miss djax

Hi All,

I'm still kinda new, and learning the ropes, so bear with me if this is the wrong place to post, or wrong thing to be posting..

But here's the long and short of my question, and then sincere quest for help

About 2 years ago, I moved to Silicon Valley to be a fierce she-nerd. I love my job, but its killing me now. I work 60-70 hours a week, and that seems to be the way it works in this part of the universe. I'm not being singled out, its just what is expected. Given that we have had 8 rounds of layoffs in almost 2 years, I am employed and don't have much to bitch about.

The San Francisco Bay Area is appallingly expensive. I don't really like it here, and I will never be able to afford to buy a place. In my zip code, 300 grand gets you a 650 square foot condo. Go ahead, look 'er up on realtor.com. Mountain View ain't THAT cool

So I miss Phoenix, my old home. I want to go back. I can afford a house there. My life is there. But I can't afford to move myself. I have made 3 cross country moves in the last 7 years, each with a relo package for work.

Am I deluded to think it could happen again? Will the economy ever perk up? Am I stuck here? Is it a matter of time before things improve, or should I prepare for the long haul??

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Miss Djax

Jabu Khan

I hope so because I'm stuck in Phoenix and want out baaaaad.
lol.

livius drusus

Hi miss djax -

Since you seek information and not simple support or banter, I'm going to move this thread to MD. Best of luck to you.

livius drusus
moderator - MD

miss djax

Really? I loved living there.....

You hate the heat or the urban sprawl? I understand the sprawl issue, cuz that sort of annoyed me

AzJeff

I moved from Santa Clara to Phoenix about 3 years ago - luv it!

I could actually afford to buy a house, so I did - built brand new, 1900+ sf, pool, all kinds of options. And my mortgage is the same as the rent I was paying for a one-bedroom apt. in Santa Clara.

I moved out here for my employer - no pay cut, and I've survived a few layoff's since moving. My fingers are crossed, hoping the semiconductor industry doesn't go more in the tank.

NialScorva

If you have a clearnance, you can easily get a job in DC. If you don't have a clearance, don't come anywhere near this place.

Gooch's dad

miss djax:

I think the economy isn't going to turn around anytime soon, unfortunately. But on the bright side, for you, I think the housing prices in the Valley are going to crash, and crash hard, in the next 2 years. They aren't far off the highs from 3 years ago, and there simply isn't anything holding up those prices. Just like the stock market, it's a case of finding a "bigger fool" who wants to pay more for the commodity.

There simply isn't any sound reason why a moderate house should sell for half a million dollars. House prices don't drop as rapidly as stock prices, but once a solid trend develops, I'm sure the homeowners will be trying to bail out before it drops too much. And condos will drop much faster.

4th Generation Atheist

.....don't come to DC!!! It's not that we wouldn't love having you here, I'm just being a nice and honest person!!!

NialScorva is right, all the "good" jobs here are security clearance jobs. Plus, there are different levels of clearance, and there may be an invisible ceiling on your achievement level in a given agency/company if there's some reason you can't get a higher one. And one never knows for sure if there is! One thing tho: the older you are, the more likely there's some oddity that will at least get the clearance people asking extra questions.

It's hot here all f***ing summer long. Humid, too. Frisco is supposed to be warm now and then, but from what I hear has fairly good weather most of the time....don't come here tho unless you want to live in a sun-baked swamp. The Founders put the Capitol here b/c nothing would grow (they needed the arable land for what was then the chief national industry), and wound up with a city nothing could live in. What a surprise.

On that note, streets are laid out for mystical significance, not navigation. The city culture is geared toward the Important People, and to hell with the rest of us slobs. There are racial and ethnic tensions all over the damn place, in every conceivable direction for such tensions to run: between the southern rednecks from the outer counties of Virginia/Maryland and the blacks, between the recent immigrants and other bigots of various stripes, between those same rednecks and northern Yankees (that's where my unfortunate *ss fits in), and I suspect on some level between every human being and every other human being who differs from the first in the slightest shade of skin color, creed, sexual orientation, planet of origin.

D.C. is a really, really sucky place to be poor. I make what would be a middle-class income anywhere in the interior of the country, but it won't even buy a vehicle on the coast. Not that I'd want to drive in D.C. anyway; I'd get killed in a hit-and-run from one of those ubiquitous black Cadillacs that ferry the lobbyists around, and the lobbyist would get off scot-free. If it was a Republican lobbyist, there'd probably even be an office party.

You can't get a meal anywhere near the Hill for less than $8. (I'm talking lunch here). When I was temping, if I got one of those stupid day jobs stuffing envelopes, half of what I made that day would go to food and transportation for that same day. I even had a couple of offices stipulate that I couldn't bring my own food for lunch, I had to buy it! Those temp jobs were always of the "my usual *ss-licker is out for the day, can I get a temp one?" variety. Like you can't live one day without your *ss-licker. But when you need the cash, you don't say that. (Um, I did once in a while, so my assignments got fewer and farther between).

Right now I'm at the first job I had that I could stand after starting my post-graduate-school search three years ago. I'm a scientist in a town that does nothing but type and answer phones. There are science jobs in the gov't, but your supervisor will be a monster. There is the good job security for you---but remember, the monster can't get fired either!

And all this was frustrating before the Department of NaziTrailerPark Security came around and made the town into a fusion of its old self and a Fox "reality" special. I half expect to see martial law declared any day, with mandatory cavity searches for all dark-haried males who board the Metro train. ("Please stay in your homes until the nice police officers arrive to take you away....") All the local news is the same as the national news, and you know how depressing that news always is.

The place I really love is New England. That's where my family is, and while I don't agree with them on absolutely everything (who does), my livelihood does not depend on acting as if I do. The weather is cooler (and cloudier, which is important for those of us not much gifted in the melanin department), the vegeation is familiar, and the people don't all speak with drawls up there. There isn't a Southern-and-Texas fetish on everything (
Black Tie and Boots Ball? Give me a break!!!) because who's in the White House doesn't color your every experience. I have got to get back up North, and I don't have the money to move either. Plus, things up there are also expensive; I'd have to get a substantially better job to pay off the cost of moving. And since the economy tanks every time I graduate (the Republican Party checks my school records to ensure that this will be so) I don't see it happening.

In short, I understand your plight.

Ramen

Here's what $292,500 gets you out here in Sillycon Forest (near Portland Oregon)



Beds: 4
Baths: 2.5
City: Beaverton
County: Washington
ZIP: 97006
Style: TRAD
Yr.Built: 2002 /NEW
Stat: ACT
Sqft: 2653

Garage: 3 ATACHED Levels: 2.0 Acres:
Roof: COMP Heat: FOR-AIR FirePlaces: 2 /GAS
Lot Size: 5,001 - 7,000 Lot Desc: LEVEL Lot Dim:

REMARKS:
LARGE 3 CAR GARAGE ON CONTRACT, CALL FOR TERMS, 4 LARGE BDRMS, ALL CUSTOM WOODWORK & CABINETS, NEUTRAL COLORS, TILE COUNTERS, LARGE MASTER WITH FIREPLACE, GREAT FOR COZY NIGHTS, VACANT & READY.

FEATURES:
Kitchen: HARDWOD/BI-MICO /DISHWAS/DISPOSL /GASAPPL /GOURMET /OVEN
Interior: 220ELCT/GAROPNR/GASFPLS /HARDWOD/SMK-DET/WW-CARP
Exterior: DECK /PATIO /PORCH

click here for the link.

Jesus Tap-Dancin' Christ

Mortgage rates will never be better. Buying now is a GOOD idea.