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I moved to LA from NY and only had one friend there beforehand. Same for moving down here which I did in 2012. Because you work at home, you are going to have to make an effort to meet people. But social media is hugely helpful with this...I met one girl through a mutual FB friend who lives in Pittsburgh. She in turn introduced me to several people, plus I took an art class.
It is always doable to move to a city where you don't know anyone, it just takes more effort than being instantly plugged in like you were on the East Coast. I'd say 99% of my friends are on the East Coast, and I have family in NYC so I go back to visit .
But I LOVE living here. It is a slower pace, it is beautiful weather beautiful scenery and calmer people. The only huge adjustment you will have, aside from meeting friends, is the fact that you will need a car to do just about everything. DC, New York, Boston are all walkable and/or have good public transport. SoCal lags in this arena.
Good luck!
I moved to LA from NY and only had one friend there beforehand. Same for moving down here which I did in 2012. Because you work at home, you are going to have to make an effort to meet people. But social media is hugely helpful with this...I met one girl through a mutual FB friend who lives in Pittsburgh. She in turn introduced me to several people, plus I took an art class.
It is always doable to move to a city where you don't know anyone, it just takes more effort than being instantly plugged in like you were on the East Coast. I'd say 99% of my friends are on the East Coast, and I have family in NYC so I go back to visit .
But I LOVE living here. It is a slower pace, it is beautiful weather beautiful scenery and calmer people. The only huge adjustment you will have, aside from meeting friends, is the fact that you will need a car to do just about everything. DC, New York, Boston are all walkable and/or have good public transport. SoCal lags in this arena.
Good luck!
I just purchased a new car last year, so perhaps I can finally get a little use out of it, when I make the move. For the most part, it remains parked in my apt. complex's garage, because I tend to only need it for grocery shopping and errands.
Sounds like a good plan to me to try out West Coast living. Just don't expect to find NYC or DC out here. If you are looking at Ariva, you might want to check out Civita, which is just a bit further south of there and closer to more interesting neighborhoods. I think pricing is about the same. Both Ariva and Civita are less than 20 mins by car from the nearest beach.
I love DC and wouldn't mind living there for a couple years before coming back to SD. Good luck!
I checked out the link. The apartments look very nice, however, I noticed no prices are listed on the website. More than likely, a basic one bedroom at this complex will run around $2500 ( I plan to call tomorrow to check).
I grew up in NYC and went to school in the NE area too and always felt a connection to the West Coast lifestyle.
Moved out here recently for grad school and have no regrets. I live steps from the beach, but with roommates (it's still pricey!)
Had 0 friends/family when I got here. The first friends I made were my roommates. But my circle now consists of people I meet from my surfing, various bar crawls, and just chatting up ppl working at the restaurants/stores I frequent. I find people here to be really friendly, active, and good looking. But maybe that's cuz I'm always at the beach.
I freelance online so that helps with the rent and buying drinks for girls I hit on.
If you don't live near where you like to party/have fun, it's a good idea to invest in a car/bike/some mode of transportation. It's REALLY spread out. And rush hour traffic is absolutely stupid.
I'm also beginning to see what people here mean when they say Don't move to SD for the career opportunities. There are far better cities for that. SD is a place for people who prioritize their quality of life over earning potential.
Unlike DC, where everybody's practically married to their careers.
I grew up in NYC and went to school in the NE area too and always felt a connection to the West Coast lifestyle.
Moved out here recently for grad school and have no regrets. I live steps from the beach, but with roommates (it's still pricey!)
Had 0 friends/family when I got here. The first friends I made were my roommates. But my circle now consists of people I meet from my surfing, various bar crawls, and just chatting up ppl working at the restaurants/stores I frequent. I find people here to be really friendly, active, and good looking. But maybe that's cuz I'm always at the beach.
I freelance online so that helps with the rent and buying drinks for girls I hit on.
If you don't live near where you like to party/have fun, it's a good idea to invest in a car/bike/some mode of transportation. It's REALLY spread out. And rush hour traffic is absolutely stupid.
I'm also beginning to see what people here mean when they say Don't move to SD for the career opportunities. There are far better cities for that. SD is a place for people who prioritize their quality of life over earning potential.
Unlike DC, where everybody's practically married to their careers.
Just my 2 cents.
Great post, spot on. Absolutely agree it's worth the premium to live near the beach if that's where you will be going out and spending most of your time. Still think DC has worse traffic overall
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
7,410 posts, read 6,553,115 times
Reputation: 6685
What do you do for a living?...are you looking to meet other people in a similar career path?...is that important to you?...what are your social interests?...you will find people much less career oriented (most, not all) here and devoting more time to their social life. I say most, not all. People will also tend to be more guarded than they are in NYC--say what you want about NY'ers but they openly express themselves and you will know where you stand with them at all times--whether you like them or not and whether they like you or not....warning: do not expect people here, in general, to have had the same life experiences as they do in NYC with the exception that they are mellower or laid back. They just don't--they are mellower but have had different (and maybe less) experiences than you have had by virtue of having lived in a huge city. As long as you temper your expectations and want a more chilled lifestyle, then you will be fine...I would liken living in SD closer to the mentality of upstate NY v metro NYC....I, too, am originally from NY (Long Island) with most of my friends (friends, not acquaintances) being from East Coast metro areas.
As a suggestion, you might also consider Santa Monica. Best of luck to you know matter what you decide.
You can tolerate people with little ambition in life (bartenders are a dime a dozen)...
The word dude (as both a pronoun and adjective) comes naturally to you even when speaking to females...
You do not mind living in an area that is a bit slower to catch on to new trends...
You do not mind meeting 53 year old guys that act and speak like a teenager...
Finding people with whom you can engage in intellectual conversations is not important to you...
You do not need a real international airport nearby...
You do not mind being a little bit isolated from other cities except for America's second largest city (which is disliked by many in SD)...
You do not mind having a large developing country to the immediate south of you...
You do not mind having nearly nothing to the immediate east of you...
You like Mexican culture and food (I do, both)...
You do not mind being in a military town...
IF
You are ready to get away from people who all think the world revolves around them...
You are sick of crap weather...
You are sick of the supposed wonders of mass transit (Red line breaking down all the time, etc.) such as stinky or crazy people touching you and frustrated that it takes an hour to go 5 miles if it involves a bus ride...
You are sick of hostility and high crime...
You are sick of being terrified of falling asleep and waking up in Anacostia if you have to take the green line...
IF
You can have an income stream or have connections that will land you a job here and which will pay for your expenses (which are not much cheaper than DC except for food)...
Have saved diligently while in DC...
You are looking for a high quality of life at a very slow pace, then -- THEN -- San Diego is for you.
San Diego is a great place for anyone of any age. It is quite expensive out here but being that you are from NYC and DC I'm sure the costs there are higher or comparable to San Diego's prices. With all the nightlife, college kids, military and tourist attraction sites, I really couldn't think of a better place to be young and single. If you are into the bar-beach scene with people in their early-mid twenties you want to look toward Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach, Mission Beach and Point Loma. If you are looking for close to the beach, a variety of people different ages and plenty of amenities, then you want to look toward Mission Valley, North Park, South Park, and maybe La Jolla (La Jolla is pretty pricey and traffic is crazy jammed through the town). If you are looking for the suburbs, close to amenities, within a 15-20 minute drive to the beach then look toward La Mesa, East Chula Vista (Eastlake, Otay, Sunbow), Bonita, Carmel Mountain, Del Mar, Clairemont and Mira Mesa. If you're looking for the classic beach town where everyone surfs and kicks back all day long then look toward Imperial Beach.
If you have any more specific questions as far as what stores are where, who has chain restaurants vs mom and pop restaurants, etc...post and I'll try to respond.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
7,410 posts, read 6,553,115 times
Reputation: 6685
Fair and balanced. Classic, but pretty accurate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LuvSouthOC
Here I am channeling my Kipling.
IF
You can tolerate people with little ambition in life (bartenders are a dime a dozen)...
The word dude (as both a pronoun and adjective) comes naturally to you even when speaking to females...
You do not mind living in an area that is a bit slower to catch on to new trends...
You do not mind meeting 53 year old guys that act and speak like a teenager...
Finding people with whom you can engage in intellectual conversations is not important to you...
You do not need a real international airport nearby...
You do not mind being a little bit isolated from other cities except for America's second largest city (which is disliked by many in SD)...
You do not mind having a large developing country to the immediate south of you...
You do not mind having nearly nothing to the immediate east of you...
You like Mexican culture and food (I do, both)...
You do not mind being in a military town...
IF
You are ready to get away from people who all think the world revolves around them...
You are sick of crap weather...
You are sick of the supposed wonders of mass transit (Red line breaking down all the time, etc.) such as stinky or crazy people touching you and frustrated that it takes an hour to go 5 miles if it involves a bus ride...
You are sick of hostility and high crime...
You are sick of being terrified of falling asleep and waking up in Anacostia if you have to take the green line...
IF
You can have an income stream or have connections that will land you a job here and which will pay for your expenses (which are not much cheaper than DC except for food)...
Have saved diligently while in DC...
You are looking for a high quality of life at a very slow pace, then -- THEN -- San Diego is for you.
You might also be coming to SD at a very odd time, so who knows about the cities future. The NFL team is probably moving to LA. The biggest and one of only a couple corporations actually headquartered in SD is rumored to be slashing 10 percent of its work force , sending R&D to cheaper locations and maybe even splitting up. And cost cutting companies usually means many jobs leaving California.
The reality is if Qcomm slashes employees and splits or changes drastically , the entire landscape of SD changes. Like it or not , not may companies actually pay well in SD and there are a lot of bad reports and rumors coming from them right now. And it becomes the butterfly effect. You lose the Chargers and the biggest company here cuts thousands of jobs and is looking to cut costs, it won't be pretty.
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