Tell me about your town

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by BarTopDancer

Where is this affordable housing you speak of?

I didn't say affordable, I said "affordable".

(FYI: Seattle's pretty bad for traffic and housing too.)

To work in Santa Ana and live anywhere that you can actually purchase a home for under $500,000 (if you want to live near Santa Ana, you're lucky to get a condo in a decent neighborhood for $400k), you have to endure a commute over a distance that, without traffic, would take ~20-30 minutes but with normal rush hour traffic can take upwards of 90 minutes - 2 hours. And, seeing as you're likely to want to come into the heart of OC or go up to LA more often than not for entertainment, you'd be making that drive. A lot.

Don't get me wrong, if you can afford the outrageous prices to either purchase or rent, and/or you can deal with abominable traffic, it's got a lot to offer. But it's hard to understate those two issues here.

[AllyOops!]

I vote L.A. or Woodland Hills, because....



<---------- You can hang out with this! Now, if that ain't incentive, I don't know what is.

[BarTopDancer]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

I didn't say affordable, I said "affordable".

Ok, where is this "affordable" housing you speak of.

Affordable, "affordable". When talking OC it's the same thing - not.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by BarTopDancer

Ok, where is this "affordable" housing you speak of.

Affordable, "affordable". When talking OC it's the same thing - not.

Corona/Riverside. Had we been willing to live there and commute, we could have afforded a single family home for what we paid for our condo in Orange (Santa Ana adjacent).

[Snowflake]

San Francisco is expensive, the rents are outrageous. I only skirted by because I moved back into my old rent-controlled apartment.

That said, the entire Bay Area can be such fun, heck, the entire state of California can be such fun.

I'm sorry Pru, I can't be of any real help except thinking that CA is a good move, it would be a pleasure just knowing you are in the same state. Might havea better chance of crossing paths!

[blueerica]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

I didn't say affordable, I said "affordable".

To work in Santa Ana and live anywhere that you can actually purchase a home for under $500,000 (if you want to live near Santa Ana, you're lucky to get a condo in a decent neighborhood for $400k), you have to endure a commute over a distance that, without traffic, would take ~20-30 minutes but with normal rush hour traffic can take upwards of 90 minutes - 2 hours. And, seeing as you're likely to want to come into the heart of OC or go up to LA more often than not for entertainment, you'd be making that drive. A lot.

Don't get me wrong, if you can afford the outrageous prices to either purchase or rent, and/or you can deal with abominable traffic, it's got a lot to offer. But it's hard to understate those two issues here.

My mom got a condo 4 years ago that's a stone's throw from Santa Ana in Costa Mesa off Fairview and South Coast. It was $350 K (I think), and in a great neighborhood. The plus-side to that place is that you can get into any area of Santa Ana (traffic or not) within 20 minutes without speeding or running red lights. Just don't get on the freeway there from 7AM to 11AM or from 2PM to 7-8PM.

Hahaha.

[JWBear]

Originally Posted by blueerica

My mom got a condo 4 years ago that's a stone's throw from Santa Ana in Costa Mesa off Fairview and South Coast. It was $350 K (I think), and in a great neighborhood. The plus-side to that place is that you can get into any area of Santa Ana (traffic or not) within 20 minutes without speeding or running red lights. Just don't get on the freeway there from 7AM to 11AM or from 2PM to 7-8PM.

Hahaha.

The key words here are "4 years ago". Housing prices in OC have risen dramatically since then. I doubt you could get anything decent in CM for that now.

[blueerica]

Originally Posted by JWBear

The key words here are "4 years ago". Housing prices in OC have risen dramatically since then. I doubt you could get anything decent in CM for that now.

Wow, and here I thought things were leveling out.

Shows how much I know. Makes moving away all that much more appealing.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by blueerica

Wow, and here I thought things were leveling out. .

They are, but that only started about 8 months ago (you know, right when we put ourselves in massive debt to buy our place).

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

(you know, right when we put ourselves in massive debt to buy our place).

Yeah, I did that back in '92 - bought right before a big dip