Was LA ever considered cheap? (Los Angeles, Pomona: loans, homes, buying)

[CaliRestoration]

Originally Posted by Northside904

So even if you make over $100K a year, say you make at least $200k annually, you'll still have trouble finding a home there?

If you want to avoid living in an area with constant car break ins, fences full of graffiti, trash all over the street, and where wearing blue or red clothes means an instant death sentence, then yeah, you'll probably need a budget upwards of $800,000+.

[Onhollywoodblvd]

Just about all large metropolitan markets have become unattainable for the working and middle classes, domestically and especially internationally. The world population was 2.5 billion in 1950, now it's 7.5 billion. Land and building resources are much more scarce.

Also, there's a lot of nostalgia in these posts, especially harking back to the 1950's. I doubt the nostalgia includes blacks, Latinos, Asians, and other minority groups who were socially and even legally barred from buying homes in most L.A. neighborhoods.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Onhollywoodblvd

Just about all large metropolitan markets have become unattainable for the working and middle classes, domestically and especially internationally. The world population was 2.5 billion in 1950, now it's 7.5 billion. Land and building resources are much more scarce.

Also, there's a lot of nostalgia in these posts, especially harking back to the 1950's. I doubt the nostalgia includes blacks, Latinos, Asians, and other minority groups who were socially and even legally barred from buying homes in most L.A. neighborhoods.

Where are you getting that information? Blacks, certainly. in fact they could not even be on the streets in some areas during the 50s, but Latinos and Asians could be found living everywhere in the L.A. metro area. Name me a city or neighborhood in Los Angeles county that did not allow Hispanics and Asians to buy houses or where you could not find them living.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by MarciaMarshaMarcia

In the mid-70’s, I was able to rent apartments that were clean & comfortable, for very reasonable rent, month-to-month, pets allowed, in Westwood, Culver City & the Belmont Shore area of Long Beach...all safe, desirable areas. No roommates.

It wasn’t until I went back to college full time that I had roommates, & we still lived in a safe area, in a brand-new apartment complex.

I won’t even say how cheap college tuition was back then...

College tuition for sure. But again, we do have to remember salaries were much lower. I can't remember how much our tuition was in the 50s but I do know college, including room and board did run only about $1500 or so a year.

[Northside904]

Originally Posted by CaliRestoration

If you want to avoid living in an area with constant car break ins, fences full of graffiti, trash all over the street, and where wearing blue or red clothes means an instant death sentence, then yeah, you'll probably need a budget upwards of $800,000+.

Now that's crazy.

[CaliRestoration]

Originally Posted by Northside904

Now that's crazy.

The official slogan of California.

[Onhollywoodblvd]

Originally Posted by nmnita

Where are you getting that information? Blacks, certainly. in fact they could not even be on the streets in some areas during the 50s, but Latinos and Asians could be found living everywhere in the L.A. metro area. Name me a city or neighborhood in Los Angeles county that did not allow Hispanics and Asians to buy houses or where you could not find them living.

Housing discrimination against many races was common knowledge, or so I thought. The Fair Housing Act wasn't signed into law until 1968. "Redlining", harassment, and other laws and techniques are well documented. It's an easy web search.

Start by searching: THE HISTORY OF SEGREGATION IN LOS ANGELES:A REPORT ON RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AND ITS LEGACY--University of Southern California

The paper begins with a quote of what was handed out to potential buyers of a new housing tract in Van Nuys in 1948:

"No person whose blood is not entirely that of the Caucasian race (and for the purpose of this paragraph no Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, Hindu, or any person of the Ethiopian, Indian, or Mongolian races shall be deemedto be Caucasian) shall at any time live upon any of the lots in said tract15010."

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by Onhollywoodblvd

Housing discrimination against many races was common knowledge, or so I thought.

Latinos were routinely discriminated against in public schools until the late 1940s. See Mendez vs. Westminster.

The year was 1945, and the United States was a much different place back then. Elementary school students in Orange County California, as well as many other parts of the country, were forced to attend segregated schools. What did this mean? It meant that Anglo children went to “white” schools, African-American children went to “black” schools, and Mexican-American children went to “Mexican” schools.

Case History | Mendez v Westminster

[thedwightguy]

Ad to the "back in the day" infor. WORK was always available. I never considered what I'd do for summer until after the final tests were done.

In Junior College we were told sales and regressive taxes were to be avoided like the plague, until all levels of government found that those taxes didn't have a "constituency" and could be raised all day/week/month long. Add to that that since the early eighties the private sector really hasn't been the place to be, unless you own the store.

Virtually ALL that are well set are in government somewhere, or jobs that a quasi-government like Hydro, airports, and security. Must be mind-numbing, though. No wonder there's such a market for good drugs.

[simbared]

Originally Posted by dajohnson99

I'm a third-generation Californian, and my dad was born in Monterey in 1955, but he grew up in the Bay Area (Fremont and Hayward). He always tells me that even back when he was a kid, while the cost of living was significantly less, the Bay Area still cost more than other parts of the country.

Is the same thing true for LA, or was it once as affordable as Houston?

Thanks!

L.A.'s fine, the sun shines most the time
And the feeling is "lay back"
Palm trees grow and rents are low
But you know I keep thinkin' about…

Neil Diamond, 1971