California Leavin' - KTLA report on Californians flocking to Nashville
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So Cal absolutely and undeniably demolishes Nashville IF you can afford it. The weather, the amenities, the things to do, the ocean, the scenery, the sports, the women, the nightlife, the shopping, the neighborhoods, the food, etc. It's just not close. Not to trash Nashville, it's just not a fair comparison and the same would be said about most other metro areas as well.
That's the rub, I think. If you're on the West Coast (I'll lump Seattle into this, since that's my experience) you need to be making at least $150k as an individual to participate in the lifestyle. You can get by on less, but it isn't nearly as fun. Contrast that to a place like Nashville where there is less fun in general, but you can participate in what's there for much less $$.
I went in the other direction. I like the beach, palm trees, mountains, and Western scenery. I get the cost issue, as well as the bad government in California, but there is nothing like La Jolla, Del Mar, or Coronado anywhere near Tennessee.
As a former Californian who came to TN almost 20 years ago (after a 5 year stay in Tampa - lived there not jail), I do miss the west. La Jolla, Del Mar (anywhere along the coast) the desert or the mountains are pretty breathtaking. It's just the majority of people and it's .gov suck at levels that keep me from going back. I also enjoy Central-east UT (Moab) and Western CO.
I think what I miss the most is all the public land that's available to explore\camp (BLM\National Parks etc.). There sooooo much public space out west. Something that is in very short supply here in TN which is unfortunate.
Maybe I'm too much of a simpleton to understand, but why do so many people in recent years cite the government as a reason to avoid a location? I can understand why not having sufficient wealth would keep someone out of CA, but if you're wealthy, in my opinion there's no better place to be if your goal is a great quality of life.
If you can afford it and live someplace like La Jolla, for instance, I can't imagine turning that down because of a government.
I have an acquaintance in Santa Barbara. When I visit, it's otherworldly - the best of the best of everything. I leave wondering where I went wrong in my life. If I were in his shoes, even if the local government waged an actual war on my house with guns, they would have to kill me before I'd leave.
Just me I guess. I don't care about things like abortion, schools, or immigrants. And I grew up in the Bronx back in the day, so the level of crime today, for me, pales in comparison to what I was exposed to in my younger years. Taxes and home prices matter, but again, if you are sufficiently wealthy, then those cost of living issues go away.
I'm not in California, but the west coast lifestyle also lured me. I lived in Tennessee from birth until age 23 and then was very happy to get out. I think a lot of folks are just looking for something that aligns with their own sense of lifestyle and worth. It's great that we live in a large enough country to offer both Southeast and West Coast experiences.
It seems the primary driver of state migration today is cost. People still move from lower to higher cost states, but the trend over the past several years has been away from high tax/high cost coastal states to the lower cost southern states. This trend accelerated post Covid with work from home and the Great Resignation.
Then like you said, there are other reasons. Not everybody moves only for money or primarily for money. Some people just want a quality of life they can't get in the place they were raised.
Sorry to burst your bubble but the data in that article seems very unreliable. If you do a sample size of 1000 Nashville transplants, the majority of them are going to be from states east of the Mississippi River, and mostly in the Midwest. It's something I've witnessed on the ground as a true Nashville native. This idea that Californians are moving there in droves is only bait for flashy news headlines, nothing more. It's a fantasy. Tennessee is far down the list of states California natives want to move to.
Most Californians who leave are moving to Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona, but enough are moving to Nashville to make Californians the top out-of-state source off people moving to Nashville.
With California being only one of 49 other states, of course it doesn't provide 51% of all people moving to Nashville from out-of-state, but it is far and away the top state for that.
My wife and I moved from the Sacramento area to Monterey, TN almost 5 years ago. I have to agree that the weather is great in most of California, but that is not enough to cause me to return. I don't want to live in a place with nutty politicians, the highest gas prices, high vehicle registration fees, high property tax, water rationing, electricity brownouts, and a high overall cost of living. We do miss family back in California, but they can visit us and we can visit them. California has a lot of beautiful areas, but so does Tennessee. I will never move back to California.
I moved from Sacramento to Knoxville (same climate as Nashville). I don't find the weather that bad at all.
I am curious what you think.
I don't find August weather any worse than Sacramento. I am damp in 92-degrees with high humidity in Knoxville, and sweaty at 105-degrees with light humidity in Sacramento. The dry heat is negated by the high temps. I don't feel much different except my hands are a bit clammy, there are more days I need to change my damp shirt, and more days I am compelled to shower when I come in, but it is not as if those never happened when I was dripping sweat in Sacramento. I was in AC in Sac and now I am in AC in Knoxville. I welcome the summer rains rather than 5 months straight without a rain drop. I delight in the frequent thunder storms.
Winter is decidedly colder, but marginally. I do notice the cold. Mildly cold temps feel colder here than in California, due to the moisture in the air. I would be in shirt sleeves and loving it, at 60-degrees in Sacramento but need a jacket or sweatshirt here. I enjoy the few dustings of snow we have gotten.
I only hate one thing about Knoxville humidity. Temps of 75-85 are annoyingly warm and I just can't mentally get used to how wonderful that felt in Sacramento and how warm it is here.
I use AC in the car when I would not do that in Sacramento. In Sac, that temperature range is ideal and very comfortable, but in Knoxville humidity it is too warm to be pleasant. It is not hot and I don't suffer, it is just frustrating mentally to recall how blissful this temp range was in Sacramento, and annoying here. It is a mental adjustment I just can't get used to.
Meanwhile, those hot summers, Knoxville vs. Sacramento? My home AC knows the difference between 92 in Knoxville and 108 in Sacramento. It takes a lot less AC use to lower the home to 70 degrees from 92 in Knoxville than from 108 in Sacramento (while my AC would drone on all night).
I moved from Sacramento to Knoxville (same climate as Nashville). I don't find the weather that bad at all.
I only hate one thing about Knoxville humidity. Temps of 75-85 are annoyingly warm and I just can't mentally get used to how wonderful that felt in Sacramento and how warm it is here.
It takes a lot less AC use to lower the home to 70 degrees from 92 in Knoxville than from 108 in Sacramento (while my AC would drone on all night).
I too am from Nor-Cal originally, but in 1998 moved to Florida for 5 years, then moved up to Middle TN. That was 18 years ago. Humidity is a thing, it can be something to complain about, but at the end of the day, anywhere in the south (and actually east of the Mississippi) humidity will always be a factor. Took a while to get "kinda" used to it in Florida, so when I moved to Middle TN it wasn't quite the adjustment.
For all the reasons @jguillot listed: nutty politicians, the highest gas prices, high vehicle registration fees, high property tax, water rationing, electricity brownouts, and a high overall cost of living to name a few, are enough reasons to not ever return to living there.
Maybe I'm too much of a simpleton to understand, but why do so many people in recent years cite the government as a reason to avoid a location? I can understand why not having sufficient wealth would keep someone out of CA, but if you're wealthy, in my opinion there's no better place to be if your goal is a great quality of life.
If you can afford it and live someplace like La Jolla, for instance, I can't imagine turning that down because of a government.
I have an acquaintance in Santa Barbara. When I visit, it's otherworldly - the best of the best of everything. I leave wondering where I went wrong in my life. If I were in his shoes, even if the local government waged an actual war on my house with guns, they would have to kill me before I'd leave.
Just me I guess. I don't care about things like abortion, schools, or immigrants. And I grew up in the Bronx back in the day, so the level of crime today, for me, pales in comparison to what I was exposed to in my younger years. Taxes and home prices matter, but again, if you are sufficiently wealthy, then those cost of living issues go away.
Being sufficiently wealthy won't fix everything, but it sure helps.
California is a scenic and weather/lifestyle jewel. It used to be shiny and gorgeous, but it's been covered in poop for decades now. Having spent all but four years (teenaged years in the '80's) in SoCal and having been born within the city limits of L.A. (anyone remember Ross Loos?), I know it very well. As gorgeous as the weather is, after some decades one gets tired of the monotony, the constantly brown and dead hillsides, the dry, dusty Central Valley, the trash and dead weeds along every street, freeway, sidewalk, etc. Even the monotony of those "freeway bushes," the pink and white oleanders starts to weigh on one. Very unlike the gorgeous greenery and ubiquitous woods of the southeast.
The primary problem, is politics. CA has "enjoyed" a super-majority of one political party for many years. They ram every ill-conceived notion down everyone's throat. They are heavily involved in your day-to-day life. One may not realize it at first, but at some point the latest straw is the one that breaks your back. Paying a dime for every plastic grocery bag, a nickel a gallon gas tax (which has been implemented so many times it has become over 50 cents a gallon, nearly a dollar!), having to pay (Dearly) for parking at nearly every park, shopping area, beach, amenity, and even neighborhood, the huge traffic ticket fees (to pay for the entire court system) the phenomenal gouging of vehicle registration, the smog-check scam, the unelected but still ruling boards, like the AQMD, CCC, and CARB all issue decrees that impact event and everything.
All those fees, taxes, etc. add up to A LOT of money. So where is it? When the dam in Oroville was extremely damaged just five years ago, the tax monies set aside from gasoline taxes were not there to pay for it. All that money had been shell-game shifted to support social services for illegal immigrants. Everything from cell phones to housing vouchers, SNAP cards, Tan-F, and even hot breakfast and lunches at the schools - for ALL family members, not just students. And on non-school weekends also!!
All those amazing freeways that are really the artery system of the region? They were stellar in the 40's and 50's. The first freeway in the U.S. was made there in the late 1930's (the 110 from downtown to Pasadena). They have not been well cared for or widened. There is stop-and-go traffic 20 hours a day. Including weekends. The ruts, potholes, and surface changes are so bad that tires are regularly shredded.
The uncontrolled immigration (both legal and illegal) has placed so many people in so small an area that crowds are everywhere, traffic is everywhere, housing is in short-supply and expensive, there are lines and fees everywhere you go and every time you turn around there are more. Daily commutes (for those few working to pay for the rest) are commonly over an hour. I know people that live in Apple Valley or Moreno Valley and commute into Long Beach or Orange County for work. That's over two hours EACH way, every day. Four extra hours a day spent in the car just getting to and from work. The average price for a 1,700 sq foot house in Orange County (let's say - by the beach in Dana Point) is 2 million dollars. That's also going to come with a $20,000/year property tax bill, AND a $300-$500/month electricity bill. You cannot even buy a small condo in a run-down, ugly, crime and gang filled, dense area like Santa Ana is well over $500,000.
We could talk for paragraphs more about the massive insurance frauds that have brought thousands of young adult drug addicts to "rehab" centers on the west coast from all across the nation, and the rampant crime, homelessness, and mentally deranged that has brought with it. Frankly, I'll leave that to someone else, I'm getting tired of typing.
I could go on and on. Those who have spent many years there can chime in with comments or disagreements, or even more examples if they wish.
I will say this though, especially to those younger on the forum who have posted about their eagerness to get away from the southeast and the draw of California. Go. It is a great place to be when you are young. You can make A LOT of money. Get a good job if you have a higher education. If you do not, look for a solid civil service job (city fire departments, police departments, etc.). The pensions are incredibly generous and you can make A LOT of money and enjoy great benefits. Stay for your entire career and they will pay you thousands of dollars a month for the remainder of your life. Buy a house as soon as you can. Ride the real estate for your career. It is not untypical to buy in your 20's and sell it for 5x that price when you are in your 50's. Sell and move up with your gains. Pull equity out and buy something else to rent out. There are few real estate markets that are so predictably solid and grow so much as Californias. Sure, there are bumps and dips, but we are talking overall, with a couple decades of time to ride the dips out. Equity refugees are a real thing. Californians live their lives and make their money and then sell and move somewhere else (like Tennessee) with all the money they made and all the home equity they obtained. They then live like kings and queens at (relatively) young ages.
Make your money in CA, and then get out. Preferably far away from California and the other states former CA equity refugees have already polluted (OR, WA, AZ, ID, NV, etc.).
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