, especially with the illegal influxes. Crime will be the only way they can make a living.

B.A.C.A.H. says

Unlike you, Patrick and others who have shared on this blog, I am a local with deep roots here that compel me to remain under the present circumstances.

Which is fine. As an outsider I've bashed CA. As a tourist I love CA. And with any move the grass isn't alway green on the other side. If weather is the number 1 issue, I'd stay in CA and deal with the negatives.

I don't like Nashville. Was just there. Very transient. Lots of younger people move there trying to get into music. Has a solid corporate business foothold, so there's jobs. PorkChop is right about 6 hours to the Panhandle. But there's a shit ton within 6 hours in any direction from central TN. Big negatives about the Nashville area is winter occasionally happens. It's a shit show. No plows, salt or sand. Basically it shuts down. Tornados as mentioned. Humidity from the Great Lakes down to FL can be brutal if you're not used to it. Solid airport centrally located, so flights to east, west and Caribbean are generally 3 hours non-stop.

Not moving out of state or out of town, but I've now been pegged with finding construction lenders.... fuck. Not sure if anyone has rehabbed a house, but today is bittersweet. 100's if not thousands of hours of work is going to be someone else's soon. Never intended having 3 kids in this house, 2 would have worked, but the time has come. Might list this spring. Kind of depressed about it to be honest. I'm also burned out from the constant projects. So maybe a new house will be nice. Giving up the fight and we'll likely be building new. Fuck again.

FortWayneAsNancyPelosiHaircut says

We too are leaving early next year, been looking at properties in Florida. I do have to say, it's cheaper, but only slightly more conservative than CA. Plenty of same corporations with their fag flags and BLM signs there too in Tampa. But i you go further out of the city, it gets more conservative.

Tampa is very left wing... it's more Left wing than Miami-Dade/Broward in some ways. Lots of Minnesota/Illinois/MI/WI Gov Employees retire there. West Coast of FL has a lot of meth, weirdly it's much less just on the other coast.

If you don't need to go to the beach every weekend, check Central Florida, or the East Coast North of Martin County. Haven't been to the Panhandle so can't speak for it. Area around Jacksonville is based but there is a lot of crime in the city. You'll pretty much be an hour from the coast at most where-ever you live in Florida.

There will be very good deals in a year or two when the real estate market collapses. Every 10-15 years Florida has a cycle of R/E boom-bust, and we'll probably have a national supercycle at that point too.

I personally love Brevard and Volusia counties the most. But again, the prices have definitely spiked hard since 2020.

WookieMan says

Not moving out of state or out of town, but I've now been pegged with finding construction lenders.... fuck. Not sure if anyone has rehabbed a house, but today is bittersweet. 100's if not thousands of hours of work is going to be someone else's soon. Never intended having 3 kids in this house, 2 would have worked, but the time has come. Might list this spring. Kind of depressed about it to be honest. I'm also burned out from the constant projects. So maybe a new house will be nice. Giving up the fight and we'll likely be building new. Fuck again.

You're going to build your own new house? Why bother when many are for sale? Maybe low inventory in your area?

AmericanKulak says

Area around Jacksonville is based but there is a lot of crime in the city.

I've heard that many times before, but since I live in Baltimore City, I would have to think that it's very safe compared to what I am used to.

AmericanKulak says

If you don't need to go to the beach every weekend, check Central Florida, or the East Coast North of Martin County

I thought that one typically doesn't go to the beach even in Key West in the middle of the winter.

AmericanKulak says

There will be very good deals in a year or two when the real estate market collapses.

That is what I am hoping for!

Ceffer says

We are just now contemplating a 'window of flight' to some safe haven where we could rent a place and leave our properties here under custodianship remotely. Somewhere in mountain Arizona or Nevada sounds like a reasonable bet. There is too much uncertainty everywhere to think that permanent lily pad hopping might make something better. Investigating places requires direct hands on exploration, and probably staying for a while to see what they are like. Arizona has an active conservative militia that could work.

Things are too much in the air and unpredictable at the moment. We may take some spring journeys to check things out. SoCal will likely be going feral pretty rapidly, especially with the illegal influxes. Crime will be the only way they can make a living.

We bought a rural property (>50 acres) because things can go south in a big city rather quickly, even in Texas. Local populace consists of rednecks and Hispanics which mix pretty well, with an average number of guns per household of about 20. I feel quite inferior since I don't have half of that. Such heavily armed populace probably is better than having an organized militia since that can be tracked down and squashed easier. We considered a few things: land has to be somewhat fertile so you can grow enough food - I am not sure if buying in AZ or NV would give you fertile land; water on land - we have a stream in back of property and a few ponds; dead end road; neighbors should be reasonable which is the most difficult thing to judge - but one can usually spot trailer trash and the closest candidate is 3 or 4 miles from us; should be sufficiently far from large city (I'd say at least 50 miles); large enough property so that you can hunt.

If you put all that together, parts of Texas look pretty good. It won't be as pretty as AZ or NV mountains or have as nice climate, but land is fertile and populace heavily armed.

WookieMan says

I don't like Nashville. Was just there. Very transient. Lots of younger people move there trying to get into music. Has a solid corporate business foothold, so there's jobs. PorkChop is right about 6 hours to the Panhandle. But there's a shit ton within 6 hours in any direction from central TN. Big negatives about the Nashville area is winter occasionally happens. It's a shit show. No plows, salt or sand. Basically it shuts down. Tornados as mentioned. Humidity from the Great Lakes down to FL can be brutal if you're not used to it. Solid airport centrally located, so flights to east, west and Caribbean are generally 3 hours non-stop.

Fair comment about Nashville but we wouldn't live in Nashville proper but a suburb outside. Regarding weather, Nashville seems decent especially compared to states other than CA. For how rare snow happens, I can deal because my cars are AWD and I have no daily commute.

Fact is, I can't deal with the cons of CA anymore. The mandatory vaccination for kids in schools was the final straw. If that means dealing with some imperfect weather, bring it on.

Kim Iversen: 'Leftugees' FLEE Blue States Amid HORRIBLE Dem Policies, DIRE Need For Self-Reflection

One of my wife's work friends moved to Nashville suburb and loved it. She couldn't believe (after California) that she had nice friends right away. She only moved later because she was chasing her kids around.

Ceffer says

One of my wife's work friends moved to Nashville suburb and loved it. She couldn't believe (after California) that she had nice friends right away. She only moved later because she was chasing her kids around.

Good to hear. We visited it recently as a family for the first time and really liked it. The people, the vibe, etc.

zzyzzx says

I thought that one typically doesn't go to the beach even in Key West in the middle of the winter.

I've gone to Florida beaches in winter, and swam - all the time when I was a kid, and later with my own kids. It's a little too cool towards the end of winter, but far from needing a wet suit like on the Left Coast or diving for the Cross in January in New Jersey (did that). Key West and South Florida can be in the 80s with humidity even in Winter. North Florida is a bit cooler. I went swimming at an amusement park with my kid just a few weekends ago in Orlando, no problem.

The Gulf Stream is much warmer (and closer to the shore) than it is in the North, so Ocean swimming is nowhere near as cold as it is in the North in Winter.

I’m originally from MT and lived in AK before moving to LA for work. 20 years down there I saw things go from reasonable to unreasonable. Everything from house prices to traffic. I lived in s. oc then Long Beach. It was great but glad to leave. Bought in MT when prices were reasonable as well. Fixed it up until moving here full time. Both of us still work for CA companies and thank god for Elon! Starlink is faster than anything we had in CA.

A relief (so far) for us has been the courts shooting down the mandates. If they tried to force-vax rather than just intimidate-vax in CA, we would have our go bags to hunker down elsewhere until the storm passed. Fortunately, we don't need to work to do that.

It doesn't look like things are going so well for the psychopathic vaccination plague. It could all resolve within the next year. The kick back I was hoping for last year is starting to happen now, with all of the increasing, obvious tyrannical atrocities.

I suspect that in the next couple of months that crowds in Europe will be storming the bureaucrats haunts and physically dragging them out unless major fire power is deployed. That will just lead to more push back on them. They will wind up dragged to the nooses and guillotines.

porkchopexpress says

The mandatory vaccination for kids in schools was the final straw. If that means dealing with some imperfect weather, bring it on.

I salute you sir. Nothing is more important than your family.

Ceffer says

I suspect that in the next couple of months that crowds in Europe will be storming the bureaucrats haunts and physically dragging them out unless major fire power is deployed. That will just lead to more push back on them. They will wind up dragged to the nooses and guillotines.

The people could also just vote them out.

This thread encapsulates my usual name on patnet. It was never patnet I was passing through but CA and I realized that nearly immediately when I moved back to the bay area and saw how fucked up it was in the mid 90s. (vs. early 70s and early 80s)

Always knew I would eventually leave.

Was hoping for Florida but my parents are aging in TX so I'm going to setup a base there then look into a 2nd place in FL.

Next year. Probably do it over the summer to make it an even 25 years.

Bd6r says

If you put all that together, parts of Texas look pretty good. It won't be as pretty as AZ or NV mountains or have as nice climate, but land is fertile and populace heavily armed.

Bd6r,

I used to watch a show about Pig Hunting in Texas. I think it was called "American Hogger".

Something I was interested in doing since college days three decades ago, was Pig Hunting in Central California. So finally, in my mid-50's I took the NRA classes with my kids, learned to shoot, etc., and had a fabulous time hunting those varmints recently with my son and son-in-law. My son-in-law showed me some youtube videos of Guided Pig Hunts With Dogs in Texas. That looks fascinating and loads of fun. I saw websites for such guided hunts that are linked to butchers who will ship anywhere in the world. It's my next bucket-list-destination.

B.A.C.A.H. says

I saw websites for such guided hunts that are linked to butchers who will ship anywhere in the world.

Say, wanna sell some "wild hog shares?"

B.A.C.A.H. says

Bd6r,

I used to watch a show about Pig Hunting in Texas. I think it was called "American Hogger".

Something I was interested in doing since college days three decades ago, was Pig Hunting in Central California. So finally, in my mid-50's I took the NRA classes with my kids, learned to shoot, etc., and had a fabulous time hunting those varmints recently with my son and son-in-law. My son-in-law showed me some youtube videos of Guided Pig Hunts With Dogs in Texas. That looks fascinating and loads of fun. I saw websites for such guided hunts that are linked to butchers who will ship anywhere in the world. It's my next bucket-list-destination.

We have wild hogs on our property and they can be hunted without any permits all year. We'll probably fence off the bottom part of land from cattle and hunt there. Local sausage shops make sausage from them or conveniently convert them to pork chops.

Patrick says

You're going to build your own new house? Why bother when many are for sale? Maybe low inventory in your area?

Yes. It will take time, so it's not like it's happening tomorrow. Probably a 2-3 year process.

We've been living extremely frugal outside of travel, so we have the means to build. We can also get 2-3 lots with sewer and water for $40-50k total. We're doing custom as well, no bullshit subdivision tract home. We're in a unique position right now. We got our place for $85k. Probably close to $300k now. We refi'd but would likely walk with $150k after closing costs tax free. With down payment we could likely build new and have a monthly nut of $2,200-$2,600 with a brand new house designed to our liking.

I like our current house as I've spent so much time rehabbing it, and PITI of $1,200/mo, but once these boys hit high school, they aren't fitting and 3 cannot share one bathroom. I'm not small either so in 6 years roughly we're going to have 4 dudes that are 6' plus walking around a 3/2 home. Looking at a 5/4 ranch setup. One of the 5 in the basement since it's taxed less here below grade. 2 story house is a no go as stairs waste space.

With a family, renting just doesn't make sense where we're at and we have the equity in this home. This would be our final house besides a vacation or retirement property. I'd like to knock both out now and have the retirement property as a vacation rental and pay down the principle in our working years. We'll see. Doing a fuck ton of financial planning lately.

Patrick says

You're going to build your own new house? Why bother when many are for sale? Maybe low inventory in your area?

Little or no inventory and I don't like the houses that they build in a lot of places. I could make a list of reasons why I hate houses built after a certain year, but that's more appropriate for a separate thread.

Tangential comment herewith;

I’m in Baja California Sur Mexico and yesterday at the Walmart I saw a car 1. Florida plates 2. UCSC sticker.

I’ll bet he’s another California tax refugee, enjoying some traveling.