Sorry about the late response but the wedding is this August. The bank I was working for didn't have any branches out west so I had to get a new bank job. I was a little worried because I had a great situation at the bank I was at. The bank I work for now ended up being a better situation than the precious bank I was at. I love the time difference and the weather. The only downfall is that, it's more expensive than in New York, believe it or not.
Yeah, I know living in San Francisco the cost (renting, home ownership, condo) of doing such is crazy high. I know a few people with a high paying job not able to afford living in San Francisco. One buddy was forced to leave after his landlord raised his rent 3x in three years (each year new rent agreement had an average rent increase of 50%)...outrageous. Makes him more mad because the landlord use to drive a 10 year old Jeep and now drives a new Porsche.
djmartin, If you're living in an apartment and your rent is ridiculously high...you can always become "apartment manager" (working for the landlord) for free rent or rent at a greatly reduced price. I know a few in Seattle doing just that after the crazy rent and mortgages skyrocket their too. Funny thing...when I lived in Seattle...I met a lot of people that moved there from San Francisco. Now that the outrageous prices are in Seattle too...some are moving southwest or midwest. I guess anywhere they can do the same job but with cheaper cost of living. They should all move to Canada.
I couldn't believe the cost of living here. I just came from a city like New York so I thought I would be fine with the cost of living until I got here. It was sticker shock. I do have property management experience but I actually love my job. I only deal with high net worth clients. I have a book of business that I work with and that's it. I spend a lot of my day trading and look at the markets. As long as I hit my numbers my manager doesn't bother me. My fiancé isn't happy here so we're thinking about moving to Chicago in August. Chicago is one of my favorite cities.
I will, I'm so excited about moving to Chicago. It's my favorite city. I'm going to miss California but I'm a Midwest guy that like big cities. I'll actually be in Chicago the beginning of June to visit.