trying to get under the sun (Los Angeles, Long Beach: low income, section 8, apartments)

[arsvn]

what's the cheapest place to live in (rent) in the greater LA area? safety isn't a criterion, i'm from newark NJ so the "hood" means nothing to me, as long as it's not the PJ's. as long as i can get a job, pay the rent, and see some money from my last check still in the bank, i'm good. I'm mainly trying to get away from the winters and be in year-long motorcycle weather. however, it'd be great to be in a place with some culture good for an 18-20 year old, and i'm allergic to places that aren't big cities (or at least metro regions).

if the greater LA area isn't viable, then what is? california preferred. nothing obscenely 'southern' either. the south makes me nauseous.

graci

[yamota]

nah should be no problem

[linden52]

You might like Long Beach. When you compare the rental prices in Long Beach to other parts of Los Angeles County you'll see that Long Beach has some fairly inexpensive places to live. Of course, there are expensive places to live in Long Beach too. That's one of the things I like about living here is the diversity in cultures and income levels.

For two good places to look for apartments go here;

www.ernstandhaas.com
www.pabstkinney.com

Long Beach California Vacation & Travel Center : Hotels, Attractions and Vacation Travel Planning

Originally Posted by arsvn

what's the cheapest place to live in (rent) in the greater LA area? safety isn't a criterion, i'm from newark NJ so the "hood" means nothing to me, as long as it's not the PJ's. as long as i can get a job, pay the rent, and see some money from my last check still in the bank, i'm good. I'm mainly trying to get away from the winters and be in year-long motorcycle weather. however, it'd be great to be in a place with some culture good for an 18-20 year old, and i'm allergic to places that aren't big cities (or at least metro regions).

if the greater LA area isn't viable, then what is? california preferred. nothing obscenely 'southern' either. the south makes me nauseous.

graci

[VLWH]

Originally Posted by arsvn

what's the cheapest place to live in (rent) in the greater LA area? safety isn't a criterion, i'm from newark NJ so the "hood" means nothing to me, as long as it's not the PJ's. as long as i can get a job, pay the rent, and see some money from my last check still in the bank, i'm good. I'm mainly trying to get away from the winters and be in year-long motorcycle weather. however, it'd be great to be in a place with some culture good for an 18-20 year old, and i'm allergic to places that aren't big cities (or at least metro regions).

if the greater LA area isn't viable, then what is? california preferred. nothing obscenely 'southern' either. the south makes me nauseous.

graci

What's wrong with living near Papa Johns pizza?

[arsvn]

LOL!

& thanks for the responses, i'll check the links out

[JohnG72]

Originally Posted by arsvn

what's the cheapest place to live in (rent) in the greater LA area? safety isn't a criterion, i'm from newark NJ so the "hood" means nothing to me, as long as it's not the PJ's. as long as i can get a job, pay the rent, and see some money from my last check still in the bank, i'm good. I'm mainly trying to get away from the winters and be in year-long motorcycle weather. however, it'd be great to be in a place with some culture good for an 18-20 year old, and i'm allergic to places that aren't big cities (or at least metro regions).

if the greater LA area isn't viable, then what is? california preferred. nothing obscenely 'southern' either. the south makes me nauseous.

graci

As low as $800/mo for a two bedroom along Western and surrounding streets south of the 10 freeway. I highly recommend not living there though. I suspect theres $400/mo places in the skid row area of downtown, but I'm not sure and you've gotta be nuts to want to live there voluntarily, if nothing more than due to the stench.

A studio downtown, if you qualify for the low income program(under $46K per year or something like that), runs $650/mo or so. Clean nice places, excellent location, easy access to very good public transportation.

I'm not sure its still the case, but up until about a month ago, people couldn't even move in(the building is newly renovated) because they did not have enough qualified tennants. I suspect theres an issue with qualifying due to criminal background issues. I also suspect people are upset the building does not provide parking and monthly parking at nearby lots runs $100-150/mo.

Rents really don't drop below a certain point in LA because the section 8 program here is quite expansive. As recently as 15 years ago, there were rents as low as $350/mo for studios in rough, though not warzone, neighborhoods. But thats a thing of the past at this point, and many of those neighborhoods are actually sort of nice nowdays.