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Old 03-21-2010, 05:13 PM
 
42 posts, read 89,797 times
Reputation: 121

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I've lived in MA for my entire life. As others in my area have already stated, I'm tired of the rain, snow, cold, flooding and constant overcast. I'm also bored of the city and need a change.

I'm a single working professional in my late 20's. I work in IT and I make around six figures. I also have about 100k in available savings and own no property at this time. I assumed I could easily move to SD and afford it. It looks like I assumed wrong. The housing prices seem even more ridiculous than in Boston, with little to no job market to support it. It doesn't even seem like you could purchase a semi-decent condo for under 250k. How the heck do San Diegans still manage to afford their wonderful city? Everyone must be a millionaire or in an incredible amount of debt.

In Boston, it seems like people with my skillset are in high demand. In SD, it seems like the demand is fairly low and the pay isn't exactly enticing. I guess there's a cost that comes with the weather.

So tell me the good and bad things about San Diego. Also, where do you think I should live? I'd like to live in a safe area that also has the conveniences of daily life. Is renting as bad as buying right now?

Lay it on me San Diegans. Feel free to smack me back into reality. Don't worry, I'm from Boston, I have a thick skin.
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Old 03-21-2010, 06:18 PM
 
Location: New York City/San Diego, CA
686 posts, read 1,134,485 times
Reputation: 1107
The job market for IT is exponentially better in Boston.

Can you find a job with a Mass or Bay area tech firm that will let you work remotely? I've done that with a number of firms in the last 15 years and it has worked out well. I find San Diego extremely easy for air travel, much more so than Boston. I've met many people who don't even consider looking for an IT job in San Diego due to the low rates and lack of opportunity and have to say I feel the same.

San Diego is a great place, but you have to have all your ducks lined up before moving here. Los Angeles is an alternative that offers more IT opportunity.
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Old 03-21-2010, 06:56 PM
 
Location: Tijuana Exurbs
4,530 posts, read 12,364,256 times
Reputation: 6273
Renting in San Diego is and has always been substantially cheaper than buying - at least over the short term.

As for where you should live, we need far more information than what you have given us.

Housing budget?

Neighborhood:
Quiet and slow, or bustling and fast?
Walkable or Auto-centric?
Housing - old and charming or new and sterile?
Nightlife - walkably close, or keep it at a distance?
Beach community - worth the expense, or leave it and the extra cost to other people?

And there are many more variables that could influence where we would even begin to direct you as to where to live.

There are probably four or five dozen different neighborhoods in the City of San Diego along with another 2 dozen towns and places in suburban San Diego county from which to choose.
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Old 03-21-2010, 07:05 PM
 
69 posts, read 225,156 times
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Haha. I live in Boston too and want to move to San Diego.
Well if things don't work out you can always move to Tijuana and work in San Diego.
If only the crime wasn't so bad....it would be nice.
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Old 03-21-2010, 07:21 PM
 
9,523 posts, read 30,406,927 times
Reputation: 6435
Well you've pretty much figured out San Diego, the question is how you are going to make it work. It is quite a bit more expensive here and the job market is definitely weaker. 250k is not going to get you anything nice in an area you'd want to live. Rent for a while, figure out if this is really where you want to be, IT jobs exist but making over 100k is really reserved for only the best - and making 120k+ is going to be nearly impossible. I have a lengthy post coming in the next few days about my latest experience with the San Diego IT job market... so stay tuned.
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Old 03-21-2010, 07:25 PM
 
42 posts, read 89,797 times
Reputation: 121
Quote:
Originally Posted by kettlepot View Post
Renting in San Diego is and has always been substantially cheaper than buying - at least over the short term.

As for where you should live, we need far more information than what you have given us.

Housing budget?

Neighborhood:
Quiet and slow, or bustling and fast?
Walkable or Auto-centric?
Housing - old and charming or new and sterile?
Nightlife - walkably close, or keep it at a distance?
Beach community - worth the expense, or leave it and the extra cost to other people?

And there are many more variables that could influence where we would even begin to direct you as to where to live.

There are probably four or five dozen different neighborhoods in the City of San Diego along with another 2 dozen towns and places in suburban San Diego county from which to choose.
Good points kettlepot.

Neighborhood - not sure on this one yet, but I also don't want a 1.5 hour commute to work.
Housing - New and sterile (800+ sq ft.)
Nightlife - i would like some nightlife, but I don't need it next door.
Beach community - I don't need to be right on the beach. I can go whenever I have time.

I like safe areas. I don't want to have to look over my shoulder if I decide to take a stroll at night.
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Old 03-21-2010, 07:30 PM
 
9,523 posts, read 30,406,927 times
Reputation: 6435
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bamtown View Post
Good points kettlepot.

Neighborhood - not sure on this one yet, but I also don't want a 1.5 hour commute to work.
Housing - New and sterile (800+ sq ft.)
Nightlife - i would like some nightlife, but I don't need it next door.
Beach community - I don't need to be right on the beach. I can go whenever I have time.

I like safe areas. I don't want to have to look over my shoulder if I decide to take a stroll at night.
Carmel Valley or if you want to spend a little bit less money, 4S ranch. If you want to spend a little more, Del Mar. You won't find anything to buy for 250k in these areas but you can rent a 2BR for around 1700-2k/mo.

Odds are you will be working in the Sorrento Mesa / Carmel Valley area anyway. Safe, clean, new, and within 15 minutes from beaches and nightlife.
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Old 03-21-2010, 07:48 PM
 
42 posts, read 89,797 times
Reputation: 121
Wow, you nailed it Sassberto. This is precisely the type of area that I was looking for. These apartments are very nice, thanks for the recommendation. It definitely seems like renting is the way to go in the short term.

Is San Diego different from Boston when it comes to job location? Most of our jobs are in the city, but we probably have an equal amount in the surrounding suburbs. From what I've viewed so far, SD seems a little more spread out?

I've been reading that IT jobs are harder to come by and there's also more competition. Is there any truth to this?
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Old 03-21-2010, 08:10 PM
 
9,523 posts, read 30,406,927 times
Reputation: 6435
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bamtown View Post
Is San Diego different from Boston when it comes to job location? Most of our jobs are in the city, but we probably have an equal amount in the surrounding suburbs. From what I've viewed so far, SD seems a little more spread out?

I've been reading that IT jobs are harder to come by and there's also more competition. Is there any truth to this?
If you search the forums you can read some of my older posts on the topic.

In a nutshell - most of the jobs are in the UTC / Sorrento Mesa / Carmel Valley area with a few in Carlsbad, Kearney Mesa, and Downtown. So fairly spread out but not as much as other jobs might be.

IT jobs being harder to find.. it just depends on what you do. It is a good town for hardcore engineering (think RF, RTOS, devices, embedded) but weak for things like corporate IT... SAP, Oracle, Unix, etc. Very few large corps here and alot of R&D, defense, bio-med devices, etc.

There is a little of everything but not a lot of anything. I've never had a problem getting offers here. Good offers, is another story. In my experience the big problem here is lowballing.... a lot of people (both employers and employees) think 75k is a good senior level salary for an IT pro with years of experience.

Competition, IMO also depends on your niche, my experience in my field (Enterprise Web Apps, .NET, Web Development) has been there are a lot of entry-level candidates but very few experienced devs who are actually really good. Competition can be an issue with some of the larger corps (like Qualcomm) because they source candidates nationally. Local talent pool is not that strong, the best often get siphoned off to LA / OC after a while.

If you can share your specific area in IT, I can give you more detail on what you'd be looking at.

Last edited by NYSD1995; 03-21-2010 at 08:20 PM..
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Old 03-21-2010, 08:27 PM
 
42 posts, read 89,797 times
Reputation: 121
I'd fall under corporate IT. I'm a Sr. Systems Engineer. I build and support *nix, Windows, Networking, Virtualization, SANs, Blades, etc. I've mainly supported corporate infrastructures, but I've also done consulting as well.

Ouch. 75k seems like a poor salary for that area.
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