I got out of Jersey when Corzine was governor. I didn’t want my property values to crash and the taxes were killing me. I moved to San Antonio where the house of the same size cost me 1/3 and my taxes were 1/4 of what I paid in Jersey. Best move I ever made.
We left CA in 2010 for TN.
Sold the house SoCal in a high-density subdivision for over $600K. About 2800 sq. ft. on a tiny lot.
Then in TN we bought our 5,000 sq. ft. house on 2.5 acres, on a river for $375K.
All taxes are lower.
We were laughing when we registered our two cars here. I don’t recall the exact dollar figure, but the cost was about 1/10th of the cost in CA. The County Clerk lady couldn’t understand why we were laughing.
The first time we checked out at the local grocery store, the clerk knew we were new. She asked, “Where do you go to church?” Not, “Do you go to church?” Then the ladies in line all invited us to their churches. If a store clerk in CA had asked that same question, she’d probably have been fired.
We see new people moving in with NY and CA plates, and cringe. Then we learn that their politics are the same as ours — the reason they left the prior states.