Why do places like Santa Ana have insanely large numbers of people living in one house? (Irvine: middle-class, 2014)

[MaxLMG]

Originally Posted by It is 57 below zero

Option #1 would be the easiest, and most preferable for me, personally. I'm the type of person who likes to commute about an hour to places in car rides on a regular basis.

There are places like Riverside, San Bernardino, and other suburban areas of LA that have a lower cost of living and are less than a two hour drive from LA.

Some people do that and don't mind. You can a decent house in a nice area in Riverside for significantly lower cost than in OC. Riverside is a decent sized city and has the UC University there. There is one guy who works with me who commutes from Riverside. Another from Moreno Valley.

You may think that the commute isn't that big of a deal. If you ask anyone who has lived here, the long commutes get old quick. I've only been here for a little over 1 year and the #1 thing I absolutely hate about Southern California is the traffic. I don't even mind that much the high taxes and cost of living, but I seriously hate all the traffic. The 91 is the only way in unless you go up high and cross at the 60.

If I couldn't afford to live in Southern California to the point where Riverside or the IE was my only option, I'd just leave and move back to the Midwest. Commuting and having 3-4 hrs of my day, everyday just in commuting is not worth it. Maybe for others it may be, but certainly not for me.


I live in Orange County and I commute to LA County. That commute is already too long for me. Anything more than 1 hr each way is too long.

[suissegrl702]

Originally Posted by It is 57 below zero

The cost of living here in Illinois is high but nowhere near as high as there. There aren't many overcrowding problems here as far as I know, and the cost of living is somewhat lower in the suburbs.

I know that other major cities, like New York, have overcrowding, but even they don't have a bunch of people living in one house.

Are public places in OC also overcrowded a lot of the time, such as schools, or department stores? Or is the problem that most of the jobs there are used up that there aren't many more hiring spots left?

What makes OC expensive to live in?

Illinois is peanuts compared to here. I have family from there. Most of my cousins moved out of their parents house the first time they got a retail gig, rent was (and still is) that cheap. Unless you live in Chicago, where it gets more expensive.

My parents, who live in Utah, even had to explain to their relatives that Utah rent is high near Salt Lake City.My relatives were convinced my brother and I were deadbeats because we hadn't moved out of our parents house the second the ink dried on the high school diploma. My father explained that it takes a first FULL-TIME, $10+ an hour job to move out of ones parents house in Utah. It's even worse here in California - not at all uncommon for people to still be living with their parents into their thirties, the rent is that high.

When I first moved here, I was a room renter. Renting a room by yourself, where you are the only occupant of said room, ranges from $550 to $1000 a month, depending on city and whether or not you will have your own bathroom. 1 bedroom apartments by contrast are $1100-$2000 a month depending on where they are and the size. Even in Santa Ana, they are typically around $1100 a month. A person would have to make $33,000 a year using the formula my landlord uses to get that apartment by themselves.

[notaproblem39]

Originally Posted by suissegrl702

Illinois is peanuts compared to here. I have family from there. Most of my cousins moved out of their parents house the first time they got a retail gig, rent was (and still is) that cheap. Unless you live in Chicago, where it gets more expensive.

My parents, who live in Utah, even had to explain to their relatives that Utah rent is high near Salt Lake City.My relatives were convinced my brother and I were deadbeats because we hadn't moved out of our parents house the second the ink dried on the high school diploma. My father explained that it takes a first FULL-TIME, $10+ an hour job to move out of ones parents house in Utah. It's even worse here in California - not at all uncommon for people to still be living with their parents into their thirties, the rent is that high.

When I first moved here, I was a room renter. Renting a room by yourself, where you are the only occupant of said room, ranges from $550 to $1000 a month, depending on city and whether or not you will have your own bathroom. 1 bedroom apartments by contrast are $1100-$2000 a month depending on where they are and the size. Even in Santa Ana, they are typically around $1100 a month. A person would have to make $33,000 a year using the formula my landlord uses to get that apartment by themselves.

yes we moved to some apartments in san diego county and tons of the families had their young adult kids (probably 25-30 yrs old still living with them). i guess its common out there.

[kwong7]

Originally Posted by It is 57 below zero

Just a side note, why don't people put their cars in garages anymore? I've noticed in the last several years, fewer people use their garage, and besides, it is meant to protect your car to prevent issues like car thefts, or having to shovel snow off your car, or if your car has some kind of violation (like an expired license plate), you won't get a ticket for it out of shock.

Mostly because people tend to pack their garages with consumer items (exercise equipment, bikes, lawn mower, surfboards, skateboards, Costco purchases, tools, workbench, tires and other car parts, camping supplies, etc). In some cases, people have illegally converted their garages into living spaces, which has led to a few deaths from fire and carbon monoxide poisoning. Costa Mesa made an attempt to crack down on this a few years ago.

[denverian]

Well, from my experience, many apartment complexes charge renters "by the head" rather than one fee. They started doing this in our apartment complex in Santa Ana (far NE SA, considered the nicer part). Everyone who started moving in appeared to be immigrants from Mexico, and from talking to people, they thought 5 - 10 people in a 1 or 2 bdr. apartment was normal. It was normal to them anyway. So if rent in the next door 2 bdr. apartment was $1000 per month, and 7 immigrants moved in, the shady landlord changed the $200 a head. And they paid in cash. Which meant it was easy for the landlord to skim $400 a month off the top and deposit the rest for the out of state owner. The problems included, no more hot water, no parking, lots of noise, unable to use the laundry rooms, overflowing trash dumpsters, overcrowded pool, shopping carts and trash littering the complex... and all the while they kept raising our rent. So we bought a condo and got the hell out!

[ndubitably]

Probably already been stated a few times, but...

1. Orange County is extremely expensive. Santa Ana is one of the more affordable areas, but even it is still quite pricey.
2. Wages don't match that amount, so people share rooms/apartments in order to avoid sleeping on the street.

As apartment and housing prices keep going up, many young professionals are looking for their first apartment/house to buy and are looking at more affordable areas since the traditionally nicer areas are out of their price range now. As a result, landlords start raising rent, even in the "cheaper" areas. What was once a $800 apartment is now going for $1400.

Every apartment unit I've been in has tried to raise my rent $150-200 after living there a year or two.Some will negotiate if you decline to renew your lease as a result, but some are firm and you're out looking for another place.

I'm 32, I've been living in Orange County ~90% of my life. In 2003, I was looking at two bedroom apartments in the $1200 range, five years later most similar apartments were in the $1600 range. This was a so-so area of Costa Mesa.

When I lived in a decent part of Irvine, a 2 bedroom near UCI was going for $1600 in 2004. That same apartment goes for $2700 last I checked.

Low income housing exists, but it's a lottery. I signed up for it in 2003 and got a call in 2014 saying that I won for a new community that opened up. Fortunately/Unfortunately I no longer met the requirements for low income housing.

[mrsltd]

Originally Posted by It is 57 below zero

Santa Ana has an average household size of about 4.9, according to Census statistics, and most of Orange County also has a household occupation number that's very high.

It seems like half of the reason for this is that there are up to 10 people living in a one-bedroom apartment in much of this county. What strikes me is that it seems like the norm for people to sublet their apartment to other strangers, yet they find out they have issues with that later on. First of all, there is NO WAY that 10 people can live comfortably in a one-bedroom, if they all can live in a crowded space like that at all. Secondly, if subletting to strangers, it can lead to additional problems later on, such as children having asthma attacks because of the secondary residents of the house smoking around them, or fear that the children could somehow be abused by them, or third, if the primary residents don't allow the strangers to access half the house, that's an additional issue if they can't cook their own food or use the bathroom without permission from the main residents.

These are all common issues of subletting to strangers. If these are issues for them, they should just kick them out. why do they sublet their houses to strangers (without interviewing them first)anyway if they have these concerns? Is it mandatory to sublet houses in Orange County?

Has it ever been thought of, to build additional houses in this place to ease the overcrowding? Is it because there aren't very many open or unused houses for new residents to occupy or purchase?

Seriously? Pot-stirrer. Folks, the OP has a thread on the Alaska forum asking why there aren't more big cities there. Just letting you know, those of you who belong to the army of the Obvious, for you "captains" out there, this is indeed your moment.

[It is 57 below zero]

Do people in Orange County get paid a little more because of the high cost of living there? In some places with a very high cost of living, sometimes people also get paid a lot, to even things out.

Originally Posted by mrsltd

Seriously? Pot-stirrer. Folks, the OP has a thread on the Alaska forum asking why there aren't more big cities there.

Why shouldn't I ask about how people feel about Alaska being more urban? That's a more serious one because I would actually like to live in Alaska because I like cold weather but I also wouldn't want to live somewhere isolated or rural. How is that a pot stirrer?

[incognitoe]

Facts says Santa Ana isn't even that bad. Matter of fact, CA isn't even on the list. However, dead and empty Alaska has 3 cities on the list. (Note it all Red States). lol

Do people do any research before they post. If Santa Ana with an average of 4.55 household size is "insanely large" to you, what do you make of Colorado City, AZ? A city with a population of 96% Whites.

Top 10: Cities by Average Size of a Household - PolicyMap

City | Household Size

Colorado City, AZ - 9.18
Sulphur Springs, AR - 8.36
Crow Agency, MT - 7.35
Hildale, UT - 7.26
Pinesdale, MT - 7.06
Tuluksak, AK - 6.79
Nightmute, AK - 6.78
Chefornak, AK - 6.69
Pagosa Springs, CO - 6.61
San Carlos, AZ - 6.54

[It is 57 below zero]

Originally Posted by incognitoe

Facts says Santa Ana isn't even that bad. Matter of fact, CA isn't even on the list. However, dead and empty Alaska has 3 cities on the list. (Note it all Red States). lol

Do people do any research before they post. If Santa Ana with an average of 4.55 household size is "insanely large" to you, what do you make of Colorado City, AZ? A city with a population of 96% Whites.

Top 10: Cities by Average Size of a Household - PolicyMap

City | Household Size

Colorado City, AZ - 9.18
Sulphur Springs, AR - 8.36
Crow Agency, MT - 7.35
Hildale, UT - 7.26
Pinesdale, MT - 7.06
Tuluksak, AK - 6.79
Nightmute, AK - 6.78
Chefornak, AK - 6.69
Pagosa Springs, CO - 6.61
San Carlos, AZ - 6.54

Colorado City, Arizona has most of its households containing families with about 5-8 children in almost every house. That case is a little different because that place seems to have a lot of big families, as is the case for at least one of the Alaska towns listed on here.

Orange County has a bunch of STRANGERS living with each other in some houses. There's a difference.