Transpants from the Northeast? (San Diego, Temecula: transplants, houses, job market)

[MCP46]

I'm looking for impressions, opinions, and general thoughts from those who may have relocated to San Diego from the Northeast. I'm in the Western New York area and considering a relocation to San Diego with our 2 young children (my wife is originally from San Diego). Thanks in advance.

[shmoov_groovzsd]

Originally Posted by MCP46

I'm looking for impressions, opinions, and general thoughts from those who may have relocated to San Diego from the Northeast. I'm in the Western New York area and considering a relocation to San Diego with our 2 young children (my wife is originally from San Diego). Thanks in advance.

MCP,
Someone just posted this recently. Check it out.

There are plenty of others that have posted on this topic as well if you do a quick search on the forums

//www.city-data.com/forum/san-d...ants-here.html

[sdurbanite]

If it makes you feel any better, much of San Diego County's domestic migration comes from the Northeast. Great interactive map below:

Just click on SD County to see where you are all coming from
American Migration [Interactive Map] - Forbes

[lisabconnor]

I grew up in Western NY although haven't lived there in 20 years. Some close family members still live in the area though and I've been back several times. Here are some similarities/difference between the two from my perspective and beyond the more obvious ones like climate.

Similarities
- Appreciation of the outdoors. In addition to the ocean and coastal environments there is some truly spectacular hiking and camping areas surrounding the San Diego region.
- You can still enjoy winter sports in the mountain communities.
- People are warm and friendly. <--- I know some people would argue with me on this point, but this has been my experience. Having lived in more than a dozen communities (metro and rural) throughout the US I think San Diegans and western NYers are some of the friendliest and most genuine people I've ever met.
- Cute little mountain towns or off the beaten path towns that you can accidentally stumble upon when driving through the countryside.
- Live and let live culture.

Differences
- Also, live and let live culture. What counts as "acceptable" is a whole lot more radical than what I've traditionally seen in Western NY. For example, the guy I saw stopped at a traffic light playing his trumpet in his car only garnered a few raised eyebrows here in San Diego, but would have probably caused a traffic accident in Western NY.
- Food is different (and in my imho much better!) The focus on farm to table and fresh ingredients is so much more prevalent and less traditional than the fare in W-NY. For example, my dad just forwarded me an article written in the local paper on weird and wacky food combinations. I've eaten half of the items mentioned on the list at local restaurants - many of which aren't really all that weird for here. He calls it hippy food, but it's really delicious once you get a better handle on what counts as normal here.
- Hunting. I don't hunt and never have, but I recall schools getting off on the first day of hunting season and it being a common activity among many people. You won't find that here in my experience. I think there are places to hunt in some of the outlying forests??

Hope this helps. Like I said, it's been a long time since I've lived in the area.

[sfosyd]

I think the big issue will be cost. Many transplants from the Northeast are used to houses costing 600k plus: Boston, DC, NYC, even Philly. From what I know of Western New York, besides the taxes, the costs are more Midwestern and these people tend to have a harder time adjusting to life in So Cal (for good reason). The job market is a whole other story but if you go into it expecting to make what you make in Western New York you will be fine. Do not expect NYC/DC/Boston salaries.

Good luck.

[loveautumn]

I moved 36 years ago...Western NY and SD are really nothing alike, IMO.

Weather - obviously completely different - you might miss "winter" around the holidays but other than that the weather here is probably the best in the country
Salaries - generally higher in SD (depends on what you do for a living)
Jobs - not that much blue collar in SD, quite highly educated population, still tight job market/competitive
Housing - alot higher in SD
Traffic - worse in SD
Culture - SD is much more "open", Western NY tends to be quite parochial, IMO. People from all over the world live here.
Sports - more major league sports but Western NY has very loyal fan base (not so much here)
Better looking people, into health, appearance, materialistic - SD
City - alive and growing, Western NY cities are dead and losing population
Food - way better in California
Hunting - ??? don't tell anybody here that you hunt
Sense of humor - completely different - Western NY much more "sarcastic" humor; here "make nice"
Ocean - speaks for itself
Family oriented - Western NY revolves around family, SoCal can or not, depending on ones situation...there are alot of single/divorced, etc. people here., more than you would see there. I would say generally education here is worse.
Taxes - both states have very high taxes
Shopping/restaurants - SD way better, just about anything you want you can find here

Obviously I don't know your particular situation but these are my observations after living here a long time and watching SD grow into a huge city. Despite all the pluses, I don't think if I had small children, this is where I would want to live, especially since the state is in such a financial mess, but then again NYS isn't much better.

[MCP46]

Thank you to all for your responses. It's interesting to see hunting mentioned - but no, I'm not a hunter. Although I have heard of some rural districts farther from us that do indeed have accomodations made for opening day.

All in all, the feedback supports my thinking. I agree wtih sfosyd, in that cost is one of the largest considerations on the whole, housing in particular, which comes as no big surprise. But I think that given the current economy and housing market, now would be an ideal time to buy in terms of a house. From a state financial perspective though, I think CA and NY are in fairly simlar shape (bad) in terms of financial stability and taxes on the whole, but that's my take. From my research on property taxes, as a percentage of market value, CA's are lower than in NY. Of course on an aggregate basis, you're making up that tax variance with the cost of housing in and of itself.

Loveautumn - I'm curious about your thoughts regarding education. We have 2 young boys, my oldest in PreK. We're extremely cognizant of school districts and their performance, and if possible, would likely go the private route, although private elementary schools in SD are double the cost of a comparable private school in WNY. Do you have any specific issues or more insight into the education topic? Thanks!

[RoadTripGurl]

loveautumn I definitely echo your sentiments! I'm from the DC area and I've been in SoCal almost 2 years now. I live in Temecula but work in San Diego and I can tell you the culture is very different it all depends on what you NEED in life. I think people from the east coast are very straight forward whereas people here "save face" alot. I see it in the females friends I meet to the guys I try to date. You either love or hate being single here, I apparently cannot find any interesting or serious men to date. I once had a guy tell me I didn't have enough ab definition! Which goes into my next issue is I think (and it's just my opinion) that some folks here can be a little vain. Back in DC everybody was very motivated professionally, you can have all kinds of deep conversations with a perfect stranger where I find that kind of stimulation lacking here. I love the sun but it is expensive here. And the state is in a financial mess. I see it because I have kids and I see how many budget cuts and furlough days the kids have, and Temecula USD has some of the best schools in the Inland Empire, not to mention the 2nd safest city in the US. In San Diego, it's really hard to raise kids in a safe neighborhood or anywhere in SoCal with a good education on a fixed budget. But honestly, now that I am here it's hard to think about going back east. I love the outdoor lifestyle, I've tried things I never would have tried like camping, hiking, mud runs, etc. I just wish I could meet more people and make friends that have my same interest that aren't so flaky.

[loveautumn]

If you do a search on this forum under "education" or "schools", there are probably hundreds of posts on this subject. I know Poway is well known for its education, but I'm not up to speed on schools for young kids. But there are alot of people who post here that are. I think it takes alot of parental involvement no matter where you live these days. But you sound like a parent who would be very involved.

[scrubjaydana]

Originally Posted by sdurbanite

If it makes you feel any better, much of San Diego County's domestic migration comes from the Northeast. Great interactive map below:

Just click on SD County to see where you are all coming from
American Migration [Interactive Map] - Forbes

Very interesting link, I'm bookmarking it, thanks for sharing.