Moving Advice

[santa's surpriz]

I am toying around with the idea of moving to the LA area. It's crazy- I have never been and have no ambition to be in the movies. I am attracted to the weather and looking for something new. I am currently in the midwest and it just doesn't seem like home. I don't know if LA is necessarily the answer but I cannot stop thinking about it. Summer break is around the corner, my position at work is being eliminated so the timing would be right. I really have no reason to stay here.

I am planning to take a few weeks this summer and staying in a guest house so I can get the feel of what is really like. I am single mom to DD8, but I am not taking her to check it out but she would come with me if we decide to take the plunge.

Any advice/recommendations from locals or other transplants?

 

[sonnyjane]

My advice would be to move to southern California for the weather/ocean/lifestyle, but NOT necessarily Los Angeles if there's not a pressing reason to live in the city. The traffic is not as bad as they make it sound on TV...IT IS WORSE! It's a very, very expensive city and I'm not a big fan of the general vibe. I'm down in San Diego and absolutely love it here, it's still expensive, but a lot more laid back than LA. I recommend you take a few weeks of vacation in SoCal, stopping along the way from San Diego all the way up to Santa Barbara and see if any of those areas "click" with you. I have several friends that live in LA because of their jobs and count down until the weekends so they can leave the city, either coming south to San Diego or going north to Santa Barbara.

 

[limabeanmom2003]

We just returned from a Souther California vacation...a few days in Anaheim and a week the San Diego area. I fell in love with San Diego! I have the itch to move there!! I would definitely check out all of SoCal while you are out there. The LA area seemed way to crowded and busy for me.

I would love some advice from others who live in SoCal about good areas to look at for families interested in relocating.

Good luck with your decision!! Very exciting!!!

 

[sonnyjane]

We just returned from a Souther California vacation...a few days in Anaheim and a week the San Diego area. I fell in love with San Diego! I have the itch to move there!! I would definitely check out all of SoCal while you are out there. The LA area seemed way to crowded and busy for me.

I would love some advice from others who live in SoCal about good areas to look at for families interested in relocating.

Good luck with your decision!! Very exciting!!!

Hey Lima! As I said in my earlier post, I live in San Diego currently and have been here for about 3 years with plans to stay much longer. I completely love everything about it (except maybe gas prices lol). One thing you should know, however, before relocating your family is that the job market here is pretty darn dismal, so I wouldn't make the move unless I had some darn good job leads. It took me 15 months to find a paying job after our relocation. Also, San Diego is really spread out. My husband is in the military, which is why we moved here. At the time, we didn't know where I would be working, so we chose a central location near all the major freeways so that no matter where I worked, the commute would never be more than about 30 minutes. I lucked out and now work 10 minutes from home, but keep commutes in mind when looking for neighborhoods. If you work in downtown San Diego, for example, you wouldn't want to buy a house in Escondido, which can be about 45 minutes away!

 

[StageTek]

I second the advice to look for a job first then find a place to live near by. California has very high unemployment now - about 12%. Ohio and N. Carolina are 9%.

Even “the LA area” is a huge place so it’s difficult to offer any advice. Places like Burbank and Glendale can be nice (and have poor areas), the valley has great areas and poor areas, the beach cities are very expensive.

Same can be said for the Orange County area. It’s too expensive to live near Disneyland for those who work there so most live 20 to 30 minutes away.

I grew up in Santa Barbara - a great place to live and I know how wonderful the San Diego area is - I have family there and visit often - and as sonnyjane mentioned, it’s pretty spread out just like LA is.

 

[santa's surpriz]

Thanks for all the positive replies. I honestly expected to get see advice that I was out of my mind, but every one seems to love SoCa! maybe I am on to something! I started looking for a job and have not had any responses as of yet. But it is very soon into my search. It don't imagine that it will be easy finding a job from here, but I am willing it give it my best shot. I am also looking into internships since I am first year into a masters program. I am HR and seems to be a ton of HR jobs out there. More than anywhere else I looked, I suppose it may be because the large amount of companies there as in comparison to other cities in the US.

If there any thing advice that some one has had job searching remotely, I would greatly appreciate it. Also, posters have mentioned great areas to choose. Any advice on definite areas to avoid?

Thanks again!