California Dreaming - beginning to plan my move westward, need r3v's input

[cheffy30]

great shot... wish I had an ix sometimes...

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[Bavarian_Propellers]

Live in San Diego in either Northpark or Pacific Beach - plenty of job opportunities around for people with your background!

[Nick_S]

Long Beach

-affordable rent
-good job market
-close to the beach
-close to OC and LA
-MrBurgundy
-younger population


I'm a big outdoors person. In 40 mins, you can be somewhere where you can hike, fish and camp.

You can also hangout with me, and that is the biggest perk.

If you have any other questions about LB, PM me. IMO LB is the best place in SOCAL

I throw a nod for Long Beach. I miss living there. Tons of cool areas there, cheaper beach city, good vibes.

[Stanley Rockafella]

I think OP's been listening to too much Wave

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBHQk6hyIYI

[Wschnitz]

Its definitely worth it if you like doing things, Im not in California, but whenever I go back to wisconsin for classes I get EXTREMELY homesick not being home in washington where I can drive 20mins in any direction and have some fun.

[MR E30 325is]

Lived in Cali (San Diego to be more specific) for a few years.

I now live up in the mountains of AZ.

I personally do not miss CA at all. Not one bit.

My father still lives out there, and I visit him about once a year. After every vacation I am always relieved to be leaving the hustle and bustle of CA.

My situation is probably 100% different than yours, but CA is not for everyone.

[Joe G]

I really appreciate the feedback and suggestions!

We still have quite a while before we get serious, but it certainly helps to hear more about the areas that we are considering and other areas that we previously had not considered from 'locals'.

Keep the tips coming....just the tips.

[MrBurgundy]

Costa Mesa is a cool area too, but commuting to and from there IS a fucking disaster, but then again, commuting in rush hour in SoCal is a fucking disaster in general. There is a good job market out there though, so you can get lucky if you move out there and also find a job in town.

It's close to Newport, Corona Del Mar and Balboa beaches, which are the ritzy OC beaches.

I think South LA county, like Long Beach and San Pedro areas are going to be your best bet.

Have you considered coming out here to scope out some areas before you make any commitments?

[OGM3]

I would suggest looking in the 805.
The population is so much lower, you will spend less time in traffic, good surf, lots of outdoor stuff to do.
With your background I would try and get work at a place like Patagonia.
Good luck with your search.

[Joe G]

Costa Mesa is a cool area too, but commuting to and from there IS a fucking disaster, but then again, commuting in rush hour in SoCal is a fucking disaster in general. There is a good job market out there though, so you can get lucky if you move out there and also find a job in town.

It's close to Newport, Corona Del Mar and Balboa beaches, which are the ritzy OC beaches.

I think South LA county, like Long Beach and San Pedro areas are going to be your best bet.

Have you considered coming out here to scope out some areas before you make any commitments?

Thanks for the tips. For around 2.5 years at my prior job, I spent about 8 weeks a year in the Newport, Manhattan and Pasadena areas - so I think I have a pretty good idea of what we may be getting into.

That said, we will more likely than not do a long weekend at some point in the next few months to tour SoCal and checkout areas to live.

[E30SPDFRK]

I moved out here from Rhode Island almost 5 years ago, and McGyver sums it up perfectly

I do like it here, but I also miss the east coast a lot. I don't think it'll be my forever home, but I'll enjoy it for another couple of years. My biggest problem is the cost of housing here. My GF and I essentially throw away $24k a year in rent, but buying a 1 bedroom in decent spot around here would be $600k+.

I lived in Costa Mesa originally, and it's a pretty nice place with a lot around it. Huntington is around the same price, but slightly more "Beachy". There are tons of places to work here in the southern OC area.

Long Beach and San Diego were both mentioned already, but I agree with both.

[superj]

having grown up in socal, riverside/corona area, and hitting longbeach and Huntington on the weekends, have you ever looked at south texas? I live 1/2 a mile from the beach and have almost 3/4 of an acre of land and paid 50k for it with a 1 bedroom house and a detached two car garage with a full 1 bedroom apartment above. you can even go more south then I am and find better deals and be within walking distance of mexico and the beach.

I live in corpus Christi texas, which reminds me of socal but no traffic. jobs here are probably not at the high pay you are accustomed to but the cost of living is also not high. and you could easily live in Austin, san Antonio, or Houston for the big money jobs (though only Houston is near the ocean). if you go more south, to McAllen, Harlingen, or brownsville texas, there is better paying jobs too but McAllen is about an hour from south padre island.

texas is a growing market with tons of people fleeing socal and coming here. tons of businesses are also. we allow you to carry guns and neighbors watch each others back.


I don't work in your field of business though so I cannot help a lot on that. I work aviation and our industry pays extremely well in this area

[mrsleeve]

No one wants to live in south tx. Or tx at all for that matter hence why the property values are so low compared to the rest of the country.

[supermansocks95]

I hate Texas. I've never lived there, but the landscape and climate absolutely suck. Especially western. The only place in Texas I really like is South Padre, and that's just for vacation purposes. This is coming from a dude living in central Kansas...

[sonomabimmers]

I would take a hard look at the Austin hill country area . It goes along with the things you are looking for, young fun city with a crazy good job market and lots to do(live music capital of the world) never a dull moment. Also the food and beer here are out of this world especially tacos and BBQ.

No ocean but the Colorado river runs through the middle of town which I enjoy more than the beach(grew up in cali). A lot of people are gonna have negative shit to say about Texas, imo those are the people who haven't been here or don't know.

Rent is extremely affordable as well. Only downside to me is the traffic, its gets unbelievable sometimes.

Us news rated it #1 for cities to live in also. https://realestate.usnews.com/places/texas/austin

https://www.movoto.com/blog/opinions/moving-to-austin/

just saying.... from a person who grew up in and loves California.

If you do go to cali though go straight to the Bay Area.

My 2 cents.