My Experience after "Leap of Faith" move to SD (Long Post) (Los Angeles: find a job, military)

[ukiyo-e]

Originally Posted by newjitty

i believe OP is moving to SF due to his employer closing down the SD office.. too bad, SF blows compared to SD..

nevertheless, nice post...

I lived in SF for nearly 20 years before moving to the Olympic Peninsula of WA - a stunningly beautiful part of the country. My town's downtown is on the National Register of Historic Places and we have a tourist season, also, though I live a couple miles from downtown and don't really have to deal with it. With the water all around and the Olympic mountains in the background, every day is like a postcard here. (We're in the rainshadow, too, so we only get 18" of rain a year.)

One of my high school friends from back east moved to SD around the same time I moved to SF in the early 80s, and we agreed that both cities are the best northern and southern CA have to offer. But they ARE very different, at least, from what I've seen of my several visits to SD.

The reason I've been reading this thread is that I love the mild weather and recreational opportunities up here, but am pretty sure than after I retire in 7-8 years I'm going to want to move someplace that gets more than 8 hours of daylight in the winter. San Francisco is just way too expensive for me now; I couldn't possibly afford the house I sold in 2002 if I moved back there, and the rents are ungodly high, too. So San Diego is on my radar as a retirement destination, due to the weather and proximity to outdoor recreation, which is very important to me. But I also loved living right in the middle of San Francisco and having easy access (i.e., walking distance) to shops, restaurants, etc. I don't like suburbs, and I don't like being too close to the ocean (did that for awhile in SF, know all the drawbacks), nor do I have kids in school anymore, so I don't want to pay for good schools I don't need. What kinds of areas would be good for me to look at? At that stage of my life I might go for an apartment or city condo, or small cottage-type house, but the neighborhood would have to be safe for an older, yet feisty lady.

[cruitr]

> What kinds of areas would be good for me to look at?

You'll probably get better responses if you started a new thread. Also, what's your housing budget?

[ukiyo-e]

Originally Posted by cruitr

> What kinds of areas would be good for me to look at?

You'll probably get better responses if you started a new thread. Also, what's your housing budget?

Good idea; I'll do that when I get closer to moving time. I just thought since people were discussing different neighborhoods for some of the people who were asking about good ones for kids, etc., I might get a response here, but maybe there are more people who could answer my question who aren't reading this thread.

My budget is fairly flexible. I could go up to $400K for a small house or $1500 for an apartment.

[chevychasedcnative]

I agree with one of the earlier post about mission beach. I lived at 777 jamaica court about 5 years ago. It was a good deal (1500/ month for a two bedroom w/parking), but there is almost zero sense of community there. I really enjoyed being able to walk a hundred yards to the beach with my surfboard, but other than that I felt like I was trapped on a little strip of land. Even with a car, it gets really old living there. I figured out after a few months that ocean beach may have been good alternative. I always thought that san diego area was kind of lacking the poeple/vibe I was looking for. I will always remember getting up and surfing in the morning. Surfing is what made me stay in san diego for more than a couple months.

[Ragnar]

Great thoughts on managing lonliness and making connections, ajsd. Thank you for sharing more parts of your story. A healthy social structure cannot be underestimated. When I moved to my current location, I didn't have a lot of money, but I did have a car. I helped other graduate students by giving them rides around town to places like the grocery store, Wal-mart, church, etc. I also helped them with moving. Not only did it help me learn my new city, but when my car broke down, I had people to give me a ride, and when I moved apartments, it was easy to find people to help. But I also made some tremendous friends, and that was valuable whether they would repay me or not.

[ajnsd]

Originally Posted by Ragnar

Great thoughts on managing lonliness and making connections, ajsd. Thank you for sharing more parts of your story. A healthy social structure cannot be underestimated. When I moved to my current location, I didn't have a lot of money, but I did have a car. I helped other graduate students by giving them rides around town to places like the grocery store, Wal-mart, church, etc. I also helped them with moving. Not only did it help me learn my new city, but when my car broke down, I had people to give me a ride, and when I moved apartments, it was easy to find people to help. But I also made some tremendous friends, and that was valuable whether they would repay me or not.

Ragnar, I couldn't agree with you more. I didn't expand as to how I "grew" my social structure in my previous comment because it was becoming too long -- but in a nutshell, I followed a very similar plan to yours. And it produced the same success as you.

I never have been big into the bar or nightclub scene. I was concerned that perhaps this would be an impediment to meeting people. So just as you did, I decided to volunteer my time.

If anyone is interested, go to Volunteer San Diego. They have links to hundreds of local charities who need your help. This is the best way (in my opinion) to easily meet people and make instant connections. Just decide what you're passionate about and I promise you, there's a San Diego organization you are a good match for.

[ptwo]

Hi Everybody, I am so glad I stumbled onto this thread! I am moving to San Diego in June and after hours of searching the internet, this is the first place that I have found amazingly helpful feedback from firsthand experience. THANK YOU!

I am in my early 30s and work in the medical field.

My question is where to live. I know that is based on where I am working. I will be working at the VA Hospital between 2 locations

1. 3350 La Jolla Village Drive San Diego, CA 92161 (Main VA Hospital)
2. 8810 Rio San Diego Drive (Mission Valley)

I thought I would want to live on the beach (My Dream), but after reading this threat, may be visiting is more practical.

The location I am looking to live would include:
1. A short commute to my work locations (possible between them)
2. Easy access to shopping, food, bars
3. Close access (biking distance?) to a beach
4. I am looking to start with an Apartment (well maintained with washer/dry)

I would appreciate any feedback. I would be great if someone could even recommend a specific Apartment Complex that would have many of the above features.

Thanks for reading!

[Aging Hippie]

Thanks AJ. We've actually met a lot of really great people for only having been here 2 weeks.

We moved into OB, since we're aging hippies and the vibe fits. We're almost regulars at Blue Parrot and the Pier Cafe (both walking distance). I'm still interviewing, got another offer but it too was without benefits (I think a colege degree in IT and 20 years experience merits some health insurance). Got a DL and transferred one car - no more expensive than Georgia was.

(To the guys from Ireland: if you're IT, and you know .net, you won't have any problem finding a spot. If you're J2EE guys, better make sure you have one lined up before you get here).

The rumors about CA aren't true - it isn't hugely expensive to live here unless you buy a house. If you're like us and insist on walking to the beach, rent's a bit higher and the place a bit smaller, but you get what you pay for - living at the beach kicks ass. Gas is a little more, entertainment a lot less (restaurants astonishingly cheap here), groceries, clothes, electronics about the same as far as we can tell.

One thing anyone moving here does need to know, that no one will tell you, is that you must master parallel parking. I don't mean just be able to do it, I mean know the length of your car to the nearest inch, be able to judge the size of a space within 2 inches, and then wedge your car into a spot 5 inches longer than the car itself. If you can't do this, you'll be late everywhere you go and burn up an extra tank of gas a week.

Anyway, SD rocks, really glad we came. We've been over to gaslamp a couple times and up and down Newport partying, went up to LJ cove to watch sea lions and watched some dolphins and pelicans take out a school of wahoo at the end of the block where we live.

Dude, this is like, so totally bitchin'.

[MovingAloha]

Originally Posted by Aging Hippie

Thanks AJ. We've actually met a lot of really great people for only having been here 2 weeks.

We moved into OB, since we're aging hippies and the vibe fits. We're almost regulars at Blue Parrot and the Pier Cafe (both walking distance). I'm still interviewing, got another offer but it too was without benefits (I think a colege degree in IT and 20 years experience merits some health insurance). Got a DL and transferred one car - no more expensive than Georgia was.

(To the guys from Ireland: if you're IT, and you know .net, you won't have any problem finding a spot. If you're J2EE guys, better make sure you have one lined up before you get here).

The rumors about CA aren't true - it isn't hugely expensive to live here unless you buy a house. If you're like us and insist on walking to the beach, rent's a bit higher and the place a bit smaller, but you get what you pay for - living at the beach kicks ass. Gas is a little more, entertainment a lot less (restaurants astonishingly cheap here), groceries, clothes, electronics about the same as far as we can tell.

One thing anyone moving here does need to know, that no one will tell you, is that you must master parallel parking. I don't mean just be able to do it, I mean know the length of your car to the nearest inch, be able to judge the size of a space within 2 inches, and then wedge your car into a spot 5 inches longer than the car itself. If you can't do this, you'll be late everywhere you go and burn up an extra tank of gas a week.

Anyway, SD rocks, really glad we came. We've been over to gaslamp a couple times and up and down Newport partying, went up to LJ cove to watch sea lions and watched some dolphins and pelicans take out a school of wahoo at the end of the block where we live.

Dude, this is like, so totally bitchin'.

I love your post - it uplifted my day!!

[Ragnar]

Thanks for the parallel parking reminder, AH! That's something we haven't heard much about, but it's a great skill to have mastered before moving to a populated area like San Diego that thrives on the car as the primary means of transport.