Anyone live in or know about Downey? (Long Beach, Huntington Beach: middle-class, cheap apartment)

[nodeal]

I'm looking to possibly move to Downey California. I am looking for a decent, ethnically mixed, middle-class neighborhood. My business partner is moving to Bell, so I am looking for a middle-class neighborhood in reasonable proximity to Bell. I read an older post about Downey and some people said it's "ghetto," while others said it is quite nice. I would love to get some more up to date opinions on the area.

If anyone has any other middle-class neighborhoods with homes that are in the same median price range as Downey, and are relatively close to Bell, I'd love to hear them. Thank you

[BennyPhoenix]

Downey is not ghetto. It has it bad areas like many cities do though.
Ethnically mixed it is not. It's mostly latino. It was not that long ago mostly white, still quite a few whites there.
It's the closest you can get to Bell without living in a bad area. Other areas you may consider are Whittier, La Mirada, La Habra, La Palma. Those have some nice places to live, but they are a bit farther.

[nodeal]

Originally Posted by BennyPhoenix

Downey is not ghetto. It has it bad areas like many cities do though.
Ethnically mixed it is not. It's mostly latino. It was not that long ago mostly white, still quite a few whites there.
It's the closest you can get to Bell without living in a bad area. Other areas you may consider are Whittier, La Mirada, La Habra, La Palma. Those have some nice places to live, but they are a bit farther.

Thank you for your reply.

I am white with a latina fiancee soon to be wife. I would not mind living in an area with latinos and white. I am concerned mostly about trashy people / environments - regardless of ethnicities. Of course I do not want to feel like I am the only white person around, but if it is (for example) a 70/30 mix of latino/white, I am ok with that.

[BennyPhoenix]

Depends on the area of Downey.
Drive around. Walk some of the neighborhoods and talk to people. I find people there to be generally nice.
Some areas you will be the only white person there. Most of the whites there, from what I've seen, are generally older, they've been there decades and aren't moving.

[Chowhound]

I haven't been to Downey in a few years. I remember it being a notch above the surrounding areas.

[JohnG72]

If you are concerned about ethnic mix, la Mirada, east Whittier, Fullerton, buena park, or Lakewood might be better fits.

Wikipedia demographics info shows as of 2010 census Downey was 17% non Hispanic white. I'm guessing that population was largely made up of seniors, many of whom have probably now kicked the bucket. The other cities I listed have larger mixes of people, but are further.

That said, I'm white, also with a Latina wife, and I'd have zero issue living in Downey.

However given the choice, I'd be more likely to live in Lakewood or bordering parts of Long Beach. IMO more entertainment and cultural options, way better food options in Long Beach, and proximity to outstanding beaches in Seal Beach and Huntington Beach. It would put you further from Bell though.

[recycled]

I like Downey. Everything you need for day to day living is within the city or nearby. I know several people that live in Downey and have visited countless times. There are a lot of good looking neighborhoods that are well kept, meaning the residents have pride in where they live.

Downey has a pretty healthy central business district. It is not all boarded up like you see in some cities where big box stores and malls have gutted what is considered the downtown area. Downey also has a farmers market every Saturday morning downtown. They have a big selection of vendors with good fresh foods of all types at reasonable prices, and it brings in a lot of shoppers.

The one thing that I would caution about is Downey is literally boxed in on all 4 sides by some busy, congested freeways. I would not want to live close to any of those highways due to noise and dust / particle pollution.

[Pennychaser11]

I live in Downey and I'm asian. Not bad but not great either but I do like the city. Is it ghetto? Not sure about that. It used to be real ghetto back in the 90's when NASA left and area went bad. But it's been in slow improvement over past 20 years. DUSD is still a good school district. Of course it doesn't compare to other excellent schools like the ones in cerritos but it's still good/decent. I see alot of ghetto when drive through some real ghetto areas on the way to work in culver city. Downey has its share of 'ghetto' and majority of ghetto people appear to be renters. Geographically it's an ideal location; central to oc and dtla. I see more educated preople moving into the area lately and prices aren't cheap either. Sure apartments are cheap but home prices are up there. I've rented out my 3+3 townhome for $2100 and that was couple of years ago. I think I can get 2200-2300 now. You will find million dollar mansions and cheap apartment complexes in Downey. But so far I do not mind living here since 2009. It's majority hispanic, but big chunk of them can pass as whites and median income is in the $60k+/yr range which is pretty good for a city with 110k and about 50% renters. Overall I see it becoming better area in general.
I love the fact that Downey has easy access to fwys. I used to live in many areas like ktown where fwy access was far and I hated it.

[Andrea44]

Downey isn't "ghetto " at all. I don't know why people say that. It has apartments for rent as low as $1,400 and a nice suburban area. Plus, there is a Porto's bakery!
Downey is close to Bellflower and Norwalk, also decent areas.

[eureka1]

Does Richard Carpenter still have his studio there?