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Old 04-19-2013, 11:10 PM
 
Location: Murrieta California
3,038 posts, read 4,752,433 times
Reputation: 2314

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Quote:
Originally Posted by infinite_limit View Post
I grew up in Poway. I don't know how to describe it but the city has a weird villager vibe to it. People always point out how San Diego Chargers live in the city (usually comes out when they beat up their GF or total their car). Wealthy people = Great place, right? The city has a large sub culture of trust fund children addicted/selling drugs but daddy always ends up getting Bobby a job at his business.

In terms of Suburbia, sure it's one of the best in San Diego. Quality schools (why my parents moved there) and it's safe: Radical cops patrolling the tiny town day and night

Everything you mentioned involves massive amounts of driving, traffic, gas. Don't you as a 35-60 year old feel like you deserve more than being a glorified taxi driver? There is nothing in Poway in terms of entertainment. Irish Pub/Kaminski's? When was the last time you had fun past 7 PM?
To each their own. Your experiences certainly weren't mine.
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Old 04-20-2013, 06:41 AM
 
788 posts, read 1,869,718 times
Reputation: 700
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pedro2000 View Post
The thing most people don't realize is what really is 'living the life' if you wind up in places like Escondido or Alpine or Ramona or El cajon. Nice places in themselves, but those places exist everywhere in the US. So if you move to San Diego and can't afford to live near the beach or downtown, you wind up living in El Cajon and so on. Cheaper. But what lifestyle are you living then? You aren't going to make a 45 minute drive to the beach that often. You probably aren't going to drive downtown that often just to hang out.

When people say San Diego is the 'best place on earth' they don't realize many people live in places like El Cajon, Escondido and so on where it gets very very hot in the summers and you could be blindfolded, picked up, dumped off, and have no clue what state you were in. They aren't exactly "well this is why I love San Diego."

it's like anywhere. People want to move to San Fran, but wind up an hour away due to costs. They aren't really living the life like they thought. People want to live in NYC, but wind up on Long Island, Queens, Hoboken, Staten Island, etc. They aren't exactly living the 'NYC' life as portrayed on tv.

If you just want to move to the beach, have a few roommates in a small place, and then leave in a few years, then go for it. If you think moving from anywhere to live 'the life' in El Cajon is all its cracked up to be, you will be in for a rude surprise.
First, you need to define the "san diego lifestyle" that everyone is looking for. Then you need to break it down between locals and non-locals.

Non-locals:
Let's be honest. People don't desire to move here for the beaches. They want to move here for the weather and the lifestyle that it affords, which includes going to the beach. The US has much better offerings of beaches in places other than San Diego. However, in many cases, these beaches are in states with lousy weather- humid, cold, rainy, etc.

Not "living the life" is a small dose of reality that is found in almost every desirable city in America. People don't move to San Diego for its downtown. Is going downtown even part of the desirability of moving to San Diego or part of the lifestyle?


Locals:
As a native, this is what I think the "san diego lifestyle" affords:
- good weather
- plenty of recreational opportunities
- good mexican food
- diversity- strip mall Pho joint at the minimum
- within one hour of Mexico
- relatively safe

Do Escondido and El Cajon meet this criteria? I would say yes. Escondido has average summer highs of 89. This is lower than most southern cities. Not to mention the effect that humidity has on overall comfort in the rest of the US. For cities that have lower summer highs than Esco, they also have freezing winter temps. The average high in Esco is 77, while the low is 52. San Diego (coast to populated inland areas) has minimal "weather". No rain, lightning, snow, etc. Over 300 days of sunshine is plenty opportunity for outdoor living and soaking up the San Diego sun.
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Old 04-20-2013, 12:40 PM
 
Location: Santaluz - San Diego, CA
4,498 posts, read 9,353,375 times
Reputation: 2015
Quote:
Originally Posted by AZ2SD View Post
San Diego is a GREAT place to live and work if you can afford it. The weather is great, lots of outdoor activities, most of them free, coastline dotted with beaches and many more.

The OP said he'll visit beforehand to checkout the landsacpe and have a feel for the city and I think that's great. But the OP needs to know that San Diego has its "dark" side and that's the price you pay to live here. It's expensive, infact so expensive it ranks on the Forbes top 5 most expensive cities in the US right after NYC and San Francisco. The fact is there are more opportunities in NYC and San Fran when it comes to jobs than in San Diego, and the pay is better in most areas than San Diego.

The OP did not indicate how much he's making in NY, and whether he's looking to rent or buy when he comes to San Diego (if that's the city he ends up choosing), but he'll need to make a certain amount in order to survive and enjoy what San Diego has to offer.

I have no idea how much barbers make - average hourly wages or salaries in San Diego county and am not sure if one can survive on $10 an hour if that's the average hourly wage. There are a lot of low income families living in San Diego on $35K a year or maybe even below, so yes while you can make it on that salary, you'll feel like you have to work 8 days in a week (don't know where you get the additional day from), but that's what you'll feel like especially if you don't have family who can lend a hand when you need it most.

But here's what I'd say - it doesn't make any sense to me to live in place that depresses me, make me unhappy even if I make good money to support my lifestyle. If you're frugal, and all you need is the bare minimum to get by, you can live in San Diego easily. The question is what's your definition of bare minimum? Living paycheck to paycheck? or being able to put a little away for that rainy day or save a little towards your retirement? I have my own definition...but to each his own.

I have a friend in the medical field that made good money in Arizona, but hated living in the scorching heat so much so, he sold his practice and got out of town. Obviously am not comparing my friend's scenario to the OP's - it'll be like comparing apples to oranges. My friend is a dentist and he can pretty much live and work anywhere...well he lives in Del Mar now.

As another poster put it, you have to be willing to give up something in order to make the move happen. Some people are willing to give up being homeowners in another State/city to move to San Diego and just rent a small place for a long time. It's all about how you have your priorities lined up.

The OP should make a few inquiries on how much he can expect to be paid and from there determine what he can and can't afford. Not knowing that basic info would be tough to give any specifics on the lifestyle he can expect....I'd say when you come visit, go to some of the barber shops, ask questions - have a barber to barber talk, heck go get a hair cut, strike up a conversation and get the basic info you need to help you decide if San Diego is the place for you.

GREAT post and so spot on target.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Pedro2000 View Post
The thing most people don't realize is what really is 'living the life' if you wind up in places like Escondido or Alpine or Ramona or El cajon. Nice places in themselves, but those places exist everywhere in the US. So if you move to San Diego and can't afford to live near the beach or downtown, you wind up living in El Cajon and so on. Cheaper. But what lifestyle are you living then? You aren't going to make a 45 minute drive to the beach that often. You probably aren't going to drive downtown that often just to hang out.

When people say San Diego is the 'best place on earth' they don't realize many people live in places like El Cajon, Escondido and so on where it gets very very hot in the summers and you could be blindfolded, picked up, dumped off, and have no clue what state you were in. They aren't exactly "well this is why I love San Diego."

it's like anywhere. People want to move to San Fran, but wind up an hour away due to costs. They aren't really living the life like they thought. People want to live in NYC, but wind up on Long Island, Queens, Hoboken, Staten Island, etc. They aren't exactly living the 'NYC' life as portrayed on tv.

If you just want to move to the beach, have a few roommates in a small place, and then leave in a few years, then go for it. If you think moving from anywhere to live 'the life' in El Cajon is all its cracked up to be, you will be in for a rude surprise.

As well this post is EXCELLENT and so true. I've met a few people that fall in this category. They rarely get to the beach and their weather during the summer isn't exactly what I'd call too desirable...but to each their own..... So true that many of these outlying areas are much different vs. San Diego and it's important to realize where you live and what you can afford. Just basically having realistic expectations no matter where you live.

Honestly I think much of the entire SD area is great and each place has their own positives. That is if you can actually enjoy it. I've met a lot of people that work insane hours or some even have 2 jobs to make ends meat.

Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnSoCal View Post
To each their own. Your experiences certainly weren't mine.

Everyone will have different experiences. We have a few friends that live out in Poway and absolutely love it. Would they be happier in other areas if they could afford it? Probably because some of them complain in the summer about the weather many times when we go to their place. In fact, they didn't see Poway and say, "wow this is where I MUST live... Love it!". They said, " this seems like a nice enough area with houses that are actually in our price range and that we can comfortably afford. It seems like a nice place to raise our kids and the school district is great out here".

Last edited by earlyretirement; 04-20-2013 at 12:52 PM..
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Old 04-20-2013, 07:31 PM
 
42 posts, read 70,141 times
Reputation: 31
So, are there any other places in california that are fairly affordable and look just as good as san diego, i dont need to be deep in the city i just wanna be by the ocean.
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Old 04-20-2013, 08:04 PM
 
Location: Hookerville, formerly in Tweakerville
15,111 posts, read 32,143,493 times
Reputation: 9689
Living by the ocean anywhere is going to be expensive. You need to pick out a few cities and visit them.
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Old 04-21-2013, 12:56 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia
5,294 posts, read 10,151,962 times
Reputation: 2136
San Diego is a pretty nice place to live, but the jobs here do not pay well, and there's hardly any jobs here anyways. Plus, it is SO expensive. As for weather it's nice. Depends where you wanna live. The coast is more mild: warmer in winter, cooler in summer, more foggy. Inland is colder in winter, hotter in summer and sunnier/drier than the coast year-round. I myself prefer inland (though I love the beach!) because I'd rather have colder nights than the coast (I'm sleeping then anyways, lol) and having hotter, sunnier days with no fog.
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Old 04-21-2013, 03:42 PM
 
490 posts, read 1,550,570 times
Reputation: 218
um there are plenty of jobs, just not qualified people to take them-- 6,000 bio-tech jobs that can't be filled, another 3,000 hi-tech jobs with under-qualified people applying here in SD. Huge mis-match all over the country (and SD) for the jobs that are available.
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Old 04-21-2013, 04:29 PM
 
Location: Edina, MN
333 posts, read 701,952 times
Reputation: 191
Escondido and El Cajon have better climates than about 99% of the rest of the country. I'm just saying. They might not be La Jolla but let's not kid ourselves here.
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Old 04-21-2013, 05:56 PM
 
1,175 posts, read 1,904,763 times
Reputation: 999
Quote:
Originally Posted by DirtMagurt View Post
Escondido and El Cajon have better climates than about 99% of the rest of the country. I'm just saying. They might not be La Jolla but let's not kid ourselves here.
This depends on what you like. I grew up in the northeast and hate the winters. But I lived in south florida for a year and hated the humidity. Winters are nicer in South FLorida compared to San diego though. But summers stink. But there are a lot of people who love the seasons. They love the winters. I don't know why, but some people do. So Ideal weather is a relative term. And honestly if you spent summers in El Cajon without A/C, you'd probably want to move. People spend too much time looking at stats on the internet instead of actually being in the places they want to live/visit.

For me, places like Escondido or El Cajon exist in every state. You get trapped into your towns and that becomes your life. Great places in themselves, but if I didn't like living in suburbia in some other state, why would I want to live in suburbia in San diego?

The reality is because of the cost and the lack of good jobs, a person who moved to San Diego who didn't care for the beach and didn't like downtown San Diego, probably doesn't move here. I mean i've lived in various places and summers in El Cajon suck. Summers in Miami suck. Summer in Seattle is wonderful. Winters in Seattle suck. Winters in NYC suck. Summers are ok, but nobody really moves to NYC for the weather, regardless of season.

That's the thing about San Diego. A lot of people just say "they love the weather." That only goes so far unless you have unlimited funds. And somebody who moved from Miami or Key West or Tampa would say San Diego winters suck. It's all relative to what a person likes/dislikes. To me, if you don't like the beaches at all, you probably don't move to San diego. Or anywhere for that matter that would be close to a beach. Why pay more money to be near a beach if you don't even like them?

And then you get into conversations about Escondido vs Temecula and so on. Not all that much different, probably cheaper in Temecula. And if you don't work in downtown San Diego, probably not all that different to where you need to go when it comes to travel times. Closer to Los Angeles. A case could be made for either town. But then the great 'San Diego' conversation becomes pointless considering Temecula is in Riverside. Hell, somebody living in Fallbrook in San Diego vs Temecula is what conversation? The idea of San diego being the greatest place to live and then comparing places like Escondido and Fallbrook to Temecula become muted because Temecula is in Riverside not San Diego.

This is why when most people who say they want to move to San Diego, probably aren't thinking of Escondido or Fallbrook or El Cajon.
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Old 04-21-2013, 07:36 PM
 
Location: Santaluz - San Diego, CA
4,498 posts, read 9,353,375 times
Reputation: 2015
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pedro2000 View Post
People spend too much time looking at stats on the internet instead of actually being in the places they want to live/visit.
Pedro,

Again, what a great post! I especially agree with this part above. I kind of chuckle when I see people constantly throwing out stats and statistics on what the median income is here, etc. That is fine and dandy but for many people coming out here it can be a totally "loaded" # because it doesn't mean too much in many cases.

Sure, it helps to look at things like median incomes, etc. when moving to a new city but I think some people try to rely on and get too caught up on those figures because any person moving into the area that wants to buy a house, send their kids to good school districts, etc. are in a MUCH different situation than the people that are comprised of this "median income" figure.
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