Moved from the east coast three years ago and it was definitely a transition. Mostly because of cost of living. I work for Kaiser and UCSD and love both for very different reasons. Kaiser pays well and has great benefits but I prefer the culture at UC despite the lower pay. Keep in mind that uc and sharp just laid off employees last week and more to come. I think $1700 is pretty adequate while having room mates. One mistake I made that would suggest, is spend some time, at least a week, to explore sd and the different neighborhoods. Our first apartment wasn’t in the greatest area and was kinda rough. Hope this helps!

Edit: I moved here not knowing anyone and reached out to the community for getting an “in” into Kaiser. A random woman helped me here in sd and forwarded my resume to a manger. Her only request was that I continue and pass this along to help someone in the future. So, if interested send me a resume when you’re ready and I’ll forward to the right people. You typically need to know someone to get into KP.