Cost of Living In Paradise (San Diego, Santee: apartments, house, job market)
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There's no question that San Diego wages suck. I'm an RN and RN's usually make great money in most areas of California because of the high demand.
But San Diego has always had low wages ... probably because the nursing unions were slow to organize there.
My overall point is if RN wages are low there for a high demand profession then ... wages probably suck overall.
There are some areas in California ... like San Luis Obispo ... where you see the same thing. Wages suck but the cost of living is still high.
Why? Obviously enough people are still willing to pay to live there even if they don't make as much money as they could elsewhere ... because that's where they want to live.
I think they could pay that, but for whatever reason it has not been demanded. I assure you people from GE, IBM, HP, AT&T, Northrop, Siemens, etc are in SD and some of them pull down 150+. But those companies have market factors in their salaries.
A local company simply pays what person X will accept.
I realized that a temp employee accepted a position ~20k less than the top of the budget for the position. So I guess it meant they didn't try too much to get more. What the company might be able to pay and what people accept are different, though I have heard the general numbers are lower.
On the other side, I encountered an outside sales person for a home upgrade company, and I found the job ad for this position. High school education, they train, and the pay could be 120-150k. Based on what I could tell, if you are a good sales closer this is probably doable.
Inevitably, working for someone else doesn't necessarily pay that much compared to working for yourself (a commission job is kind of like working for yourself) if you have the drive to be a successful person. Most of the people that are "wealthy" work for themselves in some form or other. I was talking to a roofer (one man operation), and he seemed to indicate he had several properties he collects rent on.
6) How do people make it? Shopping at the dollar store and Walmart. Live in homes/condos with $1200 mortgage or less per month. Go to the restaurants like Callahans to order a burger and watch their TVs. Check out videos/DVDs from the library. Get free stuff from Craigslist at san diego free stuff classifieds - craigslist -- Take advantage of Tuesday night specials at the restaurants. Buy the $1 values at McDonalds, Carls, Jack In the Box, etc. Use double coupons at Vons. Go to rummage sales and garage sales. Beg for money at the street islands of Rancho Bernardo with a homeless sign. Possibilities are endless.
As Mira-Mesa stated, IT IS POSSIBLE to live here in San Diego on very little money.
It's really about the choices we make in our own lives that determines where we can and can't afford to live.
San Diego's big draw is that it is like living in paradise. You feel like you are on vacation 365 days a year. The weather is near perfect all year round. We have beautiful beaches and bays accented with gorgeous plants and palm trees. There are scenic deserts, mountains, and canyons all around us. Our year round great weather allows us to enjoy many outdoor activities like tennis, surfing, hiking, sports, picnics, boating, camping, bike riding, golf, etc. all year long. It never gets very cold and we never get snow (unless you choose to drive to a nearby mountain for skiing and snowboarding). We get very little rain, and we never get hurricanes or tropical storms. The temperature remains very comfortable and sunny nearly all year long. We have lots of great cultural centers and museums (Balboa Park), a world-class zoo, great restaurants and shopping malls. The coastal drive up US highway 101 is filled with many great beach communities. And for even more entertainment, Los Angeles is only 100 miles away.
So you can choose to live in a place like Texas, earn more money, live in a larger, nicer, and less expensive home than you'd pay in San Diego ... but all at what cost? What would your life be like in Texas as compared to a life in San Diego?
Companies pay less here in San Diego because they can! It is all about SUPPLY and DEMAND. Lots of people want to live here in San Diego, and companies know it. And since lots of people are all competing for the same job, companies have no trouble finding people to fill it, so they can pay them less.
In a place like Texas, the exact opposite is true. Companies have to pay more simply to get people to move there. And they have to do everything they can to make Texas as attractive as possible by offering nice inexpensive houses, build parks, golf courses, and everything else to help draw people to live in a place where the weather is problematic (extremely high 100+ temperatures, tropical storms, tornadoes, floods, etc.) and the surrounding geography is mostly desert.
So you can choose to live in a place like Texas, earn more money, live in a larger, nicer, and less expensive home than you'd pay in San Diego ... but all at what cost? What would your life be like in Texas as compared to a life in San Diego?
While that is true, LA and Orange County have the same weather as San Diego and jobs pay more there. The reality is that San Diego is in many ways a resort town... and pays resort town wages.
Sassberto, it's also the case with SF, Chicago, NYC and Seattle. Lots of people want to actively move to those cities, so I don't fully buy the "texas ain't so great, so lets pay high".
Also, let me say cities like Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, have a slew of people moving there already. No, those towns aren't like SD, but they have no trouble needing people for jobs. I think this idea of higer wages because the towns aren't nice is somewhat of a myth.
I go back to the SD Airport. I was there on Sat and it was dead as doornail. Business people nowhere to be found.
I think they could pay that, but for whatever reason it has not been demanded. I assure you people from GE, IBM, HP, AT&T, Northrop, Siemens, etc are in SD and some of them pull down 150+. But those companies have market factors in their salaries.
A local company simply pays what person X will accept.
You're absolutely right. Most of those people are recruited from the national talent pool and represent a small part of the local job market.
Last time I did a job search I contemplated taking a job in Burbank 3 days a week (commute via train) because the salary was so far beyond what anyone in San Diego was willing to pay for the same position.
Sassberto, it's also the case with SF, Chicago, NYC and Seattle. Lots of people want to actively move to those cities, so I don't fully buy the "texas ain't so great, so lets pay high".
Also, let me say cities like Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, have a slew of people moving there already. No, those towns aren't like SD, but they have no trouble needing people for jobs. I think this idea of higer wages because the towns aren't nice is somewhat of a myth.
I go back to the SD Airport. I was there on Sat and it was dead as doornail. Business people nowhere to be found.
Well San Diego is not a business powerhouse, and that is not exactly news. No manufacturing base here and few corporate HQ's. The reality is if you are going to locate in CA you are going to choose LA first, possibly SF bay area second. Otherwise you move out-of-state. If you are going to pay CA taxes and land prices, why would you pick a third-tier job market like San Diego?
Career-minded people don't choose a city based on how nice the weather is either.
I go back to the SD Airport. I was there on Sat and it was dead as doornail. Business people nowhere to be found.
last time i checked, business people did their traveling during the week, i'm not sure that is the best example. however, i visit SD fairly regularly, and although it hasn't been as busy lately as it was the last couple of years, the convention center still seems to draw huge crowds on a regular basis.
why would you pick a third-tier job market like San Diego?
Career-minded people don't choose a city based on how nice the weather is either.
We decided on SD because it was smaller than the other big towns in CA, and yet seem to have a lot to do. And in that respect it is so nice here. I mean for God's sake the news here has old peoples birthdays as a story. SD is honestly the nicest overall town I have ever lived in.
Unfortunately, I will not and cannot agree to scrape by though. While the Quality of life here is good, you can also be happy elsewhere and in fact have more to do. Certain things in SD actually do not compare, but for a town of SD size, it's probabaly the best all around. The fact I mention SD with a city like Dallas, which is much bigger and offers much more, speaks to SD being a unique case.
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