What is the best Bay Area city for low-income living (San Jose: low income, houses)

[Misty108]

If you had to be poor in any Bay Area town from Antioch to Fairfield, Vallejo, down to San Jose, what are the factors to consider in living on a low-income somewhere and how do these places rate in your opinion. The only factors I can think of (besides the usual ones) are weather, BART and medical facilities. Any opinions? Thanks.

[HockeyMac18]

Not sure if these fall under your "obvious ones", but I'd add school quality (if you have children) and overall safety/crime.

[jade408]

I don't think any place is good if you don't already have housing. Waiting lists and demand for "affordable" units is 5+ years. Are you on the list?

[zitsky]

East Palo Alto but I wouldn't want to live there. Too much (perceived) crime. But maybe 10 years ago when I still lived in the area I did some volunteer work in East PA. I wasn't mugged, stabbed, shot nor was my very nice car broken in to. That's why I say the "perception" of high(er) crime. Eventually it will be gentrified like everything else.

EDIT: Looking at Zillow, it looks like it's already been gentrified. Quite a few houses over $500,000. Some close to a million.

[Perma Bear]

Originally Posted by zitsky

East Palo Alto but I wouldn't want to live there. Too much (perceived) crime. But maybe 10 years ago when I still lived in the area I did some volunteer work in East PA. I wasn't mugged, stabbed, shot nor was my very nice car broken in to. That's why I say the "perception" of high(er) crime. Eventually it will be gentrified like everything else.

Epa is too expensive nowadays. The median house is
Now I'm the 600s.

[zitsky]

Originally Posted by Perma Bear

Epa is too expensive nowadays. The median house is
Now I'm the 600s.

I certainly agree with you, but it's still cheaper than any other place on the peninsula. I see there's another thread about EPA.

[Perma Bear]

Originally Posted by zitsky

I certainly agree with you, but it's still cheaper than any other place on the peninsula. I see there's another thread about EPA.

Because silver is cheaper than gold doesn't mean it would be cheap to build a car out of it.

[Dirty-Mill]

San Quentin prison is free for those that qualify.

[sarahhorselover]

Originally Posted by Misty108

If you had to be poor in any Bay Area town from Antioch to Fairfield, Vallejo, down to San Jose, what are the factors to consider in living on a low-income somewhere and how do these places rate in your opinion. The only factors I can think of (besides the usual ones) are weather, BART and medical facilities. Any opinions? Thanks.

Antioch has BART nearby (and will soon have that E-BART thing), medical facilities, and plenty of low income housing. However, you don't want your kids to go to high school in Antioch, and possibly not middle school either. The elementary schools are fine, though.

Oakley is the next town over and is a world of difference compared to Antioch as far as safety is concerned. There's still low income housing, but you have to travel into Antioch for medical centers and BART. I'm not sure if E-BART is coming out to Oakley. The schools are decent and there's plenty of shopping all around.

But if you even think about living in the cities out Highway 4, you're in for a terrible commute until the freeway construction and E-BART are finished. There aren't many jobs other than service-industry and medical; for everything else you have to commute into the larger cities. Just getting to Concord can be an hour or more depending on the time of the day, the weather, and if there are any accidents.

[Misty108]

I'm sorry, I should have mentioned, kids and schools aren't an issue, and neither is a daily commute. Thanks everyone for all of this info.