How do the middle class survive in SoCal? (Los Angeles, San Diego: apartment, foreclosures)

[dougnaie]

Originally Posted by SandyCo

And I also agree. It's so difficult to get used to all of the changes, most of them NOT for the better. It would almost be better if I had moved here from somewhere else a year or two ago, because then I'd have no idea what I was missing. I don't want to give up everything familiar to me; this area has been home all of my life. However, I don't see that I have a choice. What really scares me is the knowledge that once I leave, it's almost a certainty that I'll never be able to move back. I know, I know, why would I want to? It's still scary, though... (Can you tell that I don't deal with change well?)

I hear you! It's like one day I woke up, looked around, and had no idea where I was! We are very fortunate to live in a lovely area of Long Beach. The bad thing is that we are surrounded by an ever encroaching lower income population. I live next door to the house I grew up in, where my sister still lives. I find it shocking that the only apparent option is to move out of state. I also fear the move out can't come back syndrome...but, as you say, why would I want to come back? I do not deal with change either, but change we must or we are going to go down with the ship.

[Angel Bear]

This is the trade-off for a lower income person, married to a teacher (also lower income) here in L.A. You all want this to be your future? Our plan is to move away.

Fastfilm, I highly respect you as a person...You write with much honesty. But, what you are talking about when you write about life in L.A. is your own personal truth. Sure, many share your opinions about how hard life is in L.A., etc. But, it's not surprising 'cause this is a message board that is about relocating. So, chances are some of the folks here are not going to be happy about where they currently live. I myself am not happy where I currently live, but I don't let it drag me down. The economy is supposedly bad here. There's wind gusts of 40 mph as I type this with freezing rain. Also, my state has one of the country's highest numbers when it comes to foreclosed homes. But, as I write this, I also have much to be grateful for. I have tons of equity in my house, good retirement savings for a person in their 30's, and my husband and I do well financially with our salaries.

So, yes, my 'sunny attitude' does serve me quite well in life. I have so many good things constantly coming to me If I can do this, anyone can Yay! Law of Attraction and quantum physics rule!!! Hell yeah!!!

I just realized though that this post is about the middle class. I'm upper middle class. Plus, I can afford to live in Orange County Even so, I appreciate your information and opinions, Fastfilm. You tell it like it is...Well, what it's like for you

Blessings...and Peace...

[LivingLikeAGradStudent]

Of course the middle class can survive (and thrive) in greater Los Angeles. Talking anecdotes: Friends (M/D/two teens) live in a perfectly ordinary home in La Habra on one grocery-store salary. Do they have Lakers season tickets? No, but they see concerts at the Hollywood Bowl and spend time at the beach in Corona del Mar. And they adjust to their surroundings rather than moan about the changing demographics. Optimistic people can make any situation palatable.

[Stevedr83]

Originally Posted by LivingLikeAGradStudent

Optimistic people can make any situation palatable.

Big difference between optimist and pacifist. Sometimes you have to dig in your heels and fight to survive. People in SoCal for years have put up with overcrowding, political correctness, immigration issues and so forth, things are beginning to come to a boil. You can only push people so far before they fight and fight they will. They will fight with the vote, they will fight with their wallet and if pushed to the extreme they will fight with their fists.

[fastfilm]

I wanted to back up my assertion about Sigalerts. It was contested as an urban legend actually meaning significant alerts, but my original info is correct: a local radio executive named Sigmond invented the term. The following link explains not only this, but why Los Angeles, out of all major cities in the U.S., needed a system beyond mere reportage of traffic accidents: major snarls on our widespread but interconnected freeway system means a traffic accident 30 miles away will affect your commute, and you MUST plan for same or be hours late.
http://www.snopes.com/autos/hazards/sigalert.asp

[hedgefundpirate]

considered taking a job in the LA area at large law firm but cost of living and crime just seem to be out of control.Cali also has outrageous income taxes for those who work and dont try to sponge off the state.I think the California dream is pretty much over.Florida is even with the hurricanes just a much better place to live.Miami is exploding in growth as California everyone seems to be running for the exit.

[socal06]

I lived in Socal for 30 years. Now I live in Concord/North Bay.
There definatly is a heavy burden for the middle class to survive in Socal. Especially the newcomers. Some might have had a home before the prices exploded, and then sold that one in exchange for a larger home elsewhere.
Its no joke when we say that most of the middle class barely has enough money to live on after all the expenses; Especially the ones with larger families. The reason most of them stay here?
Its California.

[marilyn220]

Originally Posted by Des_Demona

Yes Perdu you're exactly right! There is SO much to do in Southern California but you cannot do any of it if you are middle class or lower due to the fact that you're just trying to "get by" financially. I have a super strict budget where I can do one fun thing per month like go to the movies but that's about all my living expenses can afford me. I can't take advantage of the cool things and fun places the area has to offer because of costs and especially because of traffic. You'll waste an entire day of your weekend just trying to GET somewhere so you can do something fun and it takes the fun right out of it. There IS plenty to do in LA and California in general but it's the getting the money to get there and then the getting there that is the hard and very depressing part.

Oh my God Des, I CAN'T STAND TO WATCH THOSE ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMS THAT SHOWS THE RICH AND HIP HANGING OUT AT THESE VERY EXCLUSIVE CLUBS!! You don't know how many times people from back east call me up asking have I been to any of them yet. I have to tell them these clubs are guest list only. It's complete bull****. I hate to go on my "I hate LA" rant again, but other than the nice weather I can't say **** nice.

It also appears that many of the REAL down to earth people like yourself are leaving the city. Fastfilm seems cool too, but I guess he feels honor bound to stay here for some reason. LOL

[marilyn220]

Originally Posted by fastfilm

Sample trade-offs personally to keep up with L.A.'s inflation: the first thing I gave up ten years ago was ever paying for parking- I'll walk 15 blocks out of my way and use the meters to save. Then I gave up all clothing replacement except for thrift store, discount or resale. Then gave up all clothing replacement. Then gave up movies, then movie rentals. Then I gave up ever dining out, and made excuses to all friends. This is the trade-off for a lower income person, married to a teacher (also lower income) here in L.A. You all want this to be your future? Our plan is to move away.

Good Fastfilm, I was worried about u there for a sec!

You wanna hear two funny, but awfully true stories:

I was let go from a year and a half long temp assignment two months ago. My goal was to collect unemployment until I could find a job. I filed for unemployment online THE WEEK that my assignment ended. I knew Cali unemployment kept the FIRST WEEK'S benefits, so I thought I was going to get a check for the SECOND WEEK. Not. I waited THREE WEEKS for them to tell me that I wasn't going to be getting a check for that SECOND WEEK, because they couldn't keep my FIRST WEEK'S benefit because I made in EXCESS of my weekly benefits. I was like "WTF??" I had to wait ANOTHER THREE WEEKS TO GET PAID.

Do u know how I was surviving? Living off my **** credit card!!! It had an $800 balance, but by the time I received my FIRST check, I had exceeded the $2000 limit. Paying bills and buying food (very low cost).

Here's my SECOND HORRIBLE STORY with Cali unemployment:

Luckily for me my old temp job called me back to work until close to Christmas (thank you God). I knew I wasn't going to get anything for the SECOND WEEK, but I still filed claim for the FIRST WEEK. Do u know what these *******s did???!!! They said I did not sign my MY ORIGINAL FORM and needed to sign a DUPLICATE in order to get paid!!!! I was livid! I KNEW I SIGNED THAT FORM, BECAUSE I ALWAYS SIGN THAT **** FORM!! Not only that, I had spoken to another person who this happened to a week prior to my mailing out the form, so of course I paid EXTRA attention to my signature. THEY SCREWED ME OUT OF MY MONEY ON PURPOSE!!

And yet ANOTHER reason to hate good old California.

In deep contrast, NYC unemployment makes you file your claim once a week by phone, then deposits your money on a Chase debit card two or three days after. You're never without your money, can pay your bills on time and don't have to use your credit card to survive. No, I'm not going back there, but if Cali is so rich why can't they implement the same technology?

[Dennis P]

Originally Posted by hedgefundpirate

considered taking a job in the LA area at large law firm but cost of living and crime just seem to be out of control.Cali also has outrageous income taxes for those who work and dont try to sponge off the state.I think the California dream is pretty much over.Florida is even with the hurricanes just a much better place to live.Miami is exploding in growth as California everyone seems to be running for the exit.

I lived in Orlando for a few years when I was a youngster. With that in mind, I hang out a lot in the Florida forum just to see what has happened to the state since my family and I moved back here to California in the early 70s. The general consensus seems to be that there are just as many unhappy people living in Florida as there are here in California. Their complaints seem to be high homeowners insurance (due to recent hurricanes) and the same issues here, such as heavy traffic and crowds. Well, I wish you all the best in Miami!

P.S. Do you speak Spanish? Also, make sure you get lots of bug spray.