So you’ve been living in SF (or the Bay Area) for some time, slogging away at your job, or sitting on a pile of freshly minted Ethereum garnered by your crowd-funded start-up (bitcoin is so 2016, and venture capital has, you know, strings attached), or maybe you’re an ‘original San Francisco’ inhabitant contemplating a change – dare we say, a move OUT of San Francisco, possibly even a move to Nevada County. Perhaps one or more of the following reasons WHY you are thinking of moving applies to you:
1. You have school age kids (or are about to) and the school lottery didn’t play out in your favor. You are weighing the pros and cons of private school tuition or a crippling mortgage. You are leaning towards the latter. Public schools are of excellent quality in most of the communities in Nevada County. There are also great private and charter options as well. Check out: greatschools.org, schooldigger.com, or the state’s www.caschooldashboard.org
2. You want more space. For the money (yes, lot’s of it), you can get a detached house with a yard for roughly the same dough as your current digs without having to share walls on two sides with your (hopefully) very nice neighbors. With the median home price in SF hovering at around $1.5 million and Nevada County at around $635,000, it may be time to consider an adjustment in priorities. CA Assoc. of Realtors Market Data
3. You have dreams of a parking spot to call your own. Sure - we should all be ride-sharing, biking, walking or riding transit – but the reality of car ownership demands a place to put that four-wheeled beast when you aren’t making your personal contribution to climate change.
4. You discovered that artisanal coffee is available outside the urban 7x7 mile confines of SF’s thumb-shaped peninsula and you are willing to give up some of your hipster street cred to settle into the next phase of your amazing life. The Union did a nice profile on our latest addition to the café scene: The Union: Communal Café Opens in Nevada City
5. A birthday with a zero in it is looming, and maybe a slight tweak in lifestyle is in order. You can always move back (or can you?). A piece in Sunset Magazine showcased what you might expect from a move to Nevada City: Sunset Magazine Best Places to Live - 2017
6. You are quietly super-jealous of your friends in the Sierra Foothills. You went to a gathering at their place with a an amazing combination of nature and culture, and you kinda liked knowing the city is close to you, not closing in on you.
7. 7x7 = 49 square miles surrounded on 3 sides by water and earthquakes kinda freak you out and the sirens that are always wailing are not so cute anymore nor the smell of pee and is that guy following me and geaawwfrshmrglaaahhhh!! I’m fine, no really. Admit it, you are running out of denial juice. Here are some crime stats for a reality check: SF Crime Stats
8. It’s been a dream for a while now. It’s OK, you deserve it. Don’t postpone joy. We are waiting for you.
If you want to take the next step to figuring out HOW to move to the Sierra Foothills, read my other post. If you want to stay in the city, that’s cool, we can still be friends, but you need to meet me for a tasty beverage at your favorite SF watering hole so I can continue to feel relevant.