What are the benefits and downfalls of moving from New Jersey to California?

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anonymous

I recently traveled for work to Fremont, CA, which is between San Jose and San Francisco. I enjoyed the weather and how nice all of the drivers were (especially in the city). Now I'm considering moving there. I'd like to know if anyone recently thought about moving to California (especially that area) and why, or why you didn't move. Did you perform any financial analyses? Are there any site that you'd recommend I check out for someone who's thinking about moving there? No sarcasm, please.

Answer
I'm a long-time California resident who moved to Silicon Valley (near Fremont) many years ago. First, let me correct some misconceptions. Fremont is not anywhere near or like Simi Valley, which is in the southern part of the state. Second, the area you're looking at is not "laid back" as some would have you believe. It's a high-stress, congested, crowded area. I find it very stressful living in this area.

The weather is great. But the cost of living is unbelievable. Don't bother looking at the web sites that compare cost of living in various cities. I've found them to be mostly fantasy. Housing costs are astronomical. Expect to pay 400,000 for a small condo. A 3 bedroom home could easily set you back 800,000 in the Fremont area. Food, gas, utilities, and taxes are all out of sight. We pay sales tax (8.5%) on just about everything (including clothes, but not food).

If you have kids, you should know that the school systems in general don't compare favorably with those on the East Coast. Our highway systems are crumbling (San Jose was just named the city with the worst roads in the country).

What to do about neighborhood children who are a nuisance?

j

We have lived in the same neighborhood for over three years now. We live in a set of 4 apartments facing another set with a shared driveway. The other set is owned by another manager. The upper three are all two bed rooms and have about 15 children plus numerous adults (it really varies from week to week as some leave new ones come with one base family in each apartment). The kids are a real problem, they yell and cuss all hours of the day and night. Throw trash all over the place and tear up anything they can get their hands on, key cars, break other kids bikes and toys etc. When we ask the kids to stop they scream louder when you turn your back or claim it wasn't them in the first place. The parents all claim to not speak English when you try to speak to them about it even though I have had conversations in English with them before, (we live in San Jose, CA by the way). I am at the point where I am ready to call CPS and make a complaint about them for having so many people living in a two bedroom apartment. I know the best answer is to move but I just finished school and am trying to get caught up on all the bills I couldn't pay, my landlord worked with me while I was in school so I didn't get evicted for not paying rent. Does anyone have any other suggestions on ways to deal with this without having to involve CPS or the Police?
Just an FYI, I have complained to our landlord, he has the same issues that we can not prove which kids are destroying things. These children live in the apartments that are not owned by my landlord or the problem would have been solved and for the person who told me I don't have a right to complain because I am not caught up on my rent, I do pay my bills and my landlord was gracious enough to help me while I went to school. I make all my payments on time but cannot afford to move while I am paying the extra from the past few months on top of each month. I am a single mom myself with three kids and live six hundred miles from my family. I have every right to complain when I have key marks down the side of my car from kids who's parents let them run wild with no supervision. My house has rules, timeouts and bed times at 8. I make all my payments on time but cannot afford to move while I am paying the extra from the past few months on top of each months rent.

Answer
You need to talk to the neighbors in your building. All of you get together and speak with the owner of your building and be prepared to ALL say you're going to move if he doesn't help you out with this one. He, in turn, can speak with the owner of the other building property owner to property owner. That should see some progress. Make sure you're all keeping some sort of record of the goings on, with specific incidents, times and who was involved. You're building's owner won't want a nuissance property costing him good tenants.

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Title Post: What are the benefits and downfalls of moving from New Jersey to California?
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