californian dreaming - time of my life? anyone? (Long Beach, Santa Ana: to rent, health insurance)

[majalykke]

all right, so here's the deal.

i'm a 22-year-old student, who was born & raised in Denmark, Europe. i've always been fascinated with california, probably solely due to movies, because let's face it, it's on the other side of the world & i've never been there, so must've gotten the interest from somewhere.

i've visited america twice. boston for a month, when i was 18 & then i just got back from living in chicago for a year. when i was residing in chicago, i lived in a, well i would classify it as a fairly bad neighbourhood. i didn't actually see any violence going down, except a few incidents, which didn't bother me too much. although it was common sense that you didn't prance around in the middle of the night. however when i heard a guy got shot on my block a month after i left, i was glad to be out of there.

now to the real deal, i wanna move to california, los angeles to be more exact & here comes my dilemma, where to live?

i'm used to european living & i've never heard a gunshot or even seen a gun for that matter. there's virtually no gang violence in denmark & it's basically just a hippie safe haven, where you can flip people off & they don't chase you down on the freeway. lovely little lesson i learnt in chicago. i might just be super paranoid (just got done watching a doc on MS 13) but i'd rather not end up in a crime statistic. now i think, don't wanna judge here, but unlike denmark or pretty much all of europe, los angeles is very divided race wise, so i'm not sure if it matters that i'm white? i have nothing against any race, i'm just a little nervous that other people might not be so willing to hug as i am.

all right, enough with the introdutions, down to business. i've been researching the internet like crazy & i've gotten the budget down, or so i'd like to think!

here it is:

car (driveable, decent, '03-'05 ish): 3000 USD
auto insurance: 2000 USD a year
medical insurance: 2000 USD a year
food budget (restaurant visits not included, groceries only): 400 USD a month
gas, beauty products, shopping, fun (basically everything that's not groceries): 640 USD a month
rent (roommate/roommates included for sure): 500 - 650 USD a month

the thing i can't research properly is the, uhh "quality" of a neighbourhood, sure i might be able to look up crime statistics & be like geez don't wanna get shot, but i can't read the vibe of a neighbourhood anywhere online.

i'm not expecting to find a room to rent from denmark, i'll be flying out in august with my dad & sister & we'll chill in a hotel for two weeks, which is basically the time i have to find a place to stay. i'll set up a bunch of interviews before hand, so that's really not a problem. wow, i just can't seem to get down to the point huh?

okay, i just wanna know what places are really crime heavy. people seem to be offering cheap rooms within my price range around the orange county area. because my funds are quite limited i'll try to get the area, where i can find cheap rooms down before picking a college. i'll be going for my bachelor, but doing the whole two years in community college first.

i've found affordable rooms in:

long beach.
anaheim.
huntington beach (k, so they're not hanging on trees, but they're out there)
fullerton.
santa ana.
costa mesa.
chino hills (so i know i shouldn't be judging a neighbourhood on a tv show, but ryan from the oc came from chino & it just seemed like a bad neighbourhood, right?)
orange.
irvine.

now when reviewing these neighbourhoods, keep in mind i'm not a fool & i've learnt not to flip people off in traffic, in fact i've given that concept up entirely. i have common sense, i survived a day in russia (no, for real) & i'm definitely not going to be chilling outside, if it's just generally a bad idea, i'll drive to nice places & hang outside rich people's homes instead, i mean someone's gotta creep outside famous people's houses or their brag-a-ton on MTV cribs would've been for nothing.


oh & one last thing,

warning, if you're johnny law, you should not read on.

i'll be getting a J-1 visa, which is a fulltime student visa & i cannot legally work until my second year of college, but i'm not made of money, although i try my hardest. i've been doing the babysitter gig for quite some time & i can provide mighty fine references, so i'm just wondering if it's totally impossible thinking i can score a deal working somewhere around 20 - 25 hours a week with an hourly wage (is it called wage? i know it's not salary, that's the whole year deal, right?) of 15-16 bucks?


anyway, thanks for reading my whole crazy ramble!

i'd really appreciate your feedback unless you're a commie, lol sorry, too much family guy, couldn't help myself. please don't be offended!


maja.


ps- sorry for the horrible english, i swear my danish is better!

[Charles]

Originally Posted by majalykke

been fascinated with california, probably solely due to movies,

Nothing wrong with those neighborhoods (double check on Santa Ana and parts of Long Beach) you wrote about above.

This may come in handy:

This tool mashes Craigslist housing listings with Google Maps. Very neat.

HousingMaps

[timelesschild]

All your numbers seem overly optimistic. Your expenses are going to be higher, and babysitting pay much lower. Sorry but it's better to tell you the truth!

The orange county cities you named should be fine. Ask on the orange county board about the individual addresses to make sure.

[Ari Gold]

Why on earth would you 'flip people of in traffic' anywhere in the world?

You sound about 12 years old. Good luck.

[BluSpark]

Looks like a very bogus thread.

I don't buy any of it, except Charles who I know is legit and well meaning.

[soon2bela]

For a 22 year old, auto is way lower than $2K a year. It's more like a bit over $1K. Medical insurance is about $1500 per year. Groceries are around $100 a week for me and I eat a ton. Gas is about another $25 and entertainment are another $100 a week as I go out once or twice a week. I think he's being fairly accurate with those costs.

[readymade]

I pay my babysitter $10/hour. And she's amazing and very experienced... in fact I was pretty shocked it was that low. I've been looking for a decent car for $5000 (2003 and later) and can't find one. I agree that medical insurance is around $1500/year.

Can't help you with the rest of it as I spend way more on groceries & rent, but I'm not single.

[disgruntled la native]

You're gonna need a bigger budget.

For the car, rent, and possibly fun money.

Don't bother with health insurance. You're not a US citizen and you don't have family here, so if you actually get sick or injured, you'll go to ER and they'll treat you for free, while draining our taxpayer dollars and resources. Hey, it's wrong, but it's true. They're not going to deny you. And since you don't have assets or family here, they can't go after you. I'm letting you in on a little secret and I probably shouldn't be but I'll help you save money, the illegals from Mexico do it all the time so why can't a nice young fella from Denmark

[ladoll]

Wow, you are getting information on California cities from The O.C., really? Such a troll thread...

[nighthouse66]

yeah, and oh yeah, there are no jobs here. apparently reading about california on the internet, you skipped all the news about the horrible unemployment rate. 8 people for every job and 300-400 resumes per job offered on average. prepare to starve, like many native angelenos. but i don't think that is what you mean by the california lifestyle.

i am So. Sick. Of these. Threads. mod, can we get a sticky for all the hopefuls who forgot we are the city with the worst unemployment in the worst state for jobs in the united states? obviously they don't read any of the other threads on here.