brbbiking

I'm considering moving from the Seattle area, to a SoCal location, taking into account the following criteria/considerations:

- I have a wife and 3-year old son (I had my second bullet first, and then realized I was a really bad person)
- year-round (or close to it) cycling
- would like to find a software-related job at a major university (my background is a software engineer/manager at a major software company for 12 years)
- ideally, would like to find a reasonably safe bike commute route to work (don't mind if it's long, current commute is 30 miles roundtrip)
- would like to rent (probably at first) in an area that's not too expensive (relatively speaking)

My first thought was something like San Diego, thinking I would get nice weather (and not unbearably hot) most of the year. But I really don't know SoCal that well. Of course, finding a job might override many of the other decision factors.

Thanks for any input.

hsuehhwa

plus:

1. Santa Monica/UCLA: Santa Monica Mtn
2. Silicon Beach: Palos Verdes Hills
3. Irvine/UC Irvine: Newport Coast Hills, Laguna Beach Hills, Santiago Canyon...

TrojanHorse

I would probably find a job first and then worry about housing and commuting. The cost of living down here is stratospheric and will define how close or distant you will need to live. You can expand your possibilities with metrolink or even the light rail downtown.

You could probably map out all the UC campuses and Cal State campuses to give you some ideas where some of the larger Universities are located. USC is the largest private university in the area (just south of downtown)

It gets damn bloody hot down here all over the place but the beach cities tend to run about 10 degrees cooler than the inland communities. And of course, the property values increase the closer you get to the beach, so there's that.

Tycho Brahe 

Why would you transition from corp to academia as a software professional? The pay will be much lower, but you do get better benefits. Much harder to get as well. Academia is a bit like the finance world in that they like to employ those out of school and those already in the field. Hard to transition.

If you are set on academia, then I would just find the job first since the opportunities will be fewer. No point thinking of moving to San Diego when a good job is in Pasadena.

tinrobot

Generally, you can find good cycling just about anywhere in Southern California. It's more a matter of what general area you want to live and who will hire you. Generally, I'd advise living close to work, but since you're bike commuting that is a given.

If you want to work at a university, then map out the campuses and go from there. UCLA, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, are all good schools close to the beach. There's also the Cal State universities, and tons of private schools such as USC, Chapman, Loyola, Cal Tech, Pepperdine, etc.

Heading inland by more than 10-15 miles will make for hotter summers. Some cities/areas are more liberal/conservative than others, some will be more urban, some more spread out. Those may be a factor for you. There's also the subject of good school districts, commutes, cost of housing, etc.

You might want to come out for a week to have a look. It's a very large area, so it takes a while to wrap your brain around the various cities and counties here.

Dunbar

IMO the best bike commute on the west side is up/down the coast. You can spend half your commute (or more) on the beach trail with no worries about getting hit by a car. If you need to commute east/west living within 5-10min to Venice Blvd (bike lane the whole length) is what I would look for. Depending on the length of your commute you might want to consider an e-bike. I agree that you need to find a job first and so that you can make sure you rent within a reasonable bike commuting distance. Coming from Seattle I think you'll be shocked at how expensive a 2BR rental is on the west side / south bay.