Cheaper places 3 hrs from LA (Los Angeles, San Francisco: condos, high crime, houses)

[rasman]

I will be moving to LA from Chicago. Good opportunity (~150-160K) My parents are also considering so-cal. But do not need to be too close to LA. (2-3 hrs from downtown) They want to be close to the grad kids and have little reason to stay in Chicago. Where can they live that is safe, afforable and good for retirees. They have about $350K to spend on a 1-2 bdrm unit. Keep in mind they can be 2-3 hrs away (non-peak driving hours). North of LA is preferred.

[ibarrio]

Acton or Tehachapi. Maybe some areas of west Palmdale or Quartz Hill. No to Lancaster. The Antelope Valley is very spotty with high crime and section eighters.

[Rats]

Running Springs or Lake Arrowhead

[Desertho]

The Coachella Valley, ie. Palm Springs area is just 2 hours away. Condos in the areas high-end places (Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, La Quinta and parts of Palm Springs) go for 350K.

Half an hour closer to LA is the semi-rural San Jacinto-Hemet area. They are also 350K including houses.

They're all east of the city though. Remember too that Santa Barbara, Bakersfield and Barstow is less than two hours away so you're covering for a really large area.

[hgclyde]

Palm springs-Coachella Valley area is good areas for retirees but it is relatively expensive as builders have been building more and more golf course communities , Look at Palm Desert, Desert Hot Springs, Indio and Coachella. North of LA there three areas:Bakersfield,Rosamond-Tehachapi-California City, and Victor Valley.

Bakersfield is fast growing area (140 miles from LA). There are 3 places to look SW Bakersfield area clean safe, especially at Seven Oaks Country Cub (which is active adult community)and Mc Allister Ranch Golf Course. In NE Bakersfield near Lake Isabella, several development are being built City in the Hills, Four Seasons Bakersfield and Solera at Kern Canyon planned communities. And Arvin SE of Bakersfield also decent area. Bakersfield is big city(about 300,000) and have the amenities that comes with city living:Shopping, business centers, entertainment.

Tehachapi, Rosamond and California City are towns east and south of Bakersfield. These are small communities and affordable; many who don't like the big city ways of Lancaster and Palmdale live here. And Homes in this area on 1/2 acre lots and larger.(Rosamond is about 100 miles from LA, Tehachapi is 125 miles and California City is 145 miles north LA) This area has some amenities shopping,dining hospitals Residents Tehachapi and California City go to Bakersfield; while people who live in Rosamond go to Lancaster and Palmdale.

The Victor Valley is in High Desert on the way to Las Vegas via Interstate 15 is another fast growing area. It consist of several communities theres issues it is similar to Palmdale and Lancaster area with plenty of homes to go around issues of traffic and crime; however there are desirable areas in Oak Hills,Baldy Mesa; Pinion Hills,Phelan and Mariana Ranchos which are quaint rural areas most below the mountains and away from hustle and bustle of Victorville, Apple Valley, Adelanto and Hesperia. Like Tehachapi ,Rosamond and California City many homes are on acreages 1/2 acre lots and larger. Victorville , Hesperia and Apple Valley has most of amenities for high desert living (jobs area slow in coming most still work down the hill in Ontario, San Bernadino, Riverside , Corona let alone LA and Orange County.) Victorville is 85 miles from LA, Apple Valley is 95 miles, Hesperia is 75 miles and Adelanto is about 85 miles from LA

Hope this helps.

[adysmom]

Originally Posted by ibarrio

Acton or Tehachapi. Maybe some areas of west Palmdale or Quartz Hill. No to Lancaster. The Antelope Valley is very spotty with high crime and section eighters.

With 350K to spend you can forget about Acton.

[LivingLikeAGradStudent]

You can still buy a small condo in the Ojai area for less than 400K, although why someone would want to move from Chicago to be three hours from relatives I don't get.

[jdavid93225]

For the amount of money they are looking to spend on a place, they will likely need to be 2-3 hours from L.A. This is not necessarily a bad thing.

I would say that one key factor in making their decision should be climate. The Central Coast area of California probably has the most temperate climate, rarely dropping below 35 degrees in the winter, and rarely exceeding 90 degrees in the summer. I don't think there are any other coastal areas closer to L.A. that would even come close to their price range. They could probably find a decent place for $350K in the Santa Maria area, though it may be a condo or a manufactured home. My in-laws are there and they live in a nice manufactured home in a nice retirement community. I don't think that anything in their area would exceed that price.

If they don't mind the heat of the desert, there's the Antelope Valley (safest on the west side), the Victor Valley, or the low desert areas of Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Cathedral City, Yucca Valley, and so on. These areas are either to the northeast of L.A., or east to southeast of L.A. Summer temps reach about 120 on the hottest days, and winter lows drop into the teens at times, occasionally lower.

There are also mountain areas around L.A. that are affordable. The area near me, around Frazier Park, is nice and definitely has places within their price range. There are actually several communities in the immediate area: Lebec (~3500 ft.), Frazier Park (~4500 ft.), Lake of the Woods (~5000 ft.), Lockwood Valley (~5200 ft.), Pinion Pines (~6000 ft.), Cuddy Valley (~6500 ft.), and Pine Mtn. Club (~5500 ft.). The climate is much more temperate that in the surrounding valleys, at least in the summer, when it is rare that temperatures exceed 100 degrees. The winter is another story. Some winters are very mild, and the temperatures stay above 10 degrees or so. Other winters have numerous nights in a row where the temperature is in single digits, sometimes preceded by a minus sign. This depends largely on where you are on the mountain. If you don't mind the four season climate, and can live with snow and ice in the winter, this is a great place to be. Some other mountain areas to consider are Tehachapi and the surrounding communities, Wrightwood, Big Bear, Lake Arrowhead, Running Springs, Idyllwild, and probably a few more I'm forgetting. These areas are between L.A. and the previously mentioned deserts, in most cases.

Lastly, there is the Central Valley. It is basically farmland, but has several cities in it. The closest place there that comes to mind is Bakersfield. The climate there gets hot in the summer (up to 115 degrees), and cold in the winter (20 degrees).

[rasman]

You all have been very helpful. Jdavid, you have been very helpful and a bit shocking. The temps you described are very close to chicago weather. Even on the coast. Were these temps in F or Celcius? I would have thought so-cal would be warmer than that?

[Desertho]

BTW, if you live 3 hours north of LA, you're 2 hours south of San Francisco. This website has a rundown of median home prices (May) of condos and homes in the 5-county SoCal region. DQNews - Los Angeles Times Zip Code Chart