Pros and Cons of San Diego ? (Jackson: fit in, apartment, for rent)

[Shortman]

Recently looking into moving to San Diego in a couple of years.. I am from South Carolina, and it basically isn't doing anything for me. In other words, I am looking for a change of scenary and looking for more diveristy than where I am now.

For rent, after doing alittle bit of research, I am looking at atleast $1000+ a month for a 1 bedroom/studio..

Can anyone list the pros and cons of San Diego ?

[JohnDBaumgardner]

Originally Posted by Shortman

Recently looking into moving to San Diego in a couple of years.. I am from South Carolina, and it basically isn't doing anything for me. In other words, I am looking for a change of scenary and looking for more diveristy than where I am now.

For rent, after doing alittle bit of research, I am looking at atleast $1000+ a month for a 1 bedroom/studio..

Can anyone list the pros and cons of San Diego ?

Pros:

San Diego is a beautiful city

Cons:

In San Diego, you'll pay as much for a shoe box sized efficiency apt,
when you could be spending that same money ( or much less ) on a home
or a much more spacious apartment in other cities.

If you want to be in a coastal city, why not look at any of the following
choices:

Jacksonville, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Norfolk / Virginia Beach, VA

If you're just dead set on San Diego, just prepare yourself for the "shock"
of how expensive it is to live in the state of California.

[MissNM]

Originally Posted by JohnDBaumgardner

Jacksonville, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Norfolk / Virginia Beach, VA

Unless you are truly endeared with the south, I wouldn't really recommend Jacksonville. They are friendly, but don't really take to outsiders. But the cost of living is very reasonable.

We love San Diego. The only things I don't like 1) the water is cold, 2) the beaches are too cold for beach stuff, 3) no long strands of beach to walk on, and 4) it's expensive. Can't change 1 through 3.

But you can change your lifestyle to fit your budget. Lots of free/inexpensive things to do. And there are inexpensive places to buy groceries: Trader Joe's, Henry's, Fresh and Easy.

[Beware_of_Dog]

Pro: San Diego is here.
Con: You and San Diego will be the first to go when the big one hits

Pro: A lot of lonely rich elderly widows
Con: Viagra gets expensive after a while

Pro: Clean fresh ocean air to breath
Con: Higher chance of being eaten by a shark

Pro: Progressive and accepting of religious and non-religious beliefs
Con: Satan lives here and often tries to enter your psyche during sleep

Pro: Once you live here, you will never want to leave
Con: If you ever have to leave, you will never be happy living anywhere else

[Sunnydee]

Pro: San Diego has a nearly perfect climate.

Con: San Diego is incredibly expensive.

[Jenkay]

Originally Posted by Sunnydee

Pro: San Diego has a nearly perfect climate.

Con: San Diego is incredibly expensive.

I get that rents and houses are so much more expensive, but hey, I'm still paying ~$40/month for my gas/electric in the middle of winter, and even less in summertime. Saving a few hundred bucks a month kinda equals that out, doesn't it?

Food's cheaper here depending on what you eat, in my case it's pretty much all fresh stuff which is available year-round at the farmers' markets.

A con for me is that our downtown isn't really a place that's welcoming to locals. Most people I know that live in any proximity to downtown pretty much avoid it like the plague, as it's overrun by tourists and young amateur partiers (the shorter the skirt, the louder the voice) and there's not much besides maybe two restaurants in the East Village area that would draw us down there.

[Mugsy]

Pros: Utilities here are cheaper than Eastern states where you must heat your home. Generally, in SD we do not use A/C either.

Cons: Gas prices are a bit high but I just got it for 3.15/gallon at Costco and it was 3.19 for the 3 prior weeks before today.

Pros: The sunsets are beautiful and the weather is outstanding.

Cons: Cable TV and internet are not cheap, unless you do your own thing.

[djxpress]

Pro: We don't have guidos and guidettes
Con: We have...the Bros (or my new word, Flatbillers). I couldn't resist.

Pro: We have tons of good looking, healthy, athletic go-getters.
Con: If you don't fit in that category, you may take a hit in the self-esteem department.

Pro: We created the veggie burrito. There's taco shops of every "berto" denomination on every other corner. Beans and rice galore!
Con: With the high cost of rent, you may only be able to afford a place with one bathroom, which will be put to the test eating at the above mentioned taco shops.

Pro: San Diego (and California in general) is very diverse and accepting of others.
Con: San Diego (and California in general) may be too diverse and accepting of others.

San Diego is a great place to live most of the time, and when it doesn't feel that way, a quick trip up to LA is all it takes.

[Jenkay]

Originally Posted by djxpress

Pro: We don't have guidos and guidettes
Con: We have...the Bros (or my new word, Flatbillers). I couldn't resist.

My friend from Jersey was just out here, and we were comparing the Guidos and the Bros for like an hour over beers. We came to the sudsy conclusion that they are simply different breeds of the same animal

[Clevelandgal]

I would say a con is the current job market. We relocated with careful consideration that we could live off spouse's salary...as long as nothing unexpected came up-which has already happened of course. I made a very fair salary in my former city and we did not want to assume I would find something as good here in SD. Well I can't find anything. At all. Nada. It has been almost 2 months.

I have great experience/work history/references, as well as a master's degree. I have applied for over 2 dozen jobs in my field and even some minimum wages ones to fill the time while looking. I was called for only 2 interviews (ironically for the 2 highest paying jobs), but sadly was out of town during a 10 day period and it was too expensive to fly back from where I was visiting on short notice (I am talking $3,000+). Neither potential employer would consider rescheduling just 3-5 days later! I guess there was plenty of other good competition and maybe they had a panel interview set up.

My point is, I have never had an issue finding a good job since I was 16 (42 now), so I recommend having a job before coming. Thankfully my spouse is fairly compensated but we are definitely living much more on the edge than I like to.

Do we love it here? Heck YES! I don't mind the modest size of our smallish downtown loft, because we are outside a lot. Picnics, walks, Balboa Park-great, affordable fun right at our doorstep.