Hiring Bid FAA-ATO-19-ALLSRCE-61676

[SIXTY-NINE]

Good to know! Bummer about the LA location. Is the Oakland location pretty bad too?

Oakland is NorCal lol... I've heard from other controllers that you have to be okay with living in poverty until you CPC because rent/cost of living is so high.
AG pay is like $60K there, highest AG pay (that I've seen) but in San Fran $60K/yearly is peanuts.

There's no amazing place to live as an enroute controller in California unless you're willing to commute an hour minimum.

I went to both of the centers when I was roadtripping through CA in the winter with my sister and both seemed very meh to live near, if you REALLY want to live in SoCal I'd go terminal if you could.

 

[Mr.Tickles]

Does an ATC make enough money in SoCal to live comfortably? I’ve always loved it over there. Great burritos.

If you're go En route and end up at ZLA then yes, very easy to live comfortably.

Additionally there's plenty of decent places to live around the center that are 30 to 40 minutes. Plenty do commute an hour plus but it's all perspective and what you want. Within an hour of ZLA you can live in small town USA, mountain towns, desert, country living, suburbia, and basically everything in between.

Plenty of people live in the Lancaster/Palmdale area. It's not the best but it's far from the worst and it's affordable for a trainee. If you're not a big city person you'd probably prefer it to anywhere you'd have to commute an hour or more anyhow.

 

[ShortGuy]

Oakland is NorCal lol... I've heard from other controllers that you have to be okay with living in poverty until you CPC because rent/cost of living is so high.
AG pay is like $60K there, highest AG pay (that I've seen) but in San Fran $60K/yearly is peanuts.

There's no amazing place to live as an enroute controller in California unless you're willing to commute an hour minimum.

I went to both of the centers when I was roadtripping through CA in the winter with my sister and both seemed very meh to live near, if you REALLY want to live in SoCal I'd go terminal if you could.

In the back of my mind I’ve always wanted terminal so hopefully it works out. Would love to end up in mid-SoCal. Thanks for all they California insight!

 

[SIXTY-NINE]

In the back of my mind I’ve always wanted terminal so hopefully it works out. Would love to end up in mid-SoCal. Thanks for all they California insight!

No problem! You can always ask to switch from Enroute to Terminal (but no guarantees lol)

 

[SIXTY-NINE]

If you're go En route and end up at ZLA then yes, very easy to live comfortably.

Additionally there's plenty of decent places to live around the center that are 30 to 40 minutes. Plenty do commute an hour plus but it's all perspective and what you want. Within an hour of ZLA you can live in small town USA, mountain towns, desert, country living, suburbia, and basically everything in between.

Plenty of people live in the Lancaster/Palmdale area. It's not the best but it's far from the worst and it's affordable for a trainee. If you're not a big city person you'd probably prefer it to anywhere you'd have to commute an hour or more anyhow.

That's true but the guy said he wanted to live in SoCal- don't think anyone would consider Palmdale/Lancaster to be "SoCal" in particular

 

[Mr.Tickles]

That's true but the guy said he wanted to live in SoCal- don't think anyone would consider Palmdale/Lancaster to be "SoCal" in particular

True but plenty of SoCal is available within a shortish drive. Not to mention there's a massive difference in pay starting at a level 12 vs a level 6 or 7 in the SoCal area. It's also personal preference really.

 

[SIXTY-NINE]

True but plenty of SoCal is available within a shortish drive. Not to mention there's a massive difference in pay starting at a level 12 vs a level 6 or 7 in the SoCal area. It's also personal preference really.

Yep- if you're willing to drive and pay out the nose California is a great place to live haha. He wants to go Terminal but I guess it's up to luck if he gets terminal or enroute.

 

[Mr.Tickles]

Yep- if you're willing to drive and pay out the nose California is a great place to live haha. He wants to go Terminal but I guess it's up to luck if he gets terminal or enroute.

No joke there. I didn't realize commiting an hour plus in stupid traffic everyday was normal for some people until I moved here. I didn't even know enroute was a thing until I started this process but it never hurts to ask if someone wants to switch.

 

[kshaky]

Does an ATC make enough money in SoCal to live comfortably? I’ve always loved it over there. Great burritos.

Absolutely!
Personally, I only have and want to live in expensive cities. I grew up in SoCal, was a broke college student living in the Bay Area (NorCal), worked my first job out of college in Seattle, and most recently lived in NYC for a year. It’s perfectly doable with certain sacrifices. You might not be able to drive the newest car or buy a 4-5 bedroom house like you could in Indianapolis or OKC.

If Tower/TRACON yes. If En route, the nearest facility to LA is an hour away in a military town in the desert. (It's not nice there lol)

and LA is not really what people would consider "SoCal" anyway.

I think Palmdale is a great area to have the center. You are an hour from the beach and most of the LA attractions. Palmdale is on the cheaper side and fairly safe.
I’m not trying to start beef with you lol but LA is definitely what Californians consider “SoCal”. If I had to throw out a definition “SoCal” is Santa Barbara to the Mexican border and “NorCal” is the Bay Area and Sacramento. I’m not saying it makes sense but that’s my experience living in California for 22 out of 25 years of my life.

 

[SIXTY-NINE]

Absolutely!
Personally, I only have and want to live in expensive cities. I grew up in SoCal, was a broke college student living in the Bay Area (NorCal), worked my first job out of college in Seattle, and most recently lived in NYC for a year. It’s perfectly doable with certain sacrifices. You might not be able to drive the newest car or buy a 4-5 bedroom house like you could in Indianapolis or OKC.

I think Palmdale is a great area to have the center. You are an hour from the beach and most of the LA attractions. Palmdale is on the cheaper side and fairly safe.
I’m not trying to start beef with you lol but LA is definitely what Californians consider “SoCal”. If I had to throw out a definition “SoCal” is Santa Barbara to the Mexican border and “NorCal” is the Bay Area and Sacramento. I’m not saying it makes sense but that’s my experience living in California for 22 out of 25 years of my life.

No beef intended lol.
I asked someone at ZLA how many of the controllers lived in Palmdale itself and he said < 30%,.. make of that what you will. There are far nicer places to live than Palmdale.

Yeah my perception of SoCal is skewed. I consider everything south of LA to be "SoCal" with the exception of Santa Barbara, but your definition is probably more accurate.

Bev/ the Hills are their own beast and completely different just because of the affluence.

I just don't want people to move to Palmdale and think that "SoCal" was a big fat lie because Palmdale is a military town in a desert and didn't expect commuting 50+ miles to reach other places worth visiting lol

 

[kshaky]

No beef intended lol.
I asked someone at ZLA how many of the controllers lived in Palmdale itself and he said < 30%,.. make of that what you will. There are far nicer places to live than Palmdale.

Yeah my perception of SoCal is skewed. I consider everything south of LA to be "SoCal" with the exception of Santa Barbara, but your definition is probably more accurate.

Bev/ the Hills are their own beast and completely different just because of the affluence.

I just don't want people to move to Palmdale and think that "SoCal" was a big fat lie because Palmdale is a military town in a desert and didn't expect commuting 50+ miles to reach "SoCal" places that are actually nice to visit lol

Yeah, I think you are right. Most people have no idea what they are getting into with any location they are getting “assigned” to and the pricier the less it makes sense to move their blind. It is a wild ride.

 

[ShortGuy]

I grew up in Southern California spitting distance from Irvine.
For 700 a month you are not living any closer to the beach in Long Beach than you would in Irvine unless you found a particularly good deal.
You are correct in that most people in Southern California commute but commuting from Long Beach to anywhere in Orange County is a terrible idea. My dad does this commute and it is often about a 3 hour round trip commute. Better to just spend the money on local housing.

Is Ventura County and Orange County as expensive as LA County? They all seem pretty close so I assume they all have similar downsides.

 

[SIXTY-NINE]

Is Ventura County and Orange County as expensive as LA County? They all seem pretty close so I assume they all have similar downsides.

It really depends on the city-
LA County has both Hollywood and Compton.

OC has Garden Grove (admittedly not poor but not middle class) and Anaheim (the city is rich because of disneyland/tourism there)

Very unlikely you'll live there if you're enroute because you'd have to commute THROUGH Los Angeles from south of LA and back and that's like a 3 hour commute one.


Working at long beach airport and living nearby seems like a pretty sweet gig for the location though.

 

[aircooledcorey]

I'm kinda curious on how many more of us are left from this bid waiting. It seems like most are already in.

 

[jschulte76]

Still waiting... Completely cleared. Still waiting. Cg is my rep.

I'm kinda curious on how many more of us are left from this bid waiting. It seems like most are already in.

 

[homer4589]

I'm kinda curious on how many more of us are left from this bid waiting. It seems like most are already in.

still waiting. all cleared according to my rep

 

[ClearanceClarence]

I'm kinda curious on how many more of us are left from this bid waiting. It seems like most are already in.

Wow, this was my bid, and next week will be a year since I arrived in OKC. Crazy that people are still waiting.

 

[5600k2]

Still waiting, I have cleared medical but haven't heard anything about security yet.

 

[SIXTY-NINE]

Wow, this was my bid, and next week will be a year since I arrived in OKC. Crazy that people are still waiting.

I thought the earliest class date was in January for the 2019 bid? Were you CTI? Do you work at a facility now?

 

[HokieHi]

Wow, this was my bid, and next week will be a year since I arrived in OKC. Crazy that people are still waiting.

This bid hasn't been open for a year. June 2019