San Diego Questions?? For all of those who live in San Diego,CA (Escondido: apartment, rent)

[Californialovr]

I'm from Wisconsin. Which explains everything. I basically live in a city surrounded by farms. Ever since I was young, and heard stories about CA from my dad who was stationed there as a Marine, I have wanted to go ever since. It seems like this year I might get my chance my family and I are wanting to move out to San Diego. We are all excited, scared, and somewhat ready to get out of the COLD ASS weather and into the CA Heat.

However: I have a few questions.
1. Is the economy good enough to live there?-My father is retired and disabled while my mother is a Child Birth Educator and Doula.
2. Are there good schools there?-Middle School and High School
3. Are there activities for teens to do with little money?-I hope its not as boring as here
4. What are the good areas to live in? We are thinking about renting a Condo/Apartment/Townhouse
5. What is rent prices like out there for a 3 bedroom Condo/Townhouse/Apartment and do you have to pay 1st and last months rent plus a deposit?

I NEED TO KNOW!!!!!!!!!! It would help greatly

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Californialovr

1. Is the economy good enough to live there?-My father is retired and disabled while my mother is a Child Birth Educator and Doula.
2. Are there good schools there?-Middle School and High School
3. Are there activities for teens to do with little money?-I hope its not as boring as here
4. What are the good areas to live in? We are thinking about renting a Condo/Apartment/Townhouse
5. What is rent prices like out there for a 3 bedroom Condo/Townhouse/Apartment and do you have to pay 1st and last months rent plus a deposit?

I NEED TO KNOW!!!!!!!!!! It would help greatly

1. What does "good enough" mean?
2. What does "good" mean? www.schoolperformancemaps.com
3. Yes
4. What does "good" mean?
5. HousingMaps will give you an idea.

What is your housing budget?
Who is working where?

We need to know. It would help greatly.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by Californialovr

1. Is the economy good enough to live there?-My father is retired and disabled while my mother is a Child Birth Educator and Doula.

NO, lots of unemployed people. I would not come out here w/o a good job lined up.

2. Are there good schools there?-Middle School and High School

Yes but they are in upper middle class to wealthy areas for the most part.

3. Are there activities for teens to do with little money?-I hope its not as boring as here

I think so. You have the beach, malls, hiking, etc...

4. What are the good areas to live in? We are thinking about renting a Condo/Apartment/Townhouse

Neighborhoods in Greater SD

5. What is rent prices like out there for a 3 bedroom Condo/Townhouse/Apartment and do you have to pay 1st and last months rent plus a deposit?

Depends on the neighborhood. Charles provided a good link. Searching craigslist will give you a good idea on rents too.


Has anyone in your family actually been to SD or CA recently? B/c it's probably A LOT different than when your dad was stationed here, depending on how long ago that was of course. There may be more to do here with great weather but I would think life in WI would be a lot easier since you don't have to deal with all the BS that we do.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by sav858

Charles provided a good link. Searching craigslist will give you a good idea on rents too.

HousingMaps is craigslist data on a google map.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by Charles

HousingMaps is craigslist data on a google map.

ahh, I see. I've never used it before and just quickly looked at it. Pretty cool feature overall though. Especially with a big, spread out city like SD.

[scratchNsniff]

hey I'm about to plunge into the deep end of the pool just like you!! If we are determined we will make it!!!!

[TheCaliforniaBear]

San Diego is a VERY hard place for a young guy to come and make it these days. Personally I would not try it to be honest. I did exactly what you are doing about 9 years ago it was an uphill battle. And now the unemployment here is unbelievablely higher.

There are constantly people coming onto this forum and asking if 60K or 70K per year is enough money to survive in SD. That should tell you something right there.

Do not underestimate how insanely expensive it is here. You need to be making about $15 per hour, full time work, just to scrape by at the minimum.

I've seen hundreds of them come, get broken down, and leave. I've been one of them. I've been in and out of SD 5 times.....

Just being honest. I'm getting out of here in a few weeks myself. And this time i'll probably never come back. I wish somebody gave me this warning my first time. Because I did not know what I was in for.

It's a great place. But the cost of living totally ruins it for me personally. This is a city for rich people, professionals and college students. This is no place for a humble working person.

[YoungSanDiegoDude]

Originally Posted by Californialovr

I'm from Wisconsin. Which explains everything. I basically live in a city surrounded by farms. Ever since I was young, and heard stories about CA from my dad who was stationed there as a Marine, I have wanted to go ever since. It seems like this year I might get my chance my family and I are wanting to move out to San Diego. We are all excited, scared, and somewhat ready to get out of the COLD ASS weather and into the CA Heat.

However: I have a few questions.
1. Is the economy good enough to live there?-My father is retired and disabled while my mother is a Child Birth Educator and Doula.
2. Are there good schools there?-Middle School and High School
3. Are there activities for teens to do with little money?-I hope its not as boring as here
4. What are the good areas to live in? We are thinking about renting a Condo/Apartment/Townhouse
5. What is rent prices like out there for a 3 bedroom Condo/Townhouse/Apartment and do you have to pay 1st and last months rent plus a deposit?

I NEED TO KNOW!!!!!!!!!! It would help greatly

Unless you are loaded with money, I would stay where you are at in Wisconsin for now. Right now, the economy here in SD is pretty sorry. Even the lower end jobs (i.e. waiter/waitress & retail) are hard to find.

This is an auesome place to live, but unless you are rich, you won't be able to enjoy this place to the fullest. The pros of living here (i.e. good weather, scenery, outdoor opportunities, ect.) are easily overshadowed by the cost of living plus all of the other typical BS that you have to deal with in any big city such as heavy traffic, rudeness, crowds, ect.

The cost of living here is actually pushing me out. I separate from the Navy next year and I will not be able to afford to pay all of my bills (including a car payment, credit cards, utilities and rent) out here while going to school. Heck, even now with perks I get from being in the military, I' am still struggling.

I will probably leave for either Colorado or Texas. It's much cheaper in those places and the quality of life is better because of it (I have family in both places that have been able to do pretty good for themselves). I really like SD though, so I will move back eventually when I have the cash to either buy a place near the coast outright or at least put a large downpayment on it.

Anyway, best of luck to you and your family and whatever you decide!

[eastcoastbias]

"This is a city for rich people, professionals and college students. This is no place for a humble working person." Well said.



Is the economy good enough to live there?-My father is retired and disabled while my mother is a Child Birth Educator and Doula.

Tough time everywhere. this really depends on your line of work- I don't know what the demands are for a Child birth educator.

2. Are there good schools there?-Middle School and High School

To be honest not really. Poway school district is great there are a few others- the schools can seem overwhelming in size compared to most of the countries school systems. My wife is a teacher in the Escondido school district- are kids won't go there.

3. Are there activities for teens to do with little money?-I hope its not as boring as here

Alot going on. To me this is the major plus to San Diego- If you like outdoor acitivites there are very few places in the country that can compare.

4. What are the good areas to live in? We are thinking about renting a Condo/Apartment/Townhouse

Given you circumstances and where you are from, Anything North of Mira Mesa except for Escondido.

5. What is rent prices like out there for a 3 bedroom Condo/Townhouse/Apartment and do you have to pay 1st and last months rent plus a deposit?

Depends on the place. For example, we just moved and had to pay a $200 deposit and they pro-rated our rent the 1st month because we moved in the middle.

[YoungSanDiegoDude]

Originally Posted by TheCaliforniaBear

This is a city for rich people, professionals and college students. This is no place for a humble working person.

This statement is nothing but complete BS. Although the real-estate prices are high out here, not many people here are actually rich. I don't even think that 10 percent of the 3+ million people that live in SD county even come close to being wealthy. There are TONS of pretenders out here that like to make people think that they are rich and important.