Family of 4, new job in La Jolla (San Diego, Daly City: apartments, rentals)

[drums]

H has landed 2 job offers. One in la jolla and other in foster city. Both pay 165k per year. Your replies will be greatly appreciated and will help us make our decision.

We are a family of soon to be 4. We would ideally want a 3 bedroom apartment or a home. I plan to stay home for the time being.

How much would a 3 bedroom cost in some family friendly place near la jolla? Under 30 minute commute.

We have no debt and hope to save 1k-2k a month. One kid in preschool. No expensive hobbies. Would you say it's doable?

We will be moving from chicago area with a salary of 135K and hope to maintain the same quality of life.
thank you!

[lrmsd]

Carmel Valley, Poway or Carlsbad [CV is closest to LJ] are the top school districts in SD and are very, very nice areas, as well. You can find SFH from 700k and up in all 3 areas. Rentals will vary-apartments, townhomes and condos-anywhere from $1500 to 4k-ish. Renting a home in these areas [usually 4 bedrooms b/c they are newer homes] will begin around 3k, usually.

CV is 2 miles from torrey pines state beach. Depending on where your husband will work, he could potentially avoid freeways. Google map it anyway to get an idea. CV is a great location with walking distance to all amenities [schools, library, parks, stores of many kinds-health food, grocery, boutiques, restaurants, etc] and Carlsbad is on the coast, further north. Cute downtown area and lots of nice suburban family areas there, too. Poway is inland, warmer in the summer and a little further from the beach. It can feel a bit more isolated from the rest of SD, vs. CV which is on the 5/805/56 freeways. Poway is a little more suburban with not as many cosmopolitan amenities, but still a great area and twenty minutes or so to the coast, when there's no traffic. Probably a longer commute with rush hour, more than 30 minutes, depending where in LJ and the timing.
Tierrasanta is a nice little family community that is a direct shot to LJ. [Job could be in UTC/LJ which is slightly easier than getting to downtown LJ, so factor that in by using google maps.

Your money will go much further in SD than the bay area, and you will have many more family friendly options with a shorter commute, living in SD vs. bay area. I'd say your salary is very doable in SD. People live here on MUCH less, and do okay. You are fortunate that you'll receive a payraise, as SD is notorious for its 'sunshine tax' and paying less for wages relative to COL.

Speaking of: here are a couple of COL calculators:
Cost of Living comparison calculator
You'll need, according to this, 183k in bay area to maintain current standard of living, and 148k in SD. That coincides with my opinion that it's very doable in SD and better than the bay area.

Here's a second COL link:
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

Bay area would provide cultural and cosmopolitan amenities that are more on par with chicago metro [read up on wikipedia or wherever re: demographics/population, etc. SD is smaller than chicago], while SD is a laid back smaller metro area. There is traffic, but not on par with the bay area, yet. And SD is not a big intellectual city, doesn't have the same in terms of art, museums, etc [there are some well known and highly regarded resources here in SD, but not on par with the bay area or chicago, though LA is less than 2 hours away from SD if you wanted/missed those things], and the food is really quite average in SD. You need to go 1.5-2 hours to LA to get great foods when eating out. SD has a few gems, but not much. That said, SD has 70 miles of coastline, amazing, clean and safe beaches that are easy to access year round, incredible weather and a live and let live attitude. SD is regularly touted/ranked as 'great place to raise a family' and 'safe large city'. I agree that it is a very good place for families/kids. Really family friendly. And it sounds like you won't have much time for cultural outings per se in the immediate future. So, family focused, cheaper and less commute time, more ability to save, are you priorities, and your SD job offer provides for that.

I believe you will be much less strained and more able to accomplish your goal of saving, by taking the job in SD vs. bay area. I think you'll enjoy being a stay home mom more in SD, b/c of less traffic, more family friendly areas, better weather, etc. I LOVE the bay area, but truth be told you'd not necessarily be able to rent in a top area with your budget and commute location restraints.

[drums]

Thank you for such a detailed reply. It really helps. We are not too much into art, food, museums, etc. We as a family enjoy outdoors, hiking, photography and that is one of the main reasons for moving out of Chicago area. We are eager to get out of 6 month winters and same topography outdoors in the summers..

[AADAD]

Depends. In either place near SF or near San Diego your dollar will not go as far. That said the commute to La Jolla from more affordable areas is better as SD freeways are superior in every way to SF freeways. Family environments are very strong in the SD area and more racially diverse. Foster City, Daly City predominantly Asian and Pacific Islander. $165 will go farther in SD than near SF (I've lived in both). Health care is superior in SD especially in SD. Children's Hospital here in SD is among the best in the nation..

The weather in Foster City is cooler. SD/La Jolla warmer and inland even warmer. There is no comparison to the beaches. SD beaches are gorgeous. SF beaches are cool and dirty. Family is more the focus less so in Foster City though to each his own.

Don't get me wrong about the FC/SF the cities. They are great fun places but since your focus in family there is no question in my mind.

You can rent in SD for $2-3K or buy $500-$650 and be within that time frame to La Jolla. Inland along the 56 Carmel Valley would be a good place to look for both. La Jolla itself is very pricey. Mitt Romney lives there need I say more?

If you would like to get professional help int this area if you so decide send a PM. That might actually be the way to go. It sounds like an important decision on many levels.

Best of Luck.

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by drums

H has landed 2 job offers. One in la jolla and other in foster city. Both pay 165k per year. Your replies will be greatly appreciated and will help us make our decision.

Take La Jolla and don't even think about Foster City. I lived in the Bay Area. It is not nearly as nice. If you can get a job that good in San Diego, take it and run.