Should I come to San Diego (middle-class, condo, job market)

[edemay1022]

I currently live in the Chicago suburbs. I don't mind it here but its not like I love it either. I also have been recently laid off from my financial analyst position and am finding it very difficult to find opportunities based on the saturation of such a large market. These leaves the door wide open to make changes in my life. I have never been to San Diego but then again I had never been to Chicago when I moved here either. I like the area based on the ability to have a more active and outdoors lifestyle year round.

My question is how do I go about getting in a finance or accounting position. I have a Masters in Accounting and would like to move my career in that direction.

Also what areas would be a nice place to live without breaking the bank. I would only need a one bedroom place. I would like a nice neighborhood that I could walk to things I would enjoy doing such as resteraunts and shopping. I also have a dog that loves dog beaches, anyone have any experience with this as far as which ones are the best to go to?

I guess I have a lot of questions but I will start with this as to not overwhelm the nice people who help out with information.

[powersnax]

If you're having trouble finding work in Chicago, why would you expect to find work in a worse job market?

There are plenty of job opportunities in the Washington D.C. area. The weather sucks though.

[MrNiceGuy06]

I strongly disagree w/powersnax. I found 2 very good job opportunities w/in one wk in S.D. If all goes well, I'll be out there permanently by the end of the month. Don't let negativity discourage you...btw, we work in similar career fields.

GL!

[cobmw]

I think powersnax is saying that California's unemployment rate of 8.4% is worse than the Illinois rate of 7.3%. Only two states have higher unemployment than CA. But finding a job is a very individual thing and it depends a lot on just how good you are at it.

[Oerdin]

"Should I come to San Diego?"

YES! Or at least you should come and visit it for a while to find out if it is the right place for you. On the upside the weather is great and the people are pretty laid back plus there are lots of out door activities as well as big city sort of stuff (restaurants and night clubs, etc...) but on the downside the economy sucks right now. Even that downside has a silver lining in that housing is now cheaper then it has been in years but prices started at a very high level so be ready for a bit of sticker shock even at the new lower prices.

[loveautumn]

If you have a Masters in Accounting, I would suggest checking out the Big 4 and other mid tier firm's websites and submit your resume. Accounting majors are still in demand in SD. How long have you been out of school?

I would not suggest moving to a city unless you have visited a few times. I've had lots of fantasies about cities I wanted to move to and when I got there it wasn't what I expected. It's a big move in a bad economy so you might want to kick the tires if you know what I mean. It is extremely expensive to live here.

[oneofakindcharly]

Stay where you are, or go to another city/state. Cobmw & Powersnax are oh so right, if you live in a place where the economy is already bad; this is not the place. I understand you want to move to a safe and not to costly area. Well, a 1br apt/condo in San Diego on average is $1150 an up; this may not be a good area either.
With that being said, don’t believe the hype, people are leaving San Diego by the thousands (monthly); I'm next. A friend of mine has a Masters Degree in Accounting (security guard), another BA in Dietician (Sears Customer Service),myself Paralegal Degree(No jobs without 5/10 years exp.) for maybeeeee $12hr.
I'm not saying you will not find a job, but don't put all your eggs in one basket; if you catch my drift.

Also check this link, it has everything on California
http://www.calmis.ca.gov/file/lfmonth/CaLMR.pdf

[FellowTraveler]

Originally Posted by edemay1022

I would like a nice neighborhood that I could walk to things I would enjoy doing such as resteraunts and shopping.

It seems that a lot of people from Eastern and/or Northern cities are asking for exactly this. I have seen countless posts along the lines of "I want to come to San Diego from [insert name of cosmopolitan traditional liberal city here] because I am tired of the crappy weather. Where can I live in San Diego where I can bask in the sun year round but still enjoy the exact same lifestyle of walking around in a funky urban neighborhood to amazing shops and gourmet restaurants?".

Can you spell having your cake and eating it too?

I am speaking from experience here. I appreciate the same things you do and I also came to San Diego for what I thought would be a better, more laid-back lifestyle. I am here to tell you to forget it. The lifestyle you are looking for does not exist in San Diego. It doesn't really exist anywhere in Southern California. If you want to lay about in the sun then you are going to have to give something up. What you are going to lose is everything that you value as a contributing factor to a high quality of life. Additionally, San Diego is an exceptionally uncultured place. You will never have the kinds of interesting conversations here that you have with your friends in Chicago. I don't think that San Diegans are necessarily unintelligent (though i could be wrong), but they studiously avoid intelligent conversation. An attempt to inject any form of intelligence into a conversation here will result in either a blank stare or something worse, because intelligence isn't considered "laid back". What is "laid back" conversation goes something like this:

"Hey baby, how's it going? Oh my gawd, can you believe that I am already past due for my next Botox treatment? Oh my gawd, your legs look so awesome - are you getting them waxed or did you get them done? You look so hot, let's go to the beach and hit on some guys on the way home. Did you see the last American Idol? That **** was so raunch. How ghetto. Let's get tanked. What. Ever".

This probably sounds like an over-the-top stereotype. Well, people in San Diego ARE an over-the-top stereotype. It is as if they all watch MTV "reality" shows to learn how people in Southern California act, so that they know how they are supposed to act. Each of them are the stars of their own imaginary reality show.

And no I am not joking. You will often hear San Diegans describe themselves and their city as "laid back". I used to think "laid back" meant "relaxed", but it doesn't. "Laid back" is really code for "stupid".

When you learn the code, it is actually a very simple process to deconstruct 'San Diego speak'. Let's practice a little. A typical sentence from a San Diegan goes something like this: "I'm a laid-back kind of girl and I really enjoy a laid-back lifestyle with other totally chill people". Oh, I forgot to mention. "Chill" is also code for "stupid". Like any highly developed language, 'San Diego speak' often has more than one word for the same thing. So what our San Diegan is really saying here is "I'm a stupid kind of girl and I really enjoy a stupid lifestyle with other totally stupid people". See how easy that was?

I also have yet to meet a single person in San Diego who has not had cosmetic surgery. Yes, I said surgery.

People in the North/East think Southern California is the answer to their prayers, but Southern California is just ****ed up. 365 days of sun is not worth the price you have to pay. I would gladly take all the wind, rain, snow, and sleet you can throw at me in exchange for intelligence, culture, and scintillating conversation.

[fishwiz]

Sounds like maybe you should move. Sassberto- what is your opinion on this post by FellowTraveler?

[Sassberto]

Originally Posted by fishwiz

Sounds like maybe you should move. Sassberto- what is your opinion on this post by FellowTraveler?

I think there's just a tad bit of hyperbole in that post. Just a tad.

I wish people would come to my neighborhood so they can see how competitive and plastic people are here. Several of my neighbors are having a competition to see how dead their lawn can get! And some of the people have had so much plastic surgery... they look like slightly overweight middle-class people with families! It's nuts I tell you!!!

A lot of people who come with San Diego stick only to the rich areas. I suppose if I spent all my time around the beaches or coastal north county I might get a similar impression. San Diego has a large middle and working class that a lot of people seem to ignore or reject for some reason.