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Hey guys, I've read a lot of the posts here on the forums and I just wanted to say thanks for all the advice (I've been a lurker)...
So I have graduated from college and I am moving to San Diego. I am trying to get some information that will narrow some of my decisions down, because I believe I have a good idea about the basics......
First and foremost I will be renting an apartment. The salary for my position is ~85k and I will be working in Point Loma. I understand this won't go as far as it would in FL, but I'd like to keep an apartment under $1500 a month for a 1BR (preferably <$1200 or even <$1100). If someone could recommend me something that would fit the following description, or narrow my focus a little I would be very appreciative.....
- I'm not into the party scene and one of the most important things in an apartment would be coming home after 10 hours of work and relaxing if I need to.
- I'm not looking to commute a great deal, but if I can find a great place at a great price I can do a 20-30 min drive. I'm worried about an afternoon commute mostly but I might have that covered (see below), as I will be in to work at 7.
- I really enjoy the outdoors, but a 60* beach doesn't interest me (I like to go in the water not look at it lol) so proximity is not an issue.
- I would like a little space. I know SD is a big city, but I would rather not be in a sardine can if I don't have to. I don't know if this is possible, but I would really like it if I could come home and have a little space.
Another thing I was wondering if someone here could shed some light on is how a particular apartment might complement my hobbies and activities (i.e. proximity to a specific location or residents who share the same interests). My main activities are golf/tennis, martial arts/working out and hiking/camping/birdwatching. My ideal day would be getting to work at 7, leaving at 5 and going to some spots around Point Loma to look at and photograph birds. After that I could go work out or go to a martial arts class (I am looking for a great school that stresses respect and isn't filled with 18 year old kids who watch UFC and try to punch everything that moves). Either that or go work on my golf game after work (I try to keep things sharp as a scratch or lower) and hang with the boys at the range (I would love to use Torrey Pines a lot). I should have quite a few 3 or 4 day weekends and I was hoping to fill that time exploring parts of CA (mountains and National Parks especially, as they are foreign to me lol).
I hope this post isn't too long and boring. And more to the point, I hope there is an area or specific place that pops into someone's mind that I might be perfect at. If anyone needs any more information, or has any tips for me please let me know. I have never been to SD and my employer is bringing me out only a short time before I start. Therefore, I have a limited amount of time to choose a spot and I would love to get very close to making a decision via the interweb.....
Well I have to say you really don't sound for real but.............since you have not been here you will need to spend time getting to know the place. SD is a medium size densely populated city on the US Mexican border. It is not a country club by any stretch of the imagination.
Most of SD is low income areas. Lots of Hispanics, much like Miami. I would say Mission Valley would fit your apartment needs. You will pay 1300 a month, you will have a fair amount of traffic.
You can nature walk along the San Diego River. Don't expect upper middle class paradise. SD is not that. It is a beach and college town, with allot of Hispanics, welfare recipients, terminal hippie casualties, and everything in-between, Homeless, etc, etc.
There are allot of golf courses, check out Del Mar Driving Range. I like the place very laid back, but hanging out with the boys is not the way it rolls. Just a bunch of guys swinging clubs. Torrey Pines is a Public Course. Not a county club, you will need to play scratch or the range marshal will tell you to just move along, lots of good players waiting to play. Some of the best players are flat broke. Like I said not a country club, but if you can keep up you can get in on a foursome.
Allot of College students in SD, allot of surfer and skater kids( real skater kids not the ones that carry skateboards to look like skaters, Tony Hawk grew up in SD county). at the high schools around Point Loma. Check out www.therocksandieogo.org for a church.
SD has a strong (hardcore) surf, skate, and music culture. The young tend to rule in SD, lots of 20 to 30 years olds. If you are looking for preppy town, SD is not that. You might want to visit first, it may not be what you think it is. I would never move anywhere without visiting first. NEVER.
The rest of the county can provide lots of nature activities. As far as that subject goes I would really suggest joining a club or hiring a guide because the county is HUGE. Mountains to the Sea, lots to See.
The only place in Point Loma is the Navy, Nazerene College, and the Sport Fishing Docks. Yes the water is cold here compared to Florida. In fact the ocean here is very different than Florida, we have surf, sometimes to 15 feet. Strong Rip Currents from time to time. The water at depth never gets over 62 degrees.
You are going to be doing a fair amount of driving, Torrey Pines is 20 minutes from Point Loma. If you are getting 85k a year just show up stay in a hotel for 30 days and look around. You got lots of options with that type of income. Your age will be a factor in where you choose to live. If you want a place away from a party then PB and OB are out. IB has allot of Hispanics, Stay in Point Loma. That is what I would do.
Last edited by beachrescue; 03-14-2010 at 04:02 PM..
Hi Steven
In San Diego proper, everything is close together and you will feel like you're cooped up, especially if you're coming from FL. You stated you wanted to live in an apartment building, yet you want to have space? Not gonna happen, unless your idea of space is a shared pool, residents living above or below you and on both sides, and a "covered" parking space (not a garage).
Point Loma, has nice areas and bad areas. Depending on what part you are in, you will hear the constant roar of jets taking off and landing up until 10-11 PM (I think?).
You are coming to the land of Bros and with MMA being as successful as it is, 75% of the martial arts schools are gonna be filled with TapOut Bros. However, there are good martial arts schools depending on what style you choose to pursue (you didn't mention in your post what style you were into).
As far as golf and tennis, besides FL, you're coming to a golf/tennis mecca! There are almost 100, if not more courses in SD. And tennis courts are everywhere.
But $85k for a single guys is good, better than about 80% of the local population.
Hi Steven
In San Diego proper, everything is close together and you will feel like you're cooped up, especially if you're coming from FL. You stated you wanted to live in an apartment building, yet you want to have space? Not gonna happen, unless your idea of space is a shared pool, residents living above or below you and on both sides, and a "covered" parking space (not a garage).
Point Loma, has nice areas and bad areas. Depending on what part you are in, you will hear the constant roar of jets taking off and landing up until 10-11 PM (I think?).
You are coming to the land of Bros and with MMA being as successful as it is, 75% of the martial arts schools are gonna be filled with TapOut Bros. However, there are good martial arts schools depending on what style you choose to pursue (you didn't mention in your post what style you were into).
As far as golf and tennis, besides FL, you're coming to a golf/tennis mecca! There are almost 100, if not more courses in SD. And tennis courts are everywhere.
But $85k for a single guys is good, better than about 80% of the local population.
Thanks for the info. Not sure why the first guy thought I wasn't for real, don't know what that means. Maybe I'm a cyborg like the governor lol.
Thanks for the info about golf and tennis, that is good. I'm sure I will meet plenty of people out there interested in that thing along with me, so I should be able to spend a lot of time doing that.... I understand in an apartment I'm not gonna have a lot of space, and I understand coming to SD is gonna be different than places I've lived in FL, but what I am looking for is information on a relative basis. Surely there are places where traffic isn't as bad, people are not coming and going as much, I'm not jammed up at an intersection of a 6 lane highway...... That is the kinda info I'm looking for.
About the martial arts, I would love to train out there but I had a feeling it would be like you described it. I'm coming from an incredible school where we train HK/TKD and traditional Korean forms, but there aren't the undercurrents inherent to the UFC crowd. It's very traditional, which is what I'm looking for, where everyone is trying to help everyone out and the teacher is phenomenal. I would be open to training just about anything, provided it's under the right circumstances.
I have been looking at staying in Point Loma. The 2 areas I was looking at were Point Loma and Clairemont. I figured Clairemont was closer to the golf courses but longer to work..... Would love to hear some more opinions,
I would have to disagree that "most of SD" is low income and that our surf/skate culture is dominant. It just depends on who you hang out with, if those are your interests or not, and where you live. Yes, some areas are surf/skate, some are very wealthy, some are very rural/cowboy, some just plain suburban middle to upper middle income families. As far as being 20-30 dominant, again if you're that age, that is what you will see, but I see plenty of 40, 50, 60, 70 year old people as well.
There's something for everybody here, so whatever you are looking for in terms of lifestyle, interests, etc. you can find it here. Making 85K right out of college is doing very well so you could live in any of the North County beach areas as well although that would be more of a commute. Alot of people start out living in Mission Valley until they get a lay of the land and know where they actually want to live. I doubt if you will be leaving work at 5 pm every day. The image of being a laid back place is a litle exaggerated in that I know plenty of young professionals who work 60+ hours a week.
The waters here are alot colder than Florida so that might take some getting used to.
Last edited by loveautumn; 03-15-2010 at 12:14 PM..
Reason: add info
Well I have to say you really don't sound for real but.............since you have not been here you will need to spend time getting to know the place. SD is a medium size densely populated city on the US Mexican border. It is not a country club by any stretch of the imagination.
Most of SD is low income areas. Lots of Hispanics, much like Miami. I would say Mission Valley would fit your apartment needs. You will pay 1300 a month, you will have a fair amount of traffic.
You can nature walk along the San Diego River. Don't expect upper middle class paradise. SD is not that. It is a beach and college town, with allot of Hispanics, welfare recipients, terminal hippie casualties, and everything in-between, Homeless, etc, etc.
There are allot of golf courses, check out Del Mar Driving Range. I like the place very laid back, but hanging out with the boys is not the way it rolls. Just a bunch of guys swinging clubs. Torrey Pines is a Public Course. Not a county club, you will need to play scratch or the range marshal will tell you to just move along, lots of good players waiting to play. Some of the best players are flat broke. Like I said not a country club, but if you can keep up you can get in on a foursome.
SD has a strong (hardcore) surf, skate, and music culture. The young tend to rule in SD, lots of 20 to 30 years olds. If you are looking for preppy town, SD is not that. You might want to visit first, it may not be what you think it is. I would never move anywhere without visiting first. NEVER.
The rest of the county can provide lots of nature activities. As far as that subject goes I would really suggest joining a club or hiring a guide because the county is HUGE. Mountains to the Sea, lots to See.
The only place in Point Loma is the Navy, Nazerene College, and the Sport Fishing Docks. Yes the water is cold here compared to Florida. In fact the ocean here is very different than Florida, we have surf, sometimes to 15 feet. Strong Rip Currents from time to time. The water at depth never gets over 62 degrees.
You are going to be doing a fair amount of driving, Torrey Pines is 20 minutes from Point Loma. If you are getting 85k a year just show up stay in a hotel for 30 days and look around. You got lots of options with that type of income. Your age will be a factor in where you choose to live. If you want a place away from a party then PB and OB are out. IB has allot of Hispanics, Stay in Point Loma. That is what I would do.
LOL. Talk about someone that doesn't know San Diego.
I would love to train out there but I had a feeling it would be like you described it. I'm coming from an incredible school where we train HK/TKD and traditional Korean forms
I think there are several ATA schools in SD, that's what I took, but it was about 15 years ago. As far as hapkido, not sure what that scenes like in SD.
I moved from FL to San Diego last May and overall I am about a thousand times happier here for a plethora of reasons. Just the fact that I can be outside and not miserably sweating is wonderful. May I ask what part of FL you are moving from?
You could actually rent a detached older house in parts of San Diego for that much, depending on where you want to live. The central area is more populous, but also easier to get in and out of in terms of traffic than the beach/suburbs. I'd look at South Park, Mission Hills, University Heights, for central areas that have pockets of quiet residential streets, plus relatively easy to get in and out of to all the places you've mentioned you'd like to frequent, but still close enough to everything that it's easy to get day-to-day stuff done (groceries, etc.)
Another plus to living centrally is that you're generally commuting against traffic.
As to the 60* beaches- air temps average ~80 degrees July-Sept, and the water gets into the mid 70s, so don't discount the ocean out of hand for recreation
$85k out of college? What field? I know jobs in CA pay more but one would find a salary like that here in South Florida to be as elusive as The Skunk Ape, at least in the Engineering sector you would be lucky to get that with a BS minimum and 10+ years exp. The only negative compared to here is the nearly 10% in state income tax that will be deducted from that.
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