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Anyone here familiar with Santa Barbara, California?

Ringodoggie

Ringodoggie

Well-known member
Premium user
Life is all about good weather for me. Where I have lived all my life, we get 36 sunny days a year average and it rains over 200 days a year. Like living in fucking Mordor.

So, I am retiring and all I want is nice weather (in a pot friendly state).

I was on Zillow looking at houses to rent and buy and it was really odd when you guys said the trash and meth is East because when I looked at the houses, it looked like beautiful homes in gated communities. Same as the rich people live in here. LOL I was amazed that this was the 'bad' area of SD????

No matter because I would like to be on or near the beach anyway.

However, way out East in places like Alpine it looks beautiful. Does the meth problem go that far East?

Thanks again so much for the guidance, everyone. I am searching Google for "Best Places to Live in San Diego" and I am getting some guidance there also.

We plan to come and rent something for a couple months and look around (before we actually move there). So, for now, we are looking for a place to rent between La Jolla and Coronado and West of Hwy 5. Thanks to all of you for helping me set those limits. I can spend about 4k a month. I guess furnished would be best. Maybe a vacation rental. And, they need to be OK with my dog. I am an obedience trainer and my dog is more well behaved than any child I ever met so he's not a problem dog. Noce, quiet and well behaved.

The wife says we should pick the Gaslamp area or Little Italy. Looks like a great place to party but I don't know about living there. Maybe if I were younger.

Plus, with the dog, I need a yard. No high rise condos or yardless situations. And, it looks like that is more North than downtown.

Thanks again for all the help. For anyone in SD.... when I do finally get there, the beer is on me. :)

Thanks again










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B

Breadwizard

Active member
Ocean beach is my favorite of the beach neighborhoods, quirky hippie-ish area, kinda like if you took Berkley, removed it from SF area, and plopped it by the beach in San Diego.

Of course, I'm a product of retired hippies, so it speaks to me.
 
Bobby Boucher

Bobby Boucher

Active member
La Jolla is a little older and quieter, but having dealt with non-stop ruckus throughout my life, that is the place that speaks to me. Prettiest shores too, imo.
 
S

soil margin

Active member
Veteran
Ringodoggie said:
Life is all about good weather for me. Where I have lived all my life, we get 36 sunny days a year average and it rains over 200 days a year. Like living in fucking Mordor.

So, I am retiring and all I want is nice weather (in a pot friendly state).

I was on Zillow looking at houses to rent and buy and it was really odd when you guys said the trash and meth is East because when I looked at the houses, it looked like beautiful homes in gated communities. Same as the rich people live in here. LOL I was amazed that this was the 'bad' area of SD????

No matter because I would like to be on or near the beach anyway.

However, way out East in places like Alpine it looks beautiful. Does the meth problem go that far East?

Thanks again so much for the guidance, everyone. I am searching Google for "Best Places to Live in San Diego" and I am getting some guidance there also.

We plan to come and rent something for a couple months and look around (before we actually move there). So, for now, we are looking for a place to rent between La Jolla and Coronado and West of Hwy 5. Thanks to all of you for helping me set those limits. I can spend about 4k a month. I guess furnished would be best. Maybe a vacation rental. And, they need to be OK with my dog. I am an obedience trainer and my dog is more well behaved than any child I ever met so he's not a problem dog. Noce, quiet and well behaved.

The wife says we should pick the Gaslamp area or Little Italy. Looks like a great place to party but I don't know about living there. Maybe if I were younger.

Plus, with the dog, I need a yard. No high rise condos or yardless situations. And, it looks like that is more North than downtown.

Thanks again for all the help. For anyone in SD.... when I do finally get there, the beer is on me. :)

Thanks again

.
Click to expand...

Gaslamp and Little Italy are nice, very cool areas to live but probably not ideal for raising children and you definitely won't get a yard there because it's all condos and apts.

East county isn't all bad, there are some nicer areas. Usually the meth crowd hangs out on the border of the suburban and urban areas where housing is cheap.

Beach areas like Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach and La Jolla are nice, but very expensive and desirable. If you're looking to be close to the beach and not spend a million dollars on a little house, I suggest looking a little further north in communities like Encinitas, Solana Beach, Oceanside, although it's only slightly cheaper up there.
 
S

St. Phatty

Active member
If you're wealthy, there's no need to wait.

If you're not wealthy, I suggest waiting a year for some significant price drops to occur, on the real estate front.

I suggest visiting the YMCA in Encinitas. Then also going to Moonlight Beach (main beach, plenty of parking), and Swami's (1/2 mile south of Moonlight).

1 BR condo 1/2 mile from the beach $250K to $300K.

Ringo, do you need good schools ?
 
Ringodoggie

Ringodoggie

Well-known member
Premium user
Schools don't matter. I am 65 and already gradgeated the 6th grade. LOL

I took some time today and drove from Ocean Beach to Oceanside (Google street view). It certainly looks like it gets nicer as you head North. Ocean Beach and Pacific Beach were like the neighborhoods I lived in as a hippie. Not exactly what I am looking for today. Although, I love the younger crowd, I want a nicer house. LaJolla started getting nicer and newer. I like new. I like new stores to shop in with nice clean concrete driveways and new buildings.

By the time I got to Oceanside, I figure I better expand my area from Ocean Beach to Oceanside. Is there anyplace between those 2 areas that I would want to AVOID?

I will pay about 4k a month for rent but no more. When it's time to buy, I'll see what I have to spend and where I want to go. As far as I am concerned after paying property taxes and insurance and upkeep and all the other expenses and hassle that go with ownership, I may rent forever. It seems like I can get into what I want for 3k to 4k a month. I can live with that. Utilities are probably cheap. I pay $500 to $700 a month just for utilities, here.










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P

packerfan79

Active member
Veteran
Ringodoggie said:
Schools don't matter. I am 65 and already gradgeated the 6th grade. LOL

I took some time today and drove from Ocean Beach to Oceanside (Google street view). It certainly looks like it gets nicer as you head North. Ocean Beach and Pacific Beach were like the neighborhoods I lived in as a hippie. Not exactly what I am looking for today. Although, I love the younger crowd, I want a nicer house. LaJolla started getting nicer and newer. I like new. I like new stores to shop in with nice clean concrete driveways and new buildings.

By the time I got to Oceanside, I figure I better expand my area from Ocean Beach to Oceanside. Is there anyplace between those 2 areas that I would want to AVOID?

I will pay about 4k a month for rent but no more. When it's time to buy, I'll see what I have to spend and where I want to go. As far as I am concerned after paying property taxes and insurance and upkeep and all the other expenses and hassle that go with ownership, I may rent forever. It seems like I can get into what I want for 3k to 4k a month. I can live with that. Utilities are probably cheap. I pay $500 to $700 a month just for utilities, here.










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Click to expand...

Get that cheap utilities out of your head. California has extremely high utilities .
 
Ringodoggie

Ringodoggie

Well-known member
Premium user
My water bill is over $100 a month. 2 People in a 1500 SF home. I don't think any place in the world pays that much. We used less than 200 CF of water for that price. The bill includes water, sewer and trash pickup.

Electric is over $300 in the Summer (A/C) and in the Winter the gas can be $600 or $700 per month.

I expect the water bill in California is about half of mine. Heating bill, maybe 1/5th per year. My gas bill for heating last year was just over two thousand dollars. [Do you have heating bills in SD? LOL]

And, don't get me started on taxes. My property taxes on a 100k home are 3k a year. I have been in my home for 30 years and paid more in taxes than I did for the house. LOL Sales tax is almost 8%.

I am moving to California because I can't afford to live here any more. It is way cheaper in California.

LOL And, although, I am joking. It is really the truth. Real estate is the only thing there that is more expensive. Everything else seems cheaper.


Actually, I would love to hear what some of you pay for utilities. Or, property taxes. Or, even food per month. I found food to be way more expensive here than in California. There must be a reason why everyone says it is so expensive there. Please..... enlighten me.






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Ringodoggie

Ringodoggie

Well-known member
Premium user
Here is a link to my local grocery store. I compare this to 'Ralphs' which I shopped at in Santa Barbara when I stayed there.

https://curbsideexpress.gianteagle.com/store/2F341241/#/circular/Weekly?circularId=2000344&circularName=Online%20Weekly%20Ad&page=1

The food prices are cheaper almost across the board in California.

Now, I am a good eater. I eat a lot of fruits and veggies and fresh meat and fish.

I like rib eye steaks. You guys are 2 to 3 dollars a pound cheaper.

Let's not even talk veggies. Most of your stuff is half the price of mine. And, I imagine it's fresher, better veggies as well.

Even milk, eggs and bread are cheaper there.

Oddly enough, pork seems expensive there.

Here is the ad for Ralphs....

https://www.ralphs.com/weeklyad




Can't wait to get there and start saving money. :)
 
B

Breadwizard

Active member
And Ralph's is expensive! Well, compared.

Your price range is way over mine, and Oceanside can be great if you've got the cash. If you wanted closer to the city, sunset cliffs is nice, as is mission hills.

I used to live in north park, which I really enjoyed, enough going on, but less hectic than ob or pb, quick trip to downtown (where school was), hillcrest is like "the castro district" in SF, if you know what that means.

I live in Oakland now, and the weather and proper Mexican food I miss every day.
 
S

St. Phatty

Active member
Ringodoggie said:
My water bill is over $100 a month. 2 People in a 1500 SF home. I don't think any place in the world pays that much. We used less than 200 CF of water for that price. The bill includes water, sewer and trash pickup.

Actually, I would love to hear what some of you pay for utilities. Or, property taxes. Or, even food per month. I found food to be way more expensive here than in California. There must be a reason why everyone says it is so expensive there. Please..... enlighten me.
Click to expand...

Very interesting run-down on expenses.

I know people are being choked.

financially speaking.
 
Ringodoggie

Ringodoggie

Well-known member
Premium user
Ace: I am finding that to be the norm. One thing I noticed was everything has 1 bath. Even the shittiest and smallest places here have 2 bathrooms. One for the bedrooms and a guest bath (or at least a half bath). I'm not sure I want to put my pure, smooth and wonderful ass (for a man) on the same toilet seat that my fat ass wife puts her lard load on. LMAO

And, she has a bunch on crap so we need 2 bedrooms or some other storage room for her to stack her crap. I saw some incredible places with a patio door that opened right onto the beach for under 4k. But, they are 500sf. LOL That is awesome for me. I like a clean house and I can clean 500sf in about 50 minutes. LOL But the lard ass I'm hauling with me needs at least 1000sf.

Is Coronado a good place? Seems a little crowded.

Bread: I would so much rather live in SF than anywhere but..... there's that weather thing. LOL I love the upbeat feel. It's like Manhattan, only nicer. LOL Thanks again for all the neighborhood references. That really helps.

Phatty: Everyone in the world knows it's more expensive in California than in Ohio. How cum I am the only one who doesn't know it. LOL Maybe because I don't watch the news so I didn't know. LOL It's weird. I'm sure I'm missing something. The entire world can't be being duped into believing something that isn't true.... could they. LOL Still, everything I could think of to check, is cheaper than here. Even toothpaste and Hanes underwear are cheaper there. WTF???? I even did a spreadsheet comparison of all the items I use and eat daily.

Hmmmmm? Something I didn't check into..... how much is your car insurance? I'm on medicare so health insurance isn't an issue. I only drive about 3000 miles a year. My car ins on a 2011 Ford Escape is 822.00 per year for basic coverage.
 
S

soil margin

Active member
Veteran
Ringodoggie said:
Here is a link to my local grocery store. I compare this to 'Ralphs' which I shopped at in Santa Barbara when I stayed there.

https://curbsideexpress.gianteagle.com/store/2F341241/#/circular/Weekly?circularId=2000344&circularName=Online%20Weekly%20Ad&page=1

The food prices are cheaper almost across the board in California.

Now, I am a good eater. I eat a lot of fruits and veggies and fresh meat and fish.

I like rib eye steaks. You guys are 2 to 3 dollars a pound cheaper.

Let's not even talk veggies. Most of your stuff is half the price of mine. And, I imagine it's fresher, better veggies as well.

Even milk, eggs and bread are cheaper there.

Oddly enough, pork seems expensive there.

Here is the ad for Ralphs....

https://www.ralphs.com/weeklyad
Click to expand...

I usually only shop at the 'healthier' grocery stores like Whole foods, Sprouts, Barons, Trader Joes, etc. but it costs me about $100-150 to feed myself on decent food for a week. I could easily spend more though if I splurged on lots of steaks and salmon. Probably get your food about 10-15% cheaper if you shop at regular stores like Von's, Ralph's, Albertsons's,etc. I find food to be very expensive in SD unless you're willing to compromise or shop around a lot.
 
art.spliff

art.spliff

Active member
ICMag Donor
With a policy that allows you to specify lower mileage you can find insurance around half that cost. No bad weather here.
 
S

St. Phatty

Active member
Ringodoggie said:
Phatty: Everyone in the world knows it's more expensive in California than in Ohio. How cum I am the only one who doesn't know it.
Click to expand...

I believe you.

Is it partially a matter of knowing where to shop ?

There's a produce place on Geary in SF, where all the locals & Chinese families shop. Good prices !

I notice that Kansas is offering people $10K to move there.
 
A

Ace Rothstein

Member
The place I mentioned is on Zillow right now, check it out. All beach cities are crowded, because it's the best weather, and people are cool.
 
S

St. Phatty

Active member
If I come into some cash,

I like the idea of buying a building in the California Fog Zone

equipping every closet with Inlet & Outlet fans - AND a varathaned floor with a wet drain, so no one needs to worry if some water gets spilled.

then set all the rents where they were, back in the mid-00's when I rented a 2 bedroom in Santa Rosa for $850.

And having a Light Museum room so tenants can deposit their old HID lights, to share with new growers.

Then unlocking the door to the roof so tenants can party on the roof - very important.
 
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