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If you're going to be South of I-8, try to stay West of 805. University Heights, North Park are better than East of 805 unless you're in Talmadge or Kensington, which are pretty pricey due to old Spanish homes in demand.
I have lived in both and can tell you that home prices in Texas are cheaper because of the HUGE, OUTRAGEOUS PROPERTY TAXES.. they are insane imo
This is why the price of the homes cannot possible go for as much as anywhere else. In fact if you count the property tax into the equation you end up paying more for a home in texas!!
just my .02
It's not THAT bad.....high property taxes sure.......but there is no state tax out here and in general everything else is cheaper here too. I would never have been able to pay my house off in 14 years (7 left to go) in San Diego like I can here in Texas. So glad I moved ......now San Diego is my favorite vacation spot!! lol
I haven't lived in San Diego for the past fifteen years, but when I lived there, I absolutely LOVED it. San Diego is a fantastic place to live for someone who is young and single and not worried about living in an area with a safe and good school district and making affordable payments on a new home. You might want to make contact with some of your new colleagues in the San Diego office and find out where the young, single people in that office live. If you can afford to live in North County and it isn't too far of a commute for you, then any of the North County beach areas will likely feel like paradise to you, just as they did to me fifteen years ago.
I also came here from the East coast and found the adjustment was enjoyable. My favorite time of year on the East coast was Indian summer in the fall and the weather felt like an even nicer version of Indian summer in San Diego for about six months out of the year. There are two climates in San Diego, wet and dry. Winter and spring are generally wet and summer and fall are generally dry.
I haven't seen anyone write this yet, so I'll warn you now. When I lived in San Diegoo, I almost had my car stolen twice. Thieves tried to put something in the ignitition switch and jammed it. I had to call the AAA and thankfully they removed a *****. After the second time, I began using a steering wheel lock device which must have helped since my car wasn't bothered after that. So, my advice would be to make sure that whereever you rent, you have secure parking available and when you go shopping, use a steering wheel lock device, or another type of security device to deter thieves.
If it wasn't necessary for me to lower my living expenses, San Diego would top my list as my most desirable place to relocate. Within San Diego, if I could afford to live in Del Mar or Solano Beach, those would be my top picks.
How many times do we have to keep going through this...
I currently live in both places, so I'm not pulling numbers out of my **** here.
Example
I paid 1% in property taxes in San Diego and was the only one I knew that had them that low.....many friends paid almost 2% in Mello Roos areas like 4s.
Here in North Central Texas, 2.9% is the highest I've seen.
But since Plano is home to so many people (huge), let's use Plano as the example because it is a place most people with families live when they move here.
Plano property tax is right around 2.5%, and in some places a tad lower.
So let's say I buy a 500k home in both places:
In San Diego, I would get a nice little 3Bdr, maybe 1500 sq ft in an average area. I would pay about 5k a year in property tax.
In Plano, 500k would get me a 4000 sq/ft 5Bdr home on the West side, surrounded by homes costing over a million - best schools in the area to boot. But lets' ignore the fact that one home is 3x the size and in a much nicer area than my example in San Diego.
The home in Plano would cost me 12,500 in property tax.
You must think...see, I told you!!!
But.
You don't pay state tax here in TX.
In CA, you'd pay 9.3% give or take. So let's calculate that.....100k x .093 = $9300.
$9300
$5000
=====
$14,300
So there is a delta of about 2k, not to mention that the home in Plano is dream home material and the home in San Diego is of the 'get you by' variety. To be honest, I'm looking at homes for 350k here and in Frisco that would humble my 620k San Deigo home.
I've also found that salaries (at least in my field) are much better here in TX (even Austin).
Don't get me wrong, I still love San Diego, but your money goes alot further here.
That is insane! If Texas pays better(I always thought CA paid the best) and Texas has no state income taxes, howcome everyone doesnt move to Texas as your life would be so much better there? Youd get three times the house, a much bigger lot, a much better neighboorhood, the best schools and recreation, higher salaries, everything!
In answer to the original question ("Why are so many people complaining about San Diego?"), a lot of us are old timers who lived in California when its population was 12 million people instead of 36 million. We've gradually seen the beautiful parts of our state chipped away by overpopulation and all the things that come with overpopulation (traffic congestion, noise, rudeness, etc.)
In some ways, San Diego has improved in recent years. Downtown was seedy twenty years ago. Now parts of it are still seedy, but parts are very nice. You won't find highrise condos with spectacular city, bay and ocean views for $700,000 in San Francisco and New York. But you will find them here, with good weather as a bonus.
Hillcrest went from neglected to upscale about 10 years ago. It's slipping back to "neglected" again, but some of us are trying to fight that trend.
Americans are used to moving when changes take place that they don't like. But at some point, we're going to have to stand our ground and take on the forces that undermine our quality of life. Because there won't be anymore unspoiled places to move to!
I'm a DC native that moved here a few years ago. Before I moved I used to ask people in DC about San Diego (those that used to live here) and they would always say, "well, the weather is always great". Now that I use that l ine myself, I realize it's because there's nothing else to say.
DC and San Diego vary in their prentiousness. In DC, it's about where you went to school, what job you worked etc. Here's it's more so outward appearance, the car you drive,how you look, etc. Don't expect to be respected for your brains here, and leave all sarcasm at home. People take people very literally here.
I agree with the guy below, the job market sucks. Even with a newly acquired masters degree and law school, it took me 2 years to reach my equivalent salary in DC. Finding the right job was hard, right now I have to say I love my job. For eight hours a day, I am happy.
Much like the guy below, although I am single and young, me and my friends are all in the same boat. Broke. My car insurance doubled just by moving, there's no nifty subway to take you home after a night of drinking, and no one wants to be the DD, so no nights out. And many of my friends have already moved for better jobs.
But I do have to say, the people I know who moved here that tend to be happy, are all older and looking for a slower pace of life. That's the key to success. It's a beautiful city, absolutely. The people are indeed friendly. Be sure you're moving here for the right reasons, and not for more beach time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sdpilot
I grew up in the DC area, and have lived in SD for 6 years, so I have some perspective.
DC sucks and is a hell hole. Moved away as soon as I graduated from college.
Hot muggy summers, freezing wet cold winters, terrible traffic and roads.
As for san diego.... simply beautiful and sunny and dry almost every day.
BUT there is a catch. The water here is really cold, so although the beaches are pretty, I never visit them, but enjoy driving by them. I live near the coast.
So what are people willing to give up to live here for all this great weather and other stuff SD has to offer???
Practically everything. Homes in the nice areas are $300 a square foot or more. Yep, a 2500 square foot home will cost you $750-850K. Hows a $4000 to $5000 mortgage sound???
The amazing thing is, the medium income here is about $60K, so I have no idea how people afford to live here. They are in severe debt up to their eyeballs. The friends I have who can afford a home constantly complain about their huge mortage payment and cant even afford to eat out, its sad.
The traffic is hell. Its expensive. A luxury 2 bedroom apartment (luxury = ok, not a dump) is $2000 a month!!!
Everyone I know is broke. They can barely afford to live here and are under money stress and in debt all the time.
The job market sucks crap. Ive lived in many areas in my life, and ive never lived in a place where so many people constantly move away because they lost a job and could not find another one. In the last 3 years, the financial strains has gotten so bad, more people have moved out of SD than in.
Im a software guy, and I looked in the paper this weekend for jobs. I saw a total of 3 software positions in a city with over 1 million people
If I ever lose my job, I have little doubt I will be forced to move away. Ive had 2 computer friends move away from the very same reason.
You have to sell your soul to live here an enjoy this weather
As I get older, and less active, the outdoorsy things that attract me no longer provide the value they once did. Moving from here to an affordable part of the country would mean giving up some weather, for a nice home, instead of this small apartment, which I could buy for cash or get with a low monthly payment. I can have a yard and get dogs! I can have some privacy and blast my stereo and make noise if I want to. I dont have to sit in terrible traffic. I wont be staying much longer, its just not worth the financial and job stress and the hamster habitral living conditions. I refuse to buy here and be a slave like some of my friends, I cant imagine spending nearly my entire paycheck on a mortage.
That is insane! If Texas pays better(I always thought CA paid the best) and Texas has no state income taxes, howcome everyone doesnt move to Texas as your life would be so much better there? Youd get three times the house, a much bigger lot, a much better neighboorhood, the best schools and recreation, higher salaries, everything!
EVERYWHERE pays better than SD. It's called the suntax. By the way, I'm way bearish on the home prices in SD. Unless you live in a luxury area (ie. La Jolla, Del Mar, Coronado) theres' nothing to keep up the inflated prices of the homes. Remember, not all of San Diego is going to look like La Jolla - it's quite silly even that all of those home prices are so expensive that even a two income local dweller can barely afford time to be with their young kids.
ONLY 10% of San Diegans can actually afford to own. It's worse if you look at the skew. Wait before you buy.
EVERYWHERE pays better than SD. It's called the suntax. By the way, I'm way bearish on the home prices in SD. Unless you live in a luxury area (ie. La Jolla, Del Mar, Coronado) theres' nothing to keep up the inflated prices of the homes. Remember, not all of San Diego is going to look like La Jolla - it's quite silly even that all of those home prices are so expensive that even a two income local dweller can barely afford time to be with their young kids.
ONLY 10% of San Diegans can actually afford to own. It's worse if you look at the skew. Wait before you buy.
I bet Florida pays even less than SD. We also have a "suntax" Its hard to find a job that pays even $15 an hour but that dont matter, you cant get anywhere at $15/hour in Florida and especially CA! I am not supprised house prices are going down, they went down quite a bit here and are far from done. Only 10-15% can afford to own here as well. Even though we have cheaper housing than SD, our jobs pay much less than SD!
I recently moved back to California after a 12 year hiatus in the Pacific NW, Washington state specifically. While the scenery is beautiful in Washington, the weather on the Western side of the state is 9 + months of grey, cold and rain - very depressing. The summers are great, just to darn short! The Eastern side of the state is very dry and sunny but gets brutal cold winters with quite a bit of snow. The weather here is excellent, but salaries are a bit less than in Washington state. Housing and traffic are on par with Seattle and surrounding areas (it took me about 1 and 1/2 hours to get 10 miles home from Seattle) so it hasn't been shocking. On the contrary, housing seems pretty affordable for the West coast. You just have to go where you want to be, enjoy life, soak it all in and live! Have fun with your move and don't worry about "what if's"!
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Moving to SD
