It would take a LOT to get me to move out of CA. The weather is still mild. I don't think I could ever deal with anywhere that it snows so much (and yes, I've lived in places like that). But having family around is hugely important. I guess it really depends on where you live in CA. Like I could do Sacramento pretty easily, on my own. It's not that expensive (to me, compared to SF), they have light rail, easy to get around, decent weather, decent medical availability having UC Davis nearby. Where I'm at now (between Sac and SF) the weather is just about as good as I'm going to get, but I'm going to have to go to UCSF for better docs, and I wish BART went all the way here. My brother is an hour away. If I couldn't work anymore, I would most likely move closer to him (he is in Sac). I would not live in Stockton/Modesto/Fresno, etc.

My bro-in-law is out here from TX. He keeps saying how pretty it is, but then when it comes to real estate, he's flabbergasted. I plan on getting a house that's probably $400K, and he says a house like that out in TX is less than $100K. But I get paid more for the higher real estate. If I were not working, I'd be screwed. No way SSDI could pay for that. My long term goal is to buy a house in the next year with some money I'm supposed to get from a medical settlement, work for as long as I can, and then when the time comes to stop working, sell the house and move somewhere more affordable, like Sac, and hopefully buy most of the house with the equity of the first house.

So yeah, we really pay for what we have, weather and all. But one will have to really beat me down to leave this area. Not too hot, not too cold, I can grow food, people are more educated and liberal, culture, diversity, etc.