Affordable Mid Sized Area? (Sacramento, Bakersfield: home equity, homes, transfer to)

[jetsjoe]

Is there truly any affordable, mid sized (no less than 50,000 pop) areas that are not small/ rural and has a decent amount of ammenities in Cali? Being near the coast is not important. Just not out in the middle of the desert?

[Winston Smith]

Look to the San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys, roughly Bakersfield to Redding. The I-80 corridor might have something for you, too.

[Steve97415]

Originally Posted by jetsjoe

Is there truly any affordable, mid sized (no less than 50,000 pop) areas that are not small/ rural and has a decent amount of ammenities in Cali? Being near the coast is not important. Just not out in the middle of the desert?

"Affordable" is a slippery criterion that has an individual meaning for each buyer. Most Californians would think that a half-million dollar property -- if it's not an absolute shack -- would meet the "affordable" designation. In some areas, homes selling for well over a million are "affordable" within the relative value range of the local market. Some people from the Midwest can't imagine paying over $150,000 for a nice home with a big yard. A lot depends on where you're coming from and what kind of home equity you can transfer to your new purchase.
Based on my own calibration of buying power, I will opine that there is no affordable mid-sized town that has the classic mild Mediterranean climate that so many people want. You might find something in the desert, in the eastern mountains, in the hot central valley or up on the foggy north coast. But if the climate is no different than what you can find in Oregon or Arizona, you have to ask yourself "why California?"

[Caliguy2007]

Bakersfield is a Mid-Sized area and has a population of over 300,000 and is considered affordable by California Standards.

But if Bakersfield is not to your liking,their are still many other Mid-Sized Towns/Cities in the Central Valley.

Originally Posted by jetsjoe

Is there truly any affordable, mid sized (no less than 50,000 pop) areas that are not small/ rural and has a decent amount of ammenities in Cali? Being near the coast is not important. Just not out in the middle of the desert?