Want to move across country. How do I do it?

San Francisco is great, but super expensive. US$1700.00 will barely get you a studio, maybe a room in someone's house, no bs. I know you said the universe will help you choose, but there are places where it's easier to move to than others. Knowing some people in your target city will help. Making friends in SF is not easy, I actually think NY is easier, IMO. Anyway, the first you need to think about before you move anywhere is what you really *need*. Keep your favorite books, donate the rest, and so on. Last time I moved I made a list: Need to keep/Would like to keep/Don't need to keep. Based on experience, I'd suggest for you to find a job first, then move. I hope you'll move to a great place, take care. :)

I've lived in both SF and LA, and if you're choosing between the two for fashion LA would be a no-brainer [FWIW, for my temperament, SF is much more social than LA, but my friends in fashion/design say the opposite. I've never "gotten" NY, so I feel very definitively that people can have "a coast" or "a city" that fits them like a glove, and there is no rubric that we, the internet, can use to tell you which one will be your glove]. I moved to LA from DC with no job, but this was during the economic collapse in 2008 when it seemed that no one had any jobs, so unemployment wasn't a bad starting point. I had about 6 months of hand-to-mouth existence money, and was unemployed for 8 months. The experience was... not good, so, yes, to join the chorus, seek work first and do whatever you can to convince yourself to move only after you've secured work. Even if it's work you intend to leave once you get your feet on the ground in your new city, finding work is the least stressful when you already have a job. Moving across the country is expensive. I had few belongings, but getting what I did have from DC to LA ran me about $1,000. I found a van line that saved me a few hundred $ by mixing my stuff in with other peoples' stuff, so instead of a solid arrival data I got an arrival date range. Six years later, it cost almost three times that amount to move from LA to SF with considerably more stuff. Moving: it's expensive at any scale. In retrospect, I was very (very) foolish, but I was much younger and the whole affair had a distinct air of adventure. I was aware of the probable hardships and went anyway, a decision I can't quite say I still understand now that I have a home and a dog and all that. In any case, save as much as you can before you move. Remember that you'll have to find new everything: new doctor, new dentist, new good neighbor who will tell you if someone's been messing with your apartment door, new cheap food joint, new bus lines, new traffic schedules, new... you k now, it just goes on. Life is generally more expensive when you don't already know all these good people and places and things and that tends to catch people off guard.

On the California side of things, I can say that the job market in SF is much better than the job market in LA. SF is ludicrously expensive, but Oakland isn't, er, quite as bad. More expensive than LA, for sure, and for the price you'll probably find a smaller place. You can expect to see 30-40 people at some apartment viewings, too. It's that much harder to find a place if you don't have a job lined up, and some places even want you to have been at your job for a while if they're going to accept you (because they're jerks and they can get away with that). Also, having just completed my own long-distance move, bear in mind that it's hard to look for apartments when you don't live there already; you don't know the neighborhoods very well, and you have to either take a lot of trips there to view apartments, or you have to stay at an AirBnb while you're hunting. That all adds up, so take that into account ahead of time when you're budgeting for stuff.

It's really pretty risky to move without a job these days. It sounds great on paper to save up 6 months of living expenses and land a gig when you arrive. But then you have a potential 6 month gap in your résumé and no insurance or income in the meantime, which might make it even harder to find a job. Personally I wouldn't risk it.

NYC, definitely. If you want to keep your car, look into Jersey City.

I've lived in all four cities, and love all of them for different reasons. Are you going to be working remotely/for yourself or looking for a new job? If continuing your current work, what's your budget for rent? Portland is obviously vastly cheaper than NYC, and LA is a little cheaper than SF. In terms of the lifestyle you want, I'd vote for NYC. Interesting things happen in SF, but NYC has many, many more all the time. And much of SF shuts down early at night. I think New York is much more fun for a social person. And way better for fashion, no contest.

My only solid tip - start getting rid of stuff right the heck now (the less junk to schlep, the better).

I would strongly caution you against Portland. Four thousand people a month are moving in, and is causing chaos in the housing and job markets. A friend of mine just got notice that in October the rent on her two bedroom apartment will increase from $850 to $1,900. If you're set on portland, be prepared for it to be an intense hustle with little margin for error. Line up rock solid housing and a signed job offer. Don't count on it being cheaper than the other cities you're looking at.

Just to clarify @three_red_balloons, I plan to find a full time creative job with another company in the new state while also still running my own business. What resources have you all used in finding a job in a new city? Through old networking contacts, from Alma Mater, job sites, LinkedIn, word of mouth, etc? I'm currently saving up for last minute flights for interviews, and plan on staying with friends when I apartment hunting and for interviews.