Movin to SoCal: Advise please!

[doggzj]

Hey guys,

So I'm moving out with my friend to the Socal area. We want to move in before december this year, and we plan on flying out in october to look at places. He's been out there before, but I've never been west of the rockies.

I know there are alot of people on this board that live out there, so I thought this would be a great place to get oppinions.

We are looking for a good location near nightlife, shopping, eating. Hopeful in an area with more our age groop (20 somethings). Tell me your experiences, and basically anything you'd want to know if you were moving out to the area for the first time.

Thanks in advance.

 

[not_big_enuf]

Rage, where you at playa?

 

[dsade]

You might look into Huntington Beach. It should have everything you are looking for, and it is beautiful.

 

[Rage (SoCal)]

Rage, where you at playa?

Here I be!


Alright Doggzj,


You can open up a can of worms on this subject because SoCal is a hyooooge place. Could you please be more specific in EXACTLY what you are looking for.

The thing about this area is that you are always close to party areas but there are somme areas that are more popular than others. One thing you have to deeply consider is the traffic and where you'll be working.

Could you be more speicifc, in how much you have to spend on rent, are you willing to live in a not so nice place in order to live in a very popular area, need to be close to anything, want quiet at night, etc. etc. etc.. There's so many variables as this area is so dynamic.


Personally, I lived in an area that was more hopping with the youngins and what not but that got old failry quickly, even when I was single. You'll soon find out that you'll be traveling around anyway. I just recently moved to an area where the people are TONS AND TONS better, traffic is never a problem, is very close to many restaurants and bars, but doesn't have a great nightlife. It's a very old fashioned neighborhood. This makes for extremely comfortable living.



Just to get some ideas. You have Santa Monica which is close to the beach, a lot of young people, a lot of bad areas, etc. etc. You have Westwood which is nothing but Bruin parties but can be extremely expensive and traffic is a nightmare. You have Pasadena which is actually great. Great nightlife, great restaurants, and actually some great areas to live in (depending on your cash flow), and traffic isn't too bad.

There's other areas like Long beach, Huntington beach, San Diego...there's just sooooo many options.


Good luck brotha.

 

[refrieddreams]

I am escaping from San Diego on Monday!

Good bye Illegal imigrants, traffic, $3.69 a gallon gas, $1000 rent for a damn studio, 45 minute comute to go 14 miles.

Goodluck, and let me know if you want specifice of San Diego, as you can go from a really nice neighborhood to a ghetto real quick.

One mistake I have seen tons of people make...

"Oceanside, yeah that sounds nice. With a name like Oceanside it's gotta be nice"

WRONG!

I am in North San diego county just south of Oceanside and if I had to live in Socal, this is the only place I would want to be.

I will miss, True Mexican food, In-n-Out, and my brother. Thats about it.

 

[Rage (SoCal)]

I am escaping from San Diego on Monday!

Good bye Illegal imigrants, traffic, $3.69 a gallon gas, $1000 rent for a damn studio, 45 minute comute to go 14 miles.

Goodluck, and let me know if you want specifice of San Diego, as you can go from a really nice neighborhood to a ghetto real quick.

One mistake I have seen tons of people make...

"Oceanside, yeah that sounds nice. With a name like Oceanside it's gotta be nice"

WRONG!

I am in North San diego county just south of Oceanside and if I had to live in Socal, this is the only place I would want to be.

I will miss, True Mexican food, In-n-Out, and my brother. Thats about it.

Hmmm....Dana Point and San Clemente are super nice. A couple surrounding areas too. Besides that I'm not too familiar with that area.

 

[refrieddreams]

San clemente, Capo beach, ect are south OC. The only thing that seperates that area from San Diego is Camp Pendelton.

OC is Super nice, yet SUPER expensive.

 

[Rage (SoCal)]

San clemente, Capo beach, ect are south OC. The only thing that seperates that area from San Diego is Camp Pendelton.

OC is Super nice, yet SUPER expensive.

Not necessarily. It all depends on the season you're moving in, if you're renting, what you're looking for etc.

 

[yeahright]

Here I be!
One thing you have to deeply consider is the traffic and where you'll be working.

LMAO....just a couple weeks ago I sat in a traffic jam on I-5 from Anaheim until north of Dodger Stadium. It took me 2.5 hours. Freakin breaklights past the horizon.

 

[JBlaze]

LMAO....just a couple weeks ago I sat in a traffic jam on I-5 from Anaheim until north of Dodger Stadium. It took me 2.5 hours. Freakin breaklights past the horizon.

You A*SHOLE! You were out here and didn't even tell me. We could have hung out!

Doggz-I'm all over So Cal....I'm currently renting 2 apartments, One in La Jolla (San Diego) for med school, and one in Long Beach with my girlfriend. I just moved from Santa Barbara in July after finishing my undergrad and my parents live in Beverly Hills. As rage mentioned, we need more detail on what exactly you need and we can help u out.

 

[BigCasino]

Orange County all the way baby!!

Newport Beach is where it's at

 

[yeahright]

You A*SHOLE! You were out here and didn't even tell me. We could have hung out!

Sorry sparky.....I'm not letting you anywhere near my wife. She thinks I'm hot stuff but I don't think I'd fare too well standing next to you.

 

[Rage (SoCal)]

One of these days we need to get a SoCal meet together.

 

[dsade]

One of these days we need to get a SoCal meet together.

Lake Forest here...I'm down

 

[TINYTOAD]

Unless you're independently wealthy, Southern California is no place for guys just starting out.

I left there 10 years ago... I felt hopeless.. I was stuck in a crummy apartment, and all my money went into housing, insurance, and car repairs.

For what I paid for an apartment in Torrance, I have a house in Phoenix. No, the weather is not as nice in the summer, but my standard of living is a lot higher.

Compared to San Diego, the wages in Phoenix are on par. The cost of housing was less than 1/2 that of San Diego when I moved here.

So, Southern California (San Diego, Aneheim, Los Angeles) is an area where the wages do not justify the cost of living, so you'd be much better off someplace else, unless of course, you like being artificially impoverished.

Statisticaly, people from California are moving to Arizona, if they're younger, and Nevada, if they're older.

So, if you like the relatively low wagers, high taxes, and high housing prices, and if you decide to stay... take some courses in Spanish. You'll need it.

-TT

 

[x_muscle]

I live in Irvine, and go to school in long beach.

Orange county is good and safe area, but realy dam expensive.

 

[CEDeoudes59]

I am escaping from San Diego on Monday!

San Diego = no good?

 

[JBlaze]

I live in Irvine, and go to school in long beach.

Orange county is good and safe area, but realy dam expensive.

CSULB?

 

[doggzj]

More Specifics!

Was gone yesterday, sorry for the delay on the reply. I think there is a lot of quality opinions here. I'll try to answer Rage's questions, which pretty much cover the guantlet.

We are looking for a popular area, with a good young crowd, and hopefully lots of nightlife. We want to live in a nice place, but much favor areas focused around activity as to quiet living. We both live in quiet areas right now, and we want to get out and at least experience that type of living for 6-12 months.

We both are professional poker players, and in general we work from home. I'm sure there will be more frequent trips to Vegas, but that's not a real concern to our living location.

Rent isn't really an option. We are trying to set a limit at $3000/mo, but if we found a place we absolutely loved, I'm sure $5000+ wouldn't be out of the price range.

Neither of us are exactly 'beach' people, but living near chicago, it's really hard to tell. We both have never lived near the ocean, so I honestly couldn't tell you if this is something we'd like or not. On the plus-side, even living near the beach we don't exactly have to go there if we find we don't enjoy it much.

I think I hit all the points here, so maybe that will help ya out abit.

Thanks

 

[EESCHMan]

Unless you're independently wealthy, Southern California is no place for guys just starting out.

I left there 10 years ago... I felt hopeless.. I was stuck in a crummy apartment, and all my money went into housing, insurance, and car repairs.

For what I paid for an apartment in Torrance, I have a house in Phoenix. No, the weather is not as nice in the summer, but my standard of living is a lot higher.

Compared to San Diego, the wages in Phoenix are on par. The cost of housing was less than 1/2 that of San Diego when I moved here.

So, Southern California (San Diego, Aneheim, Los Angeles) is an area where the wages do not justify the cost of living, so you'd be much better off someplace else, unless of course, you like being artificially impoverished.

Statisticaly, people from California are moving to Arizona, if they're younger, and Nevada, if they're older.

So, if you like the relatively low wagers, high taxes, and high housing prices, and if you decide to stay... take some courses in Spanish. You'll need it.

Boy is this true!
I love CA, but you need to be a millionaire to live there.
I went to school in the valley, lived in San Diego and moved east...Ended up moving back to San Diego with my (now) wife, and then up to Laguna Beach to work in Irvine.
Orange County (Irvine/Aliso Viejo/Newport Beach) are really nice areas (and really clean) but you obviously pay for that. A nice house in SoCal (with no yard) will run you about $600k (anywhere that isn't 50 miles inland), so start saving all that cash...
Back in 2002, we paid $1400 for a 2BR Apartment. Granted it was 3 miles from Laguna Beach, but traffic/people were so bad in the summer, that you could never find anywhere to park.
I love San Diego, and if I hit the lottery I'd by a beach house in Pacific Beach.
Since your budget for rent is $3000, you'll be fine...get used to horrendous traffic, and lot's o' people.
Everything is double, if not more, than anywhere else (except for the NE).
I now live near Chattanooga, TN now and make (take home) more money here than I did there, and I can actually afford a sweet house. I still have most of my friends in San Diego, so luckily I can visit whenever I want...
Ah, San Diego...

 

[Yagman]

No question, you need Newport Beach, fun fun fun. By the way, if you love Poker, Hawaiin Gardens is only 23 minutes away. The best Poker in the area and tons of fun.

 

[doggzj]

Rage, where you at?

 

[Kam]

hey i might be going out to torrence for a job for at leat a year, and doggz my friend is a pro and i'm a semi, we were thinking of startin a poker house out in cali, mail me at [email protected] if you wanta talk about it. And my friend has won a couple larger multi k tourneys I'm more a live player he is more of a 4 table 2/4 player, but we both have nice resumes and haven't put a dollar in.

Ok and getting back to the thread, yeah i might be going out to torrence for work for toyota (hopefully) transport taken care of obviously and i'll be gettin a bike to split traffic and shorten commute. looking for a place where I can walk a couple blocks to the spot but also wouldn't mind some sleep during the week.

Need to be somewhat close to the beach and a good gym, then clubs and bars is next in priority, any suggestions would be sweet. I can't be getting any insanely overpriced place, I'm pretty tough and have lived in some bad spots, but don't need everyone to be gangsta.

thanks,

kam

 

[beefjerky]

You A*SHOLE! You were out here and didn't even tell me. We could have hung out!

Doggz-I'm all over So Cal....I'm currently renting 2 apartments, One in La Jolla (San Diego) for med school, and one in Long Beach with my girlfriend. I just moved from Santa Barbara in July after finishing my undergrad and my parents live in Beverly Hills. As rage mentioned, we need more detail on what exactly you need and we can help u out.

Call me crazy, but I'm gonna guess you don't work out at Rimac...

 

[Rage (SoCal)]

Rage, where you at?

I'm here. I'll have to answer this tomorrow.

 

[doggzj]

hey i might be going out to torrence for a job for at leat a year, and doggz my friend is a pro and i'm a semi, we were thinking of startin a poker house out in cali, mail me at [email protected] if you wanta talk about it. And my friend has won a couple larger multi k tourneys I'm more a live player he is more of a 4 table 2/4 player, but we both have nice resumes and haven't put a dollar in.

Ok and getting back to the thread, yeah i might be going out to torrence for work for toyota (hopefully) transport taken care of obviously and i'll be gettin a bike to split traffic and shorten commute. looking for a place where I can walk a couple blocks to the spot but also wouldn't mind some sleep during the week.

Need to be somewhat close to the beach and a good gym, then clubs and bars is next in priority, any suggestions would be sweet. I can't be getting any insanely overpriced place, I'm pretty tough and have lived in some bad spots, but don't need everyone to be gangsta.

thanks,

kam

Thanks, but I have a roomate who's coming out with me.

 

[Rage (SoCal)]

Was gone yesterday, sorry for the delay on the reply. I think there is a lot of quality opinions here. I'll try to answer Rage's questions, which pretty much cover the guantlet.

We are looking for a popular area, with a good young crowd, and hopefully lots of nightlife. We want to live in a nice place, but much favor areas focused around activity as to quiet living. We both live in quiet areas right now, and we want to get out and at least experience that type of living for 6-12 months.

We both are professional poker players, and in general we work from home. I'm sure there will be more frequent trips to Vegas, but that's not a real concern to our living location.

Rent isn't really an option. We are trying to set a limit at $3000/mo, but if we found a place we absolutely loved, I'm sure $5000+ wouldn't be out of the price range.

Neither of us are exactly 'beach' people, but living near chicago, it's really hard to tell. We both have never lived near the ocean, so I honestly couldn't tell you if this is something we'd like or not. On the plus-side, even living near the beach we don't exactly have to go there if we find we don't enjoy it much.

I think I hit all the points here, so maybe that will help ya out abit.

Thanks

Sorry for the delay.

Well from the sounds of it, you probably don't want to be living near the beach. San Diego is a really hoping area but I'm not all familiar with it. Personally, I would not like to live in San Diego for more than one reason.

A couple options would be to move around Hollywood, Sunset, those areas. You can find places that are 20 minutes away in very nice areas away from all the crazyness. I think when it comes to night life, you really can't beat Sunset Blvd and the rest of Hollywood. It's pretty damn insane, the hottest women, celebreties, high rollers, etc. Definetely a crazy life style. I've partied in Hollywood a few times an dits been quite the experience.


Here's the deal, with that kind of rent/payment you can find a pretty nice place in Los Angeles. I'm not really sure what you're looking to do, if you're planning on buying a house here, etc.

The thing about Los Angeles is that there is usually a way to avoid the traffic, you're 30 mins from the beach most of the time, you're 30 minutes from the Mountains if you like to board, the nightlife is pretty crazy, more women than you can handle, etc. etc. There are a lot of downsides living here but that's just life.

I'm very partial to the Los Angeles county as I've lived in it my whole life. The job opportunities are endless and I'm sure the number of poker players in LA is astronomical.

I don't know if I'm being any help here but look at those areas.

 

[x_muscle]

CSULB?

yep

Go Beach

 

[doggzj]

Sorry for the delay.

Well from the sounds of it, you probably don't want to be living near the beach. San Diego is a really hoping area but I'm not all familiar with it. Personally, I would not like to live in San Diego for more than one reason.

A couple options would be to move around Hollywood, Sunset, those areas. You can find places that are 20 minutes away in very nice areas away from all the crazyness. I think when it comes to night life, you really can't beat Sunset Blvd and the rest of Hollywood. It's pretty damn insane, the hottest women, celebreties, high rollers, etc. Definetely a crazy life style. I've partied in Hollywood a few times an dits been quite the experience.


Here's the deal, with that kind of rent/payment you can find a pretty nice place in Los Angeles. I'm not really sure what you're looking to do, if you're planning on buying a house here, etc.

The thing about Los Angeles is that there is usually a way to avoid the traffic, you're 30 mins from the beach most of the time, you're 30 minutes from the Mountains if you like to board, the nightlife is pretty crazy, more women than you can handle, etc. etc. There are a lot of downsides living here but that's just life.

I'm very partial to the Los Angeles county as I've lived in it my whole life. The job opportunities are endless and I'm sure the number of poker players in LA is astronomical.

I don't know if I'm being any help here but look at those areas.

We are moving out for 6 months, and I'm not trying to plan anything beyond that. LA county is def our target area.

I really just sounds like one of those things where I'll have to experience it to know what I want. Hopefully I'll have a good story to tell next year.