My family moved from Southern California to New York when I was in middle school. Here are 9 reasons why I moved back to the West Coast after college.

• Born and raised most of my life in Southern California, moving to New York was a culture shock.
• Despite my love for East Coast seasons and its rich history, I found myself yearning for my roots.
• When deciding where I wanted to go after college, the clear choice was to head back to SoCal.

The saying goes, “West Coast, best coast,” for a reason.

I was born and raised in Southern California until I was 13, when my father’s job uprooted my family to a small town outside New York City. The move was a shock, to say the least.

Yet, as much as I missed the SoCal sun and the proximity to extended family, I came to fall in love with aspects of the East Coast, even choosing to move to Boston for college. I was drawn to the East Coast’s vast history and captivated by the changing seasons.

But as graduation loomed, so did the choice of where to move. My family, who had trudged through years of New York winters, had found their way back west. It was up to me to figure out where I wanted to be as I started my career. 

There’s fierce debate about which coast is better and I love them both for different reasons, but when it came down to it, I chose the West Coast. So, following graduation, I found myself on a plane away from the Boston cold and back to the SoCal sun. 

Here’s why I couldn’t resist the opportunity to head back west.