++ [ originally posted by swag
] ++
Nice idea, Erik. Maybe together we can help drown it out/change the unproductive subject?
Affordability
Housing costs are the biggest chunk of your income in this area. Here it is one of the highest in the U.S. The good news for renters is that the cost of renting hasn't increased all that much over the past few years, while the price of homes has rocketed up with the global housing bubble going on.
Availability
In high economic times, renting can get very ugly. For one, because the home costs can be so high there are people who try to recoup their "investments" as landlords. When jobs are plentiful here, the rents can get very scary due to high demand. Right now there's a good demand, but also a halfway decent supply of units... so things are pricey and expensive compared to most places in the U.S., but things in the area have been about as affordable as they have been in about 6-7 years.
For example, in 1998, my wife and I rented a two bedroom apartment in a pretty nice neighborhood for what seemed like a scary sum of $1900/mo at the time. By the time we moved out to buy a place of our own (and we couldn't afford the neighborhood where we were renting), the landlord was asking $2700/mo of the next renters.
Though I've been out of the renters market for a while, today I believe the prices are closer to the 1998 levels. In nicer neighborhoods a 2-bedroom can cost well over $2.5k and a good 1-bedroom can cost $1.7k+. On the lower end in cheaper neighborhoods, you might get a 1-brm place closer to something over $1k/month. If you're looking for really cheap, pick up a place looking for a housemate - as they may be under rent control and have a sweet deal to share.
On the other hand, because of the expense, because crime doesn't pay, you almost can't afford to be too much of a criminal to live around here... so it's generally pretty safe.
Livability
Housing is expensive for a very good reason: demand. This city has its flaws like all other cities, but it's one of my favorite cities in the world. It's a good place to be younger, but not to have kids or be older. The weather is very moderate (though many complain of the cold and fog in the summer) and often very sunny. The scenic setting of this area is beautiful: mountains, water, etc. There are vast open space parks with mountains and redwood forests and surfing and whatnot within short driving distance in all directions. The food/restaurants are excellent.
As the reputation suggests, there is a large and outspoken gay community. But there are also a lot of Central Americans, Asians, Russians, a few Italians
, and yes -- even beautiful heterosexual women too for that matter. So something for everyone -- it's pretty diverse.
Buy on AliExpress.com
-- which is like all the bad things about L.A. (smog, overcrowding, Dennys per square mile) but without any of its good things (like the ocean).
