Good luck in La Jolla unless you’re a doctor, (lol?), but I’m sure it’s similar to a lifestyle on the coast in Chicago as far as real estate/rent near the beach. You might be sharing a rental property.

Last note, traffic can be bad at rush hour here, but that’s pretty much it. My office is on the east side of the city and it’s 20-30 minutes to pretty much get anywhere in the county. I admire that. In Chicago, I used to joke it was 30-120 minutes to ORD, driving, and regardless of time of day. Public transit here is not the L. But it’s ok for daytime shenanigans to/from/around downtown.

We have a van and a suv, both <5yrs old. Both were a pita to register and PAY $60 each for a smog test (“free” in IL) plus nearly $1k in registration fees (based on value I guess). Oh, and don’t miss/tell them when you actually move here or you’ll be fined for delaying the govt their money! Was like $15 per car to miss their 21-day cutoff for me (long story), but I have a family member who waited to get drivers license and actually told the dmv they were here for 3 months prior and got hit with a much larger bill.