San Clemente/ Capistrano Beach vs. Oceanside (Vista, Dana Point: apartment, renter, condos)

[teebird1012]

My sister is moving to So Cal in a couple of months and has two jobs offers, one in San Clemente and one in Oceanside. She's a civil engineer, recently graduated from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. I've been told that she'll be making somewhere around $45-50,000 per year. Can she live comfortably on this salary? She was just interested in a one bedroom apartment or a condo because housing in So Cal is much more expensive than what she's used to in Tennessee. I'm sure you've had tons of these kinds of threads, but she wants to compare the two places side by side. Any advice that you can help me give her would be appreciated!

[NewportBorn]

Hmm, it will be tougher than you think, thats not that good of money in southern california unfortunately.

Oceanside is a little more gritty than the other two, but I enjoy the place very much it has a surf town vibe.

San Clemente is similar to Oceanside in the older parts, but the newer parts of SC are like regular suburban socal. Tract homes etc.

San Juan Capistrano is older and has the mission in it, so there are a lot of trees and older spanish buildings. Much more historical.

[teebird1012]

Thanks for the feedback. Her salary in Nashville is about 50K so I'm not quite sure what that translates to in SoCal...

[NewportBorn]

No problem, I would say 35-40k

[Fontucky]

Teebird, I know the SC/CB/DP/SJC area intimately and would be happy to give an assessment of neighborhood quality upon submission of prospective addresses.

45-50k is well within the safe zone for a renter in that area.

[Arkadin]

Originally Posted by teebird1012

Thanks for the feedback. Her salary in Nashville is about 50K so I'm not quite sure what that translates to in SoCal...

mininum wage

[teebird1012]

$88,000 per year is considered minimum wage? I just used a free salary converter to find her potential salary based on her job description.

[80's old school]

I lived in San Clemente for a few years. I rented a neat condo/apartment on Buena Vista street. It was Ocean front and had unbelievable views to Catalina Island and Dana Point. I rented the place for $1350 a month. Now the rent in that same complex is $1500-$1700. If you had few other bills, this would be do-able.
Me and my wife's best experiences living ANYWHERE was right there in San Clemente. West of the 5 has a quaint cool feeling....East of the 5 was too pretentious and would be like Coto/Rancho SM/Ladera Ranch, etc.

[Sandpointian]

80's, Just curious.

Avenida del Presidente...would you consider such a frontage road truly west of 5 with that neat feeling or does one have to get in behind the gates.

I ask b/c there are a bunch of condos on the A del P and I have always wondered about the feeling in those places. Thx.

S

[cabolissa]

This is a great tool to get a feel for the area and cost of living. Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitors sites is not allowed
Parts of San Clemente are meth havens, and Oceanside has some gang issues. I'd stick to Capo myself, but she'll likely end up in a 1 bedroom for $1300-1500 in a good area. Gas is $2.30 here roughly, and groceries cost more.