It's time to leave San Diego... but where to go? (Chula Vista: sales, big house)

[randian]

Originally Posted by oddstray

I lived in Sacto for five years. Summer = hot hot hot hot hot!!! Winter = rain rain rain rain rain!!! (And it rains sideways.)

I'd think the insane winter fogs would bother more newcomers than the rain.

[jaynetarzana]

Originally Posted by movedoften

Where you live and the lifestyle that it provides is really the essence of who you are. It enables you to truly maximize your enjoyment, recreation and quality of life.

Moving somewhere simply because a house is cheaper or because you can get a bigger house for the same money will often lead to overall disatisfaction.

I am all for fiscal responsibility and that is a very important consideration.

My advice is find out what city really makes you happy then tailor your square footage, wardrobe, car payment, etc. so you can afford to live there.

For the record, I love San Diego, Denver and Raleigh.

I can personally attest to this. We realized the hard way that cheaper did not mean better. Weather and natural beauty are keys to our happiness. We moved to Chicago. Every single day, we miss being enchanted by the ocean, mountains, rolling hills, redwoods, palm trees and deserts in the Golden state.

But to the OP, if we couldn't come back to California, we would consider Colorado.

[PharmboyinNC]

Originally Posted by westcoastbabe

Pharmboy..which do you prefer...NC or SD...

Lived my life in NC. Born in Smithfield, raised in Raleigh, studied in Chapel Hill and Durham. Had many great trips to Blue Ridge and to the Outer Banks, and enjoyed life there. Honestly, I had seen it all and wanted something more. We were always interested in a different style of living, and an opportunity came up in California. We did look at LA and SF, but SD felt like an easier transition from the RTP and fit our lifestyle.

I really enjoyed visiting SD and all that SoCal has to offer...hence the reason why we decided to move here. LA is much closer to SD than the RTP is to DC, so that was a plus too. I plan to enjoy all the new places, sights, experiences, and live life as much as SD has to offer (positives&negatives), which may be the rest of my life!

Now that we are close to the coast, we always wanted to increase our kayaking and hiking time, learn to sail, and send Xmass postcards with a pic of us in holiday shorts and an elf hat, enjoying drinks on PB...to all my friends in St. Paul, Boulder, Chicago, Boston, and NC!

[quezadaj]

Is Chula Vista a good city to live in?
I want to know how the town is?
I'm thinking of going to school there.

[delnote76]

Originally Posted by oddstray

Are there any parts of Colorado that don't include a season of "no boots and jackets, shoveling snow"?

I'm not very familiar with it, having only spent a weekend, but perhaps the area around San Luis Obispo? Or perhaps the area along the coast, north of San Francisco (Petaluma-ish)?

Yeah, Petaluma has much cheaper housing than SD.

[Danni.C]

LoveTheMeeps,

Okay, for what it's worth I think a couple of great places in Colorado (if you're interested) have been really popular with Californians and have a more "Californian vibe"- Fort Collins, CO and Colorado Springs, CO. Things are manicured, clean and well taken care of like in California and a little more upper-crust than the rest of Colorado. Fort Collins has some really good schools and both have a lot to do in the towns and are close enough to Denver.

Also- I really... really... would not do Durango (as one of the other posters said)... ever. Nothing south of Colorado Springs... It's just too small and podunk and there is nothing to do there, especially after living in San Diego... you'd be so bored. I've lived in Orange Co., San Diego, CO, WY, PA, NJ, OR... and for me and my Husband, we want to raise our kids back east... I loved having NYC at my fingertips as a kid, and all of the history, the Hamptons, the shore, the boardwalk... etc... there's nothing quite like it. (we're probably heading to MA next ourselves) Good luck to you!

[cobmw]

Snow is just an occasional thing along the front range of Colorado. It does get 50 inches of snow, but it falls at intervals and disappears within a few days. It is not at all like back east or even the midwest. However, there can be unusual snow falls where it is a bother for a week or two.

[Snort]

Originally Posted by Danni.C

LoveTheMeeps,

Okay, for what it's worth I think a couple of great places in Colorado (if you're interested) have been really popular with Californians and have a more "Californian vibe"- Fort Collins, CO and Colorado Springs, CO. Things are manicured, clean and well taken care of like in California and a little more upper-crust than the rest of Colorado. Fort Collins has some really good schools and both have a lot to do in the towns and are close enough to Denver.

Also- I really... really... would not do Durango (as one of the other posters said)... ever. Nothing south of Colorado Springs... It's just too small and podunk and there is nothing to do there, especially after living in San Diego... you'd be so bored. I've lived in Orange Co., San Diego, CO, WY, PA, NJ, OR... and for me and my Husband, we want to raise our kids back east... I loved having NYC at my fingertips as a kid, and all of the history, the Hamptons, the shore, the boardwalk... etc... there's nothing quite like it. (we're probably heading to MA next ourselves) Good luck to you!

In defense of Durango, if you like skiing and hiking and living in a beautiful place with some good restaurants and true, a small-town feel, Durango is hard to beat. Plus it's in the Four Corners area with easy access to great places in Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. There are plenty of archaeology sites to keep one busy for years. If you want 'city', then 'no', but if you're an outdoorsy type who likes four distinct seasons, Durango is quite nice.
OP mentioned not wanting snow though, so maybe a coastal town on the Oregon coast such as Newport or Florence. Both are towns though.

[earlyretirement]

I think you'll find that really desirable cities will always have a higher cost of living and more expensive homes. There are cheaper cities but you'll miss many of the things you listed that you love like the ocean, great weather, tons of things to do, etc.

I've lived in several cities both in the USA and internationally (currently living outside of the USA) and I've found that the cities that are really affordable can't compare to the beauty of places like San Diego.

You might try out Plano, Texas. It's NOT a beautiful city like San Diego but it's a very safe place. Clean with excellent schools and a very low cost of living. Plano is a suburb of Dallas and they have great houses, great schools, tons of stores, fresh food markets, etc. You can easily buy a great house for $300,000 or less. I'm talking 5 bedroom newer home with good sized yard.

The people are very friendly there and most of Plano is highly educated and many families. The job market is good there although definitely you'll spend lots of time in your car if you have to commute to Dallas but if your husband works from home it could be ideal.

A HUGE advantage is no State income tax in Texas which can save you big bucks. CA taxes are very high. However, the property taxes are higher.

The downside is that it gets VERY hot in the summer so I don't see you hanging out too much in the summer. But if cost of living is a big factor and good schools you may want to check it out.

[westcoastbabe]

Phoenix, Arizona....Great weather/Affordable/300+days of sunshine/Driving distance to beaches of San Diego/Vegas/LA...Lots of things to do in the city for married couples or single people...Great scene.