What should I know about moving to San Diego?

San Diego is one of the nicest cities in the country. It's a major tourist destination and there are tons of things to do. With 70 miles of beautiful beaches, countless parks and gardens, major league sports, dozens of golf courses, world class museums, Tony Award winning theater, great cuisine, best weather in the country, high tech industry, major universities, and the best zoo in the world, it's my choice as THE place to live and play in the USA.

According to the following cost of living comparison calculator, San Diego is 14% more expensive than Chicago. A $50,000 / year salary in San Diego is equivalent to $57,000 in Chicago.

http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/savings/moving...

The big cost difference is housing and gas prices. People in So Cal are use to spending 30%-35% of our incomes on housing. If you are renting, expect to pay at least $1500-$2000 / month on a nice apartment.

We have some of the highest gas prices in the country so if you have a gas guzzler car, leave it behind.

As far as where to live, here is a quick summary of some of the areas within the city of San Diego.

La Jolla and Scripps Ranch are upscale and wealthy.

The nice middle class areas of town are Pacific Beach, Tierrasanta, Clairemont, University City, and Mira Mesa.

Pacific Beach is a mixture of apartments with college students and young professionals, and single family homes. If you can afford it, it's one of the best places to live in the city. It also has great nightlife.

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/neighborhoods/p...

University City is near La Jolla and UCSD and is mostly upscale professionals.

Clairemont is middle class single family homes and has a lot of military families living there.

Mira Mesa has a large Asian population.

Hillcrest/North Park is the center of the gay community.

Mission Valley is young professionals and almost all condos and apartments. The trolley lines runs right down the middle of the valley and it's an ideal place to live if you commute to downtown or San Diego State.

Ocean Beach is a lot of druggies, hippies, and beach bums.

Mission Beach is the seasonal rental party animal types.

Point Loma is a lot of retired military.

The College Area is near San Diego State on the eastern edge of the city. A few blocks from the school is less than desirable.

Linda Vista is lower middle class and ethnically mixed.

In general, the farther south you go (closer to the border), the lower the property values. IMO you want to live north of I-8 and west of I-15. There are also nice bedroom communities along the I-15 corridor, such as Poway, Rancho Penasquitos and Rancho Bernardo.

The North County Coastal area is one of the best places to live in the county. The beach cities of Del Mar, Encinitas, Solana Beach, Lucadia, Carlsbad, etc. are all great and many people do the daily commute on I-5. Also, The Coaster is the commuter rail service along the coast that takes you right downtown.

Check out these sites for more info

http://www.sandiego.org/nav/Visitors

http://thebestplacesinsandiego.com/

Firstly, the weather is absolutely wonderful (no issues here). There are both bad and good parts of each community in San Diego. Generally you can find a good house in a good community for $600,000. Living expenses depend upon the region of SD you're living in but it's cheaper than L.A. and San Francisco. Really good schools. It's not as urbanized as Chicago so you may have more trouble finding a job (depending on your field of study). SD has a strong biotech and research industry. I don't live in SD now but would move back any second if I could.

i traveled a lot and l am born and raised in San Diego, what i can tell you is that San Diego is a growing city and has a lot of culture and amazing weather it's close to LA but far enough to get away from all the annoying tourist and traffic. If you are an adventure kinda person then san diego is for you since there's a whole lot to learn and experience.

it is wicked expensive in San diego, and the economy is not very strong

get a job lined up before you go

the area is also prone to earthquakes as well