Thinking of moving to socal...advice?

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Feb 27, 2010 | 04:35 PM
  #16  
i live in riverside... your best bet would be to find a place in orange county... like in anaheim hills... you both would avoid the horrid traffic of the canyon area of the 91 during rush hour... as you'd be going to work in the morning going the opposite way of traffic... and she would be avoiding the parking lot traffic all together using the 55 beach cities highway.
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Feb 27, 2010 | 08:36 PM
  #17  
Quote: Oh, and if you dont like traffic...just dont move to cali. A 30 mile trip anywhere can take up to 2 hours. There is traffic at most times of the day, and im totally serious when i say this...you need to be mentally prepared for cali's traffic because you will be spending a large part of your day in it if you go somewhere.
This statement is the truth. I used to bitch and moan about commuting to NYC when I lived in Jersey, and about any of the roads in Jersey. In retrospect, its a cakewalk there. The only places that *may* be as bad if not worse are in Boston or around the DC beltway.
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Feb 27, 2010 | 11:19 PM
  #18  
Quote: My Advise: don't ever try Mexican Food. You will get fat from Cali Burritos, Carne Asada Burritos&Fries.
lmao @ this advice..But theyre soo good Jayk
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Feb 28, 2010 | 04:45 AM
  #19  
WOW! I really appreciate everyone's response, there isnt much help in the NW Section..

Quote: alright i've done this drive plenty of times. i had engineering work in corona a few years ago and I live in Redondo.

The drive can suck. But ANY drive in LA can suck. It might take you over an hour or almost 2 hours sometimes but its totally doable. On days when traffic isnt too bad you could do it in 45 minutes if you're a crafty driver. Just think about what would happen if you moved out here and things didnt work out with the girl. Might be a good idea to be closer to work
Hahahaha, good plan!

Quote: Since this is a huge quality of life decision for you, my advice would be to not just take others advice, but to come visit for a few day, rent a car, stay in a motel for a night at either location, and then make the commute drive to the other location during normal commute hours (ie. NOT weekends). This is really the only way you can know if this is tolerable for you. It would be a major mistake to relocate first and only THEN discover your true preference.

.02
I would say this is a great peace of advice..Ive been to California before and always have wanted to live there but only have been there on vacation, never reaaaaallly looked at the population/traffic/houses/etc. I cant believe I never even thought about this lol, just been researching via wiki and google on facts of all these cities /palmface

Quote: Aliso Viejo is by far one of the nicer areas of southern cali, but it isnt cheap. Also probably about 25miles from Huntington. My parents live by there, nice big roads, not much traffic, lots of trees, landscape is kept up nicely, and cookie cutter homes. Think Pleasantville, not much mom and pop stuff around though, mostly chains.

Torrance is your best bet if you are on the budget, it isnt that nice but cheaper, and way closer to Huntington than Riverside. Its also not too far from social areas such as Long Beach and LA if you wanna go out etc.

What ever you do, stay away from Riverside. They have cow fields there and it smells like a$$ everywhere you go. I dont know how people can live there. Plus its in the middle of nowhere (desert) separated by mountains from other areas of Cali and there are only 2 crappy freeways to get in and out. The traffic is crazy to and from there because houses were really cheap in Corona at one point (close by Riverside) and a wave of people moved there and now they commute a long way to work. The freeway system cant handle the population and the toll roads, or i should say "toll lanes" on the freeway, took advantage of that.

Oh, and if you dont like traffic...just dont move to cali. A 30 mile trip anywhere can take up to 2 hours. There is traffic at most times of the day, and im totally serious when i say this...you need to be mentally prepared for cali's traffic because you will be spending a large part of your day in it if you go somewhere.
Wow, thanks for the insight, I really appreciate it. I guess depending on the new salary is where ill be making my decision on where to live, craigslist has 2bedroom apartments (HATE APTS) for 1700...this seems outragous considering im in a 3200sqft house in seattle for 1800month..but if thats what it takes that what it takes.

So far, I am looking forward to this possible Move as well as meets since cali seems to always have the nicer Gs!
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Feb 28, 2010 | 03:45 PM
  #20  
California as you mentioned have a fairly high standard of living. The one that reflects the most on you is gonna be the real estate and gas prices. Factor that into your expenses and see how it goes. I'm not too sure about the combined income of your salary with your GF's, but out of the four areas you're considering, real estate prices vary greatly. Hungtington off the top is gonna be the most expensive, followed closely behind by Aliso, then Torrance, then Riverside. The 91 commute is going to be hell unless you're going East in the morning and west in the afternoon. Even that, you may run into occasional problems.

One true advice I have for you is this. You mentioned that this is your girlfriend as opposed to wife. Are you planning on getting married with this woman in the future? It's a risky move to make a life-changing decision unless you know for sure.
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Feb 28, 2010 | 05:09 PM
  #21  
IMO, be best to stay pretty close to HB, there are a lot of nice neighborhoods there and Costa Mesa, For every 10 mins. you shave off your commute to Riverside you'll add at least 20 mins to hers. Commute to Aliso Viejo would be about 30 mins, less if you pay for the tollroad here going South is better than going North so the same give and take applies, probably about 45 mins to Torrance. Commute to Riverside from the 55/405 shouldn't be too bad, probably an hour/hour 15 on an average day. Might sound like a lot of driving but we all do it here it's not too bad, gives ya time to think, heh.
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