vainandy said:

SoulAlive said:

I live in the Bay Area and there really is no place else I'd rather be I have considered moving to other places like Atlanta (where my mother and sister live) or Chicago (a wonderful city with so much to see and do) but I can never bring myself to leave Califonia.The weather is amazing! It never really gets too hot or too cold here.It IS expensive,though.

See, I'd love to live somewhere like San Francisco that has a very large gay population. I would assume that with a large gay population would also come a variety of gay nightlife. Down here, it's one black gay club and one white gay club (anyone can go to either club of course). If you don't like shit hop, you're going to be bored in the black club and if you don't like trance, you're going to be bored in the white club. There's nothing to do for the whores that are older than the shit hop generation and we're too young for the down home blues generation (not that there are any gay clubs for them anyway). There are straight clubs for the over 35 or 40 crowd but no gay clubs for us in that age group. Also, if they were to open one for us, there wouldn't be enough of us to keep it open because most of us are either dead or don't have a mind of our own and have lowered our standards and sold out to dull music and nightlife. Hell, the most fun I have these days are at house parties with gay folks around my same age with similar interests. The only thing is, the men are limited. We end up all sleeping with a new guest of a friend.

what are you waiting for, come on over to the bay area!

kimrachell said:

SoulAlive said:

I live in San Jose,which is listed as the "safest big city" in America...or at least it was a few years ago very low crime here

i live in the san jose area too. where i live is very nice, and i feel pretty safe.

I feel very safe here,too.The cool thing about San Jose is...it may not be the most 'exciting' place in the Bay Area but if you want excitement,you're close to places like San Francisco and Oakland.I like living in a city that's safe and not too hectic.

Miami is way too humid, Dallas is a shithole, too conservative, San Diego is lovely, perfect weather, nice people, great beaches, a bit conservative, but that can be changed. I've lived there as well. San Diego babee.

The Bay Area is becoming so expensive I feel your pain. 4000 dollars a month for a one bedroom apartment? Outragious.

2freaky4church1 said:

Miami is way too humid, Dallas is a shithole, too conservative, San Diego is lovely, perfect weather, nice people, great beaches, a bit conservative, but that can be changed. I've lived there as well. San Diego babee.

The Bay Area is becoming so expensive I feel your pain. 4000 dollars a month for a one bedroom apartment? Outragious.

san diego looks very nice, but it seems almost as much for an apartment as where i live now.

SoulAlive said:

I feel very safe here,too.The cool thing about San Jose is...it may not be the most 'exciting' place in the Bay Area but if you want excitement,you're close to places like San Francisco and Oakland.I like living in a city that's safe and not too hectic.

this is why we like this area, i live in morgan hill, it's very quiet here, and close enough to go to monterey, carmel, santa cruz, gilroy gardens, and only 1 hour away from san fran, etc. it's a great location. nice place to raise a family too.

kimrachell said:

2freaky4church1 said:

Miami is way too humid, Dallas is a shithole, too conservative, San Diego is lovely, perfect weather, nice people, great beaches, a bit conservative, but that can be changed. I've lived there as well. San Diego babee.

The Bay Area is becoming so expensive I feel your pain. 4000 dollars a month for a one bedroom apartment? Outragious.

san diego looks very nice, but it seems almost as much for an apartment as where i live now.

Really? San Francisco is a LOT more expensive than San Diego, I think. Tons more, actually.

Efan said:

Really? San Francisco is a LOT more expensive than San Diego, I think. Tons more, actually.

i'll look into it more, i went to forrent.com and the apartments that were as nice as i live in now were around the same price. but i'll look again, maybe check some other sites.

miami

des moines

san diego

orlando

dallas

kimrachell said:

Efan said:

Really? San Francisco is a LOT more expensive than San Diego, I think. Tons more, actually.

i'll look into it more, i went to forrent.com and the apartments that were as nice as i live in now were around the same price. but i'll look again, maybe check some other sites.

If you don't mind my asking, how big an apartment and which part of town were you looking in?

Efan said:

kimrachell said:

i'll look into it more, i went to forrent.com and the apartments that were as nice as i live in now were around the same price. but i'll look again, maybe check some other sites.

If you don't mind my asking, how big an apartment and which part of town were you looking in?

2 bedroom/2 bath, and i didn't know which part of town is good or bad, so i just typed san diego, and looked through the list for apartments that look like the one i live in now. i pay $1,850 for my apartment right now where we live. it's not a fancy apartment that we live, it's basic. it does come with a garage though.

kimrachell said:

Efan said:

If you don't mind my asking, how big an apartment and which part of town were you looking in?

2 bedroom/2 bath, and i didn't know which part of town is good or bad, so i just typed san diego, and looked through the list for apartments that look like the one i live in now. i pay $1,850 for my apartment right now where we live. it's not a fancy apartment that we live, it's basic. it does come with a garage though.

Oh, you should easily be able to find a nice two bed/two bath for under that in a nice part of San Diego. I can offer you some advice if you want, and I'm sure all the San Diegans in here can too. Is there an office that you guys would have to be close to, or would this be a work-from-home situation?

First thing, there are a lot of "parts" to San Diego and the surrounding area (that shiny picture of it at night is really not how I think of San Diego at all). Kind of like the Bay Area in that regard. Where you end up (closer to the water, closer to downtown, in an outlying area in commute distance of your husband's office) will dictate how much it will cost you to live there. I think you said you're visiting places this Summer and SD is close. If it becomes a serious choice for you I'd definitely suggest spending a few days there (even a couple weekends) checking it out.

Second, I totally agree with Efan that you should be able to find a place there for what you're paying now (and probably less - depending on what you're looking for and where you're looking for it).

This map doesn't even cover all the places that may be in commute distance.

Cerebus said:

First thing, there are a lot of "parts" to San Diego and the surrounding area (that shiny picture of it at night is really not how I think of San Diego at all).

So true. Every time I fly in to San Diego, I think, "So this is what they mean by urban sprawl."

SoulAlive said:

kimrachell said:

i live in the san jose area too. where i live is very nice, and i feel pretty safe.

I feel very safe here,too.The cool thing about San Jose is...it may not be the most 'exciting' place in the Bay Area but if you want excitement,you're close to places like San Francisco and Oakland.I like living in a city that's safe and not too hectic.

I visited the Bay Area several years ago and I liked it a lot. I was staying in San Jose and visited Oakland, Berkley, and San Fran, which I loved. My Favorites were Fisherman's Wharf of course and the Rosicrustian Museum. Yummy seafood too.

It's a hell of an expensive place to live though.

kimrachell said:

miami

des moines

san diego

orlando

dallas

those are all good and fine but let's see pics of the "REAL" cities... the gritty parts of town...

babynoz said:

SoulAlive said:

I feel very safe here,too.The cool thing about San Jose is...it may not be the most 'exciting' place in the Bay Area but if you want excitement,you're close to places like San Francisco and Oakland.I like living in a city that's safe and not too hectic.

I visited the Bay Area several years ago and I liked it a lot. I was staying in San Jose and visited Oakland, Berkley, and San Fran, which I loved. My Favorites were Fisherman's Wharf of course and the Rosicrustian Museum. Yummy seafood too.

It's a hell of an expensive place to live though.

Efan said:

Oh, you should easily be able to find a nice two bed/two bath for under that in a nice part of San Diego. I can offer you some advice if you want, and I'm sure all the San Diegans in here can too. Is there an office that you guys would have to be close to, or would this be a work-from-home situation?

any advice you could give me would be very helpful! thanks in advance. there is no office we need to be close to, my husband is an operations manager for walmart so he can work at any walmart in the area.

Cerebus said:

First thing, there are a lot of "parts" to San Diego and the surrounding area (that shiny picture of it at night is really not how I think of San Diego at all). Kind of like the Bay Area in that regard. Where you end up (closer to the water, closer to downtown, in an outlying area in commute distance of your husband's office) will dictate how much it will cost you to live there. I think you said you're visiting places this Summer and SD is close. If it becomes a serious choice for you I'd definitely suggest spending a few days there (even a couple weekends) checking it out.

Second, I totally agree with Efan that you should be able to find a place there for what you're paying now (and probably less - depending on what you're looking for and where you're looking for it).

This map doesn't even cover all the places that may be in commute distance.

thanks for the info., we plan to spend a few days there looking around. maybe the end of thos month we might take a trip down there.

babynoz said:

I visited the Bay Area several years ago and I liked it a lot. I was staying in San Jose and visited Oakland, Berkley, and San Fran, which I loved. My Favorites were Fisherman's Wharf of course and the Rosicrustian Museum. Yummy seafood too.

It's a hell of an expensive place to live though.

we really like the rosicrucian museum, very neat place, we've been there 3 times with our son.

RenHoek said:

those are all good and fine but let's see pics of the "REAL" cities... the gritty parts of town...

i found pics. of the "real gritty" parts too, i'll post those a little later.

Des Moines is very pretty! Didn't realize..lol

It does have really shitty weather.

Dallas is all concrete.

The outskirts of San Diego like Oceanside are a bit cheaper.

2freaky4church1 said:

Des Moines is very pretty! Didn't realize..lol

It does have really shitty weather.

Dallas is all concrete.

The outskirts of San Diego like Oceanside are a bit cheaper.

No it's not. Sure, downtown is just like ANY downtown area of any MAJOR city is full of skyscrapers. But there are TONS of tree'd areas IN Dallas and most of the 'burbs have tons of green space and parks. Most of the neighborhoods surrounding downtown are older and with lots of green. Look up Kessler Park or Highland Park those are beautiful, very green neighborhoods adjacent to downtown.

[Edited 4/3/11 13:27pm]

Portland and Seattle, now those places are green, Dallas, not so much.

2freaky4church1 said:

Portland and Seattle, now those places are green, Dallas, not so much.

Well, if that's what you're comparing Dallas to that's like apples to oranges since Texas has a COMPLETELY different climate than Oregon which gets the most rainfall than any other state in the country. So of course it's green. There are still LOTS of green spaces throughout Dallas and especially in the suburbs.

These are average homes in the suburbs

[Edited 4/3/11 13:32pm]

2freaky4church1 said:

Des Moines is very pretty! Didn't realize..lol

It does have really shitty weather.

Dallas is all concrete.

The outskirts of San Diego like Oceanside are a bit cheaper.

des moines

orlando

thanks for the info about oceanside.

SCNDLS said:

Well, if that's what you're comparing Dallas to that's like apples to oranges since Texas has a COMPLETELY different climate than Oregon which gets the most rainfall than any other state in the country. So of course it's green. There are still LOTS of green spaces throughout Dallas and especially in the suburbs.

These are average homes in the suburbs

[Edited 4/3/11 13:32pm]

very nice photos!

i don't know where in iowa this is at, but i found it when i was looking for photos, so funny!

miami

miami

dallas

san diego

miami

san diego

orlando

dallas

des moines

miami

okay, here's some more photos showing not the best sides of town.

the pics they put on postcards can make any city look interesting and exciting I guess you have to dig a little deeper sometimes,lol

okay friends, have made plans to visit san diego during my sons spring break from school this month. spending the weekend down there looking around. will visit dallas soon as well.