One of the nice things about SD (and California in general) is that you can enjoy the beach, mountains, and desert all pretty easily. Like you can get from SD to Joshua Tree in under 3 hours. You and your wife should definitely check out Julian when you’re here for a month. Julian is a quaint little mountain town that’s about an hour drive from SD with some decent hiking trails, and the Julian Pie Company has some pretty killer apple pies.Anonymous User wrote: ↑Sat Nov 21, 2020 12:54 amAnonymous User wrote: ↑Fri Nov 20, 2020 2:55 pm
This is OP — this move definitely happens, but I don't have a lot of insight into how often it works out. My office had a lateral join from NYC/DC a little over a year ago and they had zero ties to SD. As the other commenter mentioned, their "why SD" was also essentially it seems like an amazing place to live and raise a family. Definitely visit (or at least say you're familiar with SD) since there is a slight concern that people will lateral in from larger markets, realize that they miss the bigger city vibe, and then leave for like LA/SF.
Does your firm have an office in SD? My office has also had a few transfers from major markets since the pandemic started. I personally think you and your wife should try to make this move. While the pandemic has been rough, it's definitely easier to get through when you live in a place with great weather and lots of outdoor activities that are fairly spread out. Also, SD is expensive, but it's relatively affordable compared to other coastal cities, and I think the quality of life makes it worth it.
Are you in lit or corporate?
Thanks to you both for the responses. Very encouraging. In no particular order:
- I don't consider us to be into big-city culture -- basically what I think of as NYC culture. We occasionally go to the museums here, we went to Hamilton, etc., but while we appreciate the arts/concerts/etc., they aren't a big part of our lives. We also aren't really foodies (we do like Mexican, which is a plus for SD, although I'm guessing it's more authentic than what we're used to). When I said above that we're interested in SD culture, I basically meant a culture of outdoors/chill/SoCal/liberal-ish.
- By contrast, we love the outdoors, and it's really important to us. And we love good weather (who doesn't, but we really do). I don't know if seasonal affective disorder is a real thing, but I get depressed in Chicago when outside becomes unusable for at least five straight months. And my wife can't handle heat and humidity very well.
- We're going to live and work remotely in SD for a month in early 2021 to get a feel for the place. No better time to do it than now, when I haven't been into the office for 7 months and probably won't be until summer. We're splitting our time between downtown Chula Vista, North Park, and Carlsbad. Hoping to get a better sense of the place. And perhaps that would help with a "why SD" question down the line. We've visited sporadically before and loved it, but we've never had an extended stay.
- I'm in general lit. My firm has an LA office, but not SD, unfortunately. One thing I've thought about trying is to "transfer" to our LA office -- i.e., have that office as my "home base" -- but basically work remotely, since the last 8 months have shown that I can do that with zero real effect on my value/productivity. Then, if I ever need to change jobs, I'll already have a foothold in the market. Not sure if my firm will go for it, as I'm fairly senior and that play would probably be perceived as opting out of the partnership track (and my firm is basically up or out). If not, I'm willing to change jobs, but I know that will be tough without ties. That said, I have a pretty strong resume.
- We'd like to own a modest, fairly nice home with a backyard (even if not a big one) in a decent neighborhood (doesn't have to be trendy), with a family in mind fairly soon. It seems like that combo requires at least $800k, but probably closer to $1m. Our nest egg is more than big enough for a downpayment on a house like that, but it makes me queasy to own that much home, in part because I don't want to be tied to a $3k mortgage and the kind of job that comes with it. I might just have to get over it.
Thanks again for your thoughts.
I wouldn’t worry too much about your “why SD.” It sounds like you definitely have a sufficient reason for moving to SD that will come across as genuine. Lolwutpar can probably provide you with insights into lateraling if you decide to do it since they recently made that move.
If you have any questions about lit in SD, I’m happy to answer any questions. I’m also in lit. That transfer plan seems like a solid plan if you don’t want to try to lateral directly into SD. Fwiw, I have a friend from law school who landed a job in OC, and her fiancée was able to transfer to his firm’s LA office from NYC. He worked there for a little less than a year before lateraling to a firm in OC, so it’s definitely doable.
I’m not sure if you saw my other comment about where people tend to live, but several more senior associates at my firm who have small children have fairly recently purchased homes in Carlsbad (decent neighborhoods and homes with backyards) for close to $1m.