Newark NJ to San Diego (San Francisco, Vista: insurance, houses, neighborhoods)

[joyfull3]

I am so tired of the East Coast Crazies! I have been doing research on places to relocate myself and elementary aged son to (whom will be joining my next year). I have narrowed my search to San Diego CA, Dallas-Ft.Worth TX and Phoenix AZ. I have been given quite a great deal of information on DFW, moderate info on Phoenix and now I need the goods on San Diego.

These are my major concerns:

*The Ease of Job Opportunities (Corporate, Retail, Insurance fields)
*Temporary Housing
*Family Fun
*Schooling -both public & private
*Purchasing property and land.
*Taxes

[cnkad]

wow, that is a big move. I can help you out on a few of your concerns. Family fun is no problem here. There are tons of things to do all year round pretty much no matter where in the city you live. And im not just talking about the main tourist attractions (zoo, sea world, wild animal park, legoland) Since the weather here is so great, you can do outdoor activities all year round, there are some great places to hike, and the beaches are fun anytime of the year...the museums at Balboa are fun...Quail gardens in Encinitas, and in summer various places offer summer camps. In the winter you can drive up to snow, other times the desert offers dirt biking, camping and off roading if your into that..In short san diego has a lot to do.

Most people agree that the two best public school districts are poway and san dieguito.


Affordable land that is BUILDable is in short supply. It used to be that you could buy a piece of land and build a home, or have one built and it would be way cheaper than buying. Sadly thats not really the case anymore. With the price of land so high the cost of contractors these days I am not sure it is even worth it. We wanted to buy some land a couple years ago...we had a 250000 dollar budget and there was literally nothing. Probably better off to buy a home that is a bit under market value because it is a fixer. But even those are pretty high. To give you an idea...my parents bought a home in Vista about a year and a half ago for 630. It is on almost three acers. But it was a dump. They literally had to re-build the whole thing. And that was a great deal!

taxes. Taxes vary by individual city...but generally speaking they are about 1.5% of the purchase value of your home...which is Never re-assesed. (cant spell!)

Phoenix, by the way is not easy on the eyes if you know what i mean...lol

[joyfull3]

Originally Posted by cnkad

wow, that is a big move. I can help you out on a few of your concerns. Family fun is no problem here. There are tons of things to do all year round pretty much no matter where in the city you live. And im not just talking about the main tourist attractions (zoo, sea world, wild animal park, legoland) Since the weather here is so great, you can do outdoor activities all year round, there are some great places to hike, and the beaches are fun anytime of the year...the museums at Balboa are fun...Quail gardens in Encinitas, and in summer various places offer summer camps. In the winter you can drive up to snow, other times the desert offers dirt biking, camping and off roading if your into that..In short san diego has a lot to do.

Most people agree that the two best public school districts are poway and san dieguito.

Affordable land that is BUILDable is in short supply. It used to be that you could buy a piece of land and build a home, or have one built and it would be way cheaper than buying. Sadly thats not really the case anymore. With the price of land so high the cost of contractors these days I am not sure it is even worth it. We wanted to buy some land a couple years ago...we had a 250000 dollar budget and there was literally nothing. Probably better off to buy a home that is a bit under market value because it is a fixer. But even those are pretty high. To give you an idea...my parents bought a home in Vista about a year and a half ago for 630. It is on almost three acers. But it was a dump. They literally had to re-build the whole thing. And that was a great deal!

taxes. Taxes vary by individual city...but generally speaking they are about 1.5% of the purchase value of your home...which is Never re-assesed. (cant spell!)

Phoenix, by the way is not easy on the eyes if you know what i mean...lol

I've read some really disturbing thing on other threads in regards to SD about the wildness that goes on. Any thoughts.

[cnkad]

Wildness huh. hmmm...well I guess if you are living in like PB (pacific beach) and immersed in the collage scene things could get wild...But honestly ive lived here pretty much my whole life and ive never encountered any problems in any of the areas ive lived in. (and ive lived all over SD.) So I cant really help you out there.

[joyfull3]

Originally Posted by cnkad

Wildness huh. hmmm...well I guess if you are living in like PB (pacific beach) and immersed in the collage scene things could get wild...But honestly ive lived here pretty much my whole life and ive never encountered any problems in any of the areas ive lived in. (and ive lived all over SD.) So I cant really help you out there.

This is the disturbing thread that caught my eye:

[URL="//www.city-data.com/forum/members/funkymonk-102767.html"]FunkyMonk[/url]
Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
74 posts, read 21,714 times
Reputation: 27



San Diego, a hedonistic party city?
Let's take an honest look at what SD is really all about, and what makes this city.

This is a college town, with at least 8 big colleges (not sure exactly how many, including community colleges) it's full of college kids.

This is a military town, full of young soldiers.

This is a border town, a short jump to and from Tijauna, which i've heard many call "The Las Vegas of Mexico". Full of whorehouses and every other vice.

This is a tourist, beach city. People flood here, especially in the summer with one thing in mind, partying and getting wild.

This is a So-Cal city, heavily influenced by LA, Hollywood and that whole scene of shallow glamour and celebrity.

All of these elements make up what SD is, and the culture around here has formed around these things. This vibe around here is all about the party. Sex, drugs and getting drunk. And let me tell you, if you are looking for sex it is VERY easy around here, the people are kinda nasty like that.

So if you want all that (and even if you do, you probobly won't admit it aloud) then this city is great. A nice place for a young person that just wants to go crazy, or someone that's all about clubbing and that whole scene. But if you want a more decent, laid back life with depth and substance, look elsewhere.

I moved here thinking I could live an outdoorsy, artistic, peaceful sort of life with beautiful weather. I was very wrong indeed. Sure, I CAN live this life here, but almost nobody else here is in that mindset and SD is so overdeveloped and sprawled, there's not much nature left to enjoy. And I deal with overcrowding and garbage at just about every natural place I visit. Only small groups of people here are really spiritual and down to Earth, usually people who JUST moved here too and havn't gotten sucked into the party masquerade yet. I've met many kind and innocent folks that turn into disconnected, dangerous party animals here, sometimes even going into the realm of a full-blown addict. This city is full of very bad influences and strong temptations towards the dark side.

Unless of course you are privelaged enough to live in one of the posh neighborhoods here. But most of this city is straight up scummy.

Now where's the cheap drinks at tonight? I'm sure you all know exactly where to go for that....Now gel up that hair, put on your make-up and go spread those STDs......and I say this because San Diego does have an EXTREMELY high STD rate, including HIV, sorry to rain on your parade.

[CrissCT]

I read that earlier post too about San Diego being full of wild partiers. I really don't know what the poster is talking about. It is a very family friendly city, and although most of my insight is from the North County area whenever we have visitors we take them to the "touristy" spots. I was actually pleasantly surprised moving here how down to earth people are.

[cnkad]

lol. Thats funny. I dont know, maybe he was just having a bad day when he wrote that. I mean I guess some of those things are true about some people that live here....but thats true of any big city I would think. Like I said, I have lived here almost my entire life and I love it. Whenever I go out of state or out of city to visit relatives or what not it just makes me appreciate san diego more. But thats just me.

[joyfull3]

I don't know...No one has really disputed the charges made and that scary!

[wally99]

Well...I think San Diego is very tame, especially compared to Newark, NJ!
To address the comments:

"This is a college town, with at least 8 big colleges (not sure exactly how many, including community colleges) it's full of college kids." -- City Data lists at least 20 colleges/Universities, and there are more that it missed. That is a good thing, and does NOT make San Diego a college town. The schools add to our diversity, and our economy.

This is a military town, full of young soldiers. -- I think San Diego was probably more of a military town back in the eighties, and before that. Our population has diversified a lot since then.

This is a border town, a short jump to and from Tijauna, which i've heard many call "The Las Vegas of Mexico". Full of whorehouses and every other vice. -- Don't go to Tijuana if that is a concern. You can always drive right past Tijuana and go to Rosarita and Ensenada (and further South).

This is a tourist, beach city. People flood here, especially in the summer with one thing in mind, partying and getting wild. -- Yes, lots of tourists come here. Good for the economy. Makes it harder to find parking especially in Pacific Beach during the summer. We don't get nearly as many tourists as NYC or San Francisco.

This is a So-Cal city, heavily influenced by LA, Hollywood and that whole scene of shallow glamour and celebrity. -- Maybe a little. I wouldn't say "heavily" though. This is not the East Coast - it's a different vibe here.

[joyfull3]

Originally Posted by wally99

Well...I think San Diego is very tame, especially compared to Newark, NJ!
To address the comments:

"This is a college town, with at least 8 big colleges (not sure exactly how many, including community colleges) it's full of college kids." -- City Data lists at least 20 colleges/Universities, and there are more that it missed. That is a good thing, and does NOT make San Diego a college town. The schools add to our diversity, and our economy.

This is a military town, full of young soldiers. -- I think San Diego was probably more of a military town back in the eighties, and before that. Our population has diversified a lot since then.

This is a border town, a short jump to and from Tijauna, which i've heard many call "The Las Vegas of Mexico". Full of whorehouses and every other vice. -- Don't go to Tijuana if that is a concern. You can always drive right past Tijuana and go to Rosarita and Ensenada (and further South).

This is a tourist, beach city. People flood here, especially in the summer with one thing in mind, partying and getting wild. -- Yes, lots of tourists come here. Good for the economy. Makes it harder to find parking especially in Pacific Beach during the summer. We don't get nearly as many tourists as NYC or San Francisco.

This is a So-Cal city, heavily influenced by LA, Hollywood and that whole scene of shallow glamour and celebrity. -- Maybe a little. I wouldn't say "heavily" though. This is not the East Coast - it's a different vibe here.

Thank you. Finally someone that either can shed some light on the crazy things that have been posted. I know that one must travel to get the real story, however during my first visit I was told some of the same things (stated my FonkyMonk) by law enforcement. Again thank you for your point of view.