My experience with Mt. Shasta is different than my son's

For example, he likes living in Suburbia in a big City like Portland Oregon where it isn't as expensive to live like it is in California and many younger people think this way. So, even though he is 51 and his wife is about his age and his son is now 11 years old he prefers not to live in California because Gas and food and Rent are just too expensive and the expense he feels reduces his quality of life.

Many people 50 or younger are now facing the fact that you can either have children or you can buy a house. The majority of people under 50 are in this quandary right now by the way in this country. It's actually quite horrific for people 20 to 45 years old that they cannot have children and afford to buy a house even with two good jobs. 

Even my son in law in San Diego County (father of two of our grandchildren) said that if they hadn't bought their home there in 2017 they couldn't afford to buy it now because then their combined income could be about 100,000 dollars a year which allowed them to get a good mortgage for their new home. However, here in 2025 to buy the same home you would need 400,000 dollars a year in income to buy the same home in San Diego County.

So now, people in California expecting to buy a home between 20 and 45 are mostly screwed and won't be able to ever do this especially if they have children. Of course there are often work arounds but if you are working at a good job somewhere you often are going to have to give that job up to buy a home way out in the country to make it work to own a home for you and your family. 

This is the reality all younger people are facing now! (At least in places like California!) 

I just realized I didn't address the question in the title of this article.

For me, Mt. Shasta is my spiritual home and always will be. I lived there full time from 1976 to 1978 then from 1980 to 1985 and then from 1990 to 1992 when we returned from Hawaii. However, sooner or later I found trying to make a living there was hard. And it is.

Unless you are a truck driver or musician or a General Contractor or something like this if you want to raise your family there. It's different if you are single of course but with a family living in Mt. Shasta is often a problem making enough money there unless you work online or something like that.

I found myself returning to the San Francisco Bay area and buying one or more businesses eventually and having to live there to run those businesses.