Same here .... CA. is nice but if you live inland you'd better like 100+ summer temps. Yes, its a dry heat but its still hot - and dont forget all the dust and the inland air quality. The only reason I live in Ca is because I can afford to live at/on the beach. If that were not the case it is still nice up to a few miles inlnd but once you get more than about 10 miles from the ocean the climate becomes very hot and dusty and the air quality is poor unless you are up in the mountains.
Yes, I lived in Manhattan Beach right on the Strand for a few months . . . Thank God for the recently built 105. It was the only way to get to work downtown! As for the Bay Area suffering from a "weaker" economy as you say . . . I really don't see that. Got any statistics to back up your earlier claim about Economies?
Interview of KB Homes President, Drew Kusnick from Contra Costa Times ( SF East Bay ) this past Sunday: http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/business/8184347.htm
Yep, the traffic on 101 is terrible. locals avoid that freeway like the plague if possible. Luckily, 280 runs paralell and hauls ass. Its not as bad as the 405 by any stretch of the imagination. I've been in traffic jams at midnight on that freeway. It has the lofty designation as the only freeway to have two spots in the 10 worst congestion zones in the US (saw it on world news about a month ago). No Bay Area freeway was ranked, although it is bad in spots there. Jay
i lived on the starnd at the m.b. pier in late 1970's and early 1980's (cant remember the exact years ). paid $900 for a 3br/2bth - times have changed.
Yes, times have changed! I was 2 blocks up from the 12th Street Pier and was paying $2500 a month for the top floor of a tri-plex, and this was back in 1993!
Lived in Redwood City a few days a week a couple times a month in a nice apartment on my clients tab while doing work there in 2001-2002. Redwood City was a hole IMHO: I would never live there - 1600 sq ft houses go for 700 - 900 K. Many of the technology companies had their import recruits living there in company financed accommodations. I finally told this client it wasn't worth it for me to be working on their account if we had to spend time - even a few days - in redwood city. They re-negotiated and we do all the work from So. CA. now. Also my wifes employer - rather than lose her - allowed her to work from So. Ca. Other than SF and marin and a few communities around Stanford, the bay area is not a high quality place to live - and certainly not worth a premium IMHO.