100,000 per year- Can a single person afford SD? (San Diego, Corona: renting, loft)

[nameone]

My husband will have a business trip to San Diego for 6 months. I was thinking about moving to LA for quite a while. Now I will have a chance to experience San Diego. Compare San Diego, LA, San Fransisco -- what's good and bad for each of them. Can someone give me your opinion? I am living in Dallas, TX now. I feel there is nothing to do over here, specially with 2 minor children. I am looking for a more city life, more fun things for the kids to do.

Thanks

[KimS.]

We are a family of 4 renting here on less than that so it is possible. What we want to do is move to your state. I was wondering if you knew anything about Murfreesboro,TN? Kim

[shannon94]

Originally Posted by nameone

My husband will have a business trip to San Diego for 6 months. I was thinking about moving to LA for quite a while. Now I will have a chance to experience San Diego. Compare San Diego, LA, San Fransisco -- what's good and bad for each of them. Can someone give me your opinion? I am living in Dallas, TX now. I feel there is nothing to do over here, specially with 2 minor children. I am looking for a more city life, more fun things for the kids to do.

Thanks

I hope your rich!! San Diego is easier to get around......lots to do with kids..San Diego Zoo (get passes) Sea World, the beaches etc. The weather is awesome!! It's my home town and I miss it like you wouldn't believe. It's become too expensive and schools are way overcrowded.

[95g atl]

I lived in San Diego for nearly 30 years before I got sick of it and ventured to the south! Outside Atlanta to be exact. Why the move out of Cali? Some people think we are crazy.....no, just financially smart. Background on me. I have a MBA...that's a master's in Business Admin. --several years of financial experience, but couldn't afford to comfortably own what we wanted. Obviously with that education and experience I made a decent salary...but not decent for California.

Now, don't get me wrong, the weather in San Diego (along the coast) is very nice... temperatures mostly in the 60's, 70's and 80's year round. Just don't go a few miles inland where summer temps often hit 100 degrees! Such as El Cajon, Escondido, etc.

FOR YOUR SITUATION: $100,000 a year is fine if you RENT. Owning a "nice" home in San Diego is a thing of the past, unless: you bought there before the boom; you have a quarter of a million dollars for down payment; or you can afford $3500-$4500 per month for payments.

Something else I thought I'd mention for San Diego. DO YOU SPEAK SPANISH? If you don't you had better learn it. Many, many areas of San Diego are hispanic...billboards in Spanish and in some areas people only speak spanish.

BACK TO ME: in 2002 I sold my ghetto shack...yes, normal heights 800 sq ft piece of crap and moved to just outside the Atlanta area and bought a 2100 sq ft, 1 acre in a beautiful area....oh, paid over $50,000 less than San Diego...AND THAT WAS 4 YRS AGO. The 2100 sq ft home is a rental where we get $1295/mo.

TODAY: We own a 4200 sq ft BRAND NEW home in a golf course area and I paid $309,000 for it. YES, $309,000. In San Diego you couldn't purchase a shack in the ghetto for that! This house is AT LEAST $1.5 million in San Diego. Oh, we also own a lake home 1 hour away on the GA/SC border that is worth about $135,000. So that's $434,000 worth of real estate in the SOUTH.....Two NICE houses for less than one SMALL crappy home in San Diego.

Sure you can afford to rent in San Diego....but why would you?

[Sampaguita]

I have to comment on the necessity of speaking Spanish if you want to live in San Diego. Neither my husband, me nor any of our neighbors speak Spanish & we live in a semi-urban community. As far as I know, none of us has ever had a problem communicating when we are out & about or needed to read Spanish to understand a billboard (not that I pay attention to them in English!).

If you choose to live closer to the border or in predmoninantly Mexican neighborhoods it's probably a little different. I'm thinking now & I can't think of that many signs in our community that are only in Spanish; English is still predmoninant where I live & it's an ethnically diverse area of town.

You would probably be ok paying a mortgage in SD on a 100k salary as a single person. But as already stated, you would be paying over 3k a month for a rather small place. It's all about what's important to you.

[dangitdoug]

I wish I had only 100k to live on. I lost a 40+k job in 1994. Between my wife and I, we make less than 35k and manage with two kids. I would definitely be able to "survive" on only 100K. You'll do fine on that in most areas of San Diego.

[J-Lu]

Originally Posted by nameone

My husband will have a business trip to San Diego for 6 months. I was thinking about moving to LA for quite a while. Now I will have a chance to experience San Diego. Compare San Diego, LA, San Fransisco -- what's good and bad for each of them. Can someone give me your opinion? I am living in Dallas, TX now. I feel there is nothing to do over here, specially with 2 minor children. I am looking for a more city life, more fun things for the kids to do.

Thanks

I've lived in or near each of these cities. My preference in order is 1. SD, 2. SF, and 3. LA. I thought LA was too dirty and crowded, and not very attractive. Parts are nice, but it is very spread out and traffic is horrible. I grew up in the Bay Area and it has changed quite drastically since I was younger. The housing is absolutely outrageous. However, most people who live there enjoy the diversity and there is a lot to do. Most people are very focused on their careers and "live to work" rather than "work to live". Politically it is probably the most liberal area of the country. Although all 3 have nice weather, San Diego in my opinion, has the best. There is a lot to do, and you can get around fairly easily. Traffic is getting worse and worse, though. It's a great city for outdoor activities, and most people are into fitness. There are great towns up the coast such as Del Mar, Encinitas and Carlsbad which are definitely worth a look.

We own a home in Northern SD County and are holding onto it in case we want to move back sometime. We know if we sell, we'll never be able to return. We'll move around a bit because we are in the military and are hoping that along our journey we will find somewhere to lay down our roots. If we don't find anywhere else we like better, we will move back to San Diego.

[Annde]

Yes, San Diego is expensive in some ways, but inexpensive in others. When I moved here four years ago I just had quit a six figure job and worked part time in San Diego making less then $40,000 a year. I wanted a change of life and time to enjoy.

I lived in an apartment right on the water in Coronado (one of the most expensive places to live) and paid $1350 rent. I had enough money to do everything I wanted to.

One reason why, is San Diego offers so many FREE things to do outside. Walking on the water is wonderful. Going to the beach is FREE! Having a picnic at the park or riding your bide for the day. I got into tennis which I was able to play any day of the week with NO costs. And it doesn't cost a dime to walk along the bay, go to one of the free concerts in ja jolla (they are all over the place) http://www.ljconcertsbythesea.org/ There are so many FREE things to do and see here. You can even get a free education here in all sorts of different classes.

If you want to buy a house....that is expensive. Different story.

By the way I found an activity calendar on Discount Movers site in San Diego. It was helpful to let me now about some free things to do here in San Diego. http://www.discountmovers.com/calendar/month.php (broken link)

Enjoy San Diego if you move here. The greatest place in the world!

[tweety]

Yes, I would choose SD above SF or LA anyday. The weather is the best and easier to get around in then LA and prettier in my opinion. SF is nice but they get more rain and cooler weather and buying a house is unaffordable for most people. I love the cities just north of San Diego too, such as Carlsbad, Encinitas, La Jolla, etc. SD has a lot to offer in things to do and of course there is always the beach.

[Jaded]

If you choose to live in SD then you should also consider the other costs of living expenses you will have...when people say that they "live" off of low salaries, a lot of times they have a substantial savings and no other debt. They only have to pay for rent, utilities, phone, food and gas. This is the bare minimum of expenses you'd pay in any state.

You might want to calculate all of the expenses you will incur prior to moving to SD and check out craigslist for rental prices. Of course, with the housing market the way it is here, rents are very high in many sought after areas. Yes, the beaches are free and fun, but is that is the only recreation you want? If so, then you should have no problem :-).

Good Luck,