Should I move from DC area to Orange County? (San Diego: 2015, apartments)

[fedanalyst2015]

Hi! I am a federal employee expecting an offer from a federal agency in Orange County. I currently live in a VA suburb of DC. Should I make the move?

The job offer is for the same level of position, and very similar pay (only ~$3000 more, around $95k). The likely career advancement is lower in CA than DC.

The weather and culture, as far as I am aware, is much more in line with what I want.

My current agency has much higher morale overall than the CA agency.

How much more expensive is Orange County actually? The cost of living calculators online don't give similar amounts. The job is in Santa Ana. I do not want to commute more than 30 minutes (been there, done that at 1.5 hours each way before here in DC).

I am recently married, dual income (similar incomes), and we have no plan to have kids any time soon if at all.

Thanks!

[LuvSouthOC]

Take it and run!

[dexter14]

Hello and welcome. How much more expensive is OC than a VA suburb? Depends where you live. The DC metro area is quite expensive as well. Doesn't sound like you have ever been here. I would strongly suggest you visit the area at least once before packing up and moving cross country. That will give you a much better indicator of what an area is like as opposed to listening to people on an internet forum. OC is a huge mix. There are people who get by here on next to nothing and people who swear it takes a $500k salary to survive here. Getting a definite answer is not going to happen because it all depends what YOU can get by with.

[fedanalyst2015]

Thanks! That's why I am asking for a comparison of the two areas. I would want to live within about 30 mins of Santa Ana. I haven't been to Santa Ana, no. As far as CA goes, I've been to Sacramento area, San Francisco, LA, Huntington Beach, and San Diego. My husband is basically from Irvine originally.

They are making their decision very quickly, and while I plan to ask for as much time as possible, a trip may not be feasible.

[dexter14]

No one is going to be able to give you a comprehensive comparison between the two unless they have lived in both areas for awhile. Maybe someone has and can answer. As I said, I know people who live in OC who get by on like $1300 a month and people who swear you need to make $10k a month to get by. It all depends on your lifestyle, you rwants and your needs.

[pacific2]

Originally Posted by fedanalyst2015

Hi! I am a federal employee expecting an offer from a federal agency in Orange County. I currently live in a VA suburb of DC. Should I make the move?

The job offer is for the same level of position, and very similar pay (only ~$3000 more, around $95k). The likely career advancement is lower in CA than DC.

The weather and culture, as far as I am aware, is much more in line with what I want...
...I am recently married, dual income (similar incomes), and we have no plan to have kids any time soon if at all.

Thanks!

Piece of cake with a combined income of about $190K and no kids.

[Cardiff Kook]

Yes, just leave that DC mentality on the East Coast

[bowneline]

I've lived in OC my whole life, but my wife's family all lives in northern Virginia (Vienna, Alexandria) so we travel back there frequently.

We've never seriously considered moving back there, but when we are there enjoying the company of my wife's family we are persuaded to consider "what if," and have thus looked at housing prices, and thought about commutes, etc...

My conclusion is that the cost of living is about the same. I believe in both places, to get a decent single family house in a nice area with good schools, without having to commute too far to a job, you are looking at $700,000+ (minimum), but more likely $800,000+. The food costs seem about the same. I can't comment about property taxes, or insurance, because we've never looked that far into it. But, when it comes purely to houses, which is the major expense, I think they are both about the same. If you are willing to living in a condo, it will be cheaper.

Also, I can honestly say that, in my experience, the traffic is worse there than it is in OC. It's TERRIBLE in Northern Virginia.

Overall, I think Northern Virginia is a nice place, especially Alexandria. The houses and neighborhoods are, by and large, more picturesque. It's much greaner and wooded (outside of winter, of course).

But, overall I think OC is a better place -- especially considering the weather and the ocean. Northern Virginia is right in that zone where it gets both the brutally hots summers of the South, and the cold and snowy winters of the North (I honestly prefer visiting in the winter. We were out there in July a few years back...ouch!!!).

Ultimately, whether you move are not is obviously a complex decision that involves a multitude of factors that would make us strangers on this message board unable to give much advice. But, purely comparing the two places, I would think you would enjoy your lifestyle here more than there.

If you are making 95K and your spouse is making around the same, then you are well positioned to get a decent place in OC, in a nice area.

Personally, if I were you and decided to move, I would get into a nice apartment in Corona Del Mar, which is about 30 minutes from downtown Santa Ana (I work a few doors down from the Federal Building). CDM is right on a great beach, and is a great neighborhood for professionals. It's got nice restaurants within walking distance, and is close to great shopping (Fashion Island) and outdoor stuff (Crystal Cove State Park).

After a couple of years, if you decided to buy, then I'd make the move over to Eastside Costa Mesa, which is in your price range. It's a nice neighborhood (not cookie cutter) with lots of stuff going on around there, close to the beach, and close to the 55 freeway, which gets you up to Downtown Santa Ana in about 20 minutes.

[dexter14]

Originally Posted by bowneline

Personally, if I were you and decided to move, I would get into a nice apartment in Corona Del Mar, which is about 30 minutes from downtown Santa Ana (I work a few doors down from the Federal Building). CDM is right on a great beach, and is a great neighborhood for professionals. It's got nice restaurants within walking distance, and is close to great shopping (Fashion Island) and outdoor stuff (Crystal Cove State Park).

There really are no apartments in CDM. There are townhouses and people that rent out the back unit of some of their places, but paying $3k or more a month to rent out someones 800 square foot back unit when you can get houses for that price in almost every other OC city doesn't make much sense. That area also gets packed in the summer and getting in and out of it will take well over 30 minutes to drive to Santa Ana.

[8to32characters]

I'm originally from a more "blue-collar" area of the East Coast (Providence, RI), but whether you're from an upscale suburban area of Northern Virginia or the deep backwoods of Maine, I find Southern California a much easier, more pleasant place to live, overall. Orange County in particular offers, perhaps, the highest QOL of any place in the US, let alone CA.

No comparison, IMO.