Tech industry in San Diego questions

[shmoov_groovzsd]

Originally Posted by Tycho Brahe

Once again, thanks for all the responses.





The above two quotes seem to be conflicting. From the research that I have been gathering, neighborhoods like Hillcrest, North Park, Normal Heights would be ideal for me. I want to move to San Deigo for a better quality of life, and long commutes would not be a good thing.



The point I was trying to make was that Austin has both a tech scene in the northern burbish parts and also downtown. I am well aware that the tech market is nowhere near similar.



Of course I have checked out Silicon Valley! Despite living thousands of miles away, I occasionally would get an email from some west coast company looking to hire. Silicon Valley is the antithesis of what I am looking for. SV is an incredibly expensive suburb with very little entertainment. Nothing but other tech geeks. No thank you. The purpose of my post was to talk about the tech industry and not much of myself, but what I am basically looking for a city with a few jobs in an urban environment (doesn't matter how small). After work, I want to walk to my local bar from my apartment. Don't care if there are only two local bars. I don't want to jump in my car and drive to the Olive Garden.

I'm still doing my homework on San Diego....

I traveled to the heart of Sorrento Valley from Donwtown for a couple of years. There are many different ways to get there.
The commute going to SV was reverse for the most part as most drivers are going into Downtown area on the 5, 94 or 163.
You are looking at an average or 25-35 minutes in the left lane on the 5 or you can take the 163 north to the 805.If the 805 is backed up take the 163 to the 52 west and either catch the 805 or 5.
The 805 is hit or miss until Kearny Mesa. The 163 is empty but you eventually have to get to the 805 or the 5.

Once you start getting close to the 805/5 junction it can get a little hairy. But SV is right there anyway.

[neutrino]

I live in Hillcrest and drive to work in the Sorrento Valley. I commute during off hours, and it usually takes me a little more than 15 minutes to get to and from work -- it helps that I live almost next to the 163, and my office isn't far from the 805 offramp. Traffic is usually light after 9:45am going north and after 6:45 pm going south.

However, southbound traffic from the I5/805 split down to around Governor Drive is pretty bad from about 5:00 to 6:30 in the evening. If you hit the evening rush hour around this time then your drive back can take up to 45 mins or more.

Keep in mind that special events such as Chargers and Padres games, and events in Balboa Park and downtown can cause a good deal of traffic during your evening commutes

[xani]

Originally Posted by Tycho Brahe

Of course I have checked out Silicon Valley! Despite living thousands of miles away, I occasionally would get an email from some west coast company looking to hire. Silicon Valley is the antithesis of what I am looking for. SV is an incredibly expensive suburb with very little entertainment. Nothing but other tech geeks. No thank you. The purpose of my post was to talk about the tech industry and not much of myself, but what I am basically looking for a city with a few jobs in an urban environment (doesn't matter how small). After work, I want to walk to my local bar from my apartment. Don't care if there are only two local bars. I don't want to jump in my car and drive to the Olive Garden.

I'm still doing my homework on San Diego....

If you want to structure your life around your work--you will not live in the area perfect for you. You got to chose a lifestyle and build your life around the place you like (unless you'll be bound by debt). If you got to build your life around some dream tech job--you'll have to move to SV or similar place. I just escaped a two-year stint in SV (wasted two years of my life) and trying to buy something in SoCal, because I couldn't take that boring, square, suffocating place any longer. You're right about SV: snobby place with no entertainment with tech geeks and other yuppies everywhere. I mean I have engineering degree myself, but too much is too much.

[Tycho Brahe]

Originally Posted by xani

If you want to structure your life around your work--you will not live in the area perfect for you.

I agree 100%. Almost everything in life requires some kind of trade off. I realize that I will not be working around the corner from wherever I live, but commutes times must be somewhat reasonable. A 45 minute drive is just too much for me.

[xani]

A lot of people slave in Silicone Valley hoping to pay off that morgage and finally head somewhere warn and nice... some of them only ended up battling foreclosure as economy went down, etc. My take is that we got to try to live in a place that makes us happy every day--as we might not be around tomorrow.

[prismagirl]

I'm curious about a more specific area of the tech industry, design. I'm considering moving from Seattle to the San Diego area in june-ish and am interested in hearing more about the design (tech) community ? I come from an interactive, web design, UX/UI, games background but am flexible.

I've found a few companies I'm interested in but am curious about the area as a whole. I'm not tied to any specific area and the coastline along encinadas and carlsbad is definitely appealing.

I know I would have better job opportunities up here in Seattle but the rain and gloom are getting to me.

I'll have a place to say for mostly free with family for several months and plan on coming down for a few weeks to scout things out. I'm a dedicated person but am looking to work to live, not live to work.

Any advice or ideas would be much appreciated!

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by prismagirl

I'm curious about a more specific area of the tech industry, design. I'm considering moving from Seattle to the San Diego area in june-ish and am interested in hearing more about the design (tech) community ? I come from an interactive, web design, UX/UI, games background but am flexible.

Minor design market with most jobs paying 50k or so. You can find some UX / UI and web dev. Games, not much.