N.Y.C to CA [can someone give me the good & bad about living in CA] (Los Angeles: sales, condos)

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by meki089

Oh sorry about that I'm not very familiar with CA.. But, I don't want to be in an area of high crime, I'm trying to get away from all of that. I'd like somewhere affordable more to the middle class side. How's the areas in Oakland and San Fran?

Well, I guess it depends on what you consider "affordable"! The Bay Area is extremely expensive, so even our middle-class neighborhoods are very pricey. If you want something affordable by our standards, and in a safe neighborhood... I'd suggest looking at the Richmond district in San Francisco, or Sunset district, Cow Hollow, SoMa (South of Market), Potrero Hill, Lower Nob Hill, and possibly Upper Haight (fun place, but crime is iffy). Outside of San Francisco itself, I'd consider Berkeley, Oakland Hills, Alameda, Pacifica, and parts of South San Francisco & Daly City. Rent for a 1-bedroom apartment in these areas will run between $1100-1500+, which is considered "standard" pricing around here. Go to the website "sfbay-dot-craigslist-dot-org" to check out rental prices, and I can advise you on more neighborhoods if you find anything.

Oh, and here's a list of towns & neighborhoods to avoid, if crime is your biggest concern:
In the city of San Francisco - Bayview, Hunter's Point, Tenderloin, Lower Haight, Excelsior, Visitation Valley, Lower Mission/Civic Center.
Outside the city - East Oakland, Emeryville, East Palo Alto, Colma, northern Daly City, San Bruno (parts are okay, I guess), East Redwood City, San Leandro, San Lorenzo, most of Hayward.

[meki089]

Thank you, giz, you're helping me out alot. How well do the jobs pay?

[meki089]

...anyone Else With Any Advice?

[Need_affordable_home]

Let me offer advice. Firstly what is the price point where the three of you can afford a house? Lets assume you each make $50k a year, youll have $150k a year to pool. Using that figure, id spend no more than $400k on a house, ideally under $300k. I also am a (freelance) graphics designer(self employed) its a fun occupation, sir I have searched LA and theres nothing good for $300k(trust me you dont even wanna look) and even for $500k its kinda iffy. San Diego is cheaper, you could get a nice 2/2 condo for $300k but to share 2 bedrooms with 3 people? Im sure there are 3/2 condos for $400k and probably a few for $300k in less desirable areas.

Lots of good deals in far north CA, but theres not as many jobs and could be a long(er) commute. Many vacent lots for bargin prices, some with lake or even ocean views! I personally am interested in a certain area with affordable oceanview lots. You will need to install septic($10k cost) and build a house(the three of you can do it yourselves to save mucho money) I would love to live in CA, especially the northern part(less crime, traffic and pollution) Hope this helps, sir.

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by meki089

Thank you, giz, you're helping me out alot. How well do the jobs pay?

No problem. Salaries depend on which industry you work in, but they're generally better than most of the country... minimum wage is currently $7.50/hr, and will be raised to $8/hr next January (2008). Obviously our strongest job market is the tech industry, so these jobs usually pay very well - anywhere from $40-100K and UP. To give you another example, my profession (librarian) pays about $10K higher here than in a state like Oregon... we range between $45-65K for a mid-level librarian position, whereas other states pay about $35-55K. It still doesn't quite balance the cost-of-living, but it eases some of the pain. What job field are you in?

[meki089]

Originally Posted by gizmo980

No problem. Salaries depend on which industry you work in, but they're generally better than most of the country... minimum wage is currently $7.50/hr, and will be raised to $8/hr next January (2008). Obviously our strongest job market is the tech industry, so these jobs usually pay very well - anywhere from $40-100K and UP. To give you another example, my profession (librarian) pays about $10K higher here than in a state like Oregon... we range between $45-65K for a mid-level librarian position, whereas other states pay about $35-55K. It still doesn't quite balance the cost-of-living, but it eases some of the pain. What job field are you in?

Web & graphic design.

[greatbasinguide]

Question, because of high housing prices, is there any renewal of the bad neighborhoods like Oakland, Hunter's Point, East Palo Alto? Seems that there is a huge area of undervalued properties. If not now I would think that it would not be far off.

[dusesean1986]

Originally Posted by meki089

People recommended moving to INLAND EMPIRE, RANCHO CUCAMONGA, SAN BERNARDINO, RIVERSIDE, CARSON, LEIMART PARK, LONG BEACH.

Is L.A really that bad..


*MICKEY

The city of Los Angeles has numerous rough areas, but many people when referring to the county, refer it as Los Angeles. This is a greater area.

The Inland Empire is huge, I would check out places such as Norco, Corona, Yucaipa, Redlands, Mira Loma, Diamond Bar, Claremont, San Dimas, Chino, Claremont...keep doing research.

Leimert Park is very ghetto, if you are an African American and don't mind, it's an excellent place to live.

San Bernardino, don't go there. It's become South Central of the Inland Empire.

Riverside, has many ok spots, and many not ok spots. It's a very nice area, unfortunately parts have scoured by gang members, even though the neighborhood looks peaceful.

Rancho Cucamonga is a very nice place to live in the Inland Empire, it has only a few rough spots.

I would stay away from Carson if I were you, and Long Beach is 1/4 positive, and much of it is very dangerous.

You've got to continue researching with this site, if you felt my information was helpful, click rate this post positively below my quote, that's the way of thanking me. I hope that helps, sorry if not everything was covered, happy to answer anymore questions.

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by greatbasinguide

Question, because of high housing prices, is there any renewal of the bad neighborhoods like Oakland, Hunter's Point, East Palo Alto? Seems that there is a huge area of undervalued properties. If not now I would think that it would not be far off.

I've lived in East Palo Alto for 2 years, and it's still pretty bad... we've had 3 murders on this BLOCK since I got here, and I supposedly live in the "good" neighborhood. Total murder count for EPA during this time is about 16, and it seems to be rising slowly. They've been trying to fix it up, by adding the new shopping center (IKEA, Best Buy, etc.), Four Seasons Hotel (which is basically in West PA), and some nice new condo complexes. It's certainly improved since the '80s, but we still have a long way to go! Fact is that the "bad" people need to live somewhere, and if it's not here or East Oakland, they'll just end up in another town. Sad, but true.

P.S. Keep in mind that EPA only has a population of about 23,000, so 16 murders in 2 years is really high!!

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by meki089

Web & graphic design.

Well, we're the right place for that! The Bay Area is the original "Silicon Valley", so we have an abundance of tech-related companies. The job market isn't as good as it once was, but I think it's still pretty strong. Some of the biggest companies are here, like Hewlett-Packard, Google, Electronic Arts, Sony, Apple, Oracle, Sun, eBay, Netflix, and so on. If you like the idea of working for this type of company, I'm sure you could find some openings... also tons of smaller web-based companies around, which can pay quite well. If you ended up working in Silicon Valley, I'd suggest living in the South Bay - San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Mountain View, etc. This would make for a much easier commute, and it's also a nice area to live!