West Coast Living
Let's be honest. The West Coast is the best coast. West Coast living is far superior to East Coast living, especially during the winter time. I've lived on both coasts for over a decade and am giving you guys the honest truth.
Despite an honest attempt to search for more great things about the East Coast in a dedicated post, several readers actually proceeded to bash the West Coast instead! What's up with that?
Some curiously mentioned that the East Coast is fantastic because the horrendous weather for half the year makes the other six months so wonderful.
Ummm, that's like saying you appreciate your right hand more because you chopped off your left hand! Wouldn't you rather have both hands?
The only positive takeaway from the comments I agree with is the cluster of historically significant cities within a several hours drive. Other than that, nobody came up with any stand out reasons other than the six I provided as to why East Coast living is great.
Given that the West Coast was attacked, I feel it's important to stand up and defend our honor!
Why The West Coast Is Better Than The East Coast
* Beautiful Weather. With blue skies and sunshine, we have wonderful beaches, healthier, and happier people. There's a reason why movie stars and other celebrities work and live on the West Coast. Why do you think there are so many songs about "California Dreaming"?
* Entrepreneurial Opportunities. Google, YouTube, Yahoo, eBay, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, Amazon and many more innovative, life changing companies are all based on the West Coast. How many self-made 35-year old or younger mega-millionaires or billionaires can you name from the East Coast? Not many.
* Access To Asia. Asia is where the growth is and not Europe. Travel to Asia is quicker, and doing business with Asia is therefore easier. When it's 8am in China, it's still only 5pm here on the West Coast. Communicating at 8pm EST is no fun, and therefore doesn't happen as often.
* Vacation Paradise. Hawaii is just a quick and direct 4.75 hour flight away! Hawaii is seriously one of the top 5 greatest places on Earth to live, and anybody who tells you otherwise has never experienced the island. Besides Hawaii, there is Tahiti, Bora Bora, Samoa, and of course many wonderful vacation spots in Asia.
* World Class Winter Sports. Lake Tahoe and Whistler have 11,000 feet high mountain resorts whereas the East Coast has icy Killington in Vermont and the Catskills in New York. I've been to all four places, and I can tell you there really is NO comparison between West Coast and East Coast skiing/snowboarding. Can you imagine getting dumped on with no mountains to ski down? That's like living on top of a hill with no view! There is no point.
More Reasons Why The West Coast Is Great
* More Peaceful People. A large reason why many people are on the East Coast is because of a job opportunity or family. As a result, resentment builds for the region because they wouldn't be there otherwise. This is a recipe for some very grumpy people. Meanwhile, a large reason why many people live out West is for a better lifestyle as well as job opportunities and family. Because people are living a better lifestyle, you have a much more pleasant social environment.
* Fewer Crooks. Do you think it's a coincidence that some of the biggest crooks in America such as Bernie Madoff, Elliott Spitzer, Dennis Kozlowski (Tyco), and countless dirty politicians are all based on the East Coast? Of course not. I'll leave it up to you to figure out why.
* Healthier People. Because the lifestyle is much better on the West Coast, there are much happier and healthier people in places like California. The healthier you are, the less you have to pay for health insurance and crucial life insurance if you have dependents. Take a look at the latest term life insurance policy rates with PolicyGenius. They make comparing term life insurance policies across all the major carriers easy. Given policy prices are regulated, you're guaranteed to get the best rates possible.
* More Diversity And Inclusion. With a less homogenous population on the southern portion of the east coast, it's natural to have more racism. But at least for me, racism helped give me the drive and strength to achieve financial freedom by 34. Although, the Northeast is definitely pretty diverse nowadays.
Even More Reasons Why The West Coast Is #1
* Lower Home Maintenance Costs. There's no such thing as freezing pipes bursting on the West Coast. There isn't snow, hail, and rain storms crushing the integrity of your house. As a result, maintenance and home insurance costs are much lower. Make sure you re-shop your homeowner's insurance every 1-2 years as well. With the cost of building materials going up and home prices going up, you need the right amount of coverage.
* Lower Power Bills. There's never a need to use air conditioning to cool or heat yourself in many places on the West Coast given the moderate temperatures. Opening a window is all you need during the summer to get that draft going. Adjusting thermostats is a foreign concept! There is much less to spend on home maintenance as well.
* Fewer Auto Accidents. With better weather comes less accidents. Less accidents means lower auto insurance prices. Check how much you can save with Allstate. They have some of the best plans online with the lowest rates around. Plus, drivers who switch to Allstate can save $718 on average.
* Environmental Movement. People love the Earth out here. California was the first to ban smoking in public places, and the state is a pioneer in recycling and emissions standards. We are the home of organic cuisine (Chez Panesse Alice Waters), Tesla Motors (electric car company), as well as thousands of tree huggers! If you love the environment and want to help save the world, you'll love the West Coast.
* Great Athletics. The Golden State Warriors won the 2015 NBA Championship, almost won the 2016 NBA Championship, won again in 2017 and again in 2018, baby! Meanwhile, the San Francisco Giants won three world series in five years. The LA Lakers won the 2020 NBA championship. And the LA Dodgers won the 2020 World Series. During the winter, I can play golf on Saturday in 70 degree weather, and drive 2.5-3 hours on Sunday to go snowboarding in 2 feet of powder. We're truly blessed with amazing athletics.
* Watching The Sunset Into The Ocean. If you live on the East Coast, you'll never see the beautiful sunset into the ocean.
* Pride. If you live on the West Coast you won't have to make sensationalist statements such as "Florida will be torn apart in the next Tornado", "It's so humid in Washington DC you can go swimming in your own sweat", "You'll die early because you'll never want to go outside," "Be careful about the next enemy siege," and other ridiculous statements to make yourself feel better about yourself. You don't have to disparage like some on the East Coast will do about West Coasters because you're already living the dream.
Related: Migrating To California For A Better Life
The West Coast Is The Best Coast
I know I don't have to give any reasons why the West Coast is a much better place to live because it's pretty obvious. It's like wondering whether Bill Gates is rich, duh.
I give reasons anyway to highlight to those who bash the West Coast incessantly what they're missing. It's easy to look down upon those out West if you've never experienced living out here.
But as someone who has lived on both coasts for over 10 years, the choice is obvious. Perhaps this post will make things even more obvious!
If you are miserable out East, do more than just make fun of the West Coast. Do something to change your life by moving! The settlers did so hundreds of years ago, and so can you in much quicker a time.
Have no fear in seeking a better life. You deserve it!
Recommendations For Building Wealth
If you're looking to buy property as an investment or reinvest your house sale proceeds, take a look at Fundrise, one of the largest real estate crowdfunding platforms today. They enable everyone to invest in mid-market commercial real estate deals across the country that were once only available to institutions or super high net worth individuals.
You can live on the West Coast and invest in Midwest properties with much higher cap rates without having to live through the bitter cold.
You can also check out CrowdStreet if you are an accredited investor. CrowdStreet focuses on investment properties in 18-hour cities where valuations are lower and cap rates are higher. With more people relocating to the South and Midwest to save money because they can, CrowdStreet is there to capitalize.
Both platforms are free to sign up and explore. I've personally invested $810,000 in real estate crowdfunding to diversify away from my west coast properties.
Source: https://www.financialsamurai.com/west-coast-living-yes-it-really-is-that-much-better/
