Accomplished a personal goal (long read)

[shamoo]

I'm gonna post this in the California section too cuz I can!

I don't have many posts here, but I wanted to share a personal accomplishment that passed a few days ago. Nobody probably cares, but I figure I'd throw this out there...

As a background, I have lived in New Jersey essentially all my life (32+ years) and this tri-state area is all I really know. In fact, this place isn't half bad. I'm a little over an hour away from Atlantic City, 30 minutes away from Manhattah, and the beach is well...everywhere. Jersey Shore, y0!

Anyway, almost since I was old enough to walk, I would visit family in Southern California (Irvine) once a year until I was ~16 years old. The weather is gorgeous, the people are good looking and friendly, everything is clean, etc. Since then my dream was to live and work in California. Had a few girlfriends here and there, broke up, got depressed, wanted to get away to CA, didn't do anything about it, found another girlfirned, broke up, etc. It was an endless cycle for about 15 years.

Fast forward to recent events. I was able to buy a nice car and own my own townhouse. My parents moved to California and I was left here alone. Realized that my curent situation was comfortable and easy, but I wanted more. It was time to do something about it. I used my networks and contacts to get some interviews at a great company in Los Angeles. As of a few days ago, I got my offer. w00t!

The company's relocation package will get me there nicely with some temporary housing until I figure out what to do with my home in Jersey. Personal goal accomplished! I can't wait to get over there and start a new life. I really envy all you guys in beautiful California. I know a lot of you guys get tired of CA, but from an occasional visitor throughout the years, CA is an awesome place. You should consider yourselves lucky.

If you're still reading...

I only get one month of temporary corporate housing, but after that I'm on my own. I'm looking for places (suburbs) outside of LA that I can live that isn't too expensive (<$500K home) and where traffic into downtown won't make me want to stab myself repeatedly.

Not sure what to do with my home in NJ. Rent? Sell? I have a realtor coming this weekend to discuss some options with me.

Looking forward to attending a few meets and those famous "Cars and Coffee" I see pictures of all the time. I'm an avid cyclist (road and mountain) and from the looks of things you can basically ride all year. Also started riding motorcycles again. I have a Yamaha R6, but I hear it's difficult to register vehicles with <7,500 miles in CA from out of state. No idea. Might sell here and get the Ducati 1100S I've always wanted. I hear CA is the only state where you can lane split. What now, traffic?!

Thanks for reading!

Personal goal #2 is in progress...Porsche 911 Turbo.

[Quick6EF]

This reminds me of that scene in Catch Me If You Can where Leo calls the detective (Tom Hanks) on Christmas.

[Red Bread]

Congrats, you'll have a great time. LA is a great city, I lived in Laguna Beach for a few years and miss it every day. I'm a cyclist too and miss the trails and terrain. While the beaches are all public land, beware that mountain bike trails are not, and night riding is illegal on nearly all trails, as you wouldn't want a millionaire to have to have bike lights flashing in the their windows. Kinda funny, and not something I'd planned on, I'm used to riding year round, night and day.

You likely won't find sub $500k, but you can rent, something I'd strongly recommend in the LA area. Personally, skip the suburbs and live in a beach community, provided it's not too far from your work and you don't have to suffer on the 101 too much. I worked in Anaheim and had about a 25 mile commute, which wasn't too bad.

You'll love it, it's a great part of the country. I spend some time growing up in NYC, and really like it too, but prefer LA. You'll be four hours to Vegas too. Enjoy and good luck.

[jasonX]

Nearly in the same boat as you, I've had enough of the tri-state and really am considering moving to SoCal but need a Tech gig first.

Congrats though!

[E90SoFlo]

You guys should check out south florida.

I have lived in Cali and now living in Fl, Have to say Florida is really nice.

[Jebus335]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

.

You likely won't find sub $500k, but you can rent, something I'd strongly recommend in the LA area.

Meh, there is plenty of properties for <$500k, just don't expect a mansion.

To the OP, traffic is something you can not get away from here in so-cal, even on the weekends. With no traffic, I can get to downtown LA in 15-20 mins, with traffic, 2 hrs Glendale, Pasadena, and Burbank all have some nice areas to live (as well as some not-so-nice) If you wanna live by the beach, Manhattan, and Santa Monica are nice but expensive. Good luck, and welcome to Cali.

[infinitekidM2C]

Congrats...Welcome to Los Angeles. It's an awesome place to live once you get the hang of it. Do post in the California section so you can go to some meets. This is a Car-centric place so you moved to the right area as a BMW fan.

Pasadena gets real pricey real quick and it might take a while to get downtown. I also recommend Glendale though...you can get some decent place there, it's near Griffith Park with tons of bike trails and only a short trip to downtown L.A.

[Brey335i]

tl;dr

[Simsims]

not that impressive for a 30+

[infinitekidM2C]

here we come-a-trollin

[nusevad]

congrats, i always wanted to go to Cali...for In & Out burger.

What kinda job did you land?

[gferil]

Congrats man, you're going to love it. I was born and raised in California, and I've been around both the world and the country and still am not sick of this state.

You shouldn't have problems registering your R6, and yes, we can lane split here, but I only do it when I really need to...some California drivers just don't pay enough attention to us motos.

[E90SoFlo]

Originally Posted by infinitekid2002

here we come-a-trollin

they haaatin

[Uber V8]

Originally Posted by infinitekid2002

here we come-a-trollin

Originally Posted by E90SoFlo

they haaatin

they riding dirty

[SmellsLikemonkey]

The poker games in la are really good too. Never been but the in n out in vegas the first time was the best the next 2 times were meh. The cab was like twenty bucks for like 5 mins and the burger was only a couple bucks. Are all in n outs inconsistant?

[HungHingHK]

dood, theres so many Asian dumb fuck drivers out here in Cali you're going to hate it. I recommend Maine...I hear they drive nice there

[gilchristobin]

You guys should check out south florida.