Second thoughts.. (San Diego, Pittsburg: apartment, violent crime, townhouse)

[Sealtite]

Originally Posted by mover79

How many of you have traded the idea of home ownership with renting just to live in San Diego? Is it worth it? For $1500-$1600 a month you can afford a decent townhouse/single family home in the midwest.

Yeah, I'm kinda in the same boat as you. I just moved here from Pittsburgh. I love it here, but I've got an established small business back in PA that I wanna continue to grow. The only problem is that I hate it back home, and it was time for a change. My parents own a second home in FL, are are planning to retire there sometime in the next decade. The tentative plan is for me to buy their house in PA from them when they do. I could never afford a home that size in this part of the country unless I was a millionaire several times over. In the interim, I've got a partner that's gonna be running the business for me on a limited basis back in PA, mainly to keep my repeat clientele. I'm starting the same type of business here as well. Everything's up in the air right now...who knows where I'll have taken it here within 10 years?

Damn I love it here.....but as a long-term thing? Nah, I don't see myself retiring here or anything. Even if I could afford it, and even as much as I love it here.....this place just seems to lack something that I had back in PA. I can't put my finger on exactly what it is though.

[MovingAloha]

Originally Posted by Sealtite

Yeah, I'm kinda in the same boat as you. I just moved here from Pittsburgh. I love it here, but I've got an established small business back in PA that I wanna continue to grow. The only problem is that I hate it back home, and it was time for a change. My parents own a second home in FL, are are planning to retire there sometime in the next decade. The tentative plan is for me to buy their house in PA from them when they do. I could never afford a home that size in this part of the country unless I was a millionaire several times over. In the interim, I've got a partner that's gonna be running the business for me on a limited basis back in PA, mainly to keep my repeat clientele. I'm starting the same type of business here as well. Everything's up in the air right now...who knows where I'll have taken it here within 10 years?

Damn I love it here.....but as a long-term thing? Nah, I don't see myself retiring here or anything. Even if I could afford it, and even as much as I love it here.....this place just seems to lack something that I had back in PA. I can't put my finger on exactly what it is though.

You miss family, friends and familiarity; that's usually the thing that gets folks who move great distances from their homes.

[mover79]

Originally Posted by MovingAloha

You miss family, friends and familiarity; that's usually the thing that gets folks who move great distances from their homes.

i think that's what it is..what you can't put your finger on.

[eastcoastbias]

"this place just seems to lack something that I had back in PA. I can't put my finger on exactly what it is though."

I have a similar feeling- for me its sense of community. I'm not from Pittsbugh, but I grew up in the Rust Belt. I think people are generally more willing to develop lasting relationships with people in those areas. I've always thought business is more cutthroat here without consequences. On a personal level, with all the in and out here its difficult to know people. I do think native San Diegans make an attempt.

As for the often debated big home in the midwest/south or rural East vs. Small San Diego Townhome- with prices being equal. What do you Value...Space? Activities outside of your home? Peace and Quiet? Having people around you? Not having a neighbor in site? You pay indirectly in rent or mortgage payments for the beach, sunshine, and all the fun things we have around San Diego- it is a built in cost.

[tonyinsd]

Originally Posted by eastcoastbias

You pay indirectly in rent or mortgage payments for the beach, sunshine, and all the fun things we have around San Diego- it is a built in cost.

It's called the sun tax. Or as my boss joked with me, don't you know we pay you in sun dollars?

She said that on a day when it was about 65 and sunny in January. Back in DC, it was probably 40.

While she was joking around, there is some truth to this. One of the reasons why people come here despite the high unemployment rate versus and high cost of living is because it's nice to live here. Nothing against, say, North Dakota, which has a low unemployment rate, but it's North Dakota.

[AADAD]

"manipulative nut jobs..."

perfect.

[thepinksquid]

Originally Posted by AADAD

"manipulative nut jobs..."

hehehe... being over 2,000 miles away, I observe all of the crazy from afar.

[Sealtite]

Originally Posted by MovingAloha

You miss family, friends and familiarity; that's usually the thing that gets folks who move great distances from their homes.

My family is scattered around the country mostly, and I don't associate with the few who lived close to me back east. Most of my friends back there have turned into drug addicts, alcoholics, or both....so I've had very little contact with them in recent years.

It's funny.....as each day passes I start feeling more and more at home here. This place is really starting to grow on me in a big way. Six months from now I very well may never wanna go back. I have to go back to PA in the early spring for at least a couple of weeks....I'm really starting to dread that trip.

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by eastcoastbias

I have a similar feeling- for me its sense of community. I'm not from Pittsbugh, but I grew up in the Rust Belt. I think people are generally more willing to develop lasting relationships with people in those areas. I've always thought business is more cutthroat here without consequences. On a personal level, with all the in and out here its difficult to know people. I do think native San Diegans make an attempt.

I gotta say that there are plenty of areas that have a strong sense of community, but you have to know where to find them.

For instance, my neighborhood was established in the the 1920's and the sense of community here is incredible. I'm talking kids with lemonade stands on the sidewalks, neighborhood parades, holiday lighting competitions, etc. And I know that similar events happen in other areas like Ocean Beach, Coronado, Mission Hills, South Park, Hillcrest, among many others.

I'm not saying it's like this everywhere, but it does exist here.

[Sealtite]

Originally Posted by sdurbanite

I gotta say that there are plenty of areas that have a strong sense of community, but you have to know where to find them.

I've got to agree with you. I wound up doing a guy's driveway a few weeks ago....don't even remember what town it was in, but it was close to the city. Anyway, it was the last job of the day and I wound up sitting on his porch drinking beer and shooting the breeze with him for about an hour.

For a second there, it felt like I was totally in some rural town somewhere back in Pennsylvania. Same exact vibe. Then I looked up at one of the palms in the yard, and realized I was sitting outside in November and not chilled to the bone.