[enad]

Houston. It is very humid. Most of the time.

But we have air conditioning. Every place has air conditioning. And it run's constantly. But still my power bill is just a fraction of what it was in California.

From late fall through early spring the weather is very California-like: cool and crisp in the morning and warm and dry in the afternoon.

[newnewpdro]

If you accept a life spent indoors in air-conditioned spaces you weren't taking advantage of what you were paying for in California.

[GhettoChild]

Most people in California are this way though. All of my family who still lives out there pay a premium to watch the same TV shows I watch and to watch Netflix while sitting on their behinds indoors. Very few people are out hiking every possible minute or going out to the coast even when living nearby.

[newnewpdro]

I'm inclined to agree with you, and would say that many folks living in the expensive parts of California aren't even leveraging the majority of what makes it so expensive to live where they do.

I lived in the SF bay area for over a decade, and when employed by the tech industry and spending all my free time outdoors it was very worthwhile.

But whenever I stopped working in the lucrative positions there, the math stopped making sense, even spending all my time outside.

I'm still in California, but a much cheaper part: Joshua Tree. Bought a sizable property in cash, my cost of living is very low and I can still access all the excellent California produce and the coast is only a ~2 hour drive away.

People tend to only talk about the most expensive pockets of CA as if it's representative for the entire state. There's a lot of more rural parts of CA that are very affordable, still beautiful, and not even that far from the ocean.

[GhettoChild]

There is a lot of focus on the expensive parts of CA because thats where the jobs are. If you need to be employed you pretty much have to live in or around the expensive parts and thus it makes sense for people in that situation to relocate. If someone does not need to work or works remotely then one of the cheap parts of the state does make sense.

[enad]

Just don’t try to send your kids to the schools in the affordable parts of the state. Low cost of living = lower property values = low property taxes = poorly funded schools.

[newnewpdro]

What kids?

[Cougher]

For one thing, the post implied that being indoors came with the higher humidity in Texas. But assuming that the poster really did "accept a life spent indoors in air-conditioned spaces" as you reflexively assume, what is this extra high taxation paying for in California that the person wasn't taking advantage of?

[newnewpdro]

I'm not going to write what amounts to a tourism advertisement here.

Do you really need to be explained all the reasons California is a desirable vacation destination for the entire world?

Living there without spending your time outside is missing the entire point.

Many people live there just for the tech industry, and simultaneously complain about the high cost of living. Well, if you spend all your time at the keyboard indoors, you should shift to remote work and leave the state. Because you're paying to live in the funnest place in the nation, don't blame the state for not taking advantage of it.

[Cougher]

Not only did I live in California, but I lived in the middle of a national forest there. And yes, I spent a great deal of time enjoying it. The question remains, and I'll clarify: how much of a resident's taxes pay to maintain the great outdoors versus all of the other services?

[enad]

I don’t mean to imply that you can go outside. You can. And we do. Just that when it’s 85 at night and 85% humidity, you run your A/C all night, every night.