18 yrs old Moving from NYC to San Diego after college?

You need a car to live anywhere in So Cal.

Best colleges for film are not in San Diego, but in L.A. (USC, UCLA).

San Diego colleges are known for business, science, high tech, and law.

To live in California expect to pay $1500-$2000/month for a nice place 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.

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.

Downtown and parts of North Park are hipster.

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, stoners, drunks,and beach bums.

Mission Beach is the seasonal rental party animal types.

Point Loma is a lot of retired military and is directly over the takeoff pattern for the airport. The area bordering Midway Drive is where most of the strip clubs are.

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.

Where to live:

Mission Hills, North Park, Kensington, South Park or right in downtown. These are all very cool places that are great for young people. Keep in mind that the cost of living here is pretty high.

Film Schools:

San Diego City College and Platt College

Car?

Yes. San Diego public transportation stinks.

Other stuff that you need to know

There are a bunch of great places to eat around SD. Make sure you eat at a taco shop. Not Taco Bell or Santana's, I am talking Lucha Libre, Lolita's, Tacos El Gordo, and Roberto's. Lolita's is my favorite.

Go to a Padres game. Their ballpark is awesome.

Have fun while here. This is one of the best cities in the world and it often does not get the credit it deserves.

Enjoy America's Finest City!