Affordable places to live in Ca. (San Diego, Oceanside: sale, rentals, condo)

[NorthernCalifornia]

Nope, sorry!

But if you want to find places to look, try getting a map. Find cities on the ocean. Google. It's really not so hard and the west coast is not built-out like the east coast. There is often dozens of miles between towns on the coast.

That said, you might try Pacifica.

[humboldtlove]

i agree with everything dragonslayer had to say about humboldt. its possibly the most beautifulest place on earth. all of the northern california coast is beautiful and cheap. try in mendocino county: fort bragg, mendocino city, willits, ukiah. in humboldt: ferndale, mckinleyville, arcata, fortuna, garberville. even cresent city in del norte county is gorgeous and cheap. you could also try santa rosa in sonoma county is you like it warmer than its northern neighbors and a little larger.even look into lake county.ive also heard that marin city in marin county is cheap, but im not sure on that one. try all the towns on the coast from crescent city to a little north of san francisco. you may be amazed

[wannabecooler]

Originally Posted by hello47

Hello, can you please suggest some nice affordable towns in Ca. near the ocean for a family to live?

Iam on the East Coast and just trying to get ideas of other areas. So far all the cities in Ca. I have found seem very expensive and I'm not really sure where to begin looking. I appreciate any ideas and suggestions. Is there any nice areas with homes around $350k ?

Thanks

You can look in the high desert (Joshua Tree or Twenty Nine Palms) or central valley. Housing prices are falling, I think it is safe to say, all over California. You could find a nice, modest home in that price range, especially if you were willing to look around. Fresno and Clovis are a couple of places to look. Don't know what you do for work, but we are growing. It is hot here-over 100 in the summer. Fog in winter. Lots of orchards. About four hours from L.A. You can go out to a number of tiny towns that are basically migrant towns and buy cheaper, but most people don't want to live there and meth labs are probably more plentiful in the outlying areas as well.

[ShastaLiving]

Redding, Ca is not coastal (we're over 3 hours from the Oregon coast) but we do have gorgeous lakes and rivers here - we're right by the big Lake Shasta. People move here because they can still live in California and afford a very nice home - unlike other areas in the State our median home price is under $280,000. Our population is 90,000 so it's not super busy. We're the second sunniest city in the nation, we do get some HOT days in the summer (specially in July & August) but it's really nice the rest of the season. We have some really good schools and are attracting more jobs every year with business like Trader Joe's & Kohl's coming in to town. Redding is becoming trendier in many ways, the downtown is revitalizing with the newly remodeled Cascade Theater, hot new restaurants, new shopping stores and so on. We moved here from San Diego and would do it all over again! You can get an idea of house prices at our website...http://www.jeantetrealestate.com/search_results.cfm
and you'll also find a link called "resources" - check it out for more links on jobs, demographics, etc.
Best wishes to you!
Chris & Maria
Redding CA

[DMenscha]

Give Calaveras County a look.

Calaveras County California Gold Country, Wine Country, Big Trees, Sierra skiing, Yosemite vacations

[pupsavr]

No offense to Dragonslayer but I lived in both Arcata and Eureka and it is a very depressed area. The economy is depressed and the amount of homeless people in town is staggering due to the methadone clinic and highest welfare pay-outs in the state. I worked for the city of Eureka for several years and would not recommend this area to anyone particularly if you have children. There are very few options for "wholesome" entertainment. If anyone is considering living in Humboldt County they REALLY need to visit first. In regard to the rain...the first three months I lived there, there was some kind of precipitation every single day.

[Zapparulez]

There are not affordable places to live along the coast. I am currently shopping around in Shasta County. Check out Redding or Cottonwood areas. The heat sucks in the Summer, but there is plenty of recreational things to do. My favorite place in the world is at Whiskeytown Lake on an island connected by a sandbar we named "Mikey's Island" in honor of my dad when we used to go boating there back when I was a kid. You're also an hour away from mountain fun and 3 hours from the coast.

It's a good place to raise a family if you like the rural setting. I've lived all over California and there is no place sweeter in my mind...if you stay away from the crappy areas. lol You could also try Coos Bay in Oregon...very cheap and the area is beautiful. But for $350k you are much better of buying in Shasta county, you'll get more bang for your buck.

I would also suggest waiting until mid-2009 as by that time the price decline will be just about right for buying. If you can secure a 30 yr fixed with 20% down that is.

[Arabian]

OK, so I am considering a move from the Peninsula (Way too expensive) to near Redding for a job. I have seen postings about Redding and it doesn't sound too good. Are there any places within commuting distance (an hour each way at most) that are neat, artist communities, either near the coast, near Oregon, East or South? Is Ferndale or Arcata too far? What is Weed like?

[Arabian]

If you had a choice between a job in Palmdale, Redding or Vallejo, where would you go if you want to buy a small horse property where you could actually ride for a distance, pay around 300 to 600K for it, have decent schools, intellectual and artistic people within an hour drive or less, a great city within 2 hrs. drive, and the most natural beauty? Which one would you pick?

[David Aguilar]

First off, I don't personally subscribe to the "good schools" theory, but I'm sure they could be found in any of the three.

Don't know about horse property, but would imagine it would be very hard to come by anywhere near Vallejo. It'd be much easier and cheaper in both Palmdale and Redding.

I think what you mean by "intellectual and artistic people", would be most easily found in Vallejo, because of the proximity to SF/OAK. Palmdale is more of a commuter town, and Redding is a small city in a rural area. I don't quite see the sense in driving an hour (or at all) for "people". I guarantee people are the "same but different" everywhere.

Palmdale is about an hour+ from Los Angeles.
Vallejo is 35-45 min from San Francisco.
Redding is more than 2 hours from Sacramento (not sure if Sac is a "great city" or not), and is more than 3 hours from San Francisco.

Palmdale is desert with a mountain backdrop. It is natural beauty if you appreciate desert.

I don't remember what Vallejo looks like, but I would imagine is flat with some hills nearby and close to the bay.

Redding is flat, but with mountains off to the distance if you look N, W and E.
In my opinion, the most beautiful of the three.


Considering your criteria, I'd choose Palmdale, it is the most balanced based on your needs.