Best City in California for recent graduate 25 years old?

i am thinking of relocating to california in the next 8 months to use my MBA. I have seen most of the cities on television and it all looks amazing, but wanted to ask everyone's opinion. I want somewhere I can afford a condo with rent around 1300-1500 hopefully..good employers, low crime rate, nightlife, sports, and good weather..any thoughts would be a great help..thanks http://www.homes.com/Content/ListingDetail.cfm?City=SAN%20DIEGO&State=CA&Radius=0&FirstRec=19&OrderBy=PRICE%3AA&Bedrooms=&FullBaths=&MinPrice=100000&MaxPrice=&PriceRange=&AmenitiesList=&PropType=%2A&TotalRecs=1255&MinSqFt=&MaxSqFt=&LotSize=&MinYear=&MaxYear=&PropIdList=3_53458401,3_53483367,3_45211708,3_51963882,3_53458015,3_54694988,3_54694989,3_54694990,3_54694991&PropId=45211708&NHC=1&searchorig=main&Display=Overview i found this condo but do not know if this is in a bad area or if there is not much around....your thoughts?? wow that helps a ton actually...im from louisville and there are a lot of ghetto people here believe it or not...i have looked at san diego and would love to live near the padres stadium even though im not a huge fan of them(cardinals), is it expensive to live close to downtown san diego???

Public Comments

1. You will have a hard time finding a good condo for that price. Try Rancho Cucamonga, if you can handle hot summers. It has most everything else you mentioned and only about 4 hours from Vegas by car.
2. You really shouldn't judge LA by what you see on TV and in the movies. That is make-believe my friend. For example, CSI Miami is filmed in Long Beach and the OC was filmed in Redondo and Manhattan Beach. You need to find a job first and than a place to live. Living close to your job is the key to your happiness in this very traffic clogged city. The job market is very tight, you should have at least $5000 saved up before you move out here.
3. LA is a great place to live. There are a lot of job opportunities, the weather is great, going to Lakers games and Dodgers games is a lot of fun. As for the crime rate, it's really not any worse than any other big city in the US, and you can avoid crime if you just live in the right parts of LA.
4. I'm going to have to throw a plug in for Sacramento. Rents are affordable, the whole state has traffic. Theres lots of business and industry around and we are centrally located. An hour to the mountains, two to the beach, good night life, art gallery's, just a couple of hours to SF if you want to go there, and a couple of hours to Nevada for everything it has to offer. Like anywhere there are bad areas, South Sac isn't great and that bleeds over into Elk Grove, Citrus Heights, Carmichael, Fair Oaks are all pretty nice, you can look into Roseville, Rocklin and Lincoln also, just a bit more pricey. I would recommend saving enough to live off of including rent for at least six months, try to find a job before you relocate.
5. San Diego is definately a great choice for a 25 year old with a MBA to locate too. You can easily get a decent place to RENT for that much but it might be harder to find a condo in a great location for that much of a mortgage payment if you are purchasing a property, of course that all depends how much of a down payment you put. Renting tends to be a little cheaper compared to the value of the property than if you bought. You might want to wait to purchase b/c property values are going down slightly and probably wont start to rise for awhile. And that property you have a link to is not in a great neighborhood, Talmadge, and is next City Heights, which is getting better but still ghetto. It's not in that bad of a neighborhood and next to sime nice parts like Kensington but personally I would look elsewhere. SD is great place though. Best weather in CA and the nation; usually sunny and in the 70's most of time. Best beaches and warmest water on the west coast and just the best beach scene overall. The nightlife is great, especially downtown in the Gaslamp Quarter and Pacific Beach. San Diego is also one of the safest big cities in america and a new report just showed violent crime down 20%. If you like playing sports the great climate allows you to play any sport, except ice hockey of course, year round and there are tons of sports leagues in SD. If you like watching professional sports we have the Padres mlb team right in downtown SD and the SD Chargers. Plus LA and Orange County teams are not too far away; Going to Lakers games is awesome too. SD is cheaper than LA and Orange County and a better deal overall in my opinion. You just can get a better place here for your money and one that is closer to the beach that if you bought or rented up in LA/OC. But there are more jobs to choose from and the pay tends to be slightly higher in LA and OC too, but you have to deal with a lot more people, traffic, and some of the snooty LA and OC types. SD people are more laid back, friendly, and unprententious overall; lots of transplants here so people are always looking to make friends. edit: That area isn't THAT bad overall. SD is one of the safest big cities and the ghettos are not that bad at all compared to what I have seen in Oakland, LA, and New Orleans. Living close to downtown in not that expensive relatively. Many neighborhoods just outside the downtown core are pretty reasonable like North park, Banker's Hill, South Park, Golden Hill, Normal Heights, and Hillcrest. And even renting right in downtown is not too bad depending on whether it's an older building or one of the new high rises or developments.