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Old 12-04-2011, 10:30 AM
 
4 posts, read 12,576 times
Reputation: 10

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My girlfriend and I have been planning a move to Southern California(San Diego area) from Philadelphia. We are planning this move without jobs or a place to live set up. We have a good amount of money saved as a cushion for a month or two of unemployment.

We both have at least 3 years of landlord references in addition to our savings, do you think we would have a problem finding an apartment without jobs? We are willing to take any jobs we can find initially but obviously would need somewhere to live first. We do not expect to live luxuriously, we live quite frugally as it is now. We are looking in the $700-900 range and do not mind having a small studio size either. Our main concern is that we will be dismissed right off the bat for not having jobs.

We need to live near public transportation because we will be sharing a car and plan on looking for work in the city. We are in our mid twenties and prefer a quieter area over an area with bars and partying. Does anyone have any suggestions on areas that are safe and affordable (though we come from Philadelphia so we are used to some level of crime).

Any suggestions for companies hiring college grads in the area? We both have Bachelors degrees in Psychology.
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Old 12-04-2011, 10:39 AM
 
Location: Coastal San Diego
5,024 posts, read 7,545,865 times
Reputation: 4054
Renting without local jobs is always a problem. Landlords like to see where the funds will be coming from for you to pay monthly rent. You may need to pay 6-12 months of rent upfront.

As for Eagles games and local friends, Plum Crazy is your sports bar: Plum Crazy Saloon Pacific Beach

For good Cheese steaks try this place: http://www.alexsbrownbag.com/
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Old 12-04-2011, 11:22 AM
 
Location: La Mesa Aka The Table
9,802 posts, read 11,478,079 times
Reputation: 11880
Bachelors degrees in Psychology.
Unless you guy plan on going into law enforcement it's going to tough to use that degree here.
I think you guys will be fine moving here,but you're going to have to look around for landlords that will take you without a job.
Start checking Craigslist and good luck!
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Old 12-04-2011, 04:36 PM
 
Location: Mission Hills, San Diego
1,471 posts, read 3,333,125 times
Reputation: 623
what field are you in now? Finding a job, and I mean any job, in 1-2 months is not the norm. Go to indeed.com and enter psychology. Not many BS/BA level jobs and you might find they start at 11.00 or 12.00 and hour. Plus they want you to be bilingual to boot.
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Old 12-04-2011, 04:43 PM
 
30,873 posts, read 36,825,967 times
Reputation: 34462
Quote:
Originally Posted by jcw102686 View Post
My girlfriend and I have been planning a move to Southern California(San Diego area) from Philadelphia. We are planning this move without jobs or a place to live set up. We have a good amount of money saved as a cushion for a month or two of unemployment.

We both have at least 3 years of landlord references in addition to our savings, do you think we would have a problem finding an apartment without jobs? We are willing to take any jobs we can find initially but obviously would need somewhere to live first. We do not expect to live luxuriously, we live quite frugally as it is now. We are looking in the $700-900 range and do not mind having a small studio size either. Our main concern is that we will be dismissed right off the bat for not having jobs.

We need to live near public transportation because we will be sharing a car and plan on looking for work in the city. We are in our mid twenties and prefer a quieter area over an area with bars and partying. Does anyone have any suggestions on areas that are safe and affordable (though we come from Philadelphia so we are used to some level of crime).

Any suggestions for companies hiring college grads in the area? We both have Bachelors degrees in Psychology.

What constitutes "a good amount of money saved"? How long could you live on this money if you were paying $900 a month in rent?

Having only one car is also going to make things more difficult as SD is your typical auto-centric American city. Although there may be exceptions, I wouldn't count on it.
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Old 12-05-2011, 01:59 PM
 
4 posts, read 12,576 times
Reputation: 10
We aren't necessarily looking for jobs within the Psychology field. We're mostly looking at companies like Enterprise which require a Bachelors with no specified field. I feel like HR and customer service could also be options with a Psych degree. Neither of us speak Spanish, will this be a major problem for us?

We should have enough money to pay six months up front for a place in our price range. We've found a bunch of places through searching craigslist in La Mesa in that range. How is it there?

We looked online and saw that there seems to be a decent public transportation system set up through the city or is that not true? There is a train that takes you from La Mesa into San Diego, but I don't know how it will be from there.

Maybe we're looking in the wrong area then, would anyone suggest anywhere else in the central to southern coastal areas which may be a better fit for us?
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Old 12-05-2011, 02:31 PM
 
Location: La Mesa Aka The Table
9,802 posts, read 11,478,079 times
Reputation: 11880
Quote:
Originally Posted by jcw102686 View Post
We aren't necessarily looking for jobs within the Psychology field. We're mostly looking at companies like Enterprise which require a Bachelors with no specified field. I feel like HR and customer service could also be options with a Psych degree. Neither of us speak Spanish, will this be a major problem for us?

We should have enough money to pay six months up front for a place in our price range. We've found a bunch of places through searching craigslist in La Mesa in that range. How is it there?

We looked online and saw that there seems to be a decent public transportation system set up through the city or is that not true? There is a train that takes you from La Mesa into San Diego, but I don't know how it will be from there.

Maybe we're looking in the wrong area then, would anyone suggest anywhere else in the central to southern coastal areas which may be a better fit for us?
La Mesa is fine.
Outer parts of la mesa along el cajon blvd can get a little seedy.
No speak Spanish?
No problem!
Customer service jobs are a dime a dozen here so that not going to be problem.
The problem is going to be,your rate of pay for customer service jobs.
It's going to be pretty low till you work your way to the top,which could be 1 or 2 years in this economy.
Can you and your girlfriend live on 10 to $12.00hr for 1 or 2 years barley getting by?
If yes welcome to San Diego!
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Old 12-05-2011, 05:32 PM
 
Location: Lyon, France, Whidbey Island WA
20,831 posts, read 17,022,632 times
Reputation: 11532
Arrive with 10k and you should be fine. Have fun. Take pics.
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Old 12-05-2011, 06:43 PM
 
Location: San Diego, CA
1,665 posts, read 2,968,910 times
Reputation: 827
Quote:
Originally Posted by jcw102686 View Post
We looked online and saw that there seems to be a decent public transportation system set up through the city or is that not true? There is a train that takes you from La Mesa into San Diego, but I don't know how it will be from there.
Once you get downtown there are plenty of options for you. But if you want to enjoy all of the things downtown, why not live here?

There's an Enterprise at 900F Street, and there are apartments right above it. There's nothing wrong with La Mesa, but it just seems so, for lack of a better term, suburban.
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Old 12-06-2011, 09:56 AM
 
Location: SoCal
6,418 posts, read 11,564,358 times
Reputation: 7093
Quote:
Originally Posted by AADAD View Post
Arrive with 10k and you should be fine. Have fun. Take pics.
That 10k sounds like about four months' worth for a frugal couple. I'd be inclined to suggest doubling that. But I'm somewhat risk-averse, and mine is just another opinion.
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