Cost of living?
In OC the price of housing is somewhat less than other areas around LA. Expect $5-600K for some kind of 3 BR starter home. My OC house (4BR 2.5 Bath with 3 car garage & RV parking) is currently pending sale for a bit more. Wanna make a backup offer?
Taxes?
State income around 10%
Sales: 8.75
Property: 1% of purchase price with increases limited to 2% unless Mello Roos applies (tax for infrastructure construction applied to some developments)
Food: Grocery stores have prices not much different than the rest of the country.
Cars: Registration (T & L) 10% (8.75 + 1.25) Full sales tax is applied to the total value every time the vehicle is subsequently transferred. IOW, the state collects several times the actual vehicle value throughout it's average lifespan.
Traffic? Get a motorcycle.
Fuel: Generally 25 to 30 cents a gallon more than the rest of the country.
Power? Anaheim has it's own electric and water utilities. It was never affected by any power problems.
My power bill is generally between $130 and 220 for two months, including water, street sweeping and trash pickup. City gas (SoCalGas Co) runs $10-30 per month.
Quality of life?
If you like cars, motorcycles and making things, the place is paradise. Small business abounds and service for nearly ANYTHING can be found.
There's Speedway Saturday Night in the summer:
http://www.cmspeedway.com/If you explore, there is an abundance of inexpensive good restarants to frequent.
You can generally walk outside on New Year's Day in shorts and a Tee-shirt.
Guns? OC is generally shall issue if you apply. Few do. All other Blissninny gun laws apply...
I like it here. However, I also like it in the Ozarks where I also have a house.
