How poor folks in San Diego manage to stay happy in San Diego? (San Bernardino: 2013, insurance)

[Radical347]

Originally Posted by sacite

Gas, coffee, food (grocery stores) are all more expensive in SD compared to northern California in my limited experience. I paid $4 for coffee in most non-Starbucks coffee shops in SD. Gas was $.20-$.30 more than what I am used to paying. It all adds up.
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Where in NorCal? I find SD to be cheaper than the Bay Area for gas and foid, and similar for coffee.

[Huckleberry3911948]

A good definition of hell is when everybody is rich and famous and you are not
No matter how wonderful the weather friend being down and out makes every place hell

[USARMYVET]

Originally Posted by sacite

Gas, coffee, food (grocery stores) are all more expensive in SD compared to northern California in my limited experience. I paid $4 for coffee in most non-Starbucks coffee shops in SD. Gas was $.20-$.30 more than what I am used to paying. It all adds up.

On the flip side though there are hidden little eateries in the areas around the beach where you can eat very cheap, if eating out is your thing. And surprisingly I found coffee in Balboa Park for less than $2. It seems like these are places you'd find once you got to know the area. Then again, you'd have to drive here and there to get to them, which obviously adds up.

All in all I believe poor people can be happier in SD than a middle class person because poor people are use to living with less no matter where they are. A middle class person from say, Ohio more likely to feel as though their standard of living has dropped considerably by moving to SD, or most places in CA for that matter.

sacite, you bring up some good points!

[Pedro2000]

This is really an old thread, but a lot of it depends on expectations. Somebody making $40K in Iowa will probably feel a lot worse in SD making the same amount of money. It won't go as far. They might love the weather, but if they are struggling just to survive and have far less than they did back in Iowa, that'll usually play into somebodies mindset. A big part of SD is the beaches and weather. If you can't enjoy that because you have no car and can't get to the beach and you have to work a few jobs just to pay for rent, the weather just becomes "yeah it looked nice on my way to work."

[i_love_autumn]

Originally Posted by Pedro2000

This is really an old thread, but a lot of it depends on expectations. Somebody making $40K in Iowa will probably feel a lot worse in SD making the same amount of money. It won't go as far. They might love the weather, but if they are struggling just to survive and have far less than they did back in Iowa, that'll usually play into somebodies mindset. A big part of SD is the beaches and weather. If you can't enjoy that because you have no car and can't get to the beach and you have to work a few jobs just to pay for rent, the weather just becomes "yeah it looked nice on my way to work."

I'm not sure I can agree with this,because living in the SUCKY climate of northern OH, since '68[me],believe me, my son and I feel that absolutely 'ANY' sacrifice is worth escaping the pathetic 66 days of annual sun of the Cleveland area,not to mention,the death of industry,lack of attractions and being the worst pro-sports city in the entire nation!

But #1 on our list is the crap weather here!

[sacite]

Originally Posted by USARMYVET

sacite, you bring up some good points!

Thanks for the compliment, I appreciate it!

[sacite]

Originally Posted by Radical347

Where in NorCal? I find SD to be cheaper than the Bay Area for gas and foid, and similar for coffee.

Well, Sacramento. Which is not a destination for most I admit (sure, it's cheaper but you have to live "there" lol), but I love it. SF is probably comparable to San Diego.

I have been hard on San Diego in past posts, but I have to admit one cannot know an area until one lives there. I just really wanted to like it more during my visits, but found myself searching for the "real" San Diego most of the tine. I have noticed that most discussions of SD here and elsewhere tend to focus on Balboa Park, the Zoo, the beach, SeaWorld, the Gaslamp and of course, the weather. Other than the beach, those activities are geared towards tourists. I guess the exception would be the Gaslamp, which would have been perfect for me at age 25; but not age 38.

But getting back to the COL issue, my coworker and SD native recently transferred back down to SD. She warned me that if I do transfer as well, to be prepared for a 30% increase in COL. I have no idea if that is true, but that was her assessment.

[rgb123]

I like Sacramento a lot too. I could live there easily.

The Beach places are not just geared toward tourists. A significant amount of people choose SD to be close to the beaches. If that is not your thing, then its probably not worth it. That is primarily what it has over Sac.

Sac has proximity to Bay and Tahoe areas. (for outdoorsy types) but its not just tourists that want to live by the water (and warmer water). That makes a difference to a number of people.

I live on less here (not because its more expensive than Ventura, where I came from, Ventura actually is). I just chose to spend more on housing here in order to better facilitate working from home, which I do.

So, I have less spending money now than I did there. I'm exponentially happier though. I think this has more to do with my housing situation than the specific place. But I am growing to love this area for what it has to offer (north county).

Ventura was more naturally beautiful though, I made the right move even though I have less to spend. I manage my money better and that is a plus I hardly miss the extra $1000 a month (yes that much).

I have hiking trails behind me, plenty of cafe's to work out of when my home office is to redundant, more young people around (more people in general), warmer water, warmer in general, access to a lot of great paces (downtown, oc and la is still close).

I find I am spending a lot less money in general as I have less to escape particularly in that I chose well in terms of where to live. I am buying gas maybe once every 2 weeks. The trips I do make are short as most things are only 1-3 miles away.

[malcorub16]

Originally Posted by LuvSouthOC

That said, it is interesting that no one mentioned the HEAPS of people in San Diego on disability, food stamps, etc. I suspect there is much less of that in OC. But LA...

Actually, with Medi-Cal (Calfornia Public Health Insurance), the number of recipients in OC, LA and San Bernardino is consistently higher than San Diego. And this is with a larger population in SD versus OC.

26% in San Bernardino is riduculously high given the population.

[oddstray]

People on disability live where they can afford to live. They can afford to live in San Bernardino. They can't afford to live in San Diego. That's why San Bernardino has a high percentage. Not ridiculous - economics.