Moving to California

there's about 5 cars parked on my street with south carolina tags. welcome to the club

 

Southern California is huge and diverse. If your 21... move to Pacific Beach and start there. That's heaven for a single guy. Rent is cheap, college town, parties/bars/Sunday brunch with bloddy Marys/friends to walk to, usually good surf somewhere, you can't swing a stick without hitting a couple hotties either. Start there, meet a chick, have kids, move to Clairmont, then when you have your second you can move up to North County SD- Shadowridge is a great nieghborhood to raise a family. Retire around the San Clemente area.

 

Cali

I can relate...I just moved here with my GF from Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach NC about 2 months ago. We found a little studio in Cardiff-By-The-Sea 3 blocks up from the beach and so far we love it. The surf is really good, and all the north county beach towns have a really cool vibe, which is what we were looking for. Definatly if you are looking to party PB and Mission Beach are were u would wanna live....it reminds me of a bigger Wrightsville Beach if you have ever been around there. I am still amazed of the quality of waves and consistancy of ridable waves here. There is always a wave somewhere. You can surf everyday no matter what if you choose. I don't care what people say, coming from NC and back east.....the surf here is far better and far more dependable then back there. I love it. It does get croweded....but there are so many different places to surf you can always find a peak. Good luck man and if you get out here shoot me an e-mail, Im always looking for people to surf with...Cheers
Bartman

 

bdm1190, people out here don't surf with you because you say "Cali".


Stop it. Unless your a tourist. Then you can say it. But that means you have to leave.
If you wanna stay...


Smile! California... don't be lazy. Nobody likes lazy people. Say the whole word and pretend you live here.

 

I would Def check out Cardiff, Encinitas, Solana Beach, Leucadia, and Carlsbad. Oceanside is ok, but kinda ghetto. These are all beach towns if that is what you are looking for which I am guessing you are if you wanna be close to surf. As far as jobs, it took me awhile to find something but I eventually got in with a local bank. Not what I wanted to use my degree for but it pays the bills for now. Just sell yourself, letting people know you came cross country and that is how motivated you are and you should find something eventually. Mission and Pacific Beach are cool too and south of San Diego is Imperial Beach which I hear is kinda Ghetto but I have never been there so maybe others on here can help me out. Check out La Jolla too, really cool place and awesome coves and stuff for snorkling. What I really like about it here is how close it is to actual mountains. You can be up in Mt. Laguna in an hour hiking if thats your thing. Hope that helps!

 

ive lived in SD all my life and im in the same place you are. im getting the hell out, headed east.. maybe we can trade houses. :0
Your major problem is gonna be the cost. i mean its a shock coming from cheaper parts of the country and sd is already sorta on the cheaper side. there's tons and tons of people wanting to live here and they all have to compete with locals and fresh outa state college grads who want jobs... and if your a cook, i hope you speak spanish man.. cause there's a whole other country just 15 min south of here that supplies fresh labor at half of what you cost.
don't listen to these guys talking about PB or la jolla or cardiff.. thats where you take your friends or inlaws when they come visit.. its beautiful and all but almost impossible to afford unless your parents are already into real estate there.
for the most part SD is still pretty chill. if you can find a place in a cheaper neighborhood ie: 10 min inland, (there are lots of neighborhoods and enclaves in san diego proper that most hodad tourist transplants never even visit because they're too busy partying and buying **** they cant afford) a decent job and you DONT have tons of debt, its definitely worth the experience. just dont plan on settling here permanently. there's not enough water for the number of people that are already here and we have massive fires that will probably do us in.
but the surf is quite good for california standards there's almost always waves, and lots of regions to explore. localism is an issue at the popular old school spots but there's tons of variety.
my advise is to visit in the winter.. there's no tourist scum, u can see some surf and maybe get a few, and you can actually look around in peace.. its a BIG area. and the regions are really different from one another.
you seem like a pretty down to earth guy so dont get into an area that dosent suit you. (theres a lot of em).
if you make it out or want more advise you can email me. just PLEASE PLEASE dont say cali.
mark@yaggiephoto.com

 

I say give it try, nothing ventured... I just settled into Venice Beach from NYC last month to set up my west coast office, get out of the cold and get my long board game up. I've been working in LA for years so I'm up to speed to the vibe and people --it kind of cool saying "Good Moring" to a total stranger as he/she walks by--I bust my ass working both time zones BUT I paddle out everyday and are getting in the best shape of my life. People in the line up have been very cool and I havent expericend any insane locals as there is enough waves to go aruond. Locals tell me that the "El Nino" will be good for waves this Winter.
The waves are mostly beach breaks but they seem to have more push so even when SI says "knee high" your still able to find decent rides. I'm sure expert level surfers on the west coast hold off for real swells but what I'm saying is that you can get wet everyday of the week if you like.
I would say Venice Beach is affordable enough for a young guy to find a roommate and live somewhat comfortable life--expect rents to be from $1000 for a studio, $1600 for a one bedroom and $2700 for 2 bedroom. You can also find "Cottage" apts for cheap. Have craigslist will travel. VB has an "edge" to it would reccomend staying east of Lincoln Blvd at all costs.
I think I read that you do kitchen prep work; there are plenty of eateries to find work at depending upon what you have to offer.
Good luck

 

Look into Ventura. Its sort of Mid-Cal but its a lot more chill of a place. Don't move to Newport or PB. Encinitas might do, there are some good spots there.

 

Encinitas is the ****tttttttttt. was there this past august...their flatest wave is thigh high as opposed to the east coasts winter time inchers...literally an inch

 

There are a lot of angry socal locals, but I moved to SD from OC MD 8 years ago and never looked back. Surfed everyday since. I visited SD and looked around the coast. I chose to live in OB in city and have never moved out. OB is super loc'd out and there are a ton of heads in the water, but we have like 17 reef breaks that go freaking ballistic all winter. I have been surfing points and reefs for 2 straight months now. And hit the OB beach breaks all summer. I chose OB because its 5 minutes from downtown San Diego. And in a metro area of 3 million, there are a **** load of jobs. I run a restaurant in La Jolla and have been hiring people all year. We have never been busier. So, its all how you look at it. I miss the east coast because of family, but im wet everyday out here all year pretty much. You can hit the beach any time of day when its convinient and surf. You can surf more ideal conditions in the AM, but there are evening glassoffs. Point is, the surf doesn't dictate when and where you can surf like back east. There is litterally always somewhere breaking around here.

So, again, SOOOO many people just foreclosed out here, and all my east coast transplant friends are all long gone and back east, so for once, the past 2 years with the baad economy, the only people moving in here are Military. So, now is a perfect time.

Not that we need another person and all =), but again, im no angry local. There are so many waves out here, if you are bitter and sh**, you are doing something wrong. Wake up earlier, or whatever... there are always spots with a smaller crowd.

Good luck.

PM me if you would like any specific details, I know everyone on here won't want me to tell you about all the "Secret Spots" out here like blacks and swamis =) They hate it when I ruin the secrets of the most surfed stretch of coastline in the country.

 

Dana Point

Check out Dana Point. I'm 16 years old and I'm not intimidated by locals anywhere. My friends' single mom just moved across the street from the parking lot for Strands beach. Judging on from where they moved and what she does for a living, it's affordable and you can roll out of bed and be at Strands and a walk away from Salt Creek (my beach). California is definitely different from the East Coast. I moved here from Jersey. Check out Dana Point, inland from Newport, San Clemente ( Cristobal Street, north of the pier, or even on the other side of the freeway), Santa Margarita, Ladera Ranch, and Laguna Niguel. Please check these out you'll like them. Have a great move!