Wealthy Californians are moving to Paradise Valley, Arizona, attracted by privacy, a luxurious lifestyle, lower taxes, and quality of life.
Reasons for leaving California include issues with public education, safety, high taxes, and cost of living.
“After being there and realizing some of the dynamics and quality of life and the benefits that were there, we decided maybe we didn’t need to be in California,” Saints Capital cofounder Ken Sawyer said.
“The ability to live in Paradise Valley really provided us with a quality of life that’s far superior,” Sawyer said.
Paradise Valley offers spacious lots, natural beauty, less traffic, and lower taxes.
“We love San Francisco,” he said. “But it stopped providing the public education that we wanted, stopped providing the safety that we wanted.”
The area has attracted celebrities and billionaires and is becoming popular among out-of-state movers.
The median sale price in Paradise Valley is higher than in San Francisco and Los Angeles, but homeowners save on taxes.
Arizona’s growing tech scene and proximity to California are also appealing.
“Our prices hadn’t been climbing like everybody else — we were the last frontier,” Arizona real-estate agent Kelly Jones said. “That’s basically how we looked at it. We were the ones on the map that hadn’t really been discovered. And then we got hit.”
“California as a whole has taxes that have been really hurting everybody, and they’re looking at the cost of living there versus here,” she said. “It’s a lot cheaper to live here.”
“I think San Francisco squandered much of its opportunity for good governance,” Sawyer said.
“Every month, there are more and more people both in the tech world as well as from California more generally,” he said.
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