Some Californians Found Dream Homes Inland. But It Sure Is Hot There.
The New York Times
Residents moved to Mountain House, Calif., to escape soaring housing costs near the coast. Now, they just have to survive the searing summer heat.
When Farwa Ali and her family wanted to buy a bigger home, Mountain House, Calif., seemed to check all of their boxes.
The fast-growing community, just 40 miles inland from where they were living in the San Francisco Bay Area, offered good schools, a diverse population and dozens of large houses for sale within their budget. It seemed to be a perfect match — at least until their first summer, when the scorching temperatures of California’s Central Valley set in.
“We never had an idea that it would be this hot,” Ms. Ali said on Tuesday as she darted through a grocery store parking lot where the temperature was well over 100 degrees.
Mountain House, about 60 miles east of San Francisco, became the newest city in California on Monday, after voters agreed in the spring to have their bedroom community run by a full-fledged government with a mayor and City Council. What began as a small exurban development was propelled in recent years by a surge in home buyers who were priced out of the Bay Area.
Inland cities have attracted residents from coastal California for years, but the migration went into overdrive after the pandemic took hold, when many employees were able to work remotely from anywhere and families wanted more living space.
