Where should I move to? (and how is SoCal?)

[VTmotoMike08 0]

So, here I sit, looking for jobs and browsing dropzone when that gets boring. In about 7 months, I will graduate college (I'll be 23). My degree is broad enough that I can find a job in any city in the country if I look hard enough, even in this economy. I have enough money to get setup anywhere, and I have no obligations, personal or otherwise, that tie me to a particular area. This is truly an exciting time in my life! My family moved while I was in college, so I have no strong sense of "returning home". There is no company or job that I would follow anywhere, I will pick where I want to live and find a job there.

So where should I move to? Here's your chance to tell me why your city is awesome. The ideal place for me would have:
-Good weather: I want warm temperatures, and will only move somewhere that is cold if there is good winter sports to make up for it.
-Young people: I don't want to move somewhere that is primarily married families and older people, I want to live near people in my mid twenties demographic. An abundance of young women would be nice too.
-Good dropzones nearby: enough said, right? I really want to be a TI when I get 500 jumps.
-Other activities: particularly outdoor activities, I want to have varied interests. Beaches and good nightlife would be nice.
-Affordable cost of living: probably conflicts with everything else above.

So, can anyone who lives in Southern California tell me how living out there is? That seems to be the area that has everything that I want, except affordable cost of living. I had a great time when I visited NYC, but its too cold there in the winter. However, NYC does have a much more favorable ratio of women to men than SoCal. I am open minded to small towns too, but not if they conflict with my requirement for living near young people. I am also considering Denver, and I have family there. Skydiving is very seasonal there, but I think I could get into the winter sports and outdoor activities too.

So how about it, anyone want to give me some info on where you live and why you love it (or hate it)?

[AllisonH 0]

I'm also currently looking for a job (for next summer/fall) and exploring different areas of the country. I don't have quite so many criteria, but good weather, good dropzones nearby, and low to moderate cost of living would be nice. I'm a lot more limited by what positions will be available, but I'm interested in hearing what people like/dislike about where they live.

I currently live in Toledo, and have no desire to stay here. The only thing that's kept me sane so far is my skydiving friends and nonstop flights out of the Detroit airport!

[shermanator 4]

Where I live, if I wanted, I could go surfing in the early morning, go do some jumps, then hit a ski resort in the evening. Where else can you do that?

The cost of living is what will hit you hard. I'm in a 2bdrm apartment for $1350 . Not the best area, that is the lowest end of rent.

CLICK HERE! new blog posted 9/21/08
CSA #720

[skybytch 273]

NorCal.

An abundance of turbine aircraft, a lot of jumpable days each year, a wind tunnel, Tahoe skiing/snowboarding, hiking, fishing, hunting, lakes, San Francisco...

Cost of living is a bit high in The City but it gets better (cheaper) the further inland you go. You can buy a nice house in the Sacramento area for around $200k right now.

[VTmotoMike08 0]

Thanks to those few who responded so far! Please keep it coming. I can look up facts like weather data, crime rates, and demographics on the web but any comments about general quality of living are much appreciated!

[Redline165 0]

Its on the other side of the map, but NC is a nice place. lots of mid 20 year old's. 3 big time schools within 20 minutes of each other. The old people are phasing out, haha. Plenty of jobs around, (RTP and downtown raleigh) good night life in raleigh and durham. traffic isnt horrible, its heavy, but it keeps moving. RDU airport is 10 minutes from anywhere. if you ever decide to settle down schools are good and crime is low.

Weather wise its nice. tolerable heat in the summer, little humid, but not to bad. winters are decent, usually lowest you will see i the day time durring coldest times is upper 30's, but it usually ends up in the mid 40's. rains when it needs too. hurricanes dont usually get far enough in to do damage. Snow is unheard of aside from flurries.

Dropzone wise there of course raeford, (where i jump) a little over an hour south, and then jonesville is i think 1.5 to the west, and there is the new dropzone that is in the works (triangle skydivers) about 15 minutes from north raleigh.

Beach is 2 hours away (wilmington) and mountains are same distance. i snowboard at wintergreen which is around 2.5 hours away and its about as good as it gets for east coast slopes. myrtle beach is a little under 3 hours and is always lots of fun.

Long story short, im from here, ive been elsewhere... i like it in raleigh. plenty to do, lots of people to hang with, lots of shopping (if your into that) great weather, and plenty of college females :D

Feel free to PM me if you have more questions

[SimpleJack 0]

I can only speak for Los Angeles, but I can tell you it's expensive to rent out here. You don't get a lot of value for your dollar.

Expect to pay at least $1,200/month for a mediocre 1-bed in an average part of town.

As far as SoCal, I would say it's a lot more fun to visit than live here. The middle class lives 90 minutes outside of the city. Places like Ventura County, Orange County, Palmdale & Riverside/Inland Empire.

That leaves Los Angeles for the wealthy and poor alike, making it feel a bit like a third world country. If you can't afford to live in the hills or near the beach, you are left with the rest of Los Angeles which is nothing but an overcrowded smog infused concrete death maze.

[billvon 3,008]

>The middle class lives 90 minutes outside of the city. Places like Ventura
>County, Orange County, Palmdale & Riverside/Inland Empire.

Well, that's LA, not Socal.

For twentysomethings, nightlife and women, Pacific Beach in San Diego would be your best bet. Very pricey for the nicer areas but there are cheaper apartments ($1000/mo or so) to be had.

For drop zones and beer, San Carlos or Vista would be a good bet. 45min to Perris/Elsinore, 10min to the beach, good nightlife but an older crowd. Not too hot in the summer, not too cold in the winter. (And it's a world destination for beer lovers, with Vista Brewing, Lost Abbey, Pizza Port, Stone Brewing, Alesmith, Lightning, Firehouse etc etc.)

For women in general, UCSD and SDSU have some good potential.

[squirrel 0]

I live in the high desert, above the LA basin, in Hesperia, CA. Having grown up in silicon valley (Palo Alto, CA) with intelligent people, trees, perfect weather, Santa Cruz 17 miles away, Tahoe 3 hours (years ago, before traffic) I really had a hard time adjusting to the dry, dumbass redneck, mostly treeless, ....desert. I have been to 48 states, and was on my way to move to Florida when I met my wife, and we decided to stay on the West coast. Its been 5+ years and here is my take...

I now like the desert. You can see for miles. There is no real traffic (unless you commute down the hill as we say to LA, Orange county, the Inland Empire, etc.) No one really tells you what to do here, unlike the rich spoiled ass area where I grew up. The air is clean, we dont have smog like LA. We are 45 minutes from Big Bear ski area, 90 minutes (early in the morning from Laguna Beach (scuba), 70 miles from Skydive Perris and Skydive Elsinore. There is a tunnel at Perris. 2 hours from Vegas for great shows, close to LA for great shows too. 3 hours from Kern county, some of the greatest white water in the world. You can dirt bike ride all over here. I fly my ultralight around the entire valley here every weekend, dive bombing off road bikers and quads...they love it. We just purchased a 1600 SF house, with pool, on 2/3 of an acre for 165K. This area is being hit hard in the real estate area, great time to buy. ( this is our 6 house ). with 20K down you can be cash positive in a rental from day one.
So within 2-3 hours you have...skydiving (turbines), skiing, scuba, rafting, and local you have...dirt biking, flying, hiking, and....meth labs.

What I dont like. meth heads everywhere, idiots who think they are bad ass becuase they have a tatted up arm and a lifted 4X4 and have the unique skill of wearing there baseball cap with a big square bill low on their head. No real intelligence to speak of, having a college degree here is rare. (not that a college degree automatically makes you smart) No real well paying jobs. My wife and I are self employed so we do well, but really no "professional" work here...you have to commute down to the hill...50 miles or so. This is a service job area. I am a general contractor and my wife is a realtor.

Does this help?

________________________________
Where is Darwin when you need him?

[VTmotoMike08 0]

Sounds like a decent enough area with plenty of entertainment within reasonable driving distances, but its highly unlikely I could find a job (that I like) out there. I have the other condition that I refuse to live more than 30 minutes from where I work. After seeing my father struggle with a 90- 120+ minute commute for a decade, and seeing how unhappy that made him, I simply will not live that far from where I work.

But thanks for the info

[LisaH 0]

San Fernando Valley! It's great here.

Be yourself!
MooOOooOoo

[Andrewwhyte 1]

Quote

I have the other condition that I refuse to live more than 30 minutes from where I work. After seeing my father struggle with a 90- 120+ minute commute for a decade, and seeing how unhappy that made him, I simply will not live that far from where I work.

Don't lose site of that, it's a keeper.

[stitch 0]

Austin, TX. and Atlanta, GA. are hot areas right now. Phoenix is good if you can stand the heat.

"No cookies for you"- GFD
"I don't think I like the sound of that" ~ MB65
Don't be a "Racer Hater"

[squirrel 0]

Quote

. I have the other condition that I refuse to live more than 30 minutes from where I work. After seeing my father struggle with a 90- 120+ minute commute for a decade, and seeing how unhappy that made him, I simply will not live that far from where I work.

yep, i would rather sit on a corner near my house with a cardboard sign begging for money, than deal with a commute. the average commute from here to down the hill is abut 1 hour.

________________________________
Where is Darwin when you need him?

[guppie01 0]

I live and work in Ventura County... my commute is 40 minutes but I don't mind it so much as half of the commute is through farm land.

I first moved to SoCal in 92 - I've lived in LA, Orange, and Ventura counties. Each have offered good and bad.

In LA, if you're looking for a low cost beach living with plenty of job / fun opportunities within a decent commute - Long Beach is the place! DZ's a lil over an hour away (in good traffic)

Orange County has it all, however the cost of living there is just crazy.

Ventura County offers a much slower relaxed pace, less traffic, less people, beautiful beaches, average temps year round. Plenty of cool activities. Unless you work for Amgen, most of the high paying jobs will require a commute. DZ's about 2 hours drive.

Good luck!
g

"Let's do something romantic this Saturday... how bout we bust out the restraints?"
Raddest Ho this side of Jersey #1 - MISS YOU
OMG, is she okay?

[Andrewwhyte 1]

I would think that living in SoCal, the commute to the DZ is also a serious consideration.

[Misternatural 0]

The Talkingheads have some suggestions about cities
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLy1gdqSLuM

[Amazon 7]

I live near Seattle Washington....

The weather sucks...and even if we can jump all year long ( think lots of hop and pops).. the weather still sucks... It ALWAYS sucks...

So be my guest... move to So Cal....

Be sure to tell them that Californians who move here usually leave soon... they cant handle the lack of light that brings on SAD ( Seasonal Affected Disorder) with severe depression on those who prefer the sun.

You can also inform them that her ein Seattle we do not tan... we rust.





Hopefully this will help many of them... and we can avoid further Californication of Washington...


Thank you

[VTmotoMike08 0]

So anything good to say about the place that you call home???

[guppie01 0]

but..
but..

Amazon, I want to move to the PNW...

g

"Let's do something romantic this Saturday... how bout we bust out the restraints?"
Raddest Ho this side of Jersey #1 - MISS YOU
OMG, is she okay?

[Amazon 7]

We do have lots of micro brewries....... and there is that whole coffee thing.

( gotta do something while its raining.)

All the rain grows lots of trees...and moss and algae.. and mold.. and SLUGS that feed on all the greenery.

We do have really cool mountains... The so called American Alps....There is good skiing and boarding in the winter...

Salmon fishing from the sailboat is good....seafood here is great

Some people love the diving.. LOTS of critters to see and play with....if you do not mind the 50 degree water...

You just have to cope with lousy weather

This is America's version of crappy English weather...


Personally I love it

But I am not the kind of person who gets depressed easily