So yeah, Im still thinking about moving somewhere on the opposite side of the US. What Im wondering, for those of you on the West Coast or close enough, what different areas are like. Really, the job market itself matters, a college nearby helps (as Id at least be going to school part time still), and having reasonable housing would be a plus So basically, any opinions on where you're living now, areas you know of, anything, just post
California is where it's at....period. If you want fun & sun then move to southern Cal. If you want culture and a "back East" feel then move to San Fran. If you want nature and a slower paced life then move to northern California.
I live in Arizona, Tucson to be exact and it's pretty nice here. We have the University Of Arizona here and the job market is pretty decent. My only complaint is the 110+ degree summers.
Heat doesnt bother me Basically, Im just looking for a major change, take a few chances now, whether they work out or not. I dont want to become stuck like people around me seem to do. And now is just a good time Oh, and thanks for the help so far. Ive considered Arizona, but havent deeply looked into anything specifically. California would be great, but I doubt Id be able to find a decent job to be able to support myself.
i love Seattle and the surrounding areas. Lots of good schools, too. I've lived up here all my life. People come from Oregon, Idaho, and California and never want to go back.
You know, Northern California has a really good underground music scene. But for the most part large areas of San Francisco, Sacramento, etc. just seem really, really, really ghetto to me. Not like there's drugs and gangs and crap everywhere, just everything is like from the 70's, like whole huge areas of these cities have been stuck in some kind of disco time warp for the last 30 years. Don't go to Arizona. Nothing but rocks out there. Plus it's HOT, like 130,000 degrees at two in the morning. Fuck that shit. Los Angeles is a wonderful city to live in... if you can afford it. Forget about buying a place unless you're a millionare. Rent doesn't compare with Manhattan prices, but it's pretty up there - a decent 1 bedroom in the city can still be found for under $1000 a month, if you look your ass off. You will also get ass-raped on car insurance (it's the law for everyone to have it) as well as some of the highest gas prices in the nation. However if you make betwen $14 to $17 an hour you can survive comfortably, depending on where you live. Generally, the further south and east you go, the cheaper rent becomes (but the shittier everything gets.) East LA is a shit hole that no one in thier right mind ever goes to. However even the crappiest parts of east LA are nicer than what I've seen of San Francisco, Sacramento, and San Diego (which is a real dump, except for down town where the covention center is.) Still it's a good city to live in, lots of opportunites, lots of game companies have offices in the area also - Sega, Konami, THQ, Pandemic, EA, and many others. So I'd definelty reccomend comming to visit LA before deciding on where to live.
Visit sunny Sacramento! Small town lack of anything to do, big city traffic jams! I agree that San Francisco is NOT all it's cracked up to be... a nice place to visit but unless you've got an elite trust fund I wouldn't want to live there, the only affordable places to live are quite run-down. Sacramento suffers from a similar old/run-down condition for a slightly different reason. Despite being the capitol of California this place is a cow-town (or at least it was until the most recent housing boom) and it shows... it's gotten a little better since we've had a major influx of cost-of-living refugees from the SF Area but it's not a place to experience the "California Dream". However, if you don't mind working for the government you will find a great many good paying jobs are available working here for the state. San Diego has a lot more going for it than Hawanja suggests. San Diego is sprawling (like his home LA) and just like LA you can find a livable mix somewhere that can be kind of nice if you "look your ass off". Also like LA the more money you have the nicer the place you can find, even easily rivaling areas like Beverly Hills. Anyway, long story short CA can be tough but there is always Oregon, but that's a whole other world... ~Krelian
I'm mostly from Tucson, Toe-Nee. I went to Jr. high and high school there and then lived there for a while after college. If I'm not in Japan then I'm in Tucson, usually.
By the way, the job market in Tucson generally sucks....but the nature is really beautiful at times.... I've heard lots of good things about Santa Fe. And there's always Vegas or other places in Nevada.
Review craigslist for jobs. This gives you an idea on what each area has. For me I like nor cal. I dont have the smog of LA and I have a lot of job oppertunites in the computer industry. Also, you have a chance at getting more of a house for your money than you do in LA. If you like beachs than south cal is the way to go.
UW is a great school. Right in the city and has an absolutely beautiful campus. I've got a lot of friends that go there. The U District is particularly nice. Lots of shopping and stuff to do. WSU is a completely different story. It's in eastern Washington, in a very tiny town, in the middle of nowhere. Basically only outdoorsy people and partiers go there. Some other schools that are good and worth looking into: Western Washington University, Seattle Pacific University, and Pacific Lutheran University, and maybe University of Puget Sound. The last 3 are private and expensive. I went to SPU for over a year and it was awesome. Nice campus, in a beautiful part of the city. A 7 minute bus ride from the middle of downtown Seattle. I loved it up there.... :nod:
I'm a CDO grad, '91. My family lived up by Swan and Sunrise Dr. I graduated from high school the year before Catalina Foothills HS opened... You?
