23 Yearold Single Irish Male looking to Immigrate to USA - Where is best for me? (San Diego: real estate)

[Warren86]

Hi everyone, i'm just looking for some opinions from people who would know better than me about where would be good for me to live in the USA. I'm a 23 year old Irish male with a Degree in Commercial Real Estate. I recently worked in Jacksonville FL for 2 months over the summer and loved it, mainly the weather and the fact everyone was so friendly. I did some traveling after and found the main touristy big cities are not for me, i like the normal american places which i found had much friendlier people. I'm basically looking for a place that comes as close as possible to meeting the following criteria :

1. Nice weather all year round, i'v had enough of cold rainy winters in Ireland! I loved the weather in Jax while i was there, although im not a big fan of sweating so a slightly less humid climate would be a plus, but not important.

2. Friendly people. Just to give you a quick example of what i don't want - i also visited Miami for a week while in the USA. I thought it would be a great place for me, but i didn't like the fact that most people were Spanish, It was very pretentious which i didnt like, and most people were very rude.

3. Relaxed and non pretentious. Similar to point 2 but its very important. I hated being turned away from clubs in these places just because i don't know the manager or am not a celebrity!its a joke. (ie i don't want Miami, Vegas, New York, or LA)
4. Lots of young people. I'm single so plenty of nice ladies is important also!

5. English is the language not spanish! and most people are american not tourists.

6. Plenty of bars, clubs.(remember im irish!) Basically nightlife which is generally busy, young and fun.

7. I will be looking to get a job as a commercial real estate broker so somewhere with good prospects would help, but i don't think this is overly important as most places need real estate all the time, so i would not count out any place on this point alone!

8. Reasonably inexpensive. Obviously i will be tight on money when i first come here, so somewhere like Beverly Hills is just out of the question for me for now!

I am seriously considering Jacksonville,the only down points for it are the nightlife could be slightly better (though i still had a great time),and the humidity (not overly important however. I'm thinking other places such as Texas (maybe Austin?) or California (maybe San Diego?) might have the climate i am looking for, all suggestions welcome!


Thanks in advance for any help everyone.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

In San Diego you nailed it. Cept for the inexpensive part. In all honesty, any City that is attractive is going to be more expensive. Otherwise everyone would be living there. So long as you don't want to own property SD might be for you. There are cheaper parts of it though.

[Wisteria]

Irish Immigration Pastoral Center, San Francisco, U.S.

I understand that there is a large Irish immigrant community in the San Francisco Bay area. I found this link above, and it looks like they offer many services to Irish immigrants. It might be a place to contact while considering California.

Good luck to you.

[Warren86]

Thanks for those guys,and cheers for the link also! though i'm thinking San Fran might get alittle colder than i would like in winter from what iv read. I saw elsehwere someone mentioned Pacific Beach, San Diego as somewhere which is lively & young, anyone from here or know what this might be like? also if anyone else has any other ideas i'd be interested to hear them, cheers!

[sav858]

Originally Posted by Warren86

Thanks for those guys,and the cheers for the link also! though i'm thinking San Fran might get alittle colder than i would like in winter from what iv read. I saw elsehwere someone mentioned Pacific Beach, San Diego as somewhere which is lively & young, anyone from here or know what this might be like? also if anyone else has any other ideas i'd be interested to hear them, cheers!

I live in Pacific Beach and it is definitely young and lively. Lots of bars, clubs, restaurants, cafe's, and shops. Most people here seem between 20-30 years old and it's pretty easy to meet people. The nightlife is the best in San Diego outside of the Gaslamp Quarter Downtown and the community has a party atmosphere. Every summer thousands of Irish students spend the summer in Pacific Beach too, so you'll meet lots of fellow countrymen during summer.

San Diego pretty much fits all your criteria except its a lot more pricey than Jacksonville. There are a lot of tourists here but I've never had a problem with them, they all seem pretty nice and respectful of our city.

[kettlepot]

As many of the others have said, San Diego fits your bill of particulars, except the cost of real estate. As 1ATP said, if it weren't expensive then everyone would be living here. However, outside of housing, most other costs in San Diego are reasonably close to the national average.

I consider San Francisco to be pretentious, though in a different way from LA/Miami. It's more like a need to be involved with all the latest eco/political/pseudo-intellectual/self-realization fads that are floating around.

San Diego has tourists, but the city isn't a one trick pony. The tourism industry doesn't color the city. Just like the city has several very large military installations, but the military presence is just another part of the fabric of San Diego. It doesn't dominate it. However, on the down side for you, it means that there will be plenty of very fit young men competing for the women.

[SkinnyMinnie]

I can't believe I am writing this, but here it goes.

I understand Irish culture quite well and have lived in California my entire life with frequent visits to Ireland and the rest of Europe.

That said, you may be interested in Santa Barbara. Although there are many Spanish speakers (as there are throughout all of California) the people are young, friendly, and attractive. The weather is warm, but not so much that you will feel like you are sweating your @#@# off. Humidity - less then most areas, but not so dry that you will be missing the green hills of Eire.

My best advice: Visit your top choices beforehand and see were your heart feels at home. Good Luck!