General Consensus

[southwestchicagoan]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

Help desk is a 15-dollar an hour job. Systems engineer could pay well but you'd be talking about a serious system (military logistics, biotech production line, etc). If you are talking corporate IT, 90% of those jobs pay 65k here.

Yeah, I would be doing something corporate IT. It's all I have done so far. But, you are right looking at Dallas they have a lot of big companies HQ there. I wonder if the COL is cheaper there than here in the Phx metro area.

[tonyinsd]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

If you want to be a fixed income or commodities trader, you don't move to Topeka KS, you move to NYC

If you want to make movies you don't move to Boston MA, you move to Los Angeles

If you want to work in IT, you don't move to San Diego, you move to a city with lots of demand, like Dallas or Washington DC

If you want to be a software product developer you move to the Bay Area.

If you don't care about growing a career in IT, forget all of the above and listen to the previous pie-in-the-sky post. If you do care about it, you might want to know that I have worked in IT in San Diego for 12 years.

That's not what I said and you know it. And if you have worked in IT here for a dozen years, then how in the world can you say, there's no opportunity in the field?

I guess your job is just pie in the sky, huh?

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by tonyinsd

Y

You have to decide if being in the "right" place to "advance" your career is more important than living where you want to live. What good is an extra $10K a year if you're working like a dog to get it and stuck in a place you hate?

That's the thing that irritates me the most about the posts here. Everyone seems to be saying, oh, go somewhere else, and then move later.

My response is why wait? If it's something you want bad enough, you'll make it happen. If you don't want it, then it will never be the right time. There will always be a reason to not do it.

Life is about taking risks. We wouldn't be here if people didn't put their families in covered wagons, travel thousands of miles through hostile territory, and put down roots without any guarantees.

Tony,

I don't think everyone is always saying "go somewhere else and then move later". To be honest, in a large percentage of the times, the person asking about moving here to San Diego really isn't in a great position to be moving here.

Many times the OP has no significant savings (and I've seen more posts where the OP has NO savings at all), some don't have any formal degree or education, some have families with young kids.

There are MANY situations where people shouldn't be moving to San Diego. However, I do agree that if someone has a good shot at a job or in a high demand field even if it's lower paying, and they are more flexible and especially if they don't have young kids or family to worry about...then that's a different situation.

I'm all for "living where you want to live" but not at any price possible. You have to really evaluate all the pros/cons. I think that's what most people are doing when they are giving advice.

I agree life IS about taking risks. But I believe it's wise to take calculated risks and always look at the risk/reward and to figure out what your ultimate end game is.

Definitely San Diego is a wonderful city but many of the times on this forum, the people asking for honest opinions I feel are getting good , objective advice when people are saying there are better cities.

I don't think anyone is saying there aren't opportunities in San Diego in many different fields. Only that it's not the most ideal place to build up your career and climb the corporate ladder.

Personally I feel that it IS wise to bank more in other cities and come out to San Diego with more savings, more experienced and more connected.

I'd disagree with the "if you want it bad enough you will make it happen" philosophy for making your move a success in San Diego. There are many, many people that have to move out of San Diego each year no matter how bad they wanted it. Just various market and economic forces against them and they had to move out of the city.

[southwestchicagoan]

I hope I didn't start anything here with my comments or starting this thread. But, I get it from both sides. I will be honest, I've been wanting to get to San Diego since I was about 14. Flash forward eight years and at least I am close with being in the Phx metro area. However, I will say I kind of came on a prayer here, and luckily I found something, at least in the short term. Anything helps these days. Looking at unemployment numbers from bls.gov (don't know how accurate) but they say Phoenix is about 7.9% and San Diego is a whole point higher at 8.9%. Put whatever stock you want in that, I don't know how accurate it is. I really wish I could get something, anything out there. I have applied countless times when I was back in Chicago, as well as here. The local address/phone number thing seems to be a must for San Diego. I have even tried to go through local IT staffing firms in the area, but to no avail. My background is as follows. I have some college, about four years doing help desk/desktop support. No certifications unforunately and no degree yet to pad my resume with. I am working towards an A.A.S. in Computer Networking just to have something, and then continue on from there. I started doing this stuff when I was about 13-14 for churches/non profits, self taught myself a few things and then when I graduated high school started work immediately. I had six people in my household, my dad was the only one who worked. So college took a back seat unfortunately. I've had to do it on my own up to this point. I feel like an A.A.S in Computer Networking wouldn't do much good for an in demand area to live like San Diego. Does anyone have any advice about what direction/path would lead to San Diego, if eventually it doesn't have to be now. Thanks for any help, and hopefully I didn't stir the pot too much.

[Muffincup]

Originally Posted by southwestchicagoan

I am new to this forum. And, I know my location says Scottsdale, AZ but in the future I would like to move to San Diego. However, my question is this, and I wanted to get a general idea. Is living in San Diego worth it to you? I hear a lot of horror stories about five to six people sharing a living area to make ends meet. You may see Scottsdale and think I have money, but I live in south Scottsdale and rent a room for $400 (including utilities).

....wow you got a place for that cheap?! /tear in eye/
I couldn't even rent a room in someone elses house for less than $500!

And for you since you have no degree, I'm sorry but it's extremely hard to find jobs out here that are salary based. I've found that currently students with Business degrees, Law, or Nursing are the only ones finding a job. San Diego IMO doesn't seem to be a place that revolves around technology and hence a smaller field for Computer/Software. There's a Sony and a Yahoo here but I think that's it. This area is very Medical oriented which is why our wait list for nursing students is longer than almost any place in the US, 4yrs.

I agree with EarlyRetirement, there's many good reasons to move out here, but I promise you, this place is f**king expensive even in bad areas and if you're going to be working under the table and a small places, you have the chance to crash and burn. I live in a very hispanic area, not the best area in SD either and my rent for a 1 bedroom is $1035 for 600sq ft.

For someone else who is my age, as EarlyRetirement said, go somewhere else explore other cities, then come here with a family.
(p.s. Seattle or Silicone Valley = best for computer jobs)

[southwestchicagoan]

Originally Posted by Muffincup

....wow you got a place for that cheap?! /tear in eye/
I couldn't even rent a room in someone elses house for less than $500!

Only reason why I got it that cheap was a family friend. It includes utilities too, well for now anyway. I don't have a lease either. I didn't know how long I was going to be here. But, I have seen the normal range of prices, it's pretty crazy here. By the way, it isn't my own place. I share it with the family friend mentioned above. Don't think I could afford Scottsdale otherwise.

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by southwestchicagoan

Yeah, I would be doing something corporate IT. It's all I have done so far. But, you are right looking at Dallas they have a lot of big companies HQ there. I wonder if the COL is cheaper there than here in the Phx metro area.

Below is an informative chart from the Burear of Labor Statistics regarding salaries for the cities that have been brought up in this thread. Maybe Sassberto can scan the Computer/IT section to see if those salaries line up with what he's been finding.


Dallas (Average mean salary - $45,530)
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX - May 2010 OES Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

San Diego (Average mean salary - $50,200)
San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA - May 2010 OES Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

Phoenix (Average mean salary - $43,450)
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ - May 2010 OES Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by tonyinsd

That's not what I said and you know it. And if you have worked in IT here for a dozen years, then how in the world can you say, there's no opportunity in the field?

I guess your job is just pie in the sky, huh?

I started my career 12 years ago, before offshoring and the deterioration of IT as a career began to accellerate. I left corporate IT 3 years ago to move to consumer internet because the IT career path is now much more limited. In the 90's IT was going to be the "career of the future" and it has not panned out that way. I would not recommend anyone to go into this field today unless they truly love working with computers.

Also realize I am a highly specialized expert who focused on web development early in my career, and am in high demand because the internet sector is exploding right now. My situation is very different than the OP's, who doesn't even have a degree. However even for me, San Diego's Internet job market is so limited and narrow, If I lost my current job, I'd most likely need to move to another city to have a similar opportunity with above market pay