NY'er jonesing for some Cali living (San Diego, Pittsburg: job market, neighborhood, college)

[nor'easterKid]

Long time listener, first time caller here, but I am heavily considering a move to San Diego in about a years time. I am 23 yr. old single male, graduated with a Business Marketing degree and have lived in Syracuse, NY pretty much all my life. I love to ski, wakeboard, golf, travel, and being outdoors. Just moved to Boston a couple months ago and although it's a very cool city and I'm liking it a lot so far...I think I'm over this whole cold weather thing.

So, I guess my question is, any fellow young northeastern people out there that have made the move to SD? I'll be moving out there with 2 of my friends the same age so I think we'd like to be relatively close to the beach and in a neighborhood that isn't too frat-bro'ed out but also isn't too boring.

Would love to get some candid responses! What do you love? What do you hate? Do you miss the northeast?

Thanks everyone.

[jwblue]

I moved from DC over 10 years ago, but I don't think much has changed.

Pacific Beach (PB) is the best place to live for someone your age. Yeah, it is frat-bro'ed (I think I know what that means), but that is Southern California. The people out here are different than the east coast. You will adapt. Pretty soon you will be a frat-bro. That is who the girls date.

Mission Beach and Ocean Beach are two other choices. Ocean Beach is a little less frat-bro'ed.

(correction in the last sentence. Ocean Beach)

[Sealtite]

I don't really hate anything about living here thus far. I've got ten years on you though, so I got all the partying out of my system before I came here. I dunno if you're into that scene, but if you are there's plenty of it in some of the beach towns. Take your pick....each one has it's own different flavor. The beach towns here aren't anything like the cookie-cutter beach towns on the east coast. Every one of them is different in their own right.

I'm from Pittsburgh, and I find the people friendlier here. They're not nosy and socially inappropriate like they were back east. People are not as aggressive here. You can engage in random conversations with people, but if you wanna be left alone...nobody will bother you. It's nice.

Weather-wise this place cannot be beat. In the more populated areas closer to the coast, the weather is basically the same year-round. It gets a little cooler in the winter, but it's negligible for northeaster people like you and I. Snow is close in the winter if you want it. It snows sometimes in Julian (small mountain town about an hour from anywhere along the coast in SD county), and Big Bear lake is a couple hours into the mountains. It dumps snow there every winter. See, you can actually go skiing and walk on the beach in 65-70 degree weather in the same day at times here in the winter months. That's pretty cool for someone who came from a place where you're either stuck with snow or stuck with humidity depending on what time of year it was.

Obviously the mountains, hills, and overall greenness of SD county are reminiscent of what I was used to back east (although the topography is more extreme here), so there was no sense of adjustment for me. You'll like it here.

[nor'easterKid]

Originally Posted by Sealtite

See, you can actually go skiing and walk on the beach in 65-70 degree weather in the same day at times here in the winter months. That's pretty cool for someone who came from a place where you're either stuck with snow or stuck with humidity depending on what time of year it was.

YES. This. Thank you man thank you, that is exactly what i wanted to hear. As someone who's been skiing every winter all winter since I was 7, I was worried that living there would mean I'd have to give it up. Glad that's not the case. How about the job market out there? If you don't mind me asking, what line of work are you involved in?


Thanks for the informational responses guys, if there are more out there, keep em coming.

[tonyinsd]

I moved here from DC about a year ago. Do I miss DC? I miss my friends and family, but I don't miss DC itself. What cemented my decision was when I went to DC for my dad's 75th. I walked off the plane, and it was like a body blow when I walked into the humidity and heat.

I haven't been to the local resorts, but yesterday there were some people I talked to that had. They drove out in the morning, and drove back. And worst case scenario, you can fly to Denver and do some skiing there.

The beach scene may do it for you, but if not, downtown is cool, too.

[oddstray]

The closest skiing to San Diego is probably Mt. Baldy, northeast of L.A. Another hour north of that is ski heaven (the Big Bear area resorts).

[nor'easterKid]

Cool cool, thanks for the input guys. I plan on taking up surfing as well so that should help me get my adrenaline fix.

In terms of living though, I'm just trying to get a better understanding of where it is I want to end up. From the info I've gathered on this forum, is it fair to say not too many people actually live downtown? I've also read that Pacific Beach is nothing but college kids raging 24/7. I'm not here to judge, but I'm more of a weekend warrior at this point in my life, so I'm not 100% sure that's the spot for me.

Other than that though, are there any Northeastern people out there that regret making the move? Doesn't seem to be too many of ya...

[shmoov_groovzsd]

[quote=nor'easterKid;21806488]Cool cool, thanks for the input guys. I plan on taking up surfing as well so that should help me get my adrenaline fix.

In terms of living though, I'm just trying to get a better understanding of where it is I want to end up. From the info I've gathered on this forum, is it fair to say not too many people actually live downtown? I've also read that Pacific Beach is nothing but college kids raging 24/7. I'm not here to judge, but I'm more of a weekend warrior at this point in my life, so I'm not 100% sure that's the spot for me.

Other than that though, are there any Northeastern people out there that regret making the move? Doesn't seem to be too many of ya...[/QUOTE]



Thats because they left already if they didnt like it. There are many that dont like it for various reasons though, but not exclusive to only people that come to San Diego.

FYI, if you do make it out here, you might get some funny looks if you refer to it as "Cali".

[nor'easterKid]

schmoov - I've never been to CA so thank you for bearing with my ignorance. But that is an interesting bit of info; have never heard that before. Just out of curiosity, is that like a stigma out there? I could be off here but perhaps it's similar to people that have never been to NY state assume that the entire state is part of NYC. I'm from Syracuse, so I've heard it all my life.

[tonyinsd]

Originally Posted by nor'easterKid

From the info I've gathered on this forum, is it fair to say not too many people actually live downtown? I've also read that Pacific Beach is nothing but college kids raging 24/7. I'm not here to judge, but I'm more of a weekend warrior at this point in my life, so I'm not 100% sure that's the spot for me.

Other than that though, are there any Northeastern people out there that regret making the move? Doesn't seem to be too many of ya...

There are about 30,000 people who live downtown. You have to decide. There are pros and cons. The upside is being able to walk to just about anything I could want to go to and being able to ride my bike to things I can't walk to.

The downside is that yes, there is a lot of traffic, and there is a lot of city noise. I routinely hear sirens late at night. When the DJ at Fluxx goes on, I can hear it. And I can tell you what kind of night one of the local Irish pubs had because I can hear them move the empty kegs at the end of the night.

I'm willing to live with the downside in order to get the upside. You may choose differently.