Leaving California | A Bold Move or a Big Mistake | Sara Ruth
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In this video I just leave California and it was not sure that A bold move or a Big Mistake.
In this video I just leave California and it was not sure that A bold move or a Big Mistake.
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TravelTranscript
00:00This is actually going to be the week where I decide whether I'm going to stay in California
00:05or leave it for another state. So in order for me to actually decide what I'm going to do,
00:11I decided to take a trip from Northern California to Southern California, so from Sacramento to Los
00:17Angeles and see if California is going to persuade me to stay. I don't know what's going to happen,
00:23we shall see.
00:40I always make it a point to stop at one of my favorite places in California.
00:53So I got home and I decided to structure this video as reasons to stay in California
01:10and reasons to leave California. So I will mostly focus on Los Angeles particularly
01:16and I would like to start with the fact that the weather is beautiful.
01:23But there is such a thing as May Grey and June Gloom where I'm at here in the West Side.
01:31So the reason why they're calling it May Grey and June Gloom is because of the marine layer.
01:36Here on the West Side we're very close to the ocean and it's supposed to be
01:40summertime and it's supposed to be like amazing weather and sunny,
01:44but it is not because of the marine layer. But the stereotypes are true. It's not too hot,
01:50it's not too cold. In the winter you can be comfortable with just like a little sweater on,
01:55so it really is almost perfect weather. Another great thing about Los Angeles is the amazing
02:01geography. You have the ocean, the beach, and then you're a very short drive to the desert,
02:09so like the Coachella Valley and Palm Springs. You're also very close to the forest and the
02:14mountains, so no matter which direction you go, it's just simply beautiful. And lastly,
02:20one of the biggest reasons to stay in Los Angeles, and maybe a lot of people will disagree with me,
02:25is the vibrant culture. I am European. I grew up in Romania and then I went to Copenhagen,
02:34Denmark to study at university and then I moved to Los Angeles, California. And let me tell you,
02:41there is a big difference between Copenhagen, Denmark and Los Angeles, California.
02:48Copenhagen, it's gorgeous. It's beautiful. The architecture is unbelievable. It is a walkable
02:55city. You have a lot of public transport. You do not need to own a car. I personally biked
03:01every day in Copenhagen. I didn't even need to use the public transport. One downside here is the
03:07weather. It's a little bit windy and a little bit gray, and that's why maybe I'm complaining
03:10about the weather in Los Angeles, but let's not get derailed. There is one big downside that I see
03:16as a foreigner living in Copenhagen. There seems to be a cap on how far you can go socially and
03:22professionally as a foreigner in Denmark. I really needed to push through the culture and learn the
03:28language and try to make friends in order to be able to actually be accepted. But yes, this is
03:35what I did. I learned Danish and I embraced the culture. Apparently, if you are able to say that
03:42as a foreigner, you get a Danish passport.
03:58Yeah, that was weird, right? It feels like here in Los Angeles, you are really being accepted for who
04:04you are, no matter where you're from, no matter what your background is. You are being accepted.
04:09As soon as I wanted to move to Los Angeles, I applied to a job and I got it within two weeks.
04:15That would have never happened for me in Copenhagen. I know it might surprise a lot of people
04:20when I say that I feel like Los Angeles is like home, but I really did not feel like a foreigner
04:25here. So after saying all that, the big question is why would anyone leave Los Angeles? Well, let me tell you.
04:34I'm just going to focus on one main reason. The high cost of living. Gasoline, groceries and taxes.
04:44But the biggest is the housing market.
04:50It feels pretty impossible to actually go ahead and purchase a home, especially here in Los Angeles,
04:57that would feel as an improvement in your lifestyle from where you're actually living.
05:03Rent here is also very expensive, averaging $3,000 on a two-bedroom apartment. But if you
05:09actually had to buy that same apartment, you would end up paying three times more than what you pay on rent.
05:20So if you want to buy the apartment, you're looking at $9,000 a month, excluding all the
05:25other expenses that come with it. So what I want to do right now is take you outside with me. I want
05:31to show you my neighborhood and maybe we'll check out some open houses. Let's go.
05:39So I have been thinking about moving from Los Angeles for a while, but every time I do, I just
05:47remember how wonderful this neighborhood is. It's a really walkable neighborhood. I can walk to my
05:53grocery store. So I like to walk down the street from my apartment because this neighborhood is so,
06:00so beautiful and I really like to look at the houses and I kind of want to share them with you.
06:11So I was walking around my neighborhood the other day and I saw this really, really beautiful home
06:17for sale and I really wanted to check it out. But when I saw the price, my heart just sank.
06:26You will not believe how much this costs.
06:30$8,000,000. Such a steal, right? But you know what? Today they have an open house and I really
06:39want to go check it out to see what you actually get for $8,000,000 here in Los Angeles, California.
06:46So come with me.
07:02Now I can live in the showroom.
07:16So I have some thoughts. I really, really like the house. I think it's really beautiful.
07:24The design is incredible, but I did see that it's been on the market for a couple of weeks now
07:31and they just lowered the price by $400,000. So now it's $7.6 million. Is it really worth 7.6?
07:41I don't know. I'll let you decide. But in my opinion, you could get this house somewhere
07:45else much cheaper. So this is my thinking and this is what I have been pondering about for
07:51the last year of me living here in Los Angeles, California. And I'm a little bit sad and a little
07:56bit freaked out to say, but I am leaving and I'm purchasing a home, but I will not be purchasing
08:02a home here in Los Angeles. I'm moving to Phoenix, Arizona. So I'm packing up this week and honestly,
08:11I do not know how this is going to go, but I do know that I really want to have you with
08:15me on this journey. So stay tuned.