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Before SF, I was in Houston. I would say it is a lot better over there, except for the weather. Housing and utilities are not ridiculous. A good 2000sqft house is 400k. PG&E is less than half CA price. The news shows you the anomaly market prices that nobody pays because everybody has fixed pricing which is about 14-15c/kWh. Homelessness and crime are basically unnoticeable. I can park my car almost anywhere and never worried about break in or theft and no I don't live in any special places. In fact the area I live in is actually in the "less safe" area. But I was there for nearly a decade and never had any issue. SF was the first city I was scared of walking outside alone or leave my car unattended. Also, within Houston, the city kind of lean left but the state government leans right so overall, the political effects balance out. There is no such thing as "no white allowed" playdate in schools or DEI overreach like the ones I saw in SF. There is also no prosecution of LGBTQ people or minority harassment either. It is a very "live and let live" city where if you mind your own business, nobody will interfere. On the other hand, I moved to SF and tried to stay downtown. Could not afford it after a while and felt seriously unsafe with the homelessness issues and moved to Daly City after. Things are still expensive there even when it is the "suburb". Rent is still 2k for tiny apartment. Utilities are still just as expensive. Car is now a necessity because by bus or train it takes double the time and also my work hours are not fixed, so I need to stay late sometimes. And no way in hell I am taking public transit at midnight. It is guaranteed to end in a robbery eventually. A house is completely out of reach. I am in STEM, work for a top company in the field, at a very high skill position, and my salary after tax would never allow me to buy a house here unless I live like a student for the rest of my working life. Meanwhile, if I go back to Houston, I can have a house right now at this exact moment using just the cash I have. That is how much different it is. Accounting for taxes and the cost of living, I am living much poorer here in SF than I was in Houston. And I am sure I am not alone in this experience. It is not a coincidence that lots of people are leaving CA to go to Texas. Even the big companies agreed. |