NoCal or SoCal? Expert Opinions wanted!!! (San Diego, Sacramento: job market, living in, restaurants)

[california_guy110]

Originally Posted by califantastic

Southern California is for you if you love perfect weather, the beach, and a more laid back lifestyle.

Northern California is for you if you are an intellectual snob, a computer nerd, or aspire to live in the most boring place on earth (i.e. Silicon Valley).

Lol, I agree and I'm from nor Cal, I guess if you want to live in a boring redneck small town you could add that to the list too

[Sorcerer68]

Originally Posted by NY2Cali

Yah but what about that traffic!? Honestly, the traffic stories are freaking scarry - and I'm not exactly living in a small town here!
Also, isn't there a lot of growth up north too-? Even if it is in Sacramento area?

I'll share the secret with you.... Live where you work! Also, resist the urge to traverse the entire L.A. Metro area every couple days. It's like driving from Yonkers, all the way through Manhattan to Trenton, NJ. For some reason, transplants always need to do this and then complain about how long it takes. Yes, traffic sucks. Don't drive at rush hour if you can avoid it. I keep my world in about a 10 mile radius. I think most people do.

If you lived somewhere like Old Pasadena, you have a walkable urban village with everything you need including rail to downtown. The architecture is also gorgeous. Go to the beach on the weekend sans rush hour and it will take you 40 minutes. If you want to live at the beach, you'll pay more. Santa Monica is really nice and also has a walkable downtown and is at the beach.

If you want the beach, Northern California is really out of the question. They have beaches but they are cold pretty much all the time. I'm wondering what prompted your wish to move out here if you don't really know the areas...you must experience these places in person. They are different on T.V.

I really love S.F. for a weekend. It's a small, walkable city with usable street cars. It has gorgeous architecture and scenery. The weather kills me.
"The coldest winter day I've ever spent was a summer afternoon in San Francisco"--Mark Twain

[Mach50]

This is perfect for me as my wife and I lived in Manhattan and now we split time between OC and SF.

First of all, nothing will compare to NYC when it comes to culture, food, arts, history or energy. NYC is on another echelon for the US. You will probably need a year to get used to anywhere else in the US...just my experience.

Orange County is the polar opposite of NYC. You will be shocked if you move here, we definitely were. Here are some Pro's and Con's of OC IMO:
OC Pros:

• Clean
• Low Crime
• Weather
• Nice Beaches, good surfing.
• Mountains, good hiking, mountain biking.
• Very family friendly
• Not as expensive as NoCal or Manhattan.
• Close to LA and San Diego.

OC Cons:

• Weather (no season change can be boring)
• Low to no culture
• Highly Conservative, Dubbiya Bush Country.
• Chain restaurants
• No urban life (gotta drive everywhere)
• OC is highly superficial, everything must look new and perfect (boring coming from historical NYC or SF)
• Traffic is horrible
• Suburbia
• No nightlife

San Francisco is the only city West of the Miss that can compete with NYC and honestly it is the easiest transition for someone from NYC IMO.

SF Bay Area Pro's:

• A Real Urban City
• Mass Transit
• History
• High Culture (not as high as NYC though)
• Very intelligent population
• Very Environment friendly society
• Beautiful city, with ocean, mountains and great parks.
• Weather changes, rains, easy access to snow...more inline with NYC just not as cold.
• Tech jobs Mecca

SF Bay Area Con's:

• Crime seems higher than NYC and much higher than OC.
• Very bad homeless problem
• Liberals can almost be pushy about their agenda.
• Bad traffic
• Freezing ocean water (need a wetsuit year around)
• Housing is insanely expensive, Apartments not so bad though.

Personally I would pick San Francisco Bay Area over anything in SoCal, coming NYC because I think it is too much of a change and shock.

SoCal is really like Florida with a higher standard of living (snobs) and Mountains.

Hope this helps,
---Mach50---

[VeronikaW]

I've lived in Southern CA (OC and San Diego), and I've lived in the bay area (Mountain View and Fremont), and I actually lived in Clifton, NJ and worked in Manhattan.

There's a big difference between SoCal and NorCal. Life is more fast-paced in SoCal. The people are more rude and are in more of a hurry. NorCal, the people are more laid back. Weather is milder in NorCal, but it's still basically nice all year.

San Diego is known for having some of the lowest salaries compared to cost of living. While house prices are going down, my husband and I had a combined income of about $125K, and we couldn't afford to buy there. It is however, where my husband wants to move back to, and his stock from his job here in Seattle, will be a down payment on a house there in 4 years.

Orange County is nice, pretty, has lots of new stuff, but is even more expensive than San Diego, and the people are a bit more rude. I have a soft spot for it, because that's where I grew up.

If it were up to me, I'd move back to the bay area. We couldn't afford a house there, either, but I just love everything about NorCal. The people are nicer, the weather is cooler, and I even hear the cost of living has gone down since I lived there (we moved in 2001).

V. =)

[aguamarina4u]

Raised in the beach cities of LA, but love living in NorCal. Would not move back south!

Good Luck

[18Montclair]

Northern Californians are much more optimistic about the future of then Southern Californians. They are also far less inclined to leave. I wonder why that is?

[eekwine]

I have lived in the NYC area, SF & LA. My favorite city is SF, followed by NYC. I dislike LA.

If the beach is a priority, then somewhere in SoCal is your place. If city culture is a priority then I'd say the SF area.

[thetruthhurtsidiots]

Silicon Valley by far surpasses any technological advanced city in SoCal.

SoCal is over crowded, over rated, infested with illegals in many parts of Los Angeles, the crime rate is horrible, the traffic is unbearable, the smog is disgusting, and the people are by far the most self-absorbed. Businesses struggle in Los Angeles and SoCal. Downtown's jewelry district is struggling, and most graphic designers and photographers that shoot jewelry catalogues aren't making ANYTHING and struggle daily. Hollywood is just a mostly ghetto, superficial place to live that is very expensive and there's always traffic at every corner. Public transportation SUCKS, good luck getting on the packed Metro busses.

NoCal is by far the opposite. It's cleaner, there is more opportunity, and the people there are just amazingly polite and respectful and totally not superficial. The weather is debatable but the summer doesn't get as bad as it does in Los Angeles and SoCal valley areas where temperatures can exceed 100 degrees sometimes. You get what you pay for, and honestly there is a reason why BA is more expensive. I've lived in Los Angeles for 20 years and I am in marketing sales currently living in San Mateo for the past 13 years. I can tell you right now that if you want a more relaxed, easy-going, fun lifestyle BA is for you. Fisherman's Wharf alone totally blew every restaurant I've been to in Los Angeles out of the water. The diversity is amazing and the history and culture is vibrant. The biggest mistake I ever made was not moving to San Mateo sooner.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by thetruthhurtsidiots

Silicon Valley by far surpasses any technological advanced city in SoCal.

SoCal is over crowded, over rated, infested with illegals in many parts of Los Angeles, the crime rate is horrible, the traffic is unbearable, the smog is disgusting, and the people are by far the most self-absorbed. Businesses struggle in Los Angeles and SoCal. Downtown's jewelry district is struggling, and most graphic designers and photographers that shoot jewelry catalogues aren't making ANYTHING and struggle daily. Hollywood is just a mostly ghetto, superficial place to live that is very expensive and there's always traffic at every corner. Public transportation SUCKS, good luck getting on the packed Metro busses.

NoCal is by far the opposite. It's cleaner, there is more opportunity, and the people there are just amazingly polite and respectful and totally not superficial. The weather is debatable but the summer doesn't get as bad as it does in Los Angeles and SoCal valley areas where temperatures can exceed 100 degrees sometimes. You get what you pay for, and honestly there is a reason why BA is more expensive. I've lived in Los Angeles for 20 years and I am in marketing sales currently living in San Mateo for the past 13 years. I can tell you right now that if you want a more relaxed, easy-going, fun lifestyle BA is for you. Fisherman's Wharf alone totally blew every restaurant I've been to in Los Angeles out of the water. The diversity is amazing and the history and culture is vibrant. The biggest mistake I ever made was not moving to San Mateo sooner.

I was set to post until I realized this thread is 3 years old. How do they keep popping up, it appears, for some reason you went into the archives?

Nita

[BayAreaHillbilly]

RE: Access to snow.

Technically speaking, if this is defined as distance from organized ski areas, LA beats SF.

From SF, the closest place, Dodge Ridge, is 2-1/2 to 3 hours away.

From LA, unless you try to do it in the middle of a bad rush hour, the San Gabriel resorts are about an hour away.

If one considers top notch resorts, Mammoth is 4 - 5 hours away from LA, Squaw is 4 hours away from SF.