Relocating to California?

Enjoy your adventure as you visit the best California relocation resource available today.

Before you start your journey, take a minute and review what makes California a great place to work and play.

What makes California real estate worthwhile?

Covering a larger area than any U.S. state except Texas and Alaska, California is a striking study in topographical contrasts. Within 137 kilometers (85 miles) of each other are both the highest and lowest points in the contiguous United States: sculpted Mount Whitney at 4,418 meters (14,494 feet), and a particularly desolate swath of Death Valley at 86 meters (282 feet) below sea level. As the Klamath and Cascade ranges command the northern part of California, the parched flatlands of the Mojave Desert unfold across southern California, occupying nearly 20 percent of the state’s land. Forests cover almost 40 percent of California, embracing both the world’s tallest tree, in Redwood National Park, and the oldest living thing on earth, a Bristlecone pine that is nearly 5,000 years old.

The population of California, by far the biggest of any U.S. state, reflects its diverse cultural and ethnic history. By 1542, when Portuguese-born explorer Juan Cabrillo became the first European to set foot in what is now California, the region had been home to the Mojave, the Maidu, the Hupa and many other Native American groups for thousands of years. Spanish missionaries, beginning with Father Junípero Serra in 1769, defined California’s early colonization period by establishing a string of 21 missions from San Diego to Sonoma, each about a day’s hike apart along a 650-mile trail known as El Camino Real.

Yet by 1848 the missions were for the most part defunct, California belonged to the United States as a result of the Mexican War, and there was a new power in the land—gold. Within a year of the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill, prospectors seeking their fortunes streamed in from all over the United States and other parts of the world, increasing the state’s population sixfold. Today California leads the nation in the number of residents from a variety of ethnic groups, including Hispanic Americans, Chinese, Japanese, and Native Americans. More than nine out of ten Californians reside in urban areas, with about one third of the state’s population living within the Los Angeles–Long Beach corridor.

If the economy of California were separated from those of the other U.S. states, it would still rank among the world’s top ten economic powers. California leads all other states in both manufacturing and agriculture, single-handedly generating 12 percent of the U.S. gross national product (GNP). Its diverse manufacturing base includes massive aerospace and defense industries in southern California, and a number of world-class microelectronic firms located in an area around San Jose known as the “Silicon Valley. Tourism is also a major player in the state economy, generating more than $40 billion annually with attractions such as Disneyland, Yosemite National Park, and the wine country of the Napa and Sonoma valleys. The television, movie, and record industries based in southern California have established Hollywood as one of the entertainment capitals of the world.

Want to know more about California real estate?

Find a San Jose real estate for sale by owner agent at usellusave.com

Return to top