Thank you. We moved to the Bay area for work and it has not been easy. Living in the redwoods is great in theory, but it is beyond challenging. Rents have doubled in the last 5 years. Houses here aren't nice and you pay triple than PA. A house that is a tear down will cost about $800k. And cost of living is going up. Our water bill with just doing basic house cleaning (no lawn or gardens) is $150 a month where my sil in Vegas with a pool pays $30.

I am ok with varying political stances and a balanced one can be good as long as people are civil. There are plenty of right leaning conservatives in the mountains here and there isn't exactly culture unless you have arm sleeves or commute to Silicon Valley.

Our allergy season is beyond horrible. I was hoping to escape to somewhere easier to breathe, but might not ever. We also have a bad mold problem here. We have pollution from wood burning stoves, farming and wildfire smoke, but no factories or much traffic. Some years the sky is orange from fires and you can't go outside or open a window.

We don't get rain from March until October or November. It is pretty boring having no variation. I never thought I would miss rain. I might kick myself someday for saying that.

Those are many of the areas I am hoping to better for us. I hope to visit the town soon. Thanks for all of the help!

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