Maybe moving from Washington State to Monterey area--need opinions! (Albany: apartment, income)

[Porthos]

I’m a single, 30-something fellow north of Seattle, Washington, and I’m considering moving to the Monterey Peninsula area in 2008. I wanted to get some info from anyone who lives there or has, such as:

•what’s the usual utilities cost for a 1-bedroom place in the area each month?
•any areas to stay out of due to crime, weather, astronomical rent, etc.? I think I’d love Pacific Grove, but would also consider Monterey and Carmel (Pebble Beach probably will be too $$$--I'm looking to spend not much more than $1k a month for rent.)
•What are the main social differences in the area, if any?
•Is there any time of year that's better for trying to land a job? (my background is mostly admin & financial work, including some background in tourism and medical fields).

Any and all info or pros/cons opinions about the area would be much appreciated

[bye bye cali]

Hi Porthos

I've lived in Monterey county for most of my adult life but as you may guess from my loggin name I'm leaving to be closer to your neck of the woods...Corvallis Oregon to be specific. Anyway to answer your questions, I'm guessing utilities to be under $100 for a single person in an apartment. Any of those areas, P.G, Monterey, Carmel are beautiful areas but I'd stick with Monterey and P.G due to proximity to jobs. I've heard traffic out of Carmel during peak hours can be a bear, but if you commute within Seattle our traffic may be small potatos to you. P.G is especially nice. It has a small town feel but is minutes to Monterey Carmel and Pebble.

I'm not sure about a best time of year for jobs but tourism is huge here and summer is our big tourist season. With your background you shouldn't have too much trouble. Pebble Beach Company always seems to be in the market for people with your background. Community Hospital is ever expanding also.

Good luck and if you have any advice about Oregon I'd welcome any feedback.

[Porthos]

Thanks for the info bye bye cali Coincidentally, the other spot that’s in the running with Monterey is Astoria, Oregon, which I’m going down to check out next month.

I used to live north of Newport, Oregon for four years and have been to Corvallis a couple of times. It’s about twice the size of Monterey and has a close-knit kind of feel to it. You can tell it’s a college town as soon as you get there, but it has a different vibe than most—must be the architecture, which is more of an old-fashioned hometown sort than most aggressively ‘modern’ collegiate areas. Given the area (another bigger-sized town, Albany, is about 10 miles away), there’s probably much more to do there than on the coast, or even in Salem (which seems to be sorely lacking in shopping/nightlife, etc. despite its 150k population).

If you’ve never lived in Oregon, though, be prepared for the mighty state income taxes. They’re one of the reasons I left there the first time, and now that I’m throwing around the idea of going back, it’s definitely something I’m taking into consideration on my pros/cons list. In any case, best of luck to you! I hope you like it.

Thanks again for your answer, and everyone else—keep the info coming!