Chicago/Philly to San Diego (Corona, Coronado: for sale, apartments, to rent)

[Tenzo]

OK, I've tried to be a good boy and checked out the other threads but none seems to have all my questions.

I'm moving from Philly to San Diego.
(went to Philly for med school, hate the place)
But I've spent most of my adult life in Chicago and like the urban lifestlye and the beach (yes, Chicago has a beach). I enjoy blading with my dog and playing pick up games of volleyball on the beach.
When I lived in Chicago I was about two blocks from the park that runs along the beach.

Wife looks like she will be going to San Diego for her internship. So she will be working at the campus hospital.

I work in financial IT (JPMorgan right now), so I'm guessing I'll be working in the city.


I'd like to be close enough to walk to the beach, but at the same time not have a big commute for my wife and I.
We would idealy like to rent a house with parking and a yard, but are only looking to spend $3,000 / mo (Interns make about 40K a year). Plus it may take me a while to find a job.

The one time I was in San Diego was in Coronado, never left the island.

So a few questions.
1) Any idea on where to live given the above?
2) Is Coronado basically a Disney like compound or is most of San Diego that nice?
3) What is the employment market like and what is the best place to look for an IT job? (Monster, Local Paper, etc)
4) are my expectations realistic?

[gichicago]

Originally Posted by Tenzo

OK, I've tried to be a good boy and checked out the other threads but none seems to have all my questions.

I'm moving from Philly to San Diego.
(went to Philly for med school, hate the place)
But I've spent most of my adult life in Chicago and like the urban lifestlye and the beach (yes, Chicago has a beach). I enjoy blading with my dog and playing pick up games of volleyball on the beach.
When I lived in Chicago I was about two blocks from the park that runs along the beach.

Wife looks like she will be going to San Diego for her internship. So she will be working at the campus hospital.

I work in financial IT (JPMorgan right now), so I'm guessing I'll be working in the city.


I'd like to be close enough to walk to the beach, but at the same time not have a big commute for my wife and I.
We would idealy like to rent a house with parking and a yard, but are only looking to spend $3,000 / mo (Interns make about 40K a year). Plus it may take me a while to find a job.

The one time I was in San Diego was in Coronado, never left the island.

So a few questions.
1) Any idea on where to live given the above?
2) Is Coronado basically a Disney like compound or is most of San Diego that nice?
3) What is the employment market like and what is the best place to look for an IT job? (Monster, Local Paper, etc)
4) are my expectations realistic?

I lived in Chicago for 5 years, few blocks away from the beach (Cedar & State), and happened to work on IT project for 2 yrs in San Diego.

I dont know where you lived in Chicago, but I suspect being close to the beach in SD, and being close to work really determines where work is. I had two co-workers live in Pacific beach area, but had to commute to Rancho Bernardo.

From an IT perspective, there were at time (2002) a fair amount of IT positions primarily in govt/intel contracting (Boeing, Raytheon, etc). If you can somehow get a clearance, that would be a big plus(clearancejobs.com). If you were in JPM, I suspect anything financial related would be downtown.

Other than that, good luck. I spent practically all my summer weekends on the beach in Chicago. In SD, I went to the beach a total of 5 times, but spent most of my free time and weekends mountain biking.

[RD5050]

Check San Diego Craigslist for housing and job opportunities:

craigslist: san diego classifieds for jobs, apartments, personals, for sale, services, community, and events

Pacific Beach is good if you want to live walking distance from a beach. But some parts of PB have a "party-like" atmosphere, filled with college kids and surfers.

Mission Bay is located right next to PB, and has a paved walkway which is great for roller-blading, biking, jogging, etc. You can also go blading along PB on the boardwalk (paved path) next to the beach.

Another nice residential area which is only 5 miles to the beach, is Clairemont. You can rent houses for around $2,000/mo. Clairemont is also very close to Mission Bay.

Coronado is more of an upscale community. Housing is very expensive. Another area similar to Coronado is La Jolla.

[leighland]

If you will be working for another FCM, you'll probably be working in La Jolla area. Keep that in Mind for traffic because there is no reliable public trans in and out of La Jolla. Good Luck!