High COL Cities

[Tenacious_D]

Fresh Direct in NYC!!! I am not sure about other cities but I went to the supermarket for very little things (walking distance) and we ordered groceries delivered. I actually miss that because I hate the supermarket. We also did diapers.com which was overnight delivery. I will say that living in a city and having EVERYTHING brought to you was awesome. I remember nursing little E while DH was at the hospital and not in the mood to make myself something to eat and having over 30 places to call to deliver lunch. It's that perk that made city living and the higher cost worthwhile for me.

[Sheherezade]

Delivery rules. We were so bummed when we moved out of the city (ages ago) and we had to leave our DVD rental shop. They delivered us movies-- and eventually, they even picked movies for us based on what we told them we liked. They'd also stop at the store and pick up small items for us on the way. When it was time to return the DVDs, we just left them in a bag on our door. Awesome.

I'm always jealous now when I go on B&N's website and they have same day delivery for big cities -- but 2 day express for me. I'd love to say "bring it over now".

Poky-- you are probably right about the suburbs. It is hard to have a different life perspective than everyone in town, though. I'm just not that strong. It kills me that I am in a pedestrian advocacy group and even those meetings are not scheduled to leave enough time to walk - and most of the members drive to the library or town hall for the meeting. It's just silly. When you HAVE to live a certain way, you slow down and change your perspective. I just heard a bit on NPR about rental vs. ownership and they were talking about how not owning has always been seen as a sign that you have less money or aren't ambitious. Uh....not in some cities. Renting is just what you do. It's not a judgment.

[scrub-jay]

Now CA is definitely a place I could see ourselves settling once DH is finished with training. In fact I wanted to ask you guys about Sacramento and Loma Linda because those are two places that have programs and the COL didn't seem too outrageous. Also, there's a couple of programs in SF, but since COL is so high there, does anyone have thoughts on living in a nearby town such as Oakland and commuting to SF for residency? I would love to stay in the SW so we're close to home and because of the dryer, warmer temps, but again since DH is applying to a competitive specialty with less than 100 programs to choose from, we're going to have no choice but to cast a wider net than I would prefer.

There are quite a few places that you can live in and commute to SF. If you'd like to know more about the East Bay (ie Oakland, Berkeley, etc) I am your girl. I lived in Oakland for college, DH in Berkeley and later together in Alameda. Alameda was kind of a hidden secret of the East Bay (very quaint retirement & families primarily). We really loved it there. PM for more info if you are ever interested.

-C

[bokelley]

Even in our famously mild year around climate here,

Is my husband paying you to say this? He keeps pushing for NM and wanting me to just love it as much as he does. I think you guys are working together. hahaha

[oceanchild]

Now CA is definitely a place I could see ourselves settling once DH is finished with training. In fact I wanted to ask you guys about Sacramento and Loma Linda because those are two places that have programs and the COL didn't seem too outrageous. Also, there's a couple of programs in SF, but since COL is so high there, does anyone have thoughts on living in a nearby town such as Oakland and commuting to SF for residency? I would love to stay in the SW so we're close to home and because of the dryer, warmer temps, but again since DH is applying to a competitive specialty with less than 100 programs to choose from, we're going to have no choice but to cast a wider net than I would prefer.

Since others have chimed in about Sacramento and SF, I'll add my two cents about Loma Linda. It's on the fringes of the LA metro area, and while it's cheaper than closer-in LA, it's still expensive. Personally, I don't think it's a very nice area. Really hot desert, and it seems to get the worst of the LA smog without any of the LA benefits (like being close to the ocean, at least for me). My DH interviewed there and didn't like the strong Christian bent of the program, but your mileage may vary.

And when we didn't have a car in DC, we bought a "granny cart" and walked to the grocery store. After the first year we got a car and resumed driving to get groceries, although I'd often still walk to grab a quick loaf of fresh bread or small things.

[alison]

It's funny because alison considers her location to be walkable, I definitely did not consider it walkable when I lived there and the bus system is truly lacking. If you could get to the CalTrain you could easily get up to San Francisco, that was nice but I definitely needed my car while I was there because of my job. The first 3 years we were there DH probably could have lived without one because of his bike but once we moved to the cottage we lived in the last two years we both needed cars. I could totally see how alison makes it walkable from where she lives though and there are both apartments and houses in her immediate area that would make it possible.

What about the campus shuttle? Dd and I don't take it much, but it seems like it goes quite a few place now.

Dd and I walk to downtown on a regular basis, to Town and Country and sometimes over to California! Of course, we aren't bound by jobs and school, so I can see where a car is necessary here. The signals drive me nuts. They're so long and obviously not timed. And you can only drive a max of 35 mph. Crazy town...

Just my two cents but.... I was born and raised in Oakland and I actually did my undergrad work in San Francisco and commuted for about 2 years. My sister still commutes daily between the two. Now it's not the worst commute ever but I don't know how great it would be through residency. I don't know what specialty your husband is applying to but I know that being close to the hospital makes a HUGE difference for us right now with my husband's crazy call schedule, I can be there in 2 minutes. As far as the weather goes I don't think you can get anything better than the Bay Area. I have lived in the Southwest (not where we are currently) for quite awhile now and the 300 days of sun drive me nuts, I would kill for some fog! But that's my own personal bias. Also, the East Bay is still much more expensive than other places in the country. PM me if you have any specific ?s about the area!

[MDPhDWife]

I have lived in the Southwest (not where we are currently) for quite awhile now and the 300 days of sun drive me nuts, I would kill for some fog!

LOL, that is EXACTLY why I love the SW sooo much! Not that I like to be "in" the sun, actually the opposite I'm terrified of skin cancer, but more so due to the adverse effects cloudy dreary days do to my mood. I know I definitely suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder so if we end up someplace without a lot of sunshine I'll need to look into buying one of those light things.

Where in the SW are you currently living?

BTW, how long is the commute from Oakland or Alameda to SF?

[MDPhDWife]

Since others have chimed in about Sacramento and SF, I'll add my two cents about Loma Linda. It's on the fringes of the LA metro area, and while it's cheaper than closer-in LA, it's still expensive. Personally, I don't think it's a very nice area. Really hot desert, and it seems to get the worst of the LA smog without any of the LA benefits (like being close to the ocean, at least for me). My DH interviewed there and didn't like the strong Christian bent of the program, but your mileage may vary.

Hmm, I had read at SDN that Loma Linda (the town) had a strong 7th Day Adventist community, but I overlooked it. I didn't realize that was also part of the program as well. Being agnostics, I also have concerns about being an outsider in the next place we live because we won't be meeting people at church.

We actually just moved to Albuquerque and we love it! But I have lived in Arizona, Texas and Colorado as well, all in areas in the "Sun Belt." Don't get me wrong, Northern California isn't Seattle or Portland but you are going to have to put up with rain, particularly in the winter which is really different than the Monsoon patterns you get in the Southwest. My sister commutes to the south end of the City, and UCSF is more in the middle but during rush hour she says it can take her at least an hour. They are building a new Bay Bridge and the construction is currently making things worse. He could always take BART but that can take awhile as well, it's just less hectic because you aren't the one driving! I completely understand having a smaller pool of places to pick from. There just aren't a lot of spots in some specialties and you have to be willing to go where he gets in. Ultimately we only ranked places where we thought we could live happily for awhile, which there weren't all that many of. But we ended up in a place we both really like. (my poor malamute mix might disagree right now but I keep promising him that eventually the mountains will have snow on them!)

[MDPhDWife]

Ah, another new New Mexican, that's 2 in one week lol! Welcome to the Duke City, we should get together after you're done with your bar exam!

[madeintaiwan]

Hmm, I had read at SDN that Loma Linda (the town) had a strong 7th Day Adventist community, but I overlooked it. I didn't realize that was also part of the program as well. Being agnostics, I also have concerns about being an outsider in the next place we live because we won't be meeting people at church.

Loma Linda is a Seventh Day Adventist school/system. Our friends did medical school there. They didn't complain about the religion [they are LDS]. Their biggest gripe was about the school and library, ect being closed on certain days and there being certain rules and stuff that made accessing the school when needed more difficult. Maybe it's not be the same for the hospital. DH interviewed there for ortho. As someone mentioned, it's the desert. Kind of away from everything. For him, having grown up in the Pasadena area, he was not digging Loma Linda. I remember their benefits package kind of sucked too. Not that that is a deal breaker, but it was another reason to rank Loma Linda lower on our list.

[bokelley]

What about Denver, Seattle or Phoenix? I don't think anyone has said anything about them or maybe I missed it.

[scrub-jay]

What about Denver, Seattle or Phoenix? I don't think anyone has said anything about them or maybe I missed it.

I think Oceanchild touched on Denver a bit - but I can attest too, it is not a very high cost of living city. Then again, I am comparing to the Bay Area. We are going to rent a house in a nice part of Denver for about the same price that we paid for a tiny basement apartment in the Bay Area. Denver is sunny sunny sunny!! We've lived here for just about a year.

[alison]

Seattle is cheaper than the Bay Area and SF by far.
Summers are glorious, it's greener than the Bay Area, and you can ski within 45 min. of the city!