I’m thinking about moving to California but I don’t know exactly where.?

May 2021 5 84 Report

I’m thinking about moving to California but I don’t know exactly where.?

I’m almost 20 and I’m planning to move alone in the next 2 years, so saving up is a necessity. I love hot weather, I’m coming from the frigid east coast/ farm country/ Maryland, so Cali is perf. If describing myself in a few words could help place me in a spot, I would describe myself as: chill, free spirited, introverted, and friendly. The perfect place to me is a very laid back area, near the beach, where everything is not really fast paced. I don’t really like big cities but I LOVE shopping so good malls would be sweet. I come from a place where there are about 5 malls within 20 minutes from my house and multiple shopping centers. When I was doing some research on Cali I kinda fell in love with the cities in SoCal, riverside in particular. I don’t really want to move into an area where there is no nightlife or a good sized young crowd, people in their 20’s. The LA area caught my eye but the cost of living is also an issue. I don’t want to spend more than $800 per month on rent so a little place in a semi-safe neighborhood would be nice!

Travel / United States / Other - United States

Arrivederci

Verified answer

Malibu is not an option unless one is rich.

California has a high unemployment rate and a high cost of living. Jobs are hard to find right now and the state's economy isn't expected to return to pre-recession levels until 2016. People are moving out of the state everyday to look for jobs. If you have no college degree and no marketable skills, you will not be able to find a job that will enable you to afford California since, as already mentioned, cost of living is high. California is definitely not a state to move to if you have no education, no job, and no money.

If you want to move to California, you need to find a job first and have $10-15,000+ available in the bank to cover moving/living expenses and other expenses including vehicle registration/licensing fees, insurance, etc. Landlords will want first month's rent, last month's rent, and security deposit upfront and will run credit checks on potential tenants. Some landlords will require that your monthly income be at least 2.5 times the rent or they won't rent to you.

A 1 bedroom apartment in an OK area in SoCal rents for $1,200+ per month. To be able to afford (spending no more than 30% of income) such a place, you need a gross monthly income of $4,000+ per month. Jobs that pay that much require an advanced education and/or degrees.

There are no places that has everything you want: laid back, near the beach, inexpensive, slow pace, not in a big city, close to malls/shopping centers, nightlife, etc. You will have to make some sacrifices.

The closer one gets to a beach, the more expensive it gets since such an area is highly coveted. Also, the safer the neighborhood, the more expensive it gets. Don't expect to find anything for less than $800 per month.

Have you ever been to Riverside or anywhere in SoCal? If not, how can you fall in love with a place you've never been to? Just wondering.

Oh, and the proper abbreviation for California is Calif -- NOT "Cali". Cali is an infamous drug city in Columbia.

We moved from Southern California over a three hundred and sixty 5 days in the past, and it replaced into the finest pass we ever made! Lived all around the l. a. area over 40 years:) ... surely pass to a north Dallas suburb. the houses are eye-catching, and below a million/2 the cost of California, yet 10x the primary! there is basically about no crime contained in the north suburbs (Plano, Frisco, Allen, McKinney, Lucas, Fairview); NO graffiti in any respect; NO homeless human beings begging at each throughway onramp. the cost of each thing is more lower priced right here; and the skies are large, blue and sparkling. human beings imagine the site visitors is undesirable right here, yet i have seen worse on the ninety one throughway at 2 am:) .... The summer time climate is amazingly incredibly darn on the fringe of So.Cal, fantastically inland. definite, it really is warm, yet no longer extraordinarily humid, and there is a breeze. it really is cooler contained in the iciness (40's-60's), and we had 2 days of snow very last 3 hundred and sixty 5 days (even though it melted by potential of the afternoon). The thunderstorms are incredibly stunning, and the winds are solid (yet they don't suck moisture out of the air like the summer time Santa Ana winds).......