Palm Beach county, FL versus San Francisco

[IAteYourMother]

average engineer in PB, FL is $84k, in SF, CA is $113k. The average in SF would need to be another 10% higher to match.

There is a reason many that work in SF, don't live in SF or at least without roommates.

You can definitely live well in SF on 113k, at least if you're a single, out of college engineer.

 

[alkemyst]

You can definitely live well in SF on 113k, at least if you're a single, out of college engineer.

You need to rewind and see where this is about living at the same level. Being single/out of college means nothing....that $113k would need to be more like $130k to equal $85k here.

I don't think you are going to understand this though.

 

[IAteYourMother]

You need to rewind and see where this is about living at the same level. Being single/out of college means nothing....that $113k would need to be more like $130k to equal $85k here.

I don't think you are going to understand this though.

The point isn't that the cost of living is going to match up 1:1, it's that there are higher average wages there so that the other benefits of living in the city can more easily outweigh the mitigated difference in COL

 

[alkemyst]

The point isn't that the cost of living is going to match up 1:1, it's that there are higher average wages there so that the other benefits of living in the city can more easily outweigh the mitigated difference in COL

COL calculations consider most of that.

 

[brianmanahan]

average engineer in PB, FL is $84k

thats the same average salary for engineering jobs as ohio, but youd need to make 110$ in PB FL to equal 84$ in ohio

think i will stick with ohio

 

[IAteYourMother]

COL calculations consider most of that.

What are you talking about? COL takes into account the COST of living, not the weather, people, ethnic food, etc.

 

[alkemyst]

What are you talking about? COL takes into account the COST of living, not the weather, people, ethnic food, etc.

Some of the col sites have those factors listed....lol at saying ethnic food is an issue in a Florida

 

[Jeeebus]

I've lived in and around a big city (D.C.) where the cost of living was astronomical. Was it a great place to live? Absolutely.

Would I trade my lakefront house on a 1/2 acre with my 30 or so tropical fruit trees to go back? Absolutely not.

There's a lot not to like about Florida, and I'm sure there's a lot not to like about San Fran. To me, the weather, cost of living, year round access to the beach and pool (and ability to actually swim without frostbite), cost of living, etc. makes it an easy choice.

That said, I'm in my mid 30s, have two kids, two dogs, and am pretty much an old fart. But I'm happy where I am.

 

[Oyeve]

I would choose PB over SF only because SF and CA in general suck ass. The only issue would be lack of good cuisine in PB. No china town to get awesome food.

 

[shadow9d9]

Coastal Palm Beach is not humid at all and we don't deal with the mosquitos so common inland.

I don't know what you are smoking, but WPB is definitely humid.

If you like to be surrounded by elderly, with little to do except for the beach, go to WPB. If you want a life, go to San Fran.

I am soooooooo glad to be out of the west palm beach area. Incredibly boring, incredibly isolating, and incredibly old.

 

[Brian Stirling]

I would choose PB over SF only because SF and CA in general suck ass. The only issue would be lack of good cuisine in PB. No china town to get awesome food.

While there are dreadful places to live in CA about the only things I don't like about it are the high cost of living and the traffic. Of course, the COL isn't high every where in CA but the closer you get to the coast the higher the cost and the prettier the girls -- something of a catch 22...

Flroidians may claim to have year round access to the beach but go there in the winter when snowbirds are wearing T-shirts the locals are bundled up in down.

CA is a big state and most people only think of the coastal area between SF and LA ... but, the eastern side of the Sierras is another world with little traffic and magnificent scenery, though not as many pretty girls...


Brian

 

[alkemyst]

I don't know what you are smoking, but WPB is definitely humid.

If you like to be surrounded by elderly, with little to do except for the beach, go to WPB. If you want a life, go to San Fran.

I am soooooooo glad to be out of the west palm beach area. Incredibly boring, incredibly isolating, and incredibly old.

You do know the meaning of the word 'coastal' I hope.

Also Palm beach and south gets much of the supermodel crowd.

If you just came down visiting or were living with your grandparents, you'd see only elderly

 

[shadow9d9]

You do know the meaning of the word 'coastal' I hope.

Also Palm beach and south gets much of the supermodel crowd.

If you just came down visiting or were living with your grandparents, you'd see only elderly

I lived there for 5 years. The whole area was elderly. Hell, the "south florida young adult" meetup in the area, with over 50 people in it, had the youngest being 35, and then gapped up into the 40s. At our birthing class, there was no one within 10 years of our age at the time(at 25). It is ooold. Old, unfriendly, boring as all hell, narrow corridor, with 3 hours of nothingness to the north and a pretty cruddy major city over an hour south. West is the everglades, 20 mins east is the beach. Suffocating, with a truly awful 48th in the country education system. No money for books in english class, even in Boca Raton. Wife was an english teacher there. Disgraceful. A mix of hicks, people who refuse to speak english, and old northerners that came to get away from people.

 

[JM Aggie08]

Which do you prefer: homosexuals, or trash?

You couldn't pay me enough to live in Florida...

 

[alkemyst]

I lived there for 5 years. The whole area was elderly. Hell, the "south florida young adult" meetup in the area, with over 50 people in it, had the youngest being 35, and then gapped up into the 40s. At our birthing class, there was no one within 10 years of our age at the time(at 25). It is ooold. Old, unfriendly, boring as all hell, narrow corridor, with 3 hours of nothingness to the north and a pretty cruddy major city over an hour south. West is the everglades, 20 mins east is the beach. Suffocating, with a truly awful 48th in the country education system. No money for books in english class, even in Boca Raton. Wife was an english teacher there. Disgraceful. A mix of hicks, people who refuse to speak english, and old northerners that came to get away from people.

You were in the cheaper seats,sounds like you are describing Naples or old Boca

 

[alkemyst]

All the books are online, that is why they don't give them out in most of the schools

 

[shadow9d9]

You were in the cheaper seats,sounds like you are describing Naples or old Boca

I lived in 2 different towns there, and explored all over.

 

[shadow9d9]

All the books are online, that is why they don't give them out in most of the schools

That is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard.

I should call up my local schools and tell them to simply throw out their books... I am sure that will go places!!

Good luck teaching kids how to read without any books!

 

[alkemyst]

That is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard.

I should call up my local schools and tell them to simply throw out their books... I am sure that will go places!!

Good luck teaching kids how to read without any books!

Hey buddy, if your wife is a teacher she should be the first to know there is a big push to move paper books to e-books.

Saves the kids lugging them around too.

They still are BOOKS!

You are right, that was dumb.

 

[shadow9d9]

Hey buddy, if your wife is a teacher she should be the first to know there is a big push to move paper books to e-books.

Saves the kids lugging them around too.

They still are BOOKS!

You are right, that was dumb.

This was back in 2004 and there was no such "push"... There were just no books and books were required.. she had to pay for them out of her own money.

My son is in Kindergarten right now... guess how many books he has been told to read on the computer?

Florida is 48th in the country for education, and WPB county is the 2nd highest paying county in Florida for education and STILL didn't have books!

 

[alkemyst]

PB County 2012 Census facts:
Total Pop: 1,356,545
Under 18: 20.1%
Over 65: 22.1%
Females: 51.5%
White, non-Hispanic: 58.7%
Hispanic: 20.1%
Asian: 2.6%
Black: 18.2%
Median Income: $52,951
Per Capita Income: $33,960

San Franscisco:
Total Pop: 825,863
Under 18: 13.5%
Over 65: 14.0%
Females: 49.1%
White, non-Hispanic: 41.7%
Hispanic: 15.4%
Asian: 34.2%
Black: 6.1%
Median Income: $72,947
Per Capita Income: $46,777


Only thing I can see as a draw to SF is more guys and a ton less white and black people. If Asian/Hispanic is your criteria, I guess it works. However; that median income in SF is very bad for the costs of living there.

These are good comparison sites. The problem is San Francisco is the county and city. Palm Beach is the County but some of the cities are not good representations.

http://best-cities.findthebest.com/compare/244-352/San-Francisco-vs-Boca-Raton

 

[alkemyst]

This was back in 2004 and there was no such "push"... There were just no books and books were required.. she had to pay for them out of her own money.

My son is in Kindergarten right now... guess how many books he has been told to read on the computer?

Florida is 48th in the country for education, and WPB county is the 2nd highest paying county in Florida for education and STILL didn't have books!

WTF does the whole state have to do with a city? Florida is almost entirely agricultural and mostly very low populations/rural through out the state.

 

[alkemyst]

I lived in 2 different towns there, and explored all over.

You ambiguity and now living in New Jersey of all places shows it was probably not a very good area.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I would choose PB over SF only because SF and CA in general suck ass. The only issue would be lack of good cuisine in PB. No china town to get awesome food.

Lots of good white people food though.

I was in Melbourne Beach a few weeks ago and it was really nice there. Very laid back and the people are really friendly. Weather was nice too. I would hate it during the summer but winters I can see why people live there.

I kind of miss the east coast vibe too sometimes. It's just different.

 

[drbrock]

Education is decent here(Palm Beach) if you put you focus on your children and have decent money to throw at it. We have an incredible influx of non English speaking people who generally don't want to learn English. They get political asylum for landing on our shore. The school system legally has to teach these children regardless and it slows down the classrooms especially in elementary school. On the other hand when you start getting into high school there are stellar schools here. I went to Suncoast which was ranked very high nationally back in 2000. Most of my friends went Ivy League coming out of the program. That is a very small segment of the entire county though. In general most kids in other schools are pretty worthless. The culture here does not foster personal growth.

Racism is pretty bad in Broward and Dade county which is not too far south of Boca Raton. I can speak Spanish fairly fluently and I hear horrible things said about me all the time when I travel down there. My former girlfriend was completely fluent in multiple dialects of Spanish and has lived in spanish speaking countries. She was in Miami to interview for her phd program at UM and she actually called out multiple people for saying nasty things or refusing service to her. It is actually quite crazy down there. (disclaimer we are very normal looking people. Both college athletes and would be considered to at least decent looking. So no reason for the comments.)

This is not a personal attack on Alkemyst so dont take it that way. I have to disagree with his general viewpoint on the area. The place that he lives or at least drives through is incredibly wealthy. Yes, there are plenty of supermodel types here. Actually it is incredible at how many good looking people are here. If you just want 1 night flings this is the place to be. There are tons of dumb models that for a few drinks at a nice place will do disturbing things. Go on POF or Tinder and do an area search. It will blow you away at how pretty the girls are but none of them have degrees. If they do it is a half way complete community college track.

If you have the money to live where Alkemyst lives then yes Palm Beach would be crazy fun. I would expect you would need to be making around 500k min a year to even think about hanging out in those crowds or buying one of those homes. Most of friends here made around 150-200k and they could not touch these places. There are areas that are kind of run down especially on Flagler that you could probably get away with but they would be huge fixer uppers.

I don't care where you live this place in humid. I cycle almost every weekend along the beach and in the summer it is always humid. In the winter there are breaks but not many.

The meetup groups here do consist of mostly older people with the median age being 40-45. I do a lot of them but the "young" group is really 40-50 lol. It is kind of funny and sad. The youth or 20 somethings here are not educated and do mostly service jobs. That is what most people complain about. Plenty of good looking people but no brains to go along with it as the job market does not draw any of these people here.

OP you said you like Boca. I would implore you to check out Mizner park as that is the pinnacle of what you can expect for entertainment. Chill out at Yard House with your wife on a Friday night. Delray is fairly close and they have decent nightlife but the area is suspect for living. If you want to see the locals of Boca check out the Boy's Market. You will be in for a treat. Old men and women fighting over baskets and who got to the fruit first. It is hilarious. They actually employ police during busy season to make sure these old people don't hurt themselves.

Either way OP good luck it is a tough call. It might not be possible for you to afford a place for your family in San Fran. If you can live in a suburb near San Fran I would take it. Your children will be better off for the long term as well rounded individuals IMHO.