Moving to Long Beach from South Carolina (Huntington Beach, Orange: apartments, rental) - City-Data Forum

mtwow789 · 03-20-2012, 11:06 PM

Hi all,

I got a job offer and planning to work Long Beach very soon. My work is near Long Beach Airport.

I am totally new to whole California area and I am wondering how a single male person at his mid-twenties live?

It seems that living cost and rents are much higher than SC. Is rent around $1100~1500 normal for one bedroom? I am looking to live at an apartment with 1 bedroom. Do people normally seek roommates?

How is the transportation? Do people normally commute to work via Buses? I am used to driving to work but if driving doesn't work because of traffic, I might consider living close to work. Other than, I don't mind driving 30 mins to get to work if I can get a good place to live.

Sorry if I am so oblivious, I haven't lived in big cities before. Anyways, thanks for your answers.

JohnG72 · 03-21-2012, 12:22 AM

Live in Long Beach east or south of the airport. Anything south of Lakewood Bl is great. Lakewood Bl to about Redondo gets a bit rougher, but still nothing bad. Lots to do in the area for someone young because of CSULB. Rent is correct. People do sometimes have roommates. I'd guess you could find a roommate situation in the area in a two bedroom apartment for around $750-850/mo each.

If you live in that area you will not need public transportation. Theres really no reason to live farther away than that portion of Long Beach or in Lakewood.

mayorhaggar · 03-21-2012, 07:42 PM

Long Beach is not really a big city, a lot of it is typical suburbia, sometimes with kind of a rough edge. Downtown LB and Belmont Shores feel more like a city though, with a lot of shops and restaurants in a walkable area. Also LB is pretty cheap by CA standards. Most young people in CA who don't make a lot of money live in small apartments like studios or they get roommates. I'm pretty sure I've seen shingle ads for 1br's in Alamitos Beach for around $900, and it's a pretty nice area. There are a ton of places with "for rent" signs in LB, you might find better prices just wandering around a neighborhood than looking on craiglist.

mayorhaggar · 03-21-2012, 10:19 PM

Also honestly the public transit isn't that great in Long Beach, there are several bus lines but they don't run that often--maybe every 30 minutes if you're lucky, which isn't really often enough to be useful. But if you lived near a bus line that could drop you off at work and it fit your schedule, it could be a good option just to save on gas, and at $1.25 a ride it's pretty cheap. LB is fairly small and compact (compared with somewhere like LA or the sprawl of Orange County) so I don't think you'd really have any trouble with traffic unless you lived in another city far away and had to take a highway to work every day--if you live fairly close to your job (like in Alamitos Beach or somewhere near the airport or whatever) it shouldn't take that long to drive to work.

Dennis P · 03-21-2012, 11:34 PM

This link from the Gazette community newspaper will give you an idea of what is available in terms of apartments and what the rents go for: Gazettes.com: Apartments And Homes For Rent

There are also a lot of apartments on Carson Street around the corner from Long Beach Airport and adjacent to Long Beach City College. Another option if you want to be fairly close to work is the Bixby Knolls area (zip code 90807). This is one of the nicer areas of Long Beach with many apartments available on Carson Street between Atlantic and Orange.

For someone in your age bracket, you may also want to consider the Belmont Shore neighborhood. Here's a website link for more information: Belmont Shore, Shop. Dine. Indulge. Shop Local.

It's also a really good idea to have your own car here in Southern California. The public transportation options here aren't all that great. Good luck and welcome to the neighborhood!

TurcoLoco · 03-22-2012, 11:05 AM

The realistic 1-bedroom apartment rental range for LB/LW area would be between $800 to $1700 where majority of them being around $950-$1200 range.

You probably would not want the lowest end ($800+) as these would be at a not-so-great location, small and/or rundown places and not likely to come with a assigned parking space. As you go above $900, chances of finding a place with assigned (covered) parking space should be much easier.
I strongly urge you to find a place that offers its tenants an assigned parking space that is also gated/secured. Avoid places with only street parking!

At $1000 and above, you should have no trouble finding apartments at attractive locations. As you go up in $, you can also find the ones that offer a garage even which was a must for me since I have motorcycles and also needed the extra storage.

Most places will come certain kitchen appliances but you can always negotiate to get more if you cannot negotiate to lower the rent. My place had washer-dryer hook-ups but didn't offer one. I got them to lower the rent $45 /month and also had them throw in a full size washer and dryer which is a huge plus. Believe me, after sharing 3 washers and 2 dryers with 15 other tenants for 2 years due to close proximity made me realize how nice it is to have them in your own unit. You should at least accept to get a decent size fridge. My current place has stove/owen, fridge, washer-dryer. No dishwasher but I never use one so it was no problem. My own mikrowave. Also look for nice bonuses like newer counters tops, carpet/floors, tiles, tub and ceiling fans, especially if the place doesn't have AC.

Welcome to So Cal and Good luck!

PS. Ignore Wing, he is exaggerating probably just to scare you. Yeah we got bums in certain areas but they are quite harmless.
Long Beach is a cool town, I have never felt like I was in any danger and I have been to shady parts too.

mayorhaggar · 03-22-2012, 06:21 PM

Pfft, Long Beach has plenty of nice and safe neighborhoods. Yeah it's not Mayberry but it's better than other parts of SoCal. The Southern US has plenty of crappy areas, and lots of poverty.

JohnG72 · 03-22-2012, 08:53 PM

Moderator cut: see note

Long Beach has good and bad areas. What city of 500,000 people doesn't have bad areas.

Belmont Shores is one of the nicest places in the entire United States. The swath of Long Beach between there and Lakewood is pure middle America. Downtown is exciting and upcoming. Wrigley is nice blue collar. Bixby Knolls is very nice upscale.

DinsdalePirahna · 03-22-2012, 09:27 PM

Long Beach Is Great (Check out Belmont Shore)
Seal Beach and Huntington Beach are also very close

detractor · 03-22-2012, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

Long Beach is not really a big city, a lot of it is typical suburbia, sometimes with kind of a rough edge. Downtown LB and Belmont Shores feel more like a city though, with a lot of shops and restaurants in a walkable area. Also LB is pretty cheap by CA standards. Most young people in CA who don't make a lot of money live in small apartments like studios or they get roommates. I'm pretty sure I've seen shingle ads for 1br's in Alamitos Beach for around $900, and it's a pretty nice area. There are a ton of places with "for rent" signs in LB, you might find better prices just wandering around a neighborhood than looking on craiglist.

IMO, Alamitos Beach is definitely the best bang for your buck if you don't have kids in Long Beach. It is about a 15-25 minute drive in to the airport depending on the time of day.

Also I'd recommend for anyone looking to move anywhere, walk around the areas as much as you can to get the true feel of the neighborhood and decide if you like it. What one person on the internet likes, may be what you can't stand.