SoCal has 3 worst cities for jobs (San Diego, Riverside: best cities, homes, job market)

[Vascodagama]

SoCal has 3 worst cities for jobs

August was a bad month in Southern California, with three cities ranking among CareerCast.com’s 10 worst U.S. job markets.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by Don9

SoCal has 3 worst cities for jobs

August was a bad month in Southern California, with three cities ranking among CareerCast.com’s 10 worst U.S. job markets.

The article also stated SF is amongst the best cities for jobs in the US.

SoCal suffered too much from the housing bust and the water's not there. It's unsustainable.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by majoun

The article also stated SF is amongst the best cities for jobs in the US.

SoCal suffered too much from the housing bust and the water's not there. It's unsustainable.

One of the big reasons for my move back to the Bay Area among others

Job seekers in San Diego also were having a hard time. San Diego placed eighth among the worst cities for finding work. By CareerCast’s count, hiring in San Diego dropped by 10% in August.

Oh I know this all too well.

[JosephineBeth]

Interesting. I just left SoCal (San Diego) to go to D.C. --- got a great new job!

According to this Washington D.C. is the best city right now to find a job -- I guess I can attest to that! (and I don't work for the Federal government -- not all jobs here are Federal ones!)

[Hondacub85]

Riverside is number one... Big shocker. I couldn't find a job for almost 3 years beyond something seasonal when I lived in Corona. Moved to Scottsdale and found a job within one week making twice as much as i ever made even before the recession. I don't understand how "average, working class" people can survive living in the inland empire with how expensive it is to live there and how relatively little they earn, it just doesn't seem fair.

[Vascodagama]

Originally Posted by Hondacub85

Riverside is number one... Big shocker. I couldn't find a job for almost 3 years beyond something seasonal when I lived in Corona. Moved to Scottsdale and found a job within one week making twice as much as i ever made even before the recession. I don't understand how "average, working class" people can survive living in the inland empire with how expensive it is to live there and how relatively little they earn, it just doesn't seem fair.

But ... they are in California

As a native Californian living here all my life, I never thought I would leave California. Now I find myself researching other states to live in.

You call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye
The Last Resort

[Hondacub85]

Originally Posted by Don9

But ... they are in California

As a native Californian living here all my life, I never thought I would leave California. Now I find myself researching other states to live in.

You call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye
The Last Resort

I thought the exact same thing. I was born in orange county and grew up in fullerton and corona all my life. I swore it was the best place on earth for years, and, for a short time, I don't think i was too far off in that mindset. Within the last couple years, I was searching so hard for a way to escape, a way out that it made me sad to witness what California has become. Arizona is, for me, the best alternative as it still has the old Californian vibe to it, but without a lot of the crap that makes it so difficult to live in today.

[nightbird47]

Originally Posted by Hondacub85

I thought the exact same thing. I was born in orange county and grew up in fullerton and corona all my life. I swore it was the best place on earth for years, and, for a short time, I don't think i was too far off in that mindset. Within the last couple years, I was searching so hard for a way to escape, a way out that it made me sad to witness what California has become. Arizona is, for me, the best alternative as it still has the old Californian vibe to it, but without a lot of the crap that makes it so difficult to live in today.

I was raised in the SanFernado Valley in the 5o's and 60's, and the feel of California then was totally different. It took quite a few years to finally get out of it but I am so glad I did. I lived in Riverside for over 20 years, during which it grew from 79k to over 300 k in population and traffic became a snarl. But while it started out much more like the place I remembered California to be, it got speeded up too.

Now I live in a little town in Oklahoma with 9k population and true laid back time and it really does make me feel at home. I'm sure those who grew up in the speeded up culture don't understand but my state just got too full of people. One thing I love about here is it is unlikely to every be what socal is, and I won't have to move to get away from endless suburb again.

Before I moved, the saddest thing about Riverside were all the empty buildings where stores used to be and all the streets you could pick out the occupied homes since they looked kept up. If there aren't jobs and the unemployment rate is high, it means that you don't go into that little craft shop or book store or grocery and they are gone too. Sad because of so much of Riverside and Orange Counties, it DOES hav an identity of its own and it was a good place to live.

[Tex?Il?]

But what type of jobs?

From what I can tell, most of the jobs being lost in southern California are manufacturing jobs, construction, and some lower end service jobs.

This is still a bad thing, but isn't it a better sense of where the metro areas are going in terms of how many jobs that require more education?

It might be that southern California is hemorrhaging its lower skill or lower pay jobs to other areas and therefore there is a net loss.

The region is going through a similar process in terms of where Chicago was back in the 70s and 80s where manufacturing in heavy industry was being lost. But there was a slow gain in terms of white collared jobs or ones with higher education.

Its the second largest concentration of people in America, I don't think its going to dry up.

And the whole issue with water is silly. The midwest imports heating fuels, natural gas etc. from Texas or wherever, as the midwest doesn't produce much heating fuels, does that make it unsustainable??

I still think Southern California is the best region to be if you are in your 30s and still haven't settled down. As matches become a little more slim pickins in the midwest and the other regions.