Appologize in advance...another C.O.L. and "Where to live" question. (Los Angeles: sales, apartments)

[eagle06]

Hello,

My wife and I currently live in the Denver area and although we love it here I am facing a lay-off in January. Currently I'm in the early stages of looking for other opportunities. Because the Denver area is so nice, there's not too many other places in the country where we'd consider living. California could possibly be one.

I hear so many differing opinions on the cost of living in CA. Even on-line calculators differ in equivalent salaries. I know housing is the most expensive factor but we aren't in any hurry to buy a house. I also know there are people living all over CA that don't make 6 figures so I don't want to rule it out just based on fears that if you don't make $250k you can't live in CA.

Cost of Living:

Between the two of us we only make $58k. While it's tight, we live ok here. We live pretty simply...outdoor recreation is our thing. We're happy with our 1000 sqft apartment that I pay $1300/mo for. Our entertainment consists of working out, trail running, mountain-biking, camping, and going out for coffee/dinner.

I'm looking at a company that has offices in the Los Angeles, San Fransisco, Santa Barbara, and San Diego Areas. Estimated salaries are LA:$56k, San Francisco: $66k, Santa Barbara: $62k, San Diego:$56k. I assume my wife could find a job earning $30k. So depending on the area we're looking at $80,000-$90,000 between the two of us.

Where to Live?

Currently we live in a wonderful little town about 25 minutes from Downtown Denver. It's close enough to be a suburb but because of the foothills it's really a seperate, independant city. It's a beautiful little city with a walkable downtown for coffee/restaurants, nice rec center, a river running through it, and literally minutes to trails/mountains. We have a nice 1000 sqft apartment here.

I know it is an extremely general question but I'm hoping you can help steer me in the right direction. Is it reasonable to even consider CA with an income like that, in a city/suburb like that? Basically, close enough to commute to these cities for work/entertainment but in a suburb or neighboring city that would have affordable housing. And since outdoor recreation is so important to us it would have to be close to either mountains or the coast. I'd assume it's probably cheaper to live closer to the mountains than the coast. If I had to drive an hour and a half to get to the beach but could throw my bike on my car and be at a trail in 20 minutes I'd be happy.

Sorry to bring up another COL/Where to live thread but I really didn't find an answer elsewhere.

Thanks for the help.

[sav858]

If you live simply and don't mind renting a 1 bedroom apt for $1300 then any of those areas should work, except for maybe Santa Barbara. You can live in the suburbs of LA, SF, or SD for that much. SD is the "cheapest" out of those three and you can live within a mile or two of the coast for $1300 in SD in the city and not far out.

[eagle06]

Thanks sav858. I'm trying to look at rentals just to get an idea but I don't know anything about the areas. Where would you suggest I start looking?

[uptown_urbanist]

Yes, assuming you don't have extremely high amounts of outstanding debt I think it's fair to say that you could live a decent life on that income in CA. Rental prices aren't that bad in most places; it's when you want to buy that the housing costs go crazy. It's not safe to assume that you'll both be able to quickly and easily get a job, though. If you make the move with only you having a job lined up then make sure that you can live for a long time on just one income.

Take a look at Pasadena, depending on where in LA your job is located. Close to lots of nature (great views of the mountains), beautiful, nice apartments (and even small houses) that aren't extremely expensive, walkable, lots of restaurants and coffee shops, and is both a job center itself as well as is an easy commute to downtown LA.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by eagle06

Thanks sav858. I'm trying to look at rentals just to get an idea but I don't know anything about the areas. Where would you suggest I start looking?

If you want to be near the coast in SD I'd suggest Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, Mission Beach, La Jolla (might be out of your price range though), University Town Center, Carlsbad, Solana Beach, and Encinitas. I think you should be able to find a one bedroom for around $1300 in all of those communities. I'm more familiar with the coast but anywhere inland will pretty much fall into that price range.

In the Bay Area I'd look into the East Bay, I haven't lived there in a while so I am not quite up to date on current rental prices but I grew up in the Walnut Creek/Lamorinda area, which is suburban but very nice with lots of open space nearby for hiking. I think $1300 should be able to get you in a place in that area.

[bhcompy]

You can survive like that. My family survives under 90k renting a 40 y/o 2bd apt w/o A/C. What we pay in rent here would have gotten us a nice 3bd+ house in Highlands Ranch, and the wages were essentially the same for our lines of work. Keep in mind income tax at your level is 9.55% and sales tax is much higher than you're used to(though I guess Denver County is around 7%, but LA County is 9.75%).

[eagle06]

bh...if you don't mind, where in SoCal are you?

[MtnSurfer]

Wow, Golden is a sweet area. While living in CO I really enjoyed visiting there with my family. And you are far enough away from the city to not have to deal with that scene and croud, unless of course you commuted to downtown.

Anyway, it is hard to answer generally as there are so many factors, primary dealing with your likes/dislikes and potential job location within the various cities in question. Commutes times will play a huge role as traffic can be really bad/crazy depending on how far you live from work. But I'll give it a go.

It really depends on what part of CA you like the most. I mean CA is a huge state which tends to be more, dry and desert like in SoCal. The further north you go the more green and wide open spaces you get. So although I am originally from the LA area I much prefer to the central and northern part of the state now. IMO it is like comparing say Pueblo (or further south - maybe Albuquerque) with Golden in terms of climate and natural beauty.

I love the outdoors including the mtns and coast. So while I lived in LA County at the beach (Torrance) I took a lot of drives up north to my favorite parts of the state - The Sierras, Tahoe, Big Sur, Santa Cruz. Now don't get me wrong SoCal has mtns where I also did a lot of hiking skiing and snowboarding. But those mtns just don't compare to the High Sierras - kinda like comparing SPAM to Tritip or Primerib for ppl who love the mtns. And while the SoCal beaches are nice in that the water is warmer, they are also more crouded and polluted. So I preferred the beaches north of Santa Barbara to get away from the scene and into the trees along the coast.

And the same thing happened when I lived in CO in the Spring. I used to spend hours in the car driving from CS through Denver just to get up into RMNP because I loved being in the Rockies with the high apline lakes and hiking trails. Thats why I thought Golden would be a great place to live closer to the park.

IMO if you can find a decent job up north in/near SF and then live in the outskirt areas that would be my first choice. Although it is the most expensive you are closer to a lot of really cool outdoor opportunities including Big Sur, Monterey, the Coastal Redwoods, Yosemite, Tahoe, etc... And while the traffic in SF is crazy it doesn't take as long to get into beautiful nature if you head toward the coast.

If I had to live in SoCal again I would have to look at each option on a case by case basis.
1. Where is the job?
2. How far is it from the places I really want to live?

I refuse to work anywhere near downtown LA or on the Westside for example. So that would narrow it down for me.

And of course everyone has their preferences so as always YMMV,

Derek

[eagle06]

Derek,

Yeah..we love Golden. I'm hoping we don't have to leave.

Based on what I'm learning so far I think the Bay Area may suit us best. It looks to me like that area has the most to offer as far as natural beauty. The beaches in SoCal may be warmer but we've outgrown the "beach" scene. I grew up on Lake Michigan so I love the boating and beauty of beaches and water but we don't enjoy going just to lay out and swim. I think I'd get annoyed with the whole SoCal Beach scene.

Is it as foggy in the summer as I'm reading on-line or is it still pretty sunny. That's one of the big things we love about Denver is the sunshine.

[nmnita]

You will find most of Ca very different from Golden. This might not be all bad, just different. If you do have a choice on where to work and live in Calif, mentioning those you did I would suggest SAn Diego first. Then Los Angeles.
Nita