San diego instead of washington?

[bloom]

Originally Posted by bluespanishsky

I Why would I want to move to a seattle suburb with the rain/cold when I could move to a San Diego suburb and have sun?

I'm looking forward to strip malls and doing nothing in a gated community. .

To enjoy more non-east coast temperature extreme, cloudy outdoor time with lower melanoma risk.

[Pedro2000]

Originally Posted by bluespanishsky

I'll tell you why. Sometimes certain things run their course. I'm done with city living. These days you can't walk through Belltown without worrying about getting shot, stabbed, mugged etc. it is getting really bad. Couple that with the constant noise of clubs, cars, police, fire trucks 24/7 etc. I'm ready for some peace and quiet.

For me, it's time for a change. I do not have kids nor do I plan on it, but the idea of living in a safe gated community, one that is away from the city and quiet is very appealing. Add in the bonus of sunshine- count me in. The appeal of SD is that there are plenty of nice master planned communities where the rent is lower than downtown seattle. I can rent a 2 bed 2 bath house in a place like 4s ranch for less than I can here in a suburb like Redmond or Kirkland. The major difference is the suburbs in san diego seem nicer because of the weather. Why would I want to move to a seattle suburb with the rain/cold when I could move to a San Diego suburb and have sun?

I'm looking forward to strip malls and doing nothing in a gated community. The other appeal is it is easy to get to the beach and hang out in those smaller beach communities.

You probably won't be living in a gated community if you rent an apartment. And finding a home anywhere in San Diego to rent won't be cheap. Unless it's in a bad area. 4S ranch is nice, but they've also had gang related issues over the years, so it's not just "safe and sunshine.' And yeah it's easier to get to a beach compared to Seattle considering there really aren't 'beaches' unless you drive a couple hours to the west. But if I didn't live near a beach, I'd hate most of the damn beach towns. Drive into La Jolla or Del Mar or PB some days and it's one of those bang your head on the wall to find parking. It is not fun to find parking in most of the small beach towns in the summer and sometimes on warm days the rest of the year. It's also why a lot of people just don't drive to most of the beach towns after awhile. Or they know they'll pay 10-20 bucks or more to park. Or they have to leave really really early in the morning.

I've driven to La Jolla many times where it took about an hour or more just to get to downtown La Jolla or the La Jolla beach. So you find alternate routes. But a place like Del Mar, it's a pain in the neck when they shut down for a little festival and there really isn't much parking as it is. Encinitas is a little better, but not by much. PB and MB become nightmares in the summer.

If you live close, you can walk or figure ways around that madness. When you live inland, it becomes a mission to live early enough to hit the beaches. I travel out to the Rancho Bernardo, Poway, 4S Ranch and so on areas often for various business meetings. It's not what I would call sand and sunshine gated communities. It's nice enough, but if you aren't in one of the gated communities, you're just living in some plaza like area that pretty much exists everywhere across the US. The weather is a little better, but Temecula and Murrieta are cheaper and nicer compared to 4S Ranch.

[rgb123]

That's actually the main reason I don't want to live in the urban core areas of San Diego. I figure I'd rather be in Downtown Ventura than Downtown San Diego because I don't have to deal with parking and can walk most places I'd want to go on the weekends. I think I'd get extremely frustrated in downtown San Diego (gaslamp, or North Park, or whatever) because I'd want to go the beach areas and would have to figure out how to get there and would end up 'stuck' in the city which doesn't appeal to me as much on a more frequent basis. of course I wouldn't really be stuck, just not wanting to deal with the hassle which would eventually really frustrate me and Id probably be just as happy in Seattle. But, I know myself well enough in this regard from having lived in many different places both urban and suburban and even more rural.

In other words, I'd rather travel to the city than travel to the beach areas or more upscale suburban areas. I'd rather deal with parking at Balboa Park or the few times I'd go downtown for dinner or whatever than deal with it in the beach areas were I'd probably go pretty frequently.

Everyone is different and has to figure that out for themselves where it makes the most sense to be and what their comfort levels are and what they can afford. and of course, if you are a little younger you are probably just more willing to deal with 'less than perfect' and that helps you figure out what you want and like.

not everyone cares about the same things. For some being in a far away suburban community is fine, and there are plenty of uncrowded beaches elsewhere if you are driving anyway.

I personally probably wouldn't move, or stay in San Diego if won't ultimately be able to match the quality of life I've had elsewhere. For me, I think that means avoiding the urban core areas and probably the far out inland areas. I'd probably be most happy in the walkable parts of a beach city and if I cant have that there I can probably have it in other areas of California and will keep looking til I find it.

For me though things have changed recently just in that my indoor environment has become more important which makes the more inland areas more attractive as its just easier to find a nicer place for cheaper. When I start thinking that way I start wondering ...well then why not Nevada with its no income tax? why not go back home? why not...and so on. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and just make a decision and make it work from there.

It's a hard problem but a good problem to have. and everyone just has to figure out what is important to them and be able to deal with the temporary frustrations of moving if that is what they choose to do.

[oddstray]

Originally Posted by Pedro2000

... Drive into La Jolla or Del Mar or PB some days and it's one of those bang your head on the wall to find parking. It is not fun to find parking in most of the small beach towns in the summer and sometimes on warm days the rest of the year....

Depends how far you're willing and able to walk. Other than major holidays (when the beaches would be packed anyway so I wouldn't want to be there) I've never failed to find parking to visit beach towns, but I'm happy to walk a half-mile or so. If I had a young child with me - not so much.

[JohnSoCal]

Originally Posted by Pedro2000

I lived in Seattle for a number of years and really, the rain wasn't all that bad. And I lived there one year where it rained and stormed for like 45 days straight. And it wasn't just little drizzle like rain. That sucked, but for the most part, it's overcast skies and some rain. I honestly would say summers in Miami are far worse when it comes to rain compared to anything in Seattle.

You obviously don't know anything about the weather in Miami FL. I laugh everytime I hear people from Seattle say that about Miami. I lived for 8 years in SE Florida about 40 miles from Miami. I also lived in Seattle in Broadmoor. Statistics don't tell the story about rain. In Miami on a typical summer day, it is bright and sunny until about 2:00-3:00 pm Then the sky turns black and it pours heavily for about half an hour then it is sunny again. An hour later you would not have known it rained. Seattle is just drizzly, dreary, and depressing most of the year and it even rains in the summer.

I not only lived in Seattle, but also lived in Portland, Vancouver Canada, and Victoria Canada and you can have that dismal depressing weather. I will take the weather in California hands down.