Serious Young Professional with So Cal Job Offer (Los Angeles, San Diego: sales, apartment complexes)

[KGalloway26]

Greetings,

I've been browsing these forums for a few days now since I've been offered a job with my current employer in Southern California. The beauty of my job is its outside sales so I can live anywhere in my territory which will be Southern California, I think is everywhere South of Bakersfield and Las Vegas. (Yes, I know Las Vegas is in Nevada but its included in my territory). So I'm trying to find some nice places to live for a single 27 year old starting a new career. I'll be spending 90% of my time visiting my accounts which are Home Depot and Lowes so I could really live anywhere.

I'm from Nashville originally and I now live in Denver and love it but being willing to relocate anywhere in the U.S. was a prerequisite for taking this job and if I don't take this offer the next one could be in Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, really anywhere. No offense to the midwest but I've always thought my personality would mesh well with the California way of life. I love the beach and the outdoors, I'm very active, and weather and sunshine really effects my mood.

So any suggestions on where a relatively young single guy can start a new career in So Cal? The cost of living has me a little scared but I'll have an expense account where rent is really all I have to pay for myself. I don't want to live in a slum; the overall atmosphere of the city and some options for night life when I'm home on the weekends are important. So fire away with your suggestions please. I've heard many many good things about San Diego and its right now my #1 contender. Like I said I could be anywhere in So Cal so if you were in my shoes where would you go and why? Thanks for your help. I could be out there next week to visit so let me know where I should check out.

Kevin

[mlarsen23]

San Diego is a nice place to live, but it's likely that the majority of your accounts will be in and around Los Angeles. If you are driving to all of these accounts, you will be more efficient and arguably have a better quality of life (less time in car) if you live in or around LA.

[earlyretirement]

My family and I spend each summer on vacation in San Diego and also Los Angeles (we typically stay in Santa Monica). I have to say that traffic is HORRIFIC in Los Angeles. I'm not sure how people cope with the traffic there in LA?! It's horrible. It's so that there is almost no off-peak time anytime. There was traffic pretty much all day from morning until night.

So keep that in mind if LA is a consideration. San Diego traffic might have increased over the years but really it isn't that bad. I feel that the quality of life is much much better in San Diego vs. LA. I'm not sure about the "less time in a car in LA" comment. You gotta factor in traffic which is horrible there.

I've been just about everywhere in the USA and San Diego to me is about as ideal as it gets when you factor in weather, the great beaches, people are very laid back and polite, traffic isn't too bad, safe city, great lifestyle. When I ask people what the downsides are most people tell me the expensive cost of living compared to other places around the USA and also the lack of good jobs and high unemployment rates.

If you are already coming with a guaranteed job, that's really great! I find the environment in S.D. is much better than LA and people seem really fake in LA compared to San Diego. I think you will really love San Diego.

Just make sure you factor in ALL taxes as the taxes are higher in California than most places. You work for a larger company so ask the HR department what your NET take home pay would be in San Diego based on local/state/Federal taxes. I assume you will rent an apartment so maybe set up some visits at some apartment complexes that look interesting in the areas you might want to see how the quality of them are. Good luck.

[KGalloway26]

Thanks for your opinions. I've heard pretty consistantly on this board and from people I know who are familiar with So Cal that the quality of life is better in San Diego. The amount of time spent in my car isn't really an issue, I'll have accounts all over So Cal so I'll be doing a lot of driving (they're giving me a car and paying for my gas) no matter where I'm at. Quality of Life is my major factor, that and affordability. It seems to me that the quality of life in LA is great for those people making a ton of money but no so great for the middle class.

Are there areas in San Diego or the surronding suburbs that I should check out? I'll be making my first trip to that region next week. Our manufacturing facility is in Fontana, CA but that has no bearing on where I should live. Most of the products Home Depot and Lowes will be buying from us will actually be manufactured in Northern California. Thanks again for the advice, this is reinforcing what I've heard so far.

[NYSD1995]

The driving will be a huge issue if you need to be in LA 3x a week. Figure that out first.

[KGalloway26]

Thanks Sassberto. So apparantly the LA traffic is more of a beast than I can imagine without actually seeing it for myself. I've lived in D.C. and close enough to Atlanta to visit frequently and do business there. Those are the worst traffic experiences I've had. This is a brand new account for my company so the first year I think the expectation is equal time spent at every store. I can travel to LA spend a week there or half a week then drive home, wherever that may be. Quality of life vs. affordability and the opportunity for a laid back lifestyle and meeting friendly people around my age (maybe some california blondes) is what I'm looking for. I've heard rent for a 1br 1ba is anywhere from 1,000 to 1,500 is the average or maybe lowest possible. Any college towns you guys can reccomend that don't have the kind of traffic issues LA seems notorious for?

[Bluefox]

Originally Posted by earlyretirement

So keep that in mind if LA is a consideration. San Diego traffic might have increased over the years but really it isn't that bad. I feel that the quality of life is much much better in San Diego vs. LA. I'm not sure about the "less time in a car in LA" comment. You gotta factor in traffic which is horrible there.

Yeah, but if he's going to be going to more sites in LA for his job anyway, LA traffic is going to be unavoidable whether he's living in there, San Diego, or anywhere else. It might be better, as mlarsen23 said, to be closer to where he's going to be commuting most. The last thing you want to do is sit in San Diego AND LA traffic in one day. I've done it and it's horrendous. But yes, overall traffic is much calmer in SD than LA. And SD does not have the smog LA has which is a big plus.

OP: Do you know where you'll be spending the most time? How often you'll be going from one site to another? Those would be the biggest factors if I were in your position.

[KGalloway26]

Bluefoxwarrior,

No I'm not sure what locations I'll be spending the most time at yet. And I could fly from one area to another, some reps in large territories such as Colorado and Utah do that. What's the distance I'm dealing with from say Las Vegas to the most southern part of CA? I think that will be the furthest east corner vs. the furthest west corner. The rep who I trained with has the entire state of AZ and he drives everywhere from Phoenix so I imagine I can make it work by just driving. They will pay for hotels whenever I need to stay in one region for an extended amount of time so I could easily drive somewhere Monday and stay until Friday then drive home. I'm really just looking for an affordable city with a great quality of life and friendly people in my demographic...me and everyone else who moves to So Cal right?

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by KGalloway26

Bluefoxwarrior,

No I'm not sure what locations I'll be spending the most time at yet. And I could fly from one area to another, some reps in large territories such as Colorado and Utah do that. What's the distance I'm dealing with from say Las Vegas to the most southern part of CA? I think that will be the furthest east corner vs. the furthest west corner. The rep who I trained with has the entire state of AZ and he drives everywhere from Phoenix so I imagine I can make it work by just driving?

SoCal is big, and LA traffic is the worst you'll ever see, jammed solid all day in all directions. You could need to be in Ventura in one day and Palm Desert the next. Vegas is 300+ miles away, you would need to fly. There are going to be 10x more Lowes and Home Depots in greater OC/LA/IE vs. maybe a dozen in San Diego county. If you had to drive to Oxnard from SD you are talking about realistically an 8 hour round trip. Commuting to Carlsbad is bad enough, can't imagine having to go into the LA sprawl and back on a regular basis, that would be hell. My friend commuted to Irvine for a year and sometimes would take him 3+ hours to get home.

Honestly if you have a good job and can afford 1500-2k/mo rent you can live nicely in LA, it's not all that much more expensive than nice areas of San Diego. San Diegans will say it's terrible but LA has some awesome areas and more going on. I have a buddy who is a sales rep for a large computer hardware vendor and his territory is Bakersfield to San Diego. He lives in Huntington Beach and spends 90% of his time in greater LA, comes to San Diego maybe once a quarter for the day.

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

SoCal is big, and LA traffic is the worst you'll ever see, jammed solid all day in all directions. You could need to be in Ventura in one day and Palm Desert the next. Vegas is 300+ miles away, you would need to fly. There are going to be 10x more Lowes and Home Depots in greater OC/LA/IE vs. maybe a dozen in San Diego county. If you had to drive to Oxnard from SD you are talking about realistically an 8 hour round trip. Commuting to Carlsbad is bad enough, can't imagine having to go into the LA sprawl and back on a regular basis, that would be hell. My friend commuted to Irvine for a year and sometimes would take him 3+ hours to get home.

Honestly if you have a good job and can afford 1500-2k/mo rent you can live nicely in LA, it's not all that much more expensive than nice areas of San Diego. San Diegans will say it's terrible but LA has some awesome areas and more going on. I have a buddy who is a sales rep for a large computer hardware vendor and his territory is Bakersfield to San Diego. He lives in Huntington Beach and spends 90% of his time in greater LA, comes to San Diego maybe once a quarter for the day.

I totally agree with the others that you should get a good sense how often you will need to be in LA. How many days a week do you have to be on the road? I know from past experience it's not so easy to have a truly great quality of life when you are on the road all week.

Sassberto is absolutely right when he says that the traffic in LA is the absolute worst. I've been to over 500 cities around the world. All over and I've never experienced the traffic like LA (on a consistent basis). Even going short distances sometimes you could be sitting in traffic for a while.

I guess if you work out of your house or something and don't have to go out so often it might not be too bad. We rented a place right on the beach in Santa Monica and it was amazing but anytime we had to go out of Santa Monica traffic was horrible. And the sad thing is each year we go back it's worse.

I agree LA has some pretty fantastic area but I know having 2 kids I'd never want to live there. I think if I was a single bachelor like you then it would be much more tolerable.