Various questions (San Diego, Corona, Vista: apartments, rent, car insurance)

[dosd]

Hi everyone, been reading this site for a while now and finally joined up

I know some of my questions have been vaguely answered before but the majority have not so here goes.

I am a 31 yo single female from Sydney, Australia, but my heritage is Chinese/Taiwanese.

After much investigating I have decided I really want to move to San Diego. I lived in L.A. as a kid but heard that it is way polluted, overpopulated, congested, materialistic etc etc. So I don't want to live there.

Part of my main criteria for choosing where to live is the weather. Now, if any of you have been to Sydney you would know the weather there is fairly nice all year round.

So my first question is
1. How does the weather in SD compare to Sydney's? (from stats I gathered online I am guessing the winters and summers are fairly similar in terms of temperature.. but I could be wrong).

2. I suffer from pretty bad hayfever/allergies and asthma. What is the situation like in SD? Do lots of people get it there? As opposed to say LA, San Fran, Seattle, Miami, or New York? Or any other major city that would be nice to move to...

3. As mentioned I'm of Asian/Chinese background and from what I have read there is a decent population of Asians in SD. What is the racism situation like?

4. Income/money issues aside, if I could choose the 'perfect' area to move to, what would it be? I have been tossing up some considerations.
a) close to downtown.. after having lived in suburbia my entire life and moving to a very densely populated city overseas (can't say which, trying to maintain my anonymity for various reasons) and living in the 'downtown' area I absolutely LOVE it! (apart from the pollution/smog aspect).
b) diverse range of people both in ethnicities and ages and incomes/jobs. This is probably not possible though!
c) close to the beach but not necessarily on it. If I can drive there within 10 mins I'll be happy.
d) now this is ideal but not a necessity. When I first arrive I won't have a car and it'll be some time before I can afford one.. so ideally I'd like to be near a trolley stop which significantly minimises the suburb/area choices.
e) low crime, friendly people

I think that's about it

From what I've read, La Jolla I think I'd love but I probably wouldn't be able to afford it and it's a little bit further out from the downtown as I'd like

Convoy/Balboa/Mira Mesa - Asian community.. maybe doable..

Little Italy - the single person downtown lifestyle, walkable.. restaurants, entertainment, etc

Linda Vista - near Fashion Valley (love shopping ) , Asians

Bird Rock - beautiful, halfway between La Jolla and city

Coronado or Point Loma - close to city but apparently full of old rich people?!

Fashion Valley/Mission Valley - middle class, great shopping, new apartments/condos...

I have no problems living in an area that doesn't have a lot of Asian/ethnic people btw.

5. What is the likelihood of discrimination based on my "Aussie" Australian accent? in terms of going for jobs, getting loans, etc...

Help.. thanks

[sfosyd]

Hi,

I've lived in Sydney before and now live in San Diego after brief stints in New York and Boston.

The weather in San Diego is very different than Sydney. In my opinion, San Diego has much better weather. We don't have the humidity or rain that Sydney has. Of course it is also not as green as Sydney....

Again, I found the winter in Sydney a little difficult, it seemed like there were more cold rainy days than in San Diego, and there was no holiday season to help break it up a bit.

Sydney is very diverse but I think the racism may be a little better in San Diego. Many of my colleagues in Singapore disliked coming to Sydney because they felt the shop keepers, police, passport control etc were a bit racist. I remember hearing people talk about the "abos" and lots of racism against the Lebanese cab drivers there. Of course, there is racism in San Diego too but I think it is less in the open....I am sure your Australian accent or Asian heritage will not be an issue here.

In terms of diversity, San Diego is great and you have LA just two hours away so you can find anything.

However, you pretty much need a car in San Diego as many of the jobs are in far flung locations. Downtown is nice (urban and walkable) but mostly just banking and insurance jobs are there....many of the high tech jobs (my field) are about 20 miles north of downtown that are very difficult to get to by public transportation.

Compared to Sydney, everything will seem incredibly cheap. Sydney was very expensive when I lived there and most be even worse now with the weak US dollar.

I'd recommend you live in downtown or little italy. I'd also recommend Bankers Hill or Hillcrest. These areas are all walkable, urban and safe. Again, coming from Sydney, they will also seem very cheap. The other areas you mention are completely suburban and bland and require a car. I also think Linda Vista may have a high crime rate.

[dosd]

Oh that's great to hear re the weather. I was actually just talking to a friend about Sydney's weather and I was saying that I remember when I was younger it was a lot more consistent. Now it seems to be very inconsistent and both winters and summers are cooler than what it used to be!

Also the cost - that is great to hear too. When I told my friends I wanted to move (back) to the States , they thought I was crazy, saying it would cost a lot more (even though the Aussie dollar is very strong at the moment) but after some investigating (into property only) I realised that renting in SD costs quite a bit less than a similar property in Sydney so that's good too.

Thanks for your thoughts and insight. I would love to hear any more ...

I guess it looks like I will have to get a car then, too.

[Sampaguita]

2. I suffer from pretty bad hayfever/allergies and asthma. What is the situation like in SD? Do lots of people get it there? As opposed to say LA, San Fran, Seattle, Miami, or New York? Or any other major city that would be nice to move to...

I can answer this question based on my own experience with bad hayfever. Having lived in NY and San Antonio (Texas) and suffered TERRIBLE hayfever there, San Diego has been the kindest to my allergies. It's very mild here (for me) compared to NY, SA and other cities (I have a terrible time with hayfever in Phoenix and the Carolinas having spent week-long business trips there; was just miserable with my meds not being at all effective).

I am Filipina and have not experienced any discrimination based on my ethnicity.

As for your accent, I love Aussie accents (well, more on men) and really don't see how that will be a problem but I have an American accent and can't speak to looking for a job with another accent.

Good luck to you!

[dosd]

Thanks for your reply. that's helpful. I am hopeful that it's better than the horrible constant allergies I suffer in Sydney.

I have a few more random questions...

1. Since it looks like I'll have to get a car, how hard is it to get a loan? What is the criteria they are looking for? I have not lived in the States since I was very young so I would not have any record or anything for credit checks. Would they look me up in Australia? using my details there?

2. If I'm looking to pay $700-800/month for a 2 bedroom apt/condo share, and want to get a small cheap reliable car (roughly 3 years old - have no idea of cost, don't care about brand).. how much does a car like that cost? and how much would I need to earn to pay the rent, the car, gas, bills/utilities, food, etc? (not including extras like clothing and entertainment, etc- just for the essentials/basics).

3. How long does it take to drive to the heart of L.A.? a) in good traffic, b) in bad/peak hour traffic

4. Is the traffic in SD the same on weekends, or slightly better than weekdays?

5. Where is the warmest outdoor place to swim at? (ie not too windy, more sheltered if possible).

6. Can you go snorkeling and see fish anywhere?

7. Is there a good variety of international cuisine restaurants other than Little Italy/Gaslamp/downtown area?

8. Where are the areas with newer high-rise buildings?

thanks.

[kettlepot]

1. It would be best if somehow you got your credit history in Australia transferred to the United States. How you would do this, I'm not sure. Perhaps someone at your bank could look into this for you.

2. Plenty of opportunities for 2 bedroom shares for $800 as that would make the rent $1600 for the entire apartment.

Condo $800 or possibly less; Food (at home) $150; food (at work) $120 - people usually get tired of bringing their own food and buy at a sandwich shop; utilities: natural gas/electric/phone/cable TV/Internet $100 - $200, depending on the kind of telephone plan you get. Gasoline for the car depends on the length of the commute. If you drive 15 miles to work, that would be 750 miles per month for work and pleasure. To be conservative let's say you get 25 miles per gallon, that would be 30 gallons per month or $100 for gas/month. Car insurance might be $75/month depending on your driving record, which you should have your Australian insurance company write a letter attesting to. I have only the vaguest idea how much a 3 year old modest sized car would cost. $15k?

3. San Diego to the heart of LA, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. In rush hour, perhaps 4 hours. If there's an accident, 5 hours. If it's rush hour with an accident at the start of a holiday weekend ... you'll give up and go home before you ever get there.

4. Traffic in San Diego is better on the weekends, but the flow and timing is different than during the week.

5. Mission Bay.

6. La Jolla Cove seems to be the best for snorkeling.

7. Plenty of Asian restaurants, particularly Thai and Vietnamese throughout the city. Italian of course is everywhere. A fair number of Middle Eastern/Mediterranean restaurants outside of Downtown.

8. If you mean high-rise office towers, they are mostly Downtown and University Town Center. If you mean high-rise residential, well, San Diego doesn't do too much high-rise residential. For that you would be looking at Downtown and Park West primarily. And by high-rise I'm talking 5 to 10 stories maximum. San Diego still isn't a very high rise city.

And like Sampaquita, I too have found San Diego to be the best place I've lived in regards to Hayfever allergies.