SF, Santa Cruze, or SD-- Just check out Denver and LOVED it (San Diego: rental)

[monaghanbj]

I am 23 just graduating college and looking for a move from Charleston SC to the West. I just visited Denver and it was amazing-- BOOMING job market, amazing breweries, rec weed, tons of great music, so much to do every night, lots of young people, and affordable places.

However, the cold was brutal. I probably would not snowboard more than 5 times a year so thats not my main activity.. I actually enjoy surfing equally if not more. I also missed the beach and boats and nice weather immediately after being there for a few days.

I am completely torn on where to go... My biggest love is the beach/water life. I would love to make like minded young people who enjoy live music.

SD seems prime for me but I don't know enough about it... the biggest calling is the AMAZING weather and surf.. SO, how are the people, weather, jobs, music, breweries, nightlife (live music) in all of these CA places?

Thanks in advanced!

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by monaghanbj

I am 23 just graduating college and looking for a move from Charleston SC to the West. I just visited Denver and it was amazing-- BOOMING job market, amazing breweries, rec weed, tons of great music, so much to do every night, lots of young people, and affordable places.

However, the cold was brutal. I probably would not snowboard more than 5 times a year so thats not my main activity.. I actually enjoy surfing equally if not more. I also missed the beach and boats and nice weather immediately after being there for a few days.

I am completely torn on where to go... My biggest love is the beach/water life. I would love to make like minded young people who enjoy live music.

SD seems prime for me but I don't know enough about it... the biggest calling is the AMAZING weather and surf.. SO, how are the people, weather, jobs, music, breweries, nightlife (live music) in all of these CA places?

Thanks in advanced!

Don't come here. If you don't like the cold and love the ocean, this is not a good city for you. You can always visit, but probably don't want to live here.

San Diego has as good of, if not better beer scene. Denver, San Diego, Portland for beer in no particular order. Washington state is great as well.

San Diego is more expensive. It had a beach. It doesn't get cold.

The music scene is better in Denver. You can't beat Red Rocks. LA is close to San Diego and obviously has a very good music scene.

[JohnnyDenver]

Originally Posted by SkyDog77

Don't come here. If you don't like the cold and love the ocean, this is not a good city for you. You can always visit, but probably don't want to live here.

San Diego has as good of, if not better beer scene. Denver, San Diego, Portland for beer in no particular order. Washington state is great as well.

San Diego is more expensive. It had a beach. It doesn't get cold.

The music scene is better in Denver. You can't beat Red Rocks. LA is close to San Diego and obviously has a very good music scene.

Echo Sky Dog`s comments. A thread like this was recently discussed last month.

Not sure what you are paying for rent in SC, but it must be pretty high to consider Denver affordable.

The only water we have here is some lakes which I wouldn`t let my dog in.

I was recently out in San Diego for a concert. Had a great time.

[Meowen]

Originally Posted by monaghanbj

SD seems prime for me but I don't know enough about it... the biggest calling is the AMAZING weather and surf.. SO, how are the people, weather, jobs, music, breweries, nightlife (live music) in all of these CA places?

Thanks in advanced!

you should probably ask the people in those forums for more information about their cities.

Denver is great, but it's a terrible place if you're into water recreation.

[denver_hacker]

Over the years, I've lived in Santa Cruz, close to SF (spent most of my spare time there), and Denver, among other places.

If you have or make a lot of money, you cannot beat SF as an urban setting except for maybe New York - the food, music, art, events, cafe's, night life, people, etc. are world class and amazing. The weather is ok - not super sunny or warm, mostly foggy. Access to nature like Marin headlands, Mount Tam, Point Reyes, etc. is incredible. Having a car is a liability, which is sweet.

Santa Cruz is beautiful but small. Quick access to the ocean and redwoods is super fun...for me, it lasted about 1.5 years and then I had to switch to a bigger area. Exploring the coastline is great - Wilder State Ranch, Bonny Doon, Davenport, 3 mile beach, Twin Lakes, etc. The forests are redwood cathedrals and awe-inspiring. But like I said, after a while I felt suffocated, so I moved to Sunnyvale (close to work at the time) and went to SF a lot. The music scene in Santa Cruz is slightly better than the usual college town because it's a minor spur for folks hitting the SF Bay Area circuit, but the local scene is kind of small and limited.

Denver is a magnet for folks in their 20s at the moment, the food, music, and people are all pretty sweet. It's a lot more chill and less expensive than the SF Bay Area, but doesn't quite compare to SF as a city. Also, the SF Bay Area has world changing companies like Twitter, Google, Facebook, etc. Most folks here are outdoorsy and love hiking, biking, skiing, running, whatever. That being said, the forests here are dry and the trees are small compared to most US forests (esp Norcal). However, close-in places like South Boulder Mountain Park or Deer Creek Canyon in Littleton are way cool and fun.

If you like Santa Cruz, you might want to check out Boulder. They're kind of similar with super close access to epic nature.

HOWEVER, if you love the ocean and can't deal with cold, Colorado is NOT the place for you. The closest big body of water to Denver is Lake Granby, which is a two hour drive. Granby is stunning, but all ice melt and you can only swim in it in mid to late July. Plus there's no surfing. It is sunny here and the snow usually doesn't stick around, but we get one to three weeks a year of bitter cold. And it's brown and dead here six months out of the year.

I've only visited San Diego, but have family and friends there. It's great, but expensive.

[Timmyy]

Originally Posted by denver_hacker

Over the years, I've lived in Santa Cruz, close to SF (spent most of my spare time there), and Denver, among other places.

If you have or make a lot of money, you cannot beat SF as an urban setting except for maybe New York - the food, music, art, events, cafe's, night life, people, etc. are world class and amazing. The weather is ok - not super sunny or warm, mostly foggy. Access to nature like Marin headlands, Mount Tam, Point Reyes, etc. is incredible. Having a car is a liability, which is sweet.

Santa Cruz is beautiful but small. Quick access to the ocean and redwoods is super fun...for me, it lasted about 1.5 years and then I had to switch to a bigger area. Exploring the coastline is great - Wilder State Ranch, Bonny Doon, Davenport, 3 mile beach, Twin Lakes, etc. The forests are redwood cathedrals and awe-inspiring. But like I said, after a while I felt suffocated, so I moved to Sunnyvale (close to work at the time) and went to SF a lot. The music scene in Santa Cruz is slightly better than the usual college town because it's a minor spur for folks hitting the SF Bay Area circuit, but the local scene is kind of small and limited.

Denver is a magnet for folks in their 20s at the moment, the food, music, and people are all pretty sweet. It's a lot more chill and less expensive than the SF Bay Area, but doesn't quite compare to SF as a city. Also, the SF Bay Area has world changing companies like Twitter, Google, Facebook, etc. Most folks here are outdoorsy and love hiking, biking, skiing, running, whatever. That being said, the forests here are dry and the trees are small compared to most US forests (esp Norcal). However, close-in places like South Boulder Mountain Park or Deer Creek Canyon in Littleton are way cool and fun.

If you like Santa Cruz, you might want to check out Boulder. They're kind of similar with super close access to epic nature.

HOWEVER, if you love the ocean and can't deal with cold, Colorado is NOT the place for you. The closest big body of water to Denver is Lake Granby, which is a two hour drive. Granby is stunning, but all ice melt and you can only swim in it in mid to late July. Plus there's no surfing. It is sunny here and the snow usually doesn't stick around, but we get one to three weeks a year of bitter cold. And it's brown and dead here six months out of the year.

I've only visited San Diego, but have family and friends there. It's great, but expensive.

I think San Diego is slightly less expensive than San Francisco. Both cities are great though.

[Mike from back east]

Relocated from the Denver forum to the SD forum since the last line in the OPs posting indicates he wants to know about the cities in CALI that he mentioned.

[Raziel]

Originally Posted by monaghanbj

I am 23 just graduating college and looking for a move from Charleston SC to the West. I just visited Denver and it was amazing-- BOOMING job market, amazing breweries, rec weed, tons of great music, so much to do every night, lots of young people, and affordable places.

However, the cold was brutal. I probably would not snowboard more than 5 times a year so thats not my main activity.. I actually enjoy surfing equally if not more. I also missed the beach and boats and nice weather immediately after being there for a few days.

I am completely torn on where to go... My biggest love is the beach/water life. I would love to make like minded young people who enjoy live music.

SD seems prime for me but I don't know enough about it... the biggest calling is the AMAZING weather and surf.. SO, how are the people, weather, jobs, music, breweries, nightlife (live music) in all of these CA places?

Thanks in advanced!

Just do San Diego.. for a 23 year old and possibly single? you'll love it. The rental prices obviously vary by location but are comparable to Denver's metro/proper at the moment except that you'll have newer amenities and more sq. footage in Denver. However, rental housing in San Diego is substantially less than SF. The San Diego landscape is simply gorgeous with lagoons, hills, trails, coastline etc the best sets of SoCal...I say do it OP!

SO, how are:

the people = like anywhere else on the coast.. friendly, very busy but laid back
weather = amazing
jobs = scarce...but it depends on the field less opportunities/lower pay than LA
music/nightlife (live music) = good..small venues as mentioned go to LA for this
breweries = don't know..Capt. Morgan for me..

[Cardiff Kook]

Originally Posted by Raziel

the people = like anywhere else on the coast.. friendly, very busy but laid back
weather = amazing
jobs = scarce...but it depends on the field less opportunities/lower pay than LA
music/nightlife (live music) = good..small venues as mentioned go to LA for this
breweries = don't know..Capt. Morgan for me..

The only thing I would edit is the breweries. They are top notch and they are everywhere. Best beer scene in the country!