Maybe if I didn't have kids and hadn't lived here for 20 years I'd feel different as a single transient...

But while not a local / native...I'm about as close as I can get to that without ACTUALLY being one.

But my job is here...and I think I have a very small pool of job portability. My house is small with 4 of us living there but in 10 years it'll be a perfect size for my wife and I. My neighborhood is very very safe. I'm 6 blocks from the ocean and have all of the entirety of Central and Northern California at my fingertips. My kids elementary school is top notch (top-50 in California). I like my neighbors and hang out with them. Individually, block parties, school functions, etc. My kids and their friends zoom around on their bikes in the neighborhood or go to the park or the beach as a little crew with their friends. In San Francisco we take advantage of all the different neighborhoods which, despite dramatic news reporting, most of them are also very safe and very different from our own.

So, I sell my house for 2 million bucks, pay off my mortgage and start my families life over in Idaho in my late 40s?

For me, personally, I don't see much upside other than a bigger house and an admittedly much lower COL.

I'll pass without thinking twice.

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