JT (re: Chamber's Coe takes California job): While Mr. Coe will love the winters and overall weather, he'll face significant challenges. I've lived in many places across the country and none has been more pro-business than CdA. The CdA Chamber has deep backing from the city council, Jobs Plus and LCDC. Before moving up here in 2005 we lived in or near Santa Rosa for 22 years - bought our first house there. The “no growth” faction is large. The infighting on the local city councils is legendary. As spokelooneh stated, the housing market collapsed. The high tech industry has largely left - from home-grown OCLI and HP/Agilent to Cisco and similar. Things flat out aren't good. If he was looking for a real challenge, he found it!

Question: Any of you ex-Californians out there having second thoughts re: moving up here? Would you admit it if you did?