I plan on moving west after college. Although I like to take risks. I am also very nervous about my decision. But I feel like it is something that I need to do.
Nothing in San Diego is cheap. Like everyone else said you get what you pay for. If you get a decent place, not necessarily nice, just livable it_s about $1,000+ if you want to live w/in 20 miles of dtwn from Hillcrest and North like any of the beach areas, like Ocean beach, Mission Bay, Pacific Beach, from downtown up or La jolla (which is nice, but will run you more that $1,000 a month)Mission Valley, Kearny Mesa, Tierrasanta, Claremont, ummm...aren_t right on the beach or anything, but definately livable, nicer than some parts of San Diego. I live in Mission Valley which is Central San Diego and love it here. It_s located next to all the main freeways, 15 min. from downtown and the beaches and lots of shopping and grocery and what not all located here. Reasonably priced I guess, if that_s possible in San Diego. We are renting a condo from a friend for $800 a month....yeah.....we got lucky tho, again, renting from a friend, letting us off easy cause I_m in school. So normally our place would go for around $1200 month, which I would say is pretty standard for the area. If you_re looking for something cheaper, but not ghetto fabulous, you_re gonna have to go towards east county. Like El Cajon and Santee, and some parts of La mesa (on the North side of the eight) some people will come on here and say those areas are all ghetto, but there are nicer parts. Like for Santee/El cajon off of Hwy 67, an old roommate and I had a NICE apt for $950, it was pretty big, walk in closets and VERY clean, and new. Loved it there, but it was too much of a drive for both of us, it_s about 30-40 miles east of downtown, and an annoying drive, especially in traffic. You should probably give us an idea of which schools you are possibly looking at, so we can give you a better idea about location.
LA.....ewwww......dirty and full of over-caffinated people. You_d probably be paying about the same as here if not more, and be getting a lot less as far as decentcy goes. No sir, don_t like it. Unless you have lots of money or mommy and daddy do, perhaps you should look at living in a state that_s more affordable. When I graduate...peace...I_m outta here. So I can buy a house and live like I want to. Moving to Houston, Tx, where I can buy a 4 or 5 bdrm huge house, with an actual yard, (which you learn that most houses out here don_t actually have, they say they are yards, but they_re small as heck), for under $150,000 and still be by the ocean. It_s ridiculous out here as far as buying and renting goes, Such a shame, it_s so DAM BEAUTIFUL OUT HERE!!!!!!!!A two bedroom apartment, in nice area, will cost you about $1,800 a month. You can save a lot of money by using public transportation.Unless you already live somewhere expensive in CA, it will be anything but cheaper. Good luck to you!For a decent place with 1bd/1ba, you are looking to pay about $1000 per month. Of course there are less expensive places but you get pretty much what you pay for.
What kind of graduate program are you considering? San Diego has only a few universities, compared to let_s say LA or Orange County, so you may want to look into the schools first.Tom C, must have lived in San Diego , Texas!? nothing downtown will only cost $300 something unless it_s a cardboard box. I would look into the school first and then go from there. Many times you can live with another grad student.I lived in SD for a while, paid about $360 a month in Downtown, walked to beach and park, near shopping mall and night life center, everyday I took express bus to La Jolla for 30 min. Like buffet there, for $5, you can eat everything.
