Walnut Creek Vs. Santa Barbara (San Diego, Oakland: job market, college, quality of life)

[rwillis88]

I grew up in the bay area, but went to UCSB for college. Loved it there.

I have a job I like in Concord, but keep wondering if I am missing out by not trying to get work and move to SB.

I also wonder do I have those great memories because duh it was college and in IV I could walk to the beach whenever I wanted and it was less stressful that working.

Anyways do you think WC or SB is better? Any other east bay cities I should consider? I know Alameda kinda reminds me of Coronado or even IV a little, but at the same time I don't want a really long commute to work.


SB weather and the beach are a strong pull, but WC / East Bay and BART has access to so much more entertainment.

[Rebelfootball]

I think Im confused or maybe Im not aware that Alameda is such a nice place. Are you comparing Alameda to Coronado across the bridge from Downtown San Diego, one of the nicer, upscale cities in SoCal?

[rwillis88]

I don't know Alameda well, but the short time I was there at the beach and walking around the shops it had that beach town feel to it. But your right it is not nearly as high end.

[Novatoman]

Santa Barbara is better to look at. Few problems with SB, as you probably know, is small job market (in tech), relatively isolated, 2.5-3hours drive to LAX, lots of homeless folks in downtown.

Hard to give an advice here but maybe instead of moving you should visit it more often.

[tanglenet]

My perception of SB is predominately retirees and students who don't work with jobs in the service industry for those that do. Housing is also not affordable and working commuters clog the freeway as they drive up from the Ventura area which makes traffic pretty ugly during rush hours.

[brb going fishing]

Echoing what others have said here. WC is way better than SB. Way more affordable housing, less traffic, and higher QoL.

[sav858]

Odd comparison. Most people I know who went to UCSB moved away after, one stayed and seemed to find a good job and has a good social network. It doesn't really strike me as a place that's good to stay after college.

With that said WC isn't that great for somebody right out of college either unless you grew up in the area and have a lot of friends still in that immediate area. Oakland would be a much more interesting city to live in right out of college imo.

[mstnghu2]

Originally Posted by brb going fishing

Echoing what others have said here. WC is way better than SB. Way more affordable housing, less traffic, and higher QoL.

I'm going to take a guess that you haven't been to Walnut Creek in a very long time. Yes, it's a nice place...but, housing is actually very expensive and traffic is terrible like the rest of the Bay Area. Quality of life is subjective since both cities are nice.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by rwillis88

I grew up in the bay area, but went to UCSB for college. Loved it there.

I have a job I like in Concord, but keep wondering if I am missing out by not trying to get work and move to SB.

I also wonder do I have those great memories because duh it was college and in IV I could walk to the beach whenever I wanted and it was less stressful that working.

Anyways do you think WC or SB is better? Any other east bay cities I should consider? I know Alameda kinda reminds me of Coronado or even IV a little, but at the same time I don't want a really long commute to work.


SB weather and the beach are a strong pull, but WC / East Bay and BART has access to so much more entertainment.

SB is like willingly putting your career on a dead end, unless you are a prof.

If you really want the beach life, go for The Sunset, San Mateo Coastside or slog it out from Santa Cruz. Or ... relo to LA or SD. Where they have a real economy and careers are not dead ends.

[rwillis88]

Thanks for the advice everyone. i think you are right I should just visit SB more often to remember the glory days, but living there full time wouldn't return the same feelings as when I was a college student. East Bay makes more sense for the most part.