Move to Suburbia Thousand Oaks or Long Beach Belmont Shore? (Huntington Beach: renter, house)

[securityhorror]

My job is allowing me to work 100% remote. Always wanted to live near the beach, Long Beach looked nice and affordable. However my brother lives in Thousand Oaks and would be willing to share a place.

Thousand Oaks PROS
1. Near family
2. Rent will be ~$1300 a month
3. There is lots of wilderness and parks to go to
4. You can drive OK around here
5. Have to surrender cats (my brother is super allergic)
Long Beach - Belmont Shore
1. Rent will be ~$2500
2. Beach
3. Warmer
4. Can walk to the gym/grocery store
5. More near company satellite office if I want to visit
6. Love my cats.
7. Easier to meet people?
34M single. I can afford rent. However I do like saving money. I feel a bit crazy picking everything up and moving. Primarily I want the weather. I am tired of 6 months of crappy weather.
Could anyone give some advice? I would really appreciate it.

[socal88]

I'd take Thousand Oaks over Belmont Shores.

Personally, I'm not much of a fan of Long Beach, although Belmont Shores is one of the city's gems that is probably the nicest part with lots of solid spots along 2nd Street. If you highly value living near the coast with temperate weather year-round, a bit more walkability, and having the ability to drive down the coast to hang out in other beach cities such as Huntington Beach and Newport Beach, than I would suggest Belmont Shores.

Thousand Oaks is definitely more suburban and perhaps not as ideally suited for singles, but it's certainly a nice area with enough to do and you'll certainly save a lot more money all else equal. I know somebody who lived there starting as a renter and was able to buy a house there fairly quickly given that rent was fairly cheap by greater LA standards. It sounds like you mostly work from home, so at least you don't need to worry about a commute, which can definitely be an issue for a lot of folks who work in core LA. There's certainly a downside of Thousand Oaks not being centrally located and far from a lot of the action in LA. But at the same time, if you like the outdoors and don't necessarily care to be close a lot of the activities and amenities in core LA, there are a lot of nice parks and trails plus plenty of shops and restaurants in Thousand Oaks. Plus, it's a fairly short drive over the hill to Malibu if you want to go to the beach.

Unless you have a burning desire to live by the coast right off the bat, I'd say to start out in Thousand Oaks. You'll be able to save more at a faster rate to perhaps buy a nice place along the coast down the road, or get even more house for your money if you decide to buy in or around Thousand Oaks.

[MrIndependent]

Thousand Oaks is a very nice suburb. When compared against similar suburbs in the LA area, it's comes out a winner in terms of bang for the buck, public schools, and overall calmness.

There are a few downsides with Thousand Oaks

1.) It is mind-numbingly boring. Unless you have children of your own, you might possibly go crazy living there as a single 34 year old. Not pedestrian-friendly. Heavy on retail chains and freeways. Sure there's hiking very close by, but that's about it. Malibu is about 20 - 40 minutes away, so that's nice I guess
2.) Distance from an airport. Burbank (which is a smaller airport, with fewer direct flights and higher ticket prices) is the closest airport and that is 34 miles away. LAX is 42 miles away. That's not a trivial distance. If you need to fly a few times a year, that will not be a pleasant experience.
3.) Thousand Oaks is often at higher wildfire risk due to it's proximity to mountains with heavy trees/brush coverage.


Long Beach on the other hand is very spotty. Some parts are great, other parts are scary. Belmont Shore is marvellous. It is surrounded by other nice neighborhoods of Long Beach, so by osmosis, it feels especially nice. It's walkable. Lot's of mom and pop retail/cafes/bars/restaurants. Close to the water .

Now the negatives.

1.) The beach in Long Beach is not pristine clean due to industrial facilities nearby like Port of LA and oil refineries. Also, there is no quality surfing at their beach because of the breakwater.
2.) SoCal beach communities are famous for super mild temperatures. This is not entirely the case in Long Beach. Because of the mountains in Palos Verdes, the cooling ocean breeze is partially blocked from reaching LB. The result is that Long Beach runs 7 - 12 degrees warmer than the other beach communities nearby. If you were expecting 300 days of 75-degree temps, you'll be mistaken.

In summation: If you're ok with the higher rental cost and ok with not living with your brother, I'd pick Belmont Shore in a heartbeat. Proximity to other nice beach towns nearby like Huntington OC and South Bay LA will make up for the poorer quality beach experience in Belmont Shore.

[saybanana]

Long Beach City isn't a suburban city, but the neighborhood of Belmont Shores is a suburb of the city. So really you are close to good restaurants, bars, nightlife only a few miles away in Downtown Long Beach rather than taking long drives up to Downtown LA or West Hollywood. Also other nightlife areas and ethnic food areas in the LA and OC if that is your thing to meet people and eat foods. The LB airport only a few miles north could be an asset if you want to quick flight to various cities for the weekend/overnight. There is a beach on Long Beach and people do swim, but no big waves like Huntington. Also a dog beach I think if want a dog, but cats could go there I think. I would take Long Beach over Thousand Oaks. I would say just try it out for a year and see if it fits YOU. If not then move in with your family after your year lease or elsewhere. It is much harder the other way around if you stay with family, then you would kind of stuck where you might be thinking Im with family and i am saving money, so why move at all.

[Chowhound]

Thousand Oaks is boring as hell. Belmont shores is much more fun. There are a lot of down sides though, parking, crowding, things like that. But it's super walkable and a very active scene on the weekends, restaurants, bars. The sometimes it's awesome. In the winter during Christmas on 2nd street they put up all kinds of lights, really looks nice.

If you're under 60, go to the LBC.

[Mr_Geek]

Keep your poor cats!

[BRinSM]

You have solid arguments for both locations. It seems like it comes down to savings vs social life, which is obviously a personal decision. Belmont Shore is awesome though, but $2500 seems a bit high. Unless you have very specific needs/tastes, I'd imagine you'd be able to find a place for less; Long Beach should be noticeably cheaper than the westside or South Bay.

[vunderbar]

I'd pick downtown Long Beach, Belmont Shores as a 2nd choice. LB is increasingly hip & young. Some great architecture, reasonably uncrowded beaches, closer to interesting areas (imo.) But really, it's the vibe. Thousand Oaks is a bore. Well to do, but boring. LB has character, and tremendous potential for gentrification, continued growth and increasing modern, cool vibe.

[saimamom]

You're too young and too single to be stuck in Thousand Oaks! Also your cats would miss you. Long Beach/Seal Beach are areas that are cool, especially if you surf. They have a really cool men's clothing store down there called Snake Oil Provisions. Long Beach is also very walkable. That would get you out to meet people. You'd meet plenty of seniors in Thousand Oaks...at the mall.

[lvmensch]

You go to Thousand Oaks when you have a wife and three kids and need a place to get away from the rat race. You go to Belmont Shores if you are still in the race.

Lived most of 2 decades in Los Alamitos which is actually the Tules of Long Beach. (Message Tulemutt if you need that explained).

Before we moved to Las Vegas we spent 6 months trying to end up in Belmont Shores or the surround. Even had an architect in to see if we could successfully modify one of the homes a block off the beach into something livable. And we made an offer on a duplex in the western end...to find that no one could figure out who actually owned the place.

We kept a boat in the downtown marina for 6 years and then in Alamitos Bay for 10.

For anyone not into the completely married and suburban set there is no issue. Belmont Shores...and when you get a little more wealth move across the line into Seal Beach or Los Alamitos .