Thinking of leaving SD... (San Diego, Pacifica: transplants, how much, homes)

[Poor&Dreamin']

I absolutely love San Diego and have lived here my whole life. I have traveled all over the country and truthfully, nothing compares. Unfortunately, my husband and I are struggling to survive here and are thinking of relocating. We are currently planning a wedding for this month (after eloping two years ago), and the cost is draining us of all we have. We also don't have jobs. We have looked everywhere--from professional to retail jobs--and have gotten nothing. My husband has an AA in Business Administration with tons of experience, and I am a year or so away from obtaining my BA in English (I want to be a teacher). After this wedding, we will be penniless and without work, with a place to stay until the end of the year.

We need a better life--a new start. We have nothing to our name...except a car and the rest of our belongings. We have nothing to lose!

The question is...where to go? We would like a place that is affordable with plenty of job opportunities. A place that takes care of their teachers, is friendly to businesses, and has a good market for buying and selling homes (we'd like to do that in the future). A place that is clean, green, and visually inspiring, with most days being sunny and bright! If we could hop in the car and drive to the beach (we wouldn't mind a two-hour or less drive), that would be nice. We're open to anything though! Any suggestions?

[Clevelandgal]

Well I hate to say it but the places that seem to be doing ok ecomonically are in areas without the greatest weather or beach access. I have seen things about the Dakotas having very low unemployment, and Des Moines also keeps popping up. I wish I could find some links-you could probably do some googling for job outlook/unemployment lists from Forbes and CNN. Also the midwest is a housing bargain-but there is a reason-decreasing population. You are not going to make money buying and selling anytime soon. The teaching profession is tough now. Most communities are facing layoffs-this is my no means a SD thing. Its not like you need to move to your final destination now. I assume you guys are young and can be flexible. Go where the jobs are-no matter how unappealing (my husband moved to Houston in the 80's because it was one of few places with jobs then) fix your finances, build your resumes.

[Just1Lion]

in my opinion starting over in a new place will leave you in the same exact position. even at a bigger disadvantage since you will be unfamiliar with a new area. i have been broke and jobless. i moved to a new city looking for a change. the only difference was that i was unhappy in a different city. if i were you i would stay in SD and keep looking.

[mlarsen23]

Why would you spend a bunch of money on a wedding when you have no jobs and doing so will use up all your money?

[CAtransplant]

That is weird, I want to move back to CA , especially San Diego, even though there are still plenty of jobs here in stinky, hot , humid, ugly , conservative, redneck, gunloving Houston.
Now, for the sake of your finances, job experience, low cost of living, Texas seems OK if you can put up with my above short description of it. You might not have the green, beachy area you are looking for but at least you have some body of water, regardless of the oil in it, huge bugs everywhere, hellish hot weathter or hurricanes.
Texans seem friendly on the outside (until they get into their 4x4 Texas edition trucks), food is great (forget healthy), and cost of living is reasonable. Oh, and much, much less taxes but then again, that is why it is so ugly and boring here.
Good luck to you, I wish we can trade places.

[MrsJLH]

I just moved to San Diego. Do you have any idea how much it costs to move?? Unless you're selling everything you have and starting over wherever you decide to move, but even then the cost of moving is high. If you both love San Diego, stay here and keep looking as another poster suggested. You will probably be miserable anywhere else. I moved from Chicago and even though my family is all there and I've practically lived there almost all my life, winters were MISERABLE and I hated it. Just saying that you have to be careful not to assume that anything will change just because you move somewhere else.

If you are still set on moving, definitely look for a job FIRST. Don't expect anyone that might hire you to pay for relocation either. Assume that you will probably pay for everything out of your own pocket. It also might help not to put an address down on your resume if you are looking out of state. I know that teaching jobs are hard to find right now, and unfortunately even people with MBA's are having a hard time finding jobs too... but you just have to keep trying.

I'm not exactly sure how the jobs are out there now, but a few years ago we lived in Jacksonville, FL and we LOVED it there. No snow, obviously! But also low cost of living, beautiful beaches, close to other bigger cities like Atlanta, Orlando, Savannah so there was always something to do. It's much more humid than here in SD, but not as humid as the more southern parts of FL. We loved living there and miss it all the time.

[CAtransplant]

Virginia has plenty of jobs and maybe even Virginia Beach since you want milder winters and beach exposure. Atlanta and Charlotte come into mind but you would need to drive 4-5 hours to the beach. Other than than, they have mild climates, low cost of living and friendly people,for the most part.

[loveautumn]

well, in your situation, with no jobs and no money...first of all, why are you having this wedding...cancell it if you can. If you've waited this long, then it doesn't really matter. If your family is pushing for it, then let them pay for it. An AA degree is a tough sell in this economy and teaching profession is tough to get hired anywhere.

I would suggest Dallas/Ft Worth. There are jobs there and the apts are pretty inexpensive, no state taxes. You have to realize that you aren't going to get everything you want...the area isn't "pretty" and there's no beach close by, but in your situation, IMO, you are going to have to give up those things to establish yourself somewhere. And millions of people love that area, so it has to have something going for it. Good luck to you!

[Bakeneko]

We are currently planning a wedding for this month (after eloping two years ago), and the cost is draining us of all we have. We also don't have jobs. We have looked everywhere--from professional to retail jobs--and have gotten nothing. My husband has an AA in Business Administration with tons of experience, and I am a year or so away from obtaining my BA in English (I want to be a teacher). After this wedding, we will be penniless and without work, with a place to stay until the end of the year.

huh? Why would you have a wedding that drains you of what little assets you have and try to move (even if it is to a "cheaper" area).

I know this isn't you question but a wedding two years after the elopment is, IMO, tacky and comes across as a "gift grab".

[worldlyman]

Originally Posted by CAtransplant

That is weird, I want to move back to CA , especially San Diego, even though there are still plenty of jobs here in stinky, hot , humid, ugly , conservative, redneck, gunloving Houston.
Now, for the sake of your finances, job experience, low cost of living, Texas seems OK if you can put up with my above short description of it. You might not have the green, beachy area you are looking for but at least you have some body of water, regardless of the oil in it, huge bugs everywhere, hellish hot weathter or hurricanes.
Texans seem friendly on the outside (until they get into their 4x4 Texas edition trucks), food is great (forget healthy), and cost of living is reasonable. Oh, and much, much less taxes but then again, that is why it is so ugly and boring here.
Good luck to you, I wish we can trade places.

I am neither conservative, redneck, nor gunloving but I actually find life in Houston to be far better than San Diego. The big city amenities, the true international convergence and lesser police intrusion on us motorists blow away San Diego metro.

Houston's has had WAY TOO many transplants to be considered "redneck." Houston is about 30% white now! And Houston has the first gay/lesbian mayor of any big city, Houston has a progressive Pacifica outlet, Houston has Chinese/Vietnamese street signs, Houston has a designated Mahatma Ghandi district (local items that whitebread vanilla San Diego, ahem, doesn't have)...so we really don't need to hear the same old stereotypical "redneck Houston" baloney.

If you hate Houston because it's hot in July and flat (not that there is anything wrong with "flat"), that's the truth. But this "redneck" BS...nah, don't even try and sell that.

If you've ever experienced the TRUE tropics, Houston summer weather is a walk in the park. And Houston's hot weather is only about five months of the year. The rest of the year is varied from nice and cool, with some biting cold here and there. San Diego's weather is only nice if you're fairly close to the water...when you move farther inland, it gets hot.

The humidity here in Houston has been better on my features and my thick black hair. In San Diego, I actually had dry skin issues.

It's not like you can go swimming in those contaminated San Diego beaches per se anyway. There's far more in-town character to Galveston than the bulk of those plastic SoCal beach towns anyway. It may have a brownish beach but it certainly has mystique.

There are actually some of us former SoCal residents that definitely prefer Houston.