Anyone live in SoCal?

[Noseferatu]

I'm 18, gettin to the end of my senior year, and I'd like to move to SoCal while I'm in college. What can you do to afford living in SoCal? I want that lifestyle sooo bad. I want to experience it before I get to be too old.


Any tips??

[IconBasser]

Originally Posted by Noseferatu

I'm 18, gettin to the end of my senior year, and I'd like to move to SoCal while I'm in college. What can you do to afford living in SoCal? I want that lifestyle sooo bad. I want to experience it before I get to be too old.


Any tips??

another victim of the California myth.

seriously, you're much better off going somewhere else. We've got some of the highest unemployment rates in the country, our state is nearly bankrupt, most of the cities you visit look like slums, we've got horrible air pollution, the cost of living is ridiculously high, and our education system is in the sh*****.

without having a degree already, there's no way you're going to be able to make enough money to live anywhere else than a ghetto. Not to mention, if our new governor Jerry Brown gets his way, all California public university tuition is going to be doubled.

yes, there are some nice places here, mostly on the coast. But you'd better be a millionaire if you want to live within 5 miles of water.

Besides, the "California lifestyle" thing is hardly true. The only tangible difference between Californians and residents of other states (and I've visited over half of them) is that us left-coasters are far more likely to be massive jerks to people we don't know.

In conclusion, stay far far away.

Edit : MAJOR METAL

Watch the language please.

[Noseferatu]

So Florida's a better option?

[SurferJoe46]

A ski mask and a large caliber hand gun comes to mind. Not that I'd advocate that - but it works for some people.

I'm retired and still able to survive here quite well - but I have two other housing aces in the hole - a house in Arizona and one in Montana to fall back on.

The unemployment numbers are screwed by the people who report them - they don't count those that are unemployed after their benefits run out - so the numbers are more like double what is told to you on the news.

I'm migrating out of here before summer I think - never gonna look back - so I don't see it as a lifestyle to want or even cherish.

Run Forest, run - but go east from here.

[Munjibunga]

A. Go to college.
B. Get a degree in a biomedical field.
C. Stay in college.
D. Get an MD or PhD in a biomedical field.
E. Move to SoCal
F. Look for a job.

Seriously, I've lived in SoCal my whole life (when I'm not at Groom Lake), and it is incredibly difficult to afford living here as an uneducated teenager, unless you're living with your parents. Without skills or education, you will likely end up on the street.

[guitfiddle0409]

SoCal? Unless you have a bottomless bank account or some very special connections stay far away. Very far away.

Florida? You need to have money before you go there. Wages there are very low.

Take it from an old man -- as a young man, now is the time in your life to figure out the best way for you to make a good living. Then you can pick and choose where you want to live.

[MakiSupaStar]

I will agree with everything said so far except there are a couple things I think IconBasser has wrong. Our state isn't nearly broke, it is flat broke, but our air quality has gotten dramatically better over the years because most people can't afford to drive their cars, even though cars are practically a necessity out here.

[iamlowsound]

Move to Seattle.

lowsound

[uethanian]

Originally Posted by IconBasser

another victim of the California myth.

yes, him and the rest of the world. it's as if CA is one big hollywood (the absurdly romanticized hollywood portrayed in movies), everyone is nice and laid back, and people surf to work (true story, someone visiting from china believed this).

socal is in many cases dirty, overcrowded, and expensive. not to mention a state government that hasn't had it's s*** together for years, along with a complete lack of jobs. i'm attending a UC right now with my fingers crossed that i'll make it through given the state's financial situation. been here my whole life, moving when i get the chance.

[DUC1098]

You would be better off to not move to California unless you have a lot of sales/customer service experience. There are pretty much no other jobs other than those in Orange County. That said, in most parts of SoCal, you will need at least $12hr full time, to survive, not in a "high crime" area. By survive I mean just that, if you want to actually have a life, you better be making more than $15hr, that will give you some money to actually have fun with.

Also, you should know, they recently increased the tuition for state colleges in California by around 30%. There is also about a 3-5 year waiting list to get into the "popular" programs.

I have been looking for a job here in SoCal for almost 2 years. I was going to go back to college during this time, but about the time I lost my job they raised the tuition amount, so school was too expensive.

I am about to move out of California and either move back to Arizona, which has a much lower cost of living and a better job market or possibly Utah, with an even better job market and lower cost of living.

It is ultimately your decision, but you should really do your homework before you end up moving here and have to quit college to support yourself. Or run up an insane amount of debt to finish school. Move to Tucson and attend the University of Arizona. It is much cheaper than California colleges, after you get Arizona residency after 1 year, and you are about a 5 hour drive from San Diego, so you can spend your weekends there if you want.

[MAJOR METAL]

Originally Posted by IconBasser

another victim of the California myth.

I fell victim to this coming to Socal for Grad School, silly me I ended up in San Bernardino. If you are thinking about a State University you are going to be paying some HUGE prices for out of state tuition and getting reclassified as a Californian by the University system is not as easy as you would think. It took me almost 2 years after moving here to get instate tuition rates.

[EricF]

So Cal is nothing but sunshine, palm trees, hot and horny chicks in bikinis, puppy dogs, and butterflies. Everyone who lives here is rich and beautiful, and your **** will grow at least 2" longer as soon as you move here.






Or not.

[ADbassman]

Save yourself the trouble and move to NorCal.

[Kwesi]

Originally Posted by EricF

So Cal is nothing but sunshine, palm trees, hot and horny chicks in bikinis, puppy dogs, and butterflies. Everyone who lives here is rich and beautiful, and your **** will grow at least 2" longer as soon as you move here.






Or not.

My bags are already packed. I couldn't read those last two words as I was too busy watching my junk grow before my eyes. Needless to say, I'm quite happy right now.

[tastybasslines]

I've lived in Socal all my life, and it used to be awesome...TONS of traffic now. But like anywhere, there are good places to live, even on a budget. I have a nice, 2 bed, 2 bath $1200 apt in a nice area.

There is TONS to do here.

There are pros and cons to every place you could live. All I can tell you is you don't see chicks wearing short skirts on the east coast during wintertime.

[Gomeztool]

If you are going to work then please move here. Someone has to help me pay taxes to support the freeloaders.

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by tastybasslines

But like anywhere, there are good places to live, even on a budget.

Compton and Inyokern come to mind.

[SurferJoe46]

One can always set up a KoolAid stand on the Eastbound 10 Freeway on top of the last hill at Chiriaco Summit.

Guaranteed good retail spot for thirsty drivers. Sell radiator coolant too.

A college degree is not necessary for this enterprise, and it's still in California.

[Noseferatu]

If I had a college degree, like a teaching positiin, could I make it in south Cali and still be able to play and spend? How about if I was a pharmacist? Surely a $120,000 salary would be enough.

[SurferJoe46]

Teachers are getting fired here daily - since the unions are losing their might and now thankfully they cannot protect poorly qualified and derelict tenured teachers - especially the bad ones and 'child touchers' that are in the system much longer. Teaching credentials are going to be under severe scrutiny from now on.

A PhD or a professorship might get a new teacher an elementary school job. And that's the way it should be anyway.

Seriously - one 'teacher' in a wheelchair has an 'evil hand' that touches female students and wanders up under their clothing and they cannot fire him. He is tenured and therefor untouchable.

He says his hand isn't under his personal control and it has a demon in it.