Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > San Diego
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 02-20-2015, 01:50 PM
 
12 posts, read 8,975 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

Greetings!
I'm a single 44 y/o male with a 17 y/o daughter who will be graduating HS next June. I have a BA degree in Mathematics and a JD. I currently work as a labor market statistician for the commonwealth. I have a 3 bedroom home where my daughter and parents also live. I've lived in PA nearly my whole life.

A couple years ago I had major back surgery and the winters here are now very painful (I do zazen and exercise, but they don't help much, and I refuse to take pain relievers). Coupled with depression in cold, dark months, it makes the winters here nearly unbearable. Summers are pretty bad for me due to humidity and allergies, which leaves about two weeks per year that I feel comfortable.

I'm moving to SoCal in about 18 months. I'll have a little under $10K saved by that time and we have two cars. I really like public service and would like to get a state job in research/analysis/statistics, actuarial science or law. My folks both receive SS retirement income and work pensions, and work part-time. They have health issues and I'm not willing to put them in a home, so I'd like a place with three bedrooms where we can all live until my daughter is on her own.

I'd like to get some suggestions on finding a place to relocate that is safe, affordable, fairly liberal with a Cali State University campus within commuting distance, within an hour or so drive to the beach, and mild summers and winters with low humidity and LOTS of sunshine. I'd like to live in a vibrant, culturally diverse area within a short distance of live bands (rock, blues, alt, punk, etc.) movies, shopping and diverse cuisines (but especially Japanese in general and sushi in particular).

Thank you for reading and any advice is greatly appreciated!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 02-20-2015, 02:00 PM
 
Location: Hookerville, formerly in Tweakerville
15,129 posts, read 32,326,222 times
Reputation: 9719
You're going to need more than "a little under 10K" by the time you leave to support four people here. What's your rental budget?

For CA state jobs, you'll have to look on the CA State Personnel Board website, and look for the exams in your field(s) to see if those fields are even hiring in San Diego.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-20-2015, 02:05 PM
 
Location: Corona del Mar, CA - Coronado, CA
4,477 posts, read 3,301,369 times
Reputation: 5609
"safe, affordable, fairly liberal" don't go together well. The most liberal places are mostly unaffordable (think Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, Laguna Beach), but safe (because they are unaffordable).

Safe & affordable might be northern San Diego County (Cal State San Marcos) and north OC (Cal State Fullerton) and the Inland Empire (Cal State San Bernardino).

You can also look in the San Gabriel Valley for commuting to Cal State LA, but safe can be block by block.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-20-2015, 02:15 PM
 
Location: San Diego, CA
813 posts, read 1,272,891 times
Reputation: 916
A lot of things here depend on your budget. You may want to think about what you would be able to spend on housing, as that could help narrow down what area for you to focus your search for jobs. Housing is the biggest expense here.

There are people from all over the county and a couple from Orange County that frequent the San Diego board here. You'll surely be able to get some good info about the areas that could be a good fit for you.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-20-2015, 02:29 PM
 
Location: Hookerville, formerly in Tweakerville
15,129 posts, read 32,326,222 times
Reputation: 9719
And most of the state jobs are in Sacramento, since it's the Capital of CA.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-20-2015, 02:32 PM
 
Location: SoCal
6,420 posts, read 11,596,094 times
Reputation: 7103
Quote:
Originally Posted by moved View Post
And most of the state jobs are in Sacramento, since it's the Capital of CA.
That's true, but Sacramento doesn't match the OP's weather wants. It has extremely hot summers and winters that aren't so much cold but have lots of rain and not much sun.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-20-2015, 02:40 PM
 
Location: Hookerville, formerly in Tweakerville
15,129 posts, read 32,326,222 times
Reputation: 9719
Quote:
Originally Posted by oddstray View Post
That's true, but Sacramento doesn't match the OP's weather wants. It has extremely hot summers and winters that aren't so much cold but have lots of rain and not much sun.
This is true, but I don't think there are many state jobs in San Diego, though.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-20-2015, 03:18 PM
 
12 posts, read 8,975 times
Reputation: 10
Thank you all for taking the time to reply.
My folks bring in about $3.2k/mo just in retirement funds. If I could bring in $3.5k-$4.5k/month in salary, we'd be at $6.7k-$7.7k/month; $10k would be cash on hand. Can 4 people live relatively comfortably on that monthly income anywhere in SoCal? We don't live an extravagant life by any means, but do enjoy a variety of outdoor activities.
I don't need to live in SD specifically, but couldn't find a general SoCal thread, so I figured this would be a good place to start.
I'm sure even Sacramento would be a monumental improvement climate-wise. For example, it was -27f with the wind chill last night and -1f ambient this morning. And even in winter, Sac gets 9.5 hours of sunlight.
I can expand my area to somewhere between SD and Sac. Say even 30 minutes south of Sac (commutes are not a problem).
Thank again!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-20-2015, 03:30 PM
 
Location: San Diego, CA
813 posts, read 1,272,891 times
Reputation: 916
Quote:
Originally Posted by Geetar17013 View Post
Thank you all for taking the time to reply.
My folks bring in about $3.2k/mo just in retirement funds. If I could bring in $3.5k-$4.5k/month in salary, we'd be at $6.7k-$7.7k/month; $10k would be cash on hand. Can 4 people live relatively comfortably on that monthly income anywhere in SoCal? We don't live an extravagant life by any means, but do enjoy a variety of outdoor activities.
I don't need to live in SD specifically, but couldn't find a general SoCal thread, so I figured this would be a good place to start.
I'm sure even Sacramento would be a monumental improvement climate-wise. For example, it was -27f with the wind chill last night and -1f ambient this morning. And even in winter, Sac gets 9.5 hours of sunlight.
I can expand my area to somewhere between SD and Sac. Say even 30 minutes south of Sac (commutes are not a problem).
Thank again!
Well, I think you should look at real estate sites like Zillow, Redfin, Realtor, etc., to get an idea of housing prices. Yes, you could live comfortably with 10K, but the money from your parents will not be there forever (not sure of their ages) - so if it were me, I would try to find something that would not depend on that money from your folks for the long term. Plus, they will need their money if their health is failing.

It seems like you are in the early research phase. Have you been here before? Maybe plan a trip and drive around so you can see what it is like. Northern and Southern California are completely different.

The outdoor activites are endless in San Diego, and most are year-round.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-20-2015, 03:34 PM
 
2,986 posts, read 4,577,410 times
Reputation: 1664
Yes you can comfortably live on the numbers that you've posted. The retirement funds definitely help
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > San Diego

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 07:40 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top