Relocating from Toronto to Carlsbad / San Diego (Galt, Del Mar: apartments, to rent)

[TOGuy]

Hi all,

My wife and I currently reside in Toronto, Canada, and are contemplating a move to California.

I'm a US citizen, and my wife has a Visa through me, so that's not an issue. We do not have children.

I'm interviewing for a position that will pay roughly $100K. After I move, my wife will look for a position and move down after... Her salary would likely be $80K to $90K...

For the Canadian folks reading, I currently commute about an hour each way for work (Toronto to Mississauga).

So I have a number of questions:

1) Would that salary be sufficient for a comfortable lifestyle in SoCal? ie buying what I want without "having to think about the rent."

2) If anyone has a Toronto reference, how would that salary translate to the high cost of living in Toronto?

3) Given that my wife would have to find a job after me (so this is a tricky question), would living in San Diego be an easy drive to Carlsbad? What is the next closest cultural city (a-la SD) close to Carlsbad that I could live in? (I have read a number of forum posts, and understand that I5 traffic is bad.)

4) If anyone has a Toronto reference, how would traffic translate to 401 rush hour traffic?


5) Any other advice would be very helpful.


Thanks everyone for your time!

[monday_knighty]

You'll be very comfortable with those salaries as long as you don't have kids. You'll be plain old comfortable if you do end up with kids. Toronto is nice but you'll love it here, my husband and I lived in Buffalo for 2 years before moving here, I haven't shovelled a driveway, or used lock-deicer in 10+ years!!! I still appreciate the weather here that so many take for granted.
The I-5 traffic pretty much sucks...you should check out Del Mar (west of the I-5) as it is upscale, beautiful and in the middle of central San Diego and Carlsbad.

[tsuyoi_racing]

Originally Posted by TOGuy

1) Would that salary be sufficient for a comfortable lifestyle in SoCal? ie buying what I want without "having to think about the rent."

2) If anyone has a Toronto reference, how would that salary translate to the high cost of living in Toronto?

3) Given that my wife would have to find a job after me (so this is a tricky question), would living in San Diego be an easy drive to Carlsbad? What is the next closest cultural city (a-la SD) close to Carlsbad that I could live in? (I have read a number of forum posts, and understand that I5 traffic is bad.)

4) If anyone has a Toronto reference, how would traffic translate to 401 rush hour traffic?

1) salary needed would be similar to Young/Eglinton
2) commute from Carlsbad to SD would be similar to Markham to QEW downtown
3) traffic would be like from Yorkdale to Pickering eastbound, or DVP southbound from Kennedy
4) crime would be a lot worse than Jane/Finch

Basically if you can handle DVP or QEW you'll feel right at home.

[TOGuy]

Originally Posted by tsuyoi_racing

4) crime would be a lot worse than Jane/Finch

Basically if you can handle DVP or QEW you'll feel right at home.

Thank you both for responses!

Tsuyoi_racing, I'll take your #4 as being said tongue-in-cheek, as that's quite a wide-sweeping statement to make, saying that crime in any city is "a lot worse than Jane & Finch".... That's like saying that Toronto is a dangerous city (which it's not... It's quite safe with maybe the exception of Jane/Finch, parts of Scarborough, and Etobicoke)...

Well, having grown up in Toronto, and having traversed DVP and 401, I guess it's not that bad / out of the ordinary for me....


Thanks again guys... And if there is anything else to add (anyone), the more information the better!!!

[tsuyoi_racing]

Originally Posted by TOGuy

Thank you both for responses!

Tsuyoi_racing, I'll take your #4 as being said tongue-in-cheek, as that's quite a wide-sweeping statement to make, saying that crime in any city is "a lot worse than Jane & Finch".... That's like saying that Toronto is a dangerous city (which it's not... It's quite safe with maybe the exception of Jane/Finch, parts of Scarborough, and Etobicoke)...

Well, having grown up in Toronto, and having traversed DVP and 401, I guess it's not that bad / out of the ordinary for me....


Thanks again guys... And if there is anything else to add (anyone), the more information the better!!!

yeah, Jane/Finch is pretty bad. comparable even to Detroit. realistically crime in SD will be like southeast of 401 near Kennedy/Midland.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by TOGuy

3) Given that my wife would have to find a job after me (so this is a tricky question), would living in San Diego be an easy drive to Carlsbad? What is the next closest cultural city (a-la SD) close to Carlsbad that I could live in? (I have read a number of forum posts, and understand that I5 traffic is bad.)

I commute from Pacific Beach to Carlsbad off of Palomar Airport Rd. It the morning it's fine, there is not any real traffic or bottlenecks. In the evening it tends to be heavier and later in the week, mainly Thu and Fri, is the heaviest traffic. But summer traffic, Memorial Day to Labor Day is the worst and can be killer, BUT so far THIS summer it has not been that bad at all compared to normal. Not sure why but I think gas prices and less visitors or something has to do with it. During the rest of the year it's not that bad. Usually from the 5/805 split down to Pacific Beach is the most congested stretch.


Also with regards to crime I wouldn't take much of what 'tsuyoi_racing'says seriously, fool has some complex about gangs or something and thinks SD is more crime ridden than Seattle, which is not true at all. San Diego is one of the safest large cities in America,

[John_Galt]

I've got to agree with Sav on the crime. I'm originally from Toronto (grew up in Oakville, but lived in Toronto for several years) as well (though moved to the US about 10 years ago, and spent about 5 years in New York), and I wouldn't describe the crime in San Diego as bad at all. I live downtown here, and feel at least as safe as I did when I lived in Toronto. I wouldn't let the crime (or lack thereof) be much of a factor in your decision. One thing I've noticed is that there ARE a lot of bums. Not necessairly many more than you'd see in Toronto, but they are definitely present in much of San Diego. In my experience, they are all pretty harmless however. Not like the bums we had in New York who seemed a lot more of the crazy/in-your-face variety.

Just to address some of the comments of your original post:
1) With the salary you described, you'll be very comfortable. My wife and I are living on about the same (also no kids... yet), and you shouldn't have a problem at all. You'll likely be able to rent a very nice 2 bedroom, and still have plenty of money left over to enjoy this beautiful city (great restaurants, tons to do outdoors, great nearby spots for weekend trips), etc.
3) The people on this board tend to make a big deal about how bad the traffic is here. It certainly isn't great, but I don't think it's much worse than many big cities in the US (New York, Atlanta, Houston, and of course LA are worse in my opinion). I think if you're used to rush hour traffic in Toronto, you won't have much of a problem here. That being said, its probably worth driving to pick a place to live that makes some sense given your commute. No point in having to spend much more time on the road than is necessary.
5) As for any other general advice - definitely take a trip or two out here to explore the neighborhoods. There are so many great areas here, but each have fairly distinct pros and cons. Having moved here from New York, I know my wife and I wanted an area where we could still walk out of our apartment and find lots of places to eat, etc. and weren't ready to move out to the suburbs where you have to drive everywhere right away. So we decided to move downtown, and we've LOVED the decision. In general, we couldn't be happier with our decision to move out here, but definitely do your research on areas so you can make the most of it.

Best of luck with your decision!
-JG

[TOGuy]

Originally Posted by John_Galt

...we decided to move downtown, and we've LOVED the decision. In general, we couldn't be happier with our decision to move out here, but definitely do your research on areas so you can make the most of it...
-JG

Thanks John!

It looks like we share very much the same outlook, in that we would also like to be able to step out and be "near things" (ie restaurants, etc) as you mentiond.

We took a trip to Texas a while back (just to see whether we may want to move there), and the great level of sprawl, and lack of that cultural / things to do (at least for our tastes) really killed that idea... But SD really looks like it's a good fit/mix of all worlds...

Thanks again for your post. It was very informative!

[John_Galt]

No Problem, TOGuy!

Some areas we checked out and really liked were Hillcrest (great restaurants and shops close by), many areas of downtown (we settled on an area called Cortez Hill, just south of Balboa park - its a nice blend of being residential, and is about a 10 minute walk to both Little Italy and Gaslamp, which are both great areas to go out to for dinner, etc). You might also want to look if there are any apartments near La Jolla village. It'll be more expensive, but you'd still be able to walk around that area which is really nice and beautiful, if a little insular/elitist feeling.

Trust me - you will get such a different feeling from your visit to San Diego than you would from most cities in Texas. It doesn't have that feeling at all. It might be a bit more "sprawl"-like when you look into the Mission Valley area, but you can definitely find neighborhoods that will suit your needs.

I don't know much about the Carlsbad areas, so hopefully someone else will be able to let you know more about that.

And it obviously goes without saying - as a fellow (former) Torontonian - the weather can't be beat.

Keep us posted on what you decide!

Best,
-JG

[tsuyoi_racing]

Originally Posted by TOGuy

Hi all,

My wife and I currently reside in Toronto, Canada, and are contemplating a move to California.

I'm a US citizen, and my wife has a Visa through me, so that's not an issue. We do not have children.

I'm interviewing for a position that will pay roughly $100K. After I move, my wife will look for a position and move down after... Her salary would likely be $80K to $90K...

For the Canadian folks reading, I currently commute about an hour each way for work (Toronto to Mississauga).

So I have a number of questions:

1) Would that salary be sufficient for a comfortable lifestyle in SoCal? ie buying what I want without "having to think about the rent."

2) If anyone has a Toronto reference, how would that salary translate to the high cost of living in Toronto?

3) Given that my wife would have to find a job after me (so this is a tricky question), would living in San Diego be an easy drive to Carlsbad? What is the next closest cultural city (a-la SD) close to Carlsbad that I could live in? (I have read a number of forum posts, and understand that I5 traffic is bad.)

4) If anyone has a Toronto reference, how would traffic translate to 401 rush hour traffic?


5) Any other advice would be very helpful.


Thanks everyone for your time!

You'll definitely like it here more than T-dot or Mrs Sausage. With that kind of salary you'll do quite well. Also you're not restricted to LCBO's to get your fill of alcohol. Any supermarket will suffice.