username.exe

Leucadia for me... sleepy little surf town that could have dropped straight out of the fifties. Lovely.

Whenever the subject of Carlsbad (or North County towns in general) come up in discussion, family members get uptight as 'it's not how it used to be years ago... so many more people now'.

So what? It's still beautiful!!!

Richard92024

I'm a Brit now living in Encinitas.
As others have said, why not look first in Carlsbad or the closely neighboring cities? (Encinitas, Oceanside, Vista).
All these areas are great... I would definitely recommend NOT commuting further than you need to.
La Jolla is a real pain to get into and out of (a long drive once you're off the freeway).
Welcome to sunny California!

Moses2013

Great area, but what about house prices?

bewildering

Encinitas/Cardiff, Leucadia, Solano Beach or Carlsbad. All great places. All on the coast. All have many apartments or townhomes to rent.

Forget La Jolla. Too far.

Personally I would just get a place in Carlsbad.

gad33

Haven't been on here in ages so interesting to see a post about moving to where I live.

The suggestions made already are very good for living in Carlsbad, Encinitas and associated areas or Oceanside. Will you be renting or buying - if buying I can recommend a great realtor that we worked with.

With the places mentioned you can live close to the beach or inland and I agree with JSmith about the difference in daytime temperatures between inland and coast.

We only have one car because we sold one when we moved and as I don't work we decided it wasn't necessary to replace it. I can walk to the beach, supermarket, bank, library, post office, but as DH rides his bicycle to work most days I usually have the choice of driving or walking anyway.

We have been here nearly 3 years and I love it. I have very quickly become a wimpy Californian and anything below 68 degrees is cold and at 65 I'm donning my thermals.

If you do make it out here it will certainly be an experience and there are plenty of "Brits" in the area who can help with questions.

Ozzidoc

It seems the OP has been scared off.

I agree with the above posters, BTW.

Aansell

Hello All

Digging this thread up from the grave it seems! Firstly thanks very much for the replies and suggestions it’s really appreciated, sorry I haven’t been able to respond sooner.
A quick update, Everything here at work/with the relocation became a bit chaotic and was pushed back until April next year So that's given us a bit more time to get sorted thankfully.

We've decided that choosing one of the towns/cities suggested in North County SD would be best solution as suggested by many people in this post. I also had the opportunity to visit Carlsbad/Encinitas/Oceanside and a few of the neighbouring areas which gave me a good idea of what the region is like.

We’re going to start with a single car until we find our feet and perhaps then invest in a 2nd motor if needed. I’d personally like to start cycling to and from work, I was pleasantly surprised to see cycle lanes in almost every area I went! I didn’t expect that at all.

Just currently trying to work my head around the whole tax system. Federal/state allowances etc which I believe we can’t claim the first year we’re in the US? What happens if we rent our house back in the UK etc etc Definitely going to have to get someone to help us with the forms for the first year!

Marc_ely

You can claim allowances in the first year. Once you have an SSN (which you need to go on payroll) you are entitled to allowances etc.

You should try and find a tax accountant that is familiar with the idea of you having foreign interests.
My accountant was able to claim for lots of relocation stuff and she also told me about ITIN numbers, which you will want to get if your wife can't work (visa). You can then claim them as dependents as a small tax break too.

I'm up the road in Orange county but if you want my tax accountants details PM me.

bewildering

I used to cycle before I had kids to get from daycare. There are a lot of cyclists and decent infrastructure. The climate is also ideal.

Taxes are not too bad. You can google fu any problems or questions.

kodokan

If you're coming on an L1 visa, which it sounds like with it being a transfer, then your wife will get an L2 visa; L2 spouses can get a SSN. I think it's just spouses, though, so you'd need an ITIN for your child.

Aansell

Yeah will be on a L1 visa so my wife will be able to get a SSN and EAD i believe its called for work purposes if shes chooses to. Not sure how it works with children, never heard of a ITIN number until now. Thanks for that.

Been trying to figure out income etc using the paycheckcity site, presumably we'd be filling married (jointly) even though my wife may not be working, and would i put 3 allowances? one for Myself, Her and child of just 2?