San Diego vs Berkeley (Oakland, Orange: environment, travel, salary)

[CambriaGreer]

Hello, we've got two job offers: one is in North County SD and one is in Berkeley each pulling down about $120k per year. All other things being equal which location is better for raising a family, which has better schools, which is more safe, and which has a more sustainable lifestyle at this salary? Thank you for your help.

[skatealoneskatetogether]

San Diego , San Diego, San Diego. And i LIVE in berkeley so listen good. Berkeley is a great place to raise a family, if you dont mind living up on an affluent hillside (with a beautiful view) above a blue collar - lower middle class area, sending your kids to private school, and dont mind dealing with urban problems such as crime. Dont get me wrong i love it out here. But its just a better place to be young than it is to raise a family. That doesnt mean you cant commute, there are plenty of nice places like walnut creek, pleasanton, danville, etc, on the other side of the hill. But if i had to choose between Berkeley and San Diego to raise my children, id go with San Diego. San Diego, by the way often gets ranked Safest city in the US.

[tande1n5]

Really?!? This is apples and oranges, we can't even begin to tell you anything except what's best for the individuals posting without knowing what you like...

First, we're talking one city within a metro area versus a whole metro area... and a city that's known as liberal as all versus pretty conservative for a CA metro area. DINKs for neighbors in funky neighborhoods versus tract communities... I could go on forever...

I could tell you what's best for me (and I'd tend to agree with the above poster), but it's all up to how you are as a person and where your values/environment preferences for raising your kids are... urban vs. suburbs. As someone born in SF with an address in SD currently, I would say that I prefer the Bay Area to the San Diego area, but I also would go over the hill to the 680 corridor for family-friendliness if I picked Berkeley to work... SD would be cheaper and have more of the "suburban family" mindset, especially within North County.

That being said, if you're of the funky, Berkeley mindset, San Diego has plenty of those neighborhoods too if you end up down here.

[Joe_Ryder]

Berzerkeley isn't a real city. It's a college town. SD is a real city and your dollar will go a lot further. $120K is a good salary in SD but in the Bay Area, it's on the upper end of many blue-collar jobs. I know because I'm a blue-collar guy.

Berkeley is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there. It seems like daily life would be a real hassle for anyone with a family. It might be ok if you're a student or artsy-fartsy pseudo-ARTistocrat but it's just not a convenient place to live. I live in Oakland. I don't particularly care for Oakland these days but it's better than Berkeley in my opinion. I'd take SD over either one.

Berkeley is a difficult place to drive. Not because of traffic but because of my social and intellectual superior pedestrians who all feel that crosswalks are for everyone else and traffic signals are just cool lights used to decorate intersections. Berkeley reminds me very much of Austin, Texas, whose motto is: “Keep Austin Weird.” Except it’s clear the denizens of Berkeley can afford much better drugs.

Sorry to sound so negative but I prefer SD to Berkeley and feel that Berkeley is nothing more than a huge annoyance sitting between me and the twisty mountain roads.

[libbykt]

North County coastal or inland? Either way you'll get more for your money in SD than the Bay area, and I think you'd have to commute a lot farther to maintain the same the same standard of living in the north that you would down south. With a family, hands down I'd live in San Diego over Berkeley.

[18Montclair]

If your into suburban tract houses, like so so food and want a sterile environment than I say Northern San Diego County is for you. Way more typical of the SoCal lifestyle I suppose.

Berkeley is far more urbane, has far more grit, is far more "big cityesque" with vastly superior food and Downtown SF(the epitome or urban sophistication in CA) is a 20-minute subway ride from Berkeley...does SD even have a subway that goes that far?

$120,000 will get you a bit farther in San Diego. Berkeley is more expensive but there's a reason for that.

[18Montclair]

That said,
I think Id rather raise kids not in Berkeley, but in the wooded towns over the hill in Orinda, Lafayette and Moraga. The public schools there are astoundingly good and its not as vapid and materialistic as Southern California.

[Petaluma Mom]

We lived in Encinitas (northern San Diego county) for three years, so I can tell you what that was like. I'll try to stick with issues pertaining to families with children.

It had a lot of great resources for kids and families. The schools are excellent, all the way through junior high and high school. The parent involvement at Park Dale Lane Elementary was outstanding. I found Encinitas to be very clean and well organized as a community. It was the little things like clean sidewalks, manicured lawns, and safe neighborhoods that I appreciated. I lived in one of those personality-lacking '70s housing development neighborhoods. However, my neighbors all knew us, were very friendly and social and looked out for our house and for each other. People weren't strangers to each other. I could leave our doors unlocked and have a Fed Ex package on our doorstep all weekend and everything would be safe and untouched. I was a stay at home mom with a husband who traveled a lot so it was nice to have that security.

Encinitas also has the most unbelievable YMCA in the country. Not only does it have a preschool, but the facilities are incredible. They have summer camps for children every year. Local high school kids are the counselors for the younger kids and you just can't believe what an amazing job they do. It also has a competition size swimming pool and a skate park designed by Tony Hawk. Kids there can go skateboard under the supervision of experienced personnel and under safe conditions. And YMCA memberships are not expensive. I found that one resource to be worth every penny for our family.

Encinitas has a very family friendly beach with a children's playground, snack bar, restrooms, and life guards. It's hard to go to the beach with very young children because of safety issues. So I found Moonlight Beach in Encinitas to be a good experience.

There is also the Quail Botanical Gardens which has a huge area set aside as a young children's playing area and activity center. Several mornings a week the kids can do crafts, songs, bubbles, play in the playhouse, take home a plant clipping. It's ideal for children under 10 and annual family memberships are very cheap (I think $60).

Carlsbad is a town just north of Encinitas and they have Legoland. It's a great theme park geared towards younger kids. Disneyland is an hour's drive away and you can purchase a Southern California Disneypass for much cheaper than a regular annual pass.

The beaches are warmer in SoCal and so our kids swam more. There's also Sea World (better for kids 8 and older) and the SD zoo.

That being said, I just can't compare the natural beauty of the Bay Area to Southern California. And I think the quality of restaurants, shopping, and services is better in Northern California. There is also a very materialistic, "bling" type of culture down south. Housewives of Orange County is not too far off base with what you'll experience. I was one of the very few brunettes in the area! Fake boobs and blonde hair are the norm. And I'm talking about the soccer moms, not the college girls. San Diego is very conservative and religious. You'll fit in better if religion is an important value in your family and if you tend towards conservative viewpoints. I did find some cultural diversity. Not as much as Berkeley, but we had several school friends from multi-national families.

In spite of how people looked or dressed, I did find Encinitas to have a lot of other qualities that families would appreciate. It was a safe area with good schools and a lot of resources for children.

Best of luck on your decision!

[WannaBNorCal]

San Diego by far is safer!

[Don Vito]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

If your into suburban tract houses, like so so food and want a sterile environment than I say Northern San Diego County is for you. Way more typical of the SoCal lifestyle I suppose.

Berkeley is far more urbane, has far more grit, is far more "big cityesque" with vastly superior food and Downtown SF(the epitome or urban sophistication in CA) is a 20-minute subway ride from Berkeley...does SD even have a subway that goes that far?

$120,000 will get you a bit farther in San Diego. Berkeley is more expensive but there's a reason for that.

Sf is the epitome of urban sophistication in CA? I'll try to remember that as i try to "score" my goodies in the tenderloin.